Not only does laundry represent the unglamorous side of beauty, it also can be managerial headache for salon and spa owners and managers.

All that washing, drying and folding racks up labor hours and utility bills; appliances break down and cause panic attacks on productive workdays; and bleached, stained and frayed towels constantly need to be retired and replaced. While many owners choose to go the route of hiring a laundry service, that cost can be exorbitant, and owners constantly worry that towels won''t be delivered on time.

Laundry woes are further complicated by COVID-19, as owners stress over sanitation and try their best to reassure their clients that their salon meets the highest hygiene standards. 

There is a simple solution, and one that’s a win for the salon, the client and the environment.Easydry, distributed to U.S. salons and spas by Minerva Beauty, is a next-generation, super absorbent fabric that uses the latest technological innovations in textile design to create luxurious, disposable towels and other products that are recyclable and biodegradable.

Easydry towels are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, proving they are made from ethically and environmentally sourced materials. They also are manufactured using eco-friendly processes and without chemicals.

Because square footage is so expensive in New York, Scott Buchanan, owner of Scott J Salons, initially chose to use a laundry service. “At $400 a square foot, I opted to use that space to put two revenue-producing stations in,” he says. “But for all four locations, I was spending upwards of $2,500 per week in laundry, and that doesn’t include the manpower to drop off and pick up the towels.”

Buchanan had looked at Easydry and decided to transition from his laundry service to the disposable towels before reopening after the pandemic shutdown. “Sanitary is the new luxury—clients love that the towels have never been used on anyone else,” he says.

Bacteria can survive on cotton towels for extended periods of time, even after the towels have dried. Human-to-human transmission occurs when contaminated towels are not washed or are washed inadequately between uses. Even if towels are laundered after every use, large quantities of bacteria can survive the laundry process. For a cotton towel to be correctly disinfected, bacteria must be thermally and chemically removed, meaning the only way to minimize virus and bacteria transmission is to use bleach and a high-temperature wash.

While Buchanan admits his staff was a little skeptical when he first proposed the idea of a disposable towel, they quickly were won over once they tried Easydry premium disposable towels. “They are so durable, and they really absorb the water,” he says. “Where we would typically use two or three cotton towels with a client, you don’t need to use more than one Easydry towel per client, even for those with hair below the shoulder blade.”

In addition to the affordability, Buchanan loves that presenting a new towel for each client at every service really heightens the client experience. “Before Easydry, I could go to any one of my salons on any day and pull out and throw away 20 towels that were bleached or had holes,” he says. “And, while white cotton towels look nice and sanitary, we all know they don’t stay white for long.”

Easydry towels come beautifully folded and are packed in OK Compost bags. They are more compact than cotton towels, making it easier to store them at the backbar.  “There are 900 towels in a carton, with 50 in a package, so it makes it easy to monitor the inventory as well,” Buchanan adds.

One of the most important selling points to Buchanan is the fact that Easydry aligns with his salon’s commitment to environmental sustainability. As Easydry towels are single use and don’t need to be laundered in-house or through a service, they reduce a salon’s energy consumption, water usage and carbon footprint. Each Easydry towel saves five litres of water over a conventional cotton towel. In addition, each Easydry towel is 100% recyclable and biodegradable.

As a company, Easydry is fully committed to sustainable product development. The trees that provide the raw material for the towels comes from sustainable, ethically managed forests, and the company uses no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, artificial irrigation, genetic modification or illegally harvested wood. Cultivation and production of the raw materials combined uses approximately 40 times less water than the cultivation of cotton.

The Easydry fibers are part of nature’s cycle—they come from nature and they return to nature, and will fully biodegrade within 12 weeks. All packaging is also compostable and recyclable.

Owner Rebecca Taylor has used Easydry almost since opening Honey Hair Lab in West Hollywood, California, last September. As a sought-after Redken Creative Colorist and Instagram influencer (@rebeccataylorhair), Taylor has traveled to more than 40 countries and knew that the disposable towels were much more commonly used in European and Australian salons than cotton towels.

“We just love Easydry towels. They are huge and super absorbent,” Taylor says. “When you completely unfold Easydry towels, they are way larger than a cotton towel—you can turban your client’s hair even if she has the mane of a lioness.”

Taylor believes the towels are a time-saver, too. “I usually use two towels—one to remove most of the moisture out at the sink, then I turban my client’s hair with a tight little fold at the widows peak, walk her to my chair, pat down her hair more. I’d conservatively say Easydry absorbs 40 percent of the water without a rough blowdry. It really cuts down on your blowdry time.”

Taylor agrees that Easydry folded towels are smaller and more compact, easier to fit in smaller spaces. “I have a small 10-chair salon and we can fit 500 towels on our backbar with no issue—they’d be perfect for a salon suite too.”

Honey Hair Lab hasn’t reopened yet because of the pandemic, but Taylor says the towels are a huge part of her PPE strategy, along with masks, booties, gloves and shields. “For sanitation purposes, we all can appreciate the single-use nature of Easydry, especially now, but they are also great for our hypoallergenic clients who are sensitive to chemicals and fragrance in laundry detergent.”

Taylor was surprised how durable the towels are, even when wet: “I tried to rip one to use it for a coloring technique and I couldn’t rip it, I had to cut it. It's an incredible strong product.”

Like Buchanan, Taylor loves that Easydry towels are kinder to the environment than traditional cotton towels. “We care about reducing our carbon footprint and so do our clients,” Taylor says. “Easydry towels are biodegradable, and you can even compost them. Within each box, the towels are even packaged in a biodegradable bag carrying the OK Compost mark.”

To find out more about Easydry towel, please visit https://www.minervabeauty.com/easydry