Microchip bedsheets proving popular
Print Edition
BUGS in the bed might be the last thing guests want during a hotel stay, but a new microchipping service in China that tracks every sheet and towel has proved popular online.
A laundry service catering to hotels in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has started installing wafer-thin microchips on bedsheets, pillow covers and towels — allowing travelers to scan a QR code on each item and check precisely when it was last washed.
The service, which also allows management to track each individual item, has become an online hit following a series of recent scandals over poor hygiene at high-end hotels.
The Ritz-Carlton in Pudong, Shanghai and other five-star establishments in China, including The Peninsula in Beijing and the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai, were forced to apologize last November after a video exposing unhygienic cleaning practices went viral online.
The clip, which quickly racked up tens of millions of views, showed cleaning staff wiping down in-room cups with the same towels and sponges used to clean showers and toilets.
Skepticism
On social media, people broadly welcomed the Wuhan laundry’s move with many calling for the system to be rolled out nationwide.
“This system needs to be implemented throughout the country,” wrote one user on China’s Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo. “I take my own bedsheets every time I travel. Once I got a bad rash after a hotel stay and was covered in red spots.”
But some were more sceptical, saying the QR code could be easily damaged or data in the chip could be tampered with. “What’s the point in knowing how many times a bed sheet has been washed or the time when it was last put in a washing machine without knowing whether the sheet was actually changed after the previous customer checked out?” wrote another.
The chips can withstand temperatures of up to 180 degrees Celsius and can be washed 200 times, according to its developer.
Last year 79 of Wuhan’s 110 commercial laundries were shut down after being deemed substandard after government inspections.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
