@Emilia42,
One thing that I've learned from other hosts in this community is that everyone's hosting situation is different. The kitchen and bathroom take the most time to clean, but we rent small spaces, and our occupancy is usually 2-3 people. It normally takes 5-6 hours to clean a space, including laundry time. In response to the coronavirus, we've removed many of the kitchen utensils, and most of what is remaining can be cleaned in one dishwashing cycle. Like many hosts, we didn't clean the balcony ceiling after every guest visit. Yes, we swept/sprayed away cobwebs, lizards, early stages of bird's nests, insect nests, and other visible dust, but probably only sprayed the balcony ceiling with a cleaning agent after a major storm.
There are inconsistencies throughout the cleaning handbook, but cleaning porch ceilings and walls, but not air flow and environmental control systems really baffles me. I did a word search in the handbook, and it only mentions cleaning the porch ceiling, and not the indoor ceiling. It does recommend cleaning the interior walls of common areas with soap and water, which is not recommended for certain types of paint. I guess the walls in the other rooms are virus-proof, because no other rooms have this recommendation. The handbook lists cleaning the porch walls as if the virus would be contained within just the confines under the porch roof. Unless the approach to the space and the entrance have restricted access, there really is no way to maintain any sanitation of the exterior. In my neighborhood, couriers, solicitors, neighbors, service providers and looky-loos frequently ring the doorbell/knock on the door. More notable, like almost everywhere, the wind blows, and potential virus aerosols and droplets can freely blow in or out of an open porch area.
I have always thought of the enhanced cleaning protocol as a marketing tool to compete with the cleaning programs marketed by other STRs, particularly hotels. I know that its guidelines have an assumption that everyone, including the host/cleaner, has coronavirus, and that's why it's so over the top with its recommendations. As we are already doing most of the cleaning already that's listed, we will commit to the protocol. However, I do wonder who were the leaders in sanitation that were consulted (possibly companies that sell cleaning products??), and think Airbnb that could/should have consulted with a more diverse group of people/companies to represent a wider band of empirical knowledge.
As I've mentioned previously, it is a well known fact that indoor air flow, ventilation and environmental control systems contribute to spreading viruses. Quite a few times the handbook mentions ventilating fans to increase air flow prior to cleaning, but only says to clean the fan pull chains, and nothing about cleaning the motor housing and blades which are the primary items that manipulate the air flow. The only ventilation item called out for cleaning is the interior and exterior of the kitchen exhaust hood. Which is confusing, because is the recommendation to dismantle the fan, and clean the interior? I don't know many people who would know how or want to do that. Conversely, there are no recommendations for cleaning any parts of other air flow and environmental control systems that are easily accessible, such as vacuuming vents and cleaning ceiling fans and AC units.
In addition to washing walls, frequently cleaning curtains is probably something that many hosts will not be able to accommodate, because the curtains/drapes may require dry cleaning. It would have been more appropriate for the handbook to have a comment similar to the one about cleaning soft surfaces and using the product's recommended fabric cleaner.
In the end, we will commit to the new cleaning protocol. If it doesn't fit within the way we want to maintain our spaces, we will reverse our commitment. Some hosts may feel compelled to stay, because Airbnb is their sole gateway to the marketplace, but that won't be our situation. Airbnb isn't the only platform where are spaces are listed, and they are not our primary source of reservations.
