What is on your cleaning checklist?

[Krystal16]

I am creating a check list for my cleaners and wondering what other hosts have on their check lists. 

The standard sheets, vacumn counters etc of course exists but just wondering what other people have on theirs that is either outside of the norm, or is common sense but you have on their anyway because your cleaners would miss it otherwise.

[TracieandJason0]

@Krystal16 Wiping down the microwave, cleaning the tub drain, vacuuming window sils, vacuuming the stairs and wiping down light switches/t.v. remotes/door knobs, etc as needed once a week or so. 

[Mark116]

@Krystal16If you have guests wash their own dishes, you might have the cleaners do a spot check of pans and such to make sure everything is clean.  We have definitely had to rewash things, especially pots, but our pots are hanging on a rack so easy to spot problems.

[Emily487]

@Krystal16

I always make sure to inspect the inside of the shower curtain and check any bedside drawers. 

[Michael956]

Make sure they look under the beds.  Nothing worse than a guest finding a used condom tossed under there.  

[Huma0]

These days I do the cleaning myself, but my experience has taught me that there’s numerous things cleaners miss and need to be reminded of. How often you think these tasks need to be done is up to you.

- under the beds

- remove hair from shower drains

- skirting boards

- light switches and other electrical switches (obviously with care)

- window sills

- light fittings (I have chandeliers and dusting them regularly makes a thorough clean only occasionally necessary)

- outsides of baths and sinks and toilets, not just the insides! Also outsides if glass shower cubicles.

there are probably numerous other things i’ve forgotten. 

[Susan151]

I do the cleaning myself, except the few times that I don't. Things that my cleaner has missed, and I might have missed as well:

check the in-suite coffee machine to make sure that there aren't old grinds in there. Ensure that the carafe doesn't have coffee remaining. Clean all the parts!

Empty the electric kettle and leave open so that the drips will dry

distribute the hangars in the closet so that they are equi-distant and make sure that there are no old, wet, dirty towels hanging from them.

vacuum inside the closets

clean all the mirrors, and there should be no streaks, please.

clean out any "stuff" left in the guest fridge and please wipe down the shelves

And this is why, if at all possible, I do the cleaning myself, and I always make sure that I can check the space before the guests arrive.

[Krystal16]

@Susan151

Oh my distributing the hangers evenly Susan, can I hire you.  

[Brent-and-Sara0]

I have a checklist that is broken up by room. It has the regular things, but also check that light bulbs are working, check for spider webs, check the sofa cushions for drips and food in between, same for chairs. I also check all furniture for stability- we did once have a table that lost a bolt, so I was glad I give it a shove on each cleaning. We found the bolt and it is back to super stable. 

A checklist makes cleaning so much faster as I don't have to remember did I do that? And when my kids help they just check items off. 

[Robin4 · Accepted solution]

@Brent-and-Sara0 @Yulianna0 @Christine615 @Krystal16

I have posted this on a few other threads in the past but, like you Sara, I have a checklist!

It is a laminated checklist which I use for every turn-around......it helps keep me focused and not miss anything.

For each guest I date it and put in the guests name, and as I do each item I check it off with a whiteboard marker and put in any details that may need attention coming up. When I am finished I take a photo of it with the time completed and print a copy which goes into the house rules folder along with current weather forecast for the area  which I point out to guests on arrival. 

I then clean the checklist off ready for the next guests!

Many times during a turn-around I will get interupted by a phone call or something else and using this checklist keeps me focused and makes me remember to check that everything works or has not run out.

I am sure it has helped me a great deal with the detail of my hosting!.

Cheers.....Rob

[Megan505]

Hello Sara

Could I buy a copy of that list from you?  I would love to have it!!!

[Sarah977]

 Sometimes ceiling light fixtures or wall sconces are full of dead bugs and dirt that you'd never notice during the day when most cleaning takes place. But a guest lying in bed at night will see that. Not something that needs to be done all the time, but checked once in a while. Pretty much a 2 person job- one up the ladder to carefully remove the fixture, another to hand it down to.

[Christine615]

Ooh - all of these. I clean half the time just to check on the apartment. My family now has a running joke about using the yellow spiked wand to pull hair out of the shower drain (very effective), and we buy lint rollers by the case to go over linens (even the clean ones) and the bathroom floor.

Honestly - guests produce enough shedded hair to make a Star Wars wookie costume 🙂

(but yes - some guests clean the coffee maker and forget to dump their grinds so we always start the next guest with a clean filter (because it forces us or the cleaners to check), and wiping out the inside of the microwave.

Those four areas are often the most forgotten things 🙂

[Yulianna0]

Well, cleaning and drying bottles of gel, soap, champoo. Sometimes they are just jumping from my hands:) Clean and dry windows from condensation. Ventilate the room and if the weather allows pillows and duvet too. 

[Bitsy-and-Dan0]

HAIR. Oh dear lort the hair. I vacuum the edges of the bathroom, inside the tub, the edges of the tub, and especially around the base of the toilet, THEN I sit on the floor in front of the potty like I'm about to be sick into it, and look for HAIR. And whenever possible, I have someone else use their eyes to double-check me.

I find that people are far more forgiving of a random speck of dirt, but random pubes? EEK. Not so much.