“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

This is a quote attributed to Albert Einstein.  The year 2022 is a great time to consider doing something new and energizing.  We have been following Albert’s citation for too long. Small positive changes in what we do at our businesses can yield substantial results.

Let’s look at an example of modest change that could revolutionize your business.  How would you like an additional 1,000 (+) “Unlimited Monthly Users?” It is possible.

Print What on Towels?

Here is what I have in mind.  Sometimes you must think creatively to transform a casual customer into a long-time devoted customer.  Most readers of this article buy, sell, and / or use towels.  What would happen if you printed a QR Code on your towel’s label that brought your customer immediately to your website?  To make things more exciting, what if they landed on your webpage that made an attractive invitation to join your “Unlimited Club?”

How does it work? Simply scan the towel label on this page with your phone’s camera to see where you go! We can print a QR on all your towels’ labels, and point your customers
in the right direction – to your monthly membership program.

Ordering Printed Towels

Obviously, you need to start with a towel to get a towel label. That is something the good doctor can help you with today. It is a simple painless process. Doctor Joe at can print your logo, name, and /or your unique message on a high-quality microfiber towel. The messaging can also make the pitch for your “Unlimited Monthly Plan” as well. Moreover, the towel’s label can list an invitation to scan the QR Code to find out about “your money saving offer.”

If it seems like printed towels could be a good fit for your Car Wash, what do you do next?  Call the Doctor.  Let me know what you would like to do with the towel.  We can help you with a design that promotes your business and makes it unique.  Call 1-800-233-3873 x236 or send an email to the good doctor at drjoe@kleenrite.com. We will provide a quote and make up a sample for you in Photoshop.  You will see exactly how your towel will look before you decide.  The cost is very reasonable.  There is a minimum order of one (1) pallet on most sizes.  A FREE sample of a printed towel is also waiting for your request.

About Printed Towels

More about your printed towels– We use a process called “inkjet sublimation to dye
your text and images on a special dual-surface microfiber towel. The printed side of the towel is as soft as the towel itself. When you close your eyes and feel the towel…you cannot tell where it’s printed!

You have many choices on how to do this. We can provide: 12×12, 16×16, 16×24, and 16×27 microfiber towels in 300 GSM and 400 GSM. We print black on your towel’s surface
and can get creative with the towel’s label. These can be printed in colors, complete with a QR Code. The most popular towel color is Royal Blue, but all colors are available.

Express Washes use different business models to integrate towel use into their operations.  However, one thing is for sure, most customers expect to have towels available for their use in some form. 

Promoting Your Brand With Printed Towels

Here are some of the ways our customers promote their unique brand with towels in their businesses —

One way is to give printed towels to your customers for FREE in some type of promotion.  You can also make a towel offer part of each “Top Wash Package.” Special printed towels are also frequently used as giveaways when a new store is opened or during the holidays.

How about selling towels to your customers? Sell them to customers for $1.00/EA or three for $2.00.  What is wrong with getting your customer to pay you for advertising?  Ralph Lauren® and Yves Saint Laurent® have been successfully selling their high-quality products with their names on the merchandise for years.

Another option would be to start a Towel Replacement Program.  Sell your beautiful, branded towels for $2.00 or $3.00 EA.  Each time your customer brings back the exclusive soiled towel; you give them a clean one.  Don’t you think your customer would be curious about the QR Code?  Nearly everyone has a mobile phone with a camera these days.

What if you are an Express Exterior Wash that provides microfiber towels for your customer’s use, while on premises?  You think your biggest problem is towel theft.  An obvious solution is an endless race to the bottom, looking for the cheapest possible towel.  Proof of this is the existence of a friendly towel competitor who refers to his unhemmed towels as “rags.”

Think About the Whole Experience

Just think of what you are doing here.  Your customers go through an automated kiosk, into a spotless tunnel, complete with state-of-the-art equipment.  Customers are then treated to a light show with endless pampering and colorful foams and wax treatments.  It is like going to a SPA, but only for their car.  At the end of the tunnel your customer drives through a litter-free parking lot with modern vacuums.

The vacuums suck (as they should) and so do the towels. Good customer impressions are made until the end. Adhering to Einstein’s quote from above “…doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” has become the modes operandi. The “rags” go in the trash, in the trunk and because they suck, into the vacuum (no pun intended).

Take a Different Approach

The answer is obvious.  Travel in a different direction.  Instead of making endless purchases of “rags”, consider using towels with your brand recognition.  Placing your name and messaging on towels sharply reduces theft.  Hotels, Hospitals Nursing Homes, School Athletic Programs, and Gyms have been doing this successfully for about 100 years.  Charley Cannon of Cannon Mills started weaving Hotel Names into towels the 1920’s.  The purpose was for branding and theft reduction.  The practice continues to this day with Doctor Joe and Kleen-Rite.

Here is your bottom line – the QR Code promotes your unlimited programs Your printed logo, company name, and messaging provide brand recognition. The property marks significantly reduce towel theft, especially if used in conjunction with signage. And most importantly, your customer’s experience is improved. What’s not to like here?

Your only downside is an upside. If theft modestly continues, your branding and advertising will move out into the neighborhood. What are you paying for a single advertising impression now? These towels will only last 2,000 years in a landfill with your name on them. It is like putting up a billboard that will last for a millennium!

Are There Other Towel Branding Options?

Yes. If you would like to stay with black towels, Kleen-Rite can sew-in custom towel labels for FREE. There is a low minimum order of one pallet, with FREE SHIPPING anywhere in the lower 48. You read that correctly – you buy the towels, your get name on your towels’ labels for FREE.

Your towels’ labels are printed in the colors of your selection, on Tyvek that will not scratch clearcoat.  or paint.  We will list your QR Code, logo, and a short message on your very own exclusive label.  The artwork and setup charges are likewise FREE.  This can be done for you in all towel sizes, colors, and styles.

Other Towels

You are not ready to make a change in 2022? No problem. The good doctor would love to help you with your regular Express Wash Towels. We offer a best-selling line of bulk packed, 300-count towels, 16×16, 300 GSM– DJMF4500-BK Black, DJMF4500-Y Big Box Store Yellow, DJMF4500-BL Sky Blue, DJMF4500-R Red, DJMF4500-DO Orange, and DJMF4500-RBL Royal Blue.

Also available are the softer European Circular Knit Black Towels. It is what is used in the UK and the European Union – DJMF4200-BK Black 16×16 and DJMF4000-BK 12×12. These are nice.

How about going cheap?  Doctor Joe offers most black microfiber in money saving machine compressed bales.  We pay less so you pay less.  For example, DJMF8300-BKB Black 16×16, in bales, with sewn edges (these are not rags) are only .36/EA.

There are also money-saving Pop-Up 12×12 Black Microfiber Towels in dispenser boxes (DJMF1150-BK) @.26/EA.

With four (4) distribution centers around our great country, with thousands of cases, and bales of towels in inventory, and a powerful program of towel branding with printing and the use of QR Codes…we are going to lift you out of the tunnel into history.

And, if all goes well, you will be able to start taking Sundays off!

This article was written by Joe Gartland, from Towels By Dr. Joe. It was originally published in Kleen-Scene Magazine issue 38.