Stained Sheets + Security Deposit

[Traci1]

What are other host's thoughts on charging against the security deposit for stained sheets (and making them unusable)? I've tried getting a stain (maybe blood, not sure) out of a fitted sheet for three days without success. The guests only stayed two nights. Thank you in advance for your advice!

[Waka2]

I was wondering the same thing.

had a guest who had period blood all over the bed, and it ruined the sheets / fitted sheet by leaving permanent stains on the linens. wasn't sure if that is just something that I should put down as cost of business, or go vs their damage deposit.

[Jennifer1191]

Period blood can be avoided or at least rinsed out right away in cold water. This is NOT a cost doing business to replace overly stained sheets. I host in Mexico and just had my second group of nationals stain brand new sheets by eating hot sauce on the bed with no cover and wiping their dirty hands all over the coverlet. This is not normal behaviour and I am claiming against the damage deposit. I will also be even more adament with bookings that if there are any stains or damage they will be charged. The first bad guest I had had her period all over the bed sheets, all over brand new turkish towels, then went and sat on the patio furniture and bled through on a cushion. Then she flipped the cushion over and bled through on the other side! All the dirty linens were piled into a corner and also mildeweed. This is NOT normal behaviour and we hosts should not be expected to cover this kind of damage. 

[Marjie0]

I just had someone bleed on sheets and quilt. Can anyone recommend sheets that they use? I want to get a white set I can bleach but that will last a long time.

[Scott549]

I have a cabin with a sunrise view from the bedroom. I have had  Coffee stains all over brand new white duvet covers many times. How long do your white duvet covers last? I swear I’m only getting two months out of them max! 

[Nina75]

not long...

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Traci1

Hi - it’s a cost of doing business and you can expect wear and tear to include blood on sheets. That said - we’ve never not been able to remove a blood stain nor any other stain. You just need to have on hand s variety of professional stain removers. Another way to look at this is, would you expect a hotel or guesthouse to write to you after your stay and ask you to pay for a books stain? Probably not is my guess. 

We we put away a small amount from each booking to cover replacement of small items: be it worn sheets, a broken glass or mug, etc

Good luck

[Danielle681]

Hi Gerry and Rashid,

That is a cool idea of setting aside a small amount from the payout. This only means hosts will have to slightly increase their fees to facilitate this. In the past, we have encountered lost tv remotes, soiled sheet sets, stained white towels, missing cutlery, broken wine and water glasses and more. Some cases the guests either informed us or left us money to cover the damages whilst others never said anything. In all cases, we have always absorbed the cost.

Many days we have had to soak items in Oxy/bleach and rub 2 or 3 times and stains won't remove. While we try to import in bulk certain items as it is very costly in our island for certain products, repeated stains etc keep showing up.

What we have come up with are gentle house signage, dark colored washcloths for make up etc and we continue to leave basic laundry and clean up amenities free of charge to our guest and remind them to replenish once completed. We found this to work 95% of the time.

I do think it is kind courtesy that if hosts go all out to ensure guests have everything they need, that guests inform hosts of spills and damage they make, the same way they call hosts at various hours if wanting to subscribe to another cable channel to watch a one time game or unable to find a light switch etc (we also invested in a generator and water tank so should the island experience outages our guests are covered)

We continue to research, upgrade, implement and maintain our product and services.

Truly appreciate what you guys do.

Happy hosting!

[Prachi7]

I am facing similar situation. A female guest left a huge stain (blood) on our sheets and comforter and also smaller stains in some other places. She did not bother to inform us about it but instead decided to take our fresh pair of sheets and comforter from under bed storage, without informing us and used them. Only when we checked with them, she told that she was on her periods and has stained the sheets. I see the stains are huge and dry so not sure how easily they'll come off. What should I do?

[Nina75]

SOFT SCRUB!

[Stanley66]

New sheets ruined by what I'm fairly positive is period blood. All over the sheet, both of them, even the pillow cases somehow. I have never seen anything like it, not in 10 years hosting in Tenerife. It's even on some of the towels. schmeers on the recently painted wall, sand everywhere. One of my neighbours called me to say he could hear load moaning and screems from the house, he was across the street from it...  In my opinion these type of guests need to stick to motel/hotel rooms, not be allowed to trash someone's home for a lowlow price a night..

[Nina75]

I have over 3000 Reservations on several sites, ive been hosting for 7yrs.

1. Do not use Expensive linens.
2. Use cheap white, Grey or patterned linens.
3. Use cheapest Linens possible but Cheap (nice) Quality.
4. Use Duvets.

Do not ask dirty sheet guests to replace sheets because they will usually give you a bad review. I always bite the bullet on stained sheets. Its not worth a bad review for a set of $20 sheets. (Same with makeup stained towels Bite the bullet just use cheaper towels). Chalk it up as a learning experience.

The most expensive linens seem to be a magnet for Blood and stains. I don't buy high quality linens anymore I buy them on sale and use average quality. The last time i bought a pair of Egyptian linens cost me $80/King Size (Target) stained after the 1st use. They are an off white so I could never fully get the Blood stains out. I went to the Goodwill bought a beautiful similar set never used for $20/King Size. My king size beds I typically use grey now or an off white, haven't been stained yet.

Patterned linens usually last the longest.

Cheap linens are throw away & easily replaced. Don't use Super cheap because sometimes super cheap linens have production issues and are not square.

Duvets are cheaper than comforters and are easier to wash.

I have about 40 beds total now, so some of these rules are not hard and fast because even though i don't like using white, if i see a set of white that is really cheap and of Excellent quality, Ill buy them. But I try to stick to colors that hide stains easily.

[Ann783]

I think it depends on the listing and how much wiggle room you have in the budget. Sometimes people are sick, heavy menstrual period etc. If I think that’s the case- I’ll eat it.

l have had sheets disappear- which I assume is someone trying to dodge a fee. In that case, it would be appropriate to charge.

[Bex9]

A tip for removing blood from sheets is sunlight dish soap - it works every time - if you have already made several attempts to wash it is unlikely to come out now.  I just had something that looked like hair dye that run through the pillow case and protector to the pillow. They are nice people and have stayed with me for a month so I didn't ask for damages - I  generally  I consider it the cost of doing business, I have 2 bedrooms and have 4 sets of sheets,  I always have spares so I don't get caught having to do last minute costly replacements.