Kleen it, dry it, ditch it

IRVING, Texas —Kimberly Clark is betting hygiene-conscious consumers are ready for single-use bathroom hand towels. The company has introduced Kleenex hand towels, disposable bathroom hand towels in a pop-up dispenser delivery system. The dispenser can be set upright on the bathroom vanity or hung upside on the towel rack.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for hand-washing recommend drying with a single-use towel—and Kimberly Clark’s sheets, which are free of inks, dyes and fragrance, are a first-of-their-kind solution.

Kleenex hand towels, which have rolled out nationally to the food, drug and mass channels, performed well in consumer testing and debuted strongly on the QVC shopping channel in January. The product, which retails for about $3 for a box of 69 towels, sold out in the first seven minutes onair. This spring, Kimberly Clark will support the product with print and TV advertising, as well as marketing activities.