Guests used white bath towels to clean up grape soda

[Robin807]

I have guests that just checked out today.  When I entered the room to start cleaning for the next guests, I discovered  three bath towels covered in purple splatter.  I found an empty bottle of grape soda in the room so my guess is that they had an accident and decided to clean the mess up with the white bath towels?

I just don’t understand.  I provide all of my guests with a large roll of paper towels during their stay so that they can clean up any spills, but the paper towels that I left with them look untouched.  They could have also messaged me if they were unsure how to clean something up as I live on the property.  Instead they chose to use white bath towels (which I will probably have to replace now) and just left them for me to discover without saying anything like it’s no big deal.

Up until this point everything had been fine with these guests but after this I do not want them back.  I want to leave an honest review of them to warn other hosts but I have never had to write a bad guest review before.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Sarah977]

@Robin807  Lots of people, not just guests, grab whatever is handy to wipe up spills. Unless they otherwise left a mess behind them, it certainly isn't something I'd mention in a review, nor feel I needed to be warned about as a host. I might send the guest a private message after the reviews are published, letting them know that using the paper towels to mop up spills, rather than the nice white towels, would have been appreciated.

Why would you have to replace the towels? Throw them in cold water first, then google how to remove grape soda from fabric. There's pages of information, and from the few I read, it's easy. 

There are only a few stains you can't remove from fabric, as long as you follow the right method. Laundry hacks are part and parcel of hosting and calling guests out for it makes one look like a nitpicking host. You can't just toss sheets and towels because guests got something on them, that would get really expensive, not to mention wasteful.

[Robin807]

@Sarah977 If it was just a few spots it would be no big deal to me and I would not even mention it.  But these towels are completely covered in this purple mess.  It just seemed disrespectful to me when they were provided with paper towels that they could have used.  But thank you for commenting as it’s good to get other people’s perspectives.

[Sarah977]

@Robin807Well, if they spilled a jug or bottle of grape soda, there wouldn't just be a couple of spots on them, they would be covered in the stuff.

I had a good friend stay with me who spilled something on the kitchen floor one day when I happened to be standing there, and she just grabbed the obviously clean dishtowel I'd hung up not an hour earlier to wipe it up. I wouldn't say it's purposely disrespectful as much as just unconscious, lacking in thought. They probably do the same at home.

And to tell you the truth, I prefer to clean up spills with old ratty cloths or a sponge than paper towels- using masses of paper towels is pretty environmentally unsound.

It's actually a good idea to keep a small pile of worn, maybe stained, but clean towels or cloths in your rental, and show guests where they are. Can be used to mop up spills, wipe off muddy shoes or dog paws if you allow pets, etc.

[Louise0]

Whether it's one tiny spot or a whole saturated towel, the method for cleaning it is the same.  They stain should come out with a long soak in cold water followed by ordinary washing. They're white, so if all else fails you can bleach them.  

Yes, I agree the guests were thoughtless, but these days most guests are.  Understand - they do not care about you, they do not care about your house; their sole focus is on themselves and their experience.  Do not ever expect a guest to put your needs over their own.  If it takes any effort at all to grab the paper towels rather than reach out to grab whatever is closest at hand, they will always opt for the latter.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Robin807 

While I agree it's disrespectful to use several clean white towels to mop up grape soda (if it was just one towel and if it had been soaked in cold water immediately then I could understand. Accidents happen) , it's no reason to toss them - the stains should all wash out with a good soak in cold water once or twice, then cold water with a little detergent mixed in. 

Once I knocked over a can of beer next to the sofa and grabbed a newly laundered towel from a stack that Henry had just folded to stop the spill from flowing towards several electronics on the side table. It happens. 😓

[Anonymous]

@Robin807  One badge you unlock in the game of being a long-term Airbnb host is Stain Expert. This, I assure you, is a far more useful qualification than the Superhost badge. You've already gotten some great tips, and the internet is full of wizardry for how to get various stains out of your towels, but one thing for certain is that discoloration is never a reason to throw away a perfectly intact piece of fabric. Dye it a dark color if you really have to, or retire it to casual household or beach use, but it would be crazy to call a towel unusable because somebody mopped up some soda with it. Knowing that hosting humans means your guest fabrics have to withstand the onslaught of all manner of body fluids that I won't name here, they obviously need to be able to handle some Grape Drank.

Do other hosts need to be "warned"? Well, this is not exactly a capital offense. But you could just add something like "I wish ___ had taken greater care with house linens in clean-up" to whatever other relevant comments you have about the guest's communication, adherence to house rules etc. This sends a signal to hosts who are particular about that detail without demonizing the guest outright to those who have a different strategy for towels and linens.

[Robin807]

Thank you to everyone who replied.  I was able to get the stains out of two of the three towels.  It looks like my theory of an accidental spill might have been wrong though, since I found stains of that same purple stuff on the shower walls and even the ceiling above the shower.  So I have no idea what they were doing.  I just know that I don’t want to host them again.  

I’ve decided to skip the review process for this guest and just keep a note to myself to not host this person again.

[Emilia42]

@Robin807 

I bet it was purple shampoo (you can google it.) I had to quickly repaint a shower ceiling after one guest likely flipped their hair in the shower. I can get it out of towels and sheets though. An odd coincidence that you also found the grape soda!

[Robin807]

@Emilia42 You might be right about that, as I’m having a hard time getting it off the ceiling.  With a lot of scrubbing I was able to get the spots on the ceiling light enough that I don’t think my next guests will notice it much, but after they leave I will repaint over it.  Luckily I was able to get it completely off the shower walls.  

I hope this purple shampoo is not a trend, otherwise I’m going to have to add another house rule telling people to leave their purple shampoo at home.

[Sarah977]

@Robin807  @Emilia42 

Purple shampoo and conditioner isn't some new trend. I use it myself, and I've never found that it stains anything.

You know how old women are sometimes referred to as blue-rinsers? That's because they used to use bluing in their hair to keep the grey from looking yellowish. 

Blonds also sometimes use it.

These days, us older women don't use bluing, we use these purple shampoos and conditioners. They just counteract a yellowish look to grey or white hair. But as I said, I've never had it stain my towels, or shower grout, it isn't dye.

My guess is your guest dyed her hair or had dye in it already that came off on the towels. People do use purple hair dye, and when I used to dye my hair dark brown, the color it left on the towels was more purple than brown. And it did stain, so I had 2 dark brown towels I used for that.

3 towels covered in the stuff wouldn't be from shampoo or conditioner, even if it did stain a bit, as those things get rinsed out of your hair before you dry it. I would bet it was a dye job.

[Robin807]

@Sarah977 @Emilia42 This is a picture of one of my towels before I got the stains out.  I don’t know if you can tell just by the picture if this is hair color or purple shampoo.

 

[Sarah977]

@Robin807  Pretty hard to tell, but I'd say dye. If it was just shampoo residue, it doesn't seem like it would be in streaks like that, nor have such an intense color, it would just have sort of discolored the whole towel.

That's what my towels used to look like when I dyed my hair. I'd put the dye in, and wrap my hair in a towel (a threadbare brown one) for the 30 minutes I had to leave it in.

It's perfectly acceptable to ask a guest what they might have used that stained something, rather than it be a mystery. If you don't make it sound like you're mad, or going to ask for compensation, they are likely to be forthcoming. 

"Hi XX. Hope you enjoyed your stay, thanks for booking with me. 

Mystery question- there is something purple all over 3 of the white bath towels- it'll most likely come out in the wash with the right pre-treating, but I need to know what it is, so I use the correct laundry product. Can you enlighten me? Thanks a lot."

While most stains are removable, one thing I have read that stains irretrievably is acne medication. Apparently leaves pinkish or yellowish stains that nothing will remove.

[Emilia42]

@Robin807 Just yesterday I cleaned up after a guest who left purple streaks all over my white towels. Luckily I was able to wash the purple out. It's not uncommon anymore, for some reason. 

[Suzanne302]

@Robin807  Sounds like you've gotten a lot of good advice already. I would just add that I too, was livid the first time a guest ruined a towel. (acne medicine bleached it) But then I realized it's just a towel, and that I was taking it too personally. "How dare this person think so little of my property that they were so careless!" When the reality is, it's not personal at all. Stuff happens. I, however, would still mention something like this in a review.

@Sarah977  Some purple shampoo will stain like this! I used a "color depositing" purple shampoo (I like to have fun with my hair!) once. But NEVER again! Ugh. I had to be so super careful when washing as it would very easily splatter all over the shower and if you didn't wipe it up immediately, it would stain. 

The other type of purple shampoo for blondes isn't nearly as messy and wipes up easily as it's not meant to deposit color.