Preparing Oshibori Towels
Oshibori Towels can be served steaming hot from a towel warmer or a microwave, or served chilled from a refrigerator. Either way, the towel invitingly encourages guests to pause and enjoy their sensory impact.
Hot Towels
Oshibori Towels can be kept ready for guests in a hot cabi towel warmer. The team can either turn it on each morning (allowing about thirty (30) minutes to heat and steam a cabinet full of towels), or, because hot towel warmers use very little power, a warmer can be left plugged in and left constantly stocked with oshibori towels. Keep the towels in their individually-wrapped packaging in the towel warmer, or hand-roll them and put them on the rack ready to serve. Unwrapped towels should be moistened prior to placing them in the cabinet. Consider adding a scent into the towel warmer to give an additional sensory element to the experience, if they were initially unscented towels.
Alternatively, the oshibori towels can be kept at room temperature and heated a few seconds in a microwave prior to serving. Just as when using a hot cabi towel warmer, if the towels are unwrapped, they must be pre-moistened before being placed in the microwave, too. Individually-wrapped towels should be opened prior to heating to prevent injury if the sealed package pops while being heated.
Chilled Towels
In hot climates or in the summer, a cool hand towel can be wonderfully invigorating and refreshing, Keep a stack of oshibori towels in the refrigerator ready to offer anytime. Moistened towels that aren’t in their individual wrapping might be kept in a sealed plastic bag to stay damp while in the refrigerator.
Storing Oshibori Towels
Keep oshibori towels in a cool dry place until needed. Individually-wrapped towels have a shelf-life of up to twelve (12) months under such conditions. Store open bales or sleeves of dry towels in a box or bag to keep fresh and clean. They are ready to moisten and use.
Every oshibori supplier offers choices on order quantities, and all have options for shipping times. Despite the long shelf-life of the moist towel packaging, Ohana Towels suggests only ordering a few weeks quantity at a time because delivery only takes a few days. If it might be helpful, consider an Auto-Ship Program. Talk to us about getting individually-wrapped moist towels or dry bales sent to you on a prearranged schedule, meaning that you don’t have to remember to reorder. Only keep a manageable quantity of inventory on site, and will send them on your desired schedule, ensuring that there will always be refreshing towels ready for guest and visitors.
On a final note, cotton towels don’t ‘spoil’. In the event that a package is inadvertently opened and the towel dries out, simply re-moisten the towel with water prior to heating or chilling for a guest.
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