Resources
Restroom supply estimator: paper, soap and liners your building uses each month
Tell the restroom supply estimator what kind of building you run, how many people are inside each day, how many visitors come through and how many days you are open, and it shows a monthly range of tissue rolls, hand towels, soap refills and can liners.
Request a quoteCall (707) 865-8026
A monthly supply range from a few facts.
Enter your type of facility, the people in the building on a normal day, the visitors who stop by and the days you are open each month. Then choose standard or jumbo tissue rolls, multifold towels, roll towels or hand dryers, foam or liquid soap, and the number of restroom trash bins. The estimator shows restroom visits a month and a low-to-high range for each product you stock, and the button under the result adds it to your quote request.
How the estimate is worked out.
The estimator works in two steps. First it counts restroom visits. People who spend the day in the building and visitors who pass through use restrooms at very different rates, so each group is counted on its own, using the default figures building designers rely on when they plan restroom fixtures and water use. Shoppers, diners and congregants are matched to the closest published group for the facility type you chose.
Then it turns visits into product. Tissue use per visit comes from measured dispenser studies and published estimates, hand-washing rates come from large observation studies in public restrooms, and towel and soap amounts follow the drying and dispenser figures manufacturers and life-cycle studies publish. Roll and pack sizes come from commercial product listings. Can liners are counted per bin for each day you are open. The tool does the arithmetic, so the result is ready to read.
Why the answer is a range.
No two restrooms are used in quite the same way. The split between men and women changes how much tissue goes out, some people take one towel and others pull several, and a dispenser that feeds a fixed length uses less paper than one that lets a hand keep pulling. The published figures behind the tool vary in the same way, so the estimator shows the low and high end side by side. Plan your stock within that band, and keep a reserve near the top of it for busy weeks.
What pushes use toward the top of the band.
- Visitor-heavy buildings. Tasting rooms on event weekends, clinic waiting rooms and busy storefronts send more guests through restrooms that were sized for staff.
- Roll towels against multifold. Each style has its own refill size and pattern of use, so switching between them changes what you order. The estimator treats them separately for that reason.
- Dispensers without portion control. Open-feed towel and tissue holders let each user take more than they need.
- Long hours and extra days. Weekend opening, evening classes or a holiday rush add visits the weekday count misses.
- Seasonal peaks. Harvest weekends in wine country and the first weeks of a school term raise demand for a stretch, then it eases.
Jumbo rolls change how often a holder needs changing, not how much paper people use. They suit busy restrooms where a run-out between cleans would be noticed.
What the estimate leaves out.
Toilet seat covers and sanitary bin liners aren’t in the result, because no reliable published figure exists for how many get used. Breakroom paper towels, hand sanitizer at reception and kitchen trash bags sit outside the restroom count as well. We set those quantities at the walkthrough from what your building actually goes through.
From the estimate to a stocked closet.
Treat the range as a planning starting point. Press the button under the result to send it with your quote request on this page, and the walkthrough turns it into a real plan: which dispensers are on the walls, how much reserve each restroom keeps, and whether supplies come with nightly cleaning or as delivery alone. Our janitorial supplies service stocks and refills restrooms while the crew cleans, and our restroom cleaning by traffic level guide and restroom cleaning checklist cover the cleaning side. Call (707) 865-8026 to talk it through.
Planning the rest of the building too? The cleaning scope of work builder drafts a task list, the cleaning frequency planner sorts those tasks by how often they happen, and the janitorial cost calculator gives a monthly price range.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Who counts as a visitor?
Anyone who comes in for part of the day rather than working a full shift: patients, customers, guests at a tasting, parents at drop-off. Count staff, and students in a school, as people in the building.
Should I pick standard or jumbo rolls?
Choose what your holders take now. Jumbo rolls need changing less often, which helps in busy restrooms, but people use about the same amount of paper either way.
Does Arbor supply these products?
Yes. We supply and restock restroom paper, soap and liners as part of cleaning, or deliver them on their own for buildings with an in-house team. You can also keep your own stock and have the crew refill from it.
Why aren’t seat covers in the estimate?
There isn’t a dependable published usage figure for them, so we leave them out rather than guess. We count them, along with sanitary bin liners, during the walkthrough.