Bedsheets and towels etiquette

[Dele661]

Hello everyone,

Please pardon and ignore this post if everyone is used to this issue and I'm complaining about nothing.

But so many of my guests leave my bedsheets and towels with blood stains, and I'm wondering if there's an acceptable form of words that I could include in the house manual to discourage them from doing so?

And is there anything I should consider doing or providing in order to reduce this occurrence?

Thanks!

[Ross869]

I think charging them a standard fee for the towels is a way to ensure it’s sustainable. A note in the house rules that details that destroyed linens may incur an extra fee is a way to discourage these incidents. 

[Dele661]

Thanks very much, Ross. I'm very wary of making charges, because for some people, it might genuinely be an unavoidable accident. But it could be useful to have this as an ultimate option.

[Marie8425 · Accepted solution]

I handle this way.

My mattresses and box siringes have zippered plastic protection.

My pillows also  have a zippered protection  that now a daysare available  without a plastic noise everytime they move their head.

I  don't do anything white  colored that is  not easy to clean.

My husband always finds what I call his concoctions from the internet but some are amazing effective and cheap.  He makes  his own non chlorine bleach.

My linens are nice but also Costco .  I have for each bed a stored brand new backup  if needed same with my towels.  I figure for some stupid accident just like I figure broken dishes or anything  as  an expense reflected in  my costs....  So for me,  I figure based on show many guests, reasonable would with my linens or towels once a year per bedroom.   That is an additional expense of operating that room but the guests don't feel the pain because  that is actually less than a buck a day.

If it is happening every month for you.  Customers don't like when  possible fees are the greeting.  Just like you wouldn't, people get  nervous that  no matter what they do you will find a problem.

If make up is the issue, then just factoring in the cost of some inexpensive wipes and tissues..

If blood on the sheets is a regular issue, it can be, I  fond on Amazon you can  buy a inexpensive pad that   is just a big square basically and they  even have disposable ones that are waterproof and I just let the guests know  where they  could  find if they  needed.saves the guest also  because they can just launder it and sleep in a clean  bed.

I make rags readily available and known to my Guests.

Nothing wrong in having rules, just  human nature we easily follow easy rules.  So instead of hassling with a reimbursement try to limit youur damages.

[Dele661]

Thanks very much for taking the time to give a very detailed response, Marie. Lots of useful tips here.

For now, I'll just assume that I've an unfortunate spate of the occurrences and hope it doesn't happen as frequently in future.

[Quincy]

@Ross869 @Debra300 @Marie8425, a big thank you to all three of you for helping out @Dele661 with this!

[Debra300]

@Dele661,

In addition to the mattress and pillow protectors to prevent stains to those items, we use Shout stain remover and it works very well on blood, makeup and food stains.  If that brand isn't available in Nigeria, try one that you can get locally.  We also dyed our white towels to a darker color.  

[Dele661]

Thanks so much, @Debra300. I know Shout from when I lived in the UK, and we likely have it, or a close substitute, down here. I'll go searching for that, instead heavy chlorine bleaching each time.

I've also happened upon the amazing set of general hosting tips that you've posted elsewhere on this forum. I've bookmarked them for slow digestion and adoption at some other time. You're a gem!

[Mary1523]

@Marie8425 had great answers.

I rarely get blood sheets but my laundromat takes care of them.

I host I know when he strips bed carries a spray bottle of stain remover remedy and immediately sprays as he sees something. He said thats easier than doing it at the time of washing machine load.

I also have cotton topped waterproof mattress and pillow protectors. I'm amazed at how many hosts don't do this when i stay in airbnbs. My pet peeve is stained yucky pillows. I take pride in if a guest decides to strip the bed (I actually ask them to not do it, actually causes more work but some think they are helping), that they will see crystal clean white mattress protectors and pillow protectors. We swiftly replace and wash them if we see any liquid stains on them. 

I have actually considered moving to black/dark sheets because my laundromat sometimes sends back white sheets that are not mine....sigh. I just don't know the availability of such sheets.

I have already moved to black/dark coloured towels because the make up stains and red mud (we are a farm and when it rains, guests walk red mud in) on the white towels was causing too much replacement as they stained too easily.

Hope this helps

Kind regs

Mary

[Marie8425]

@Mary1523 

The Sheets my husband tried Costco brand and I am a brain pickier,  the Guests love them and yes we wanted darker colors.

In Hawaii we have Red Dirt, so I can relate.    Mom secret because kids always get Red Dirt on clothes, we soak in Dawn  dish detergent. Haha

[Quincy]

Thank you for sharing this @Mary1523! Just out of curiosity, how much do you roughly spend on sending the linens to the laundromat? 

[Crystal654]

Bloodstained bed linens and towels are just part of the cost of doing business. No one does it intentionally.

Hydrogen peroxide is great for blood, but there are a ton of other good stain fighters as well. We use liners. And we replace linens. We get good, reasonable priced linens, not expensive/high end/gazzilion thread count. Just good, reasonably priced linens, and we have never had a complaint about the quality.

[Quincy]

Thanks for sharing your tips @Crystal654! How often do you find yourself replacing towels (if I may ask)?