Toiletries
More and more hotels are opting for toiletry ranges evolved after research and experimentation on the potent healing, curative, and therapeutic properties of herbs, their extracts, and essential oils on the skin and hair, especially as laid down in Ayurveda. These products are also not tested upon animals and tend to be biodegradable. Some of the herbs and natural substances frequently used in toiletries such as shampoos, conditioners, creams, lotions, and so on are aloe vera, liquorice, citrus fruit, Indian gooseberry, neem, sunflower, basil, pumpkin, cucumber, turmeric, sandalwood, apricot, mace, clove, nutmeg, coriander, rose, henna, clay (especially China clay), alum, and honey.
Textiles
Some international chains and ecotels are experimenting with textiles made of bamboo fibres as an environmentally sustainable material for bed and bath linen and uniforms. Bamboo is one of the world’s most prolific, regenerative crops and is grown without the use of any pesticides or fertilizers. Fabrics made of bamboo are naturally antibacterial and hypoallergenic. Bamboo fibres are usually blended with cotton (65% : 35% or 40% : 60%) to yield more absorbent, softer, and smell resistant luxury bath linen than normal ones. Bamboo fabrics have a unique silky texture and are superior to cotton in terms of softness, durability, and comfort and are therefore ideal for the manufacture of bed linen. The fabrics do not pill. The bamboo fibre under microscope shows various gaps and holes and hence the fabrics made out of it can rapidly absorb and evaporate moisture, making them exceptionally comfortable. Moreover, bamboo is cool in summer and warm in winter.Energy-conserving Products
Housekeepers are now looking for products and equipment that help conserve energy. One such product is the jet hand-dryer that produces bi-directional jets of cold air jets that come to a head at 68 m/s to leave wet hands bone dry in seconds, in an alternative to the conventional hot-air drying process. The dryer is activated by placing the hands in the dryer bin, whereby the jet starts up automatically. The product’s primary advantage is the enormous power saving due to its low energy consumption compared to the conventional hot-air model: this machine runs at 700W, whereas the conventional hot-air dryers run at 2000W. This leads to huge savings in power bills-often as much as 67 per cent.
Housekeepers and interior designers today also have at their disposal energy-efficient lamps that consume a mere 9W of power and give the same light output as a 60W bulb. This can reduce power tariffs by as much as 80 per cent without taking away the aesthetic appeal of the property. Some trends in lighting that have been gaining momentum in Indian hotels are the use of luminaries and LEDs with sensor technology, compact luminaries and compact halogen lamps.
