Cleaning white linen and towels myself

[Krisy2]

My hubby and I rent out an entire cottage that is fully self contained through Airbnb,  it has 1 queen , 1 double and a sleepout, all linen and towels & tea towels  are supplied.  All linen and towels are white.     I wash everything myself, and the towels are all done in the drier with softner so are nice and soft.  Most times it's not a problem, but sometimes I get guests through who sleep in a lot of make-up,  or clean faces with the towels or washers or hand towels, I am struggling on these days to get stains out, if they come out at all...it takes up most of the day trying to get them all clean and dry.   I only charge a cleaning fee of $40 whether a guest stays one night or 2 weeks, and nightly fee is only $100, all ementities are included as well.   How do the big cleaning companies get all the linen clean?...is there a trick I'm missing?....I use a good quality washing powder, nappy san and bleach when it's really bad, and don't use hot water, I soak for an hr but many times I may as well throw them out.....please help, it's taking up way too much of my time....on tank water too, I have one large machine and one average sized drier.....guests get the best of everything but this is doing my head in.....I'm in SE Qld Australia.

[Helen3]

Life's too short to spend hours cleaning for $40.

Get darker towels and provide make up towels (ebay/Amazon). Make it clear that face towels shouldn't be used for make up removal.

[Jane550]

I’ve resorted to spraying exit mould at times....

[Dwina45]

I have had the same frustrations with guests using the towels to wipe off make up, change their car oil, polish their boots, or whatever it is that leaves clean new white towels soiled with black stains that wont come out! Lol.  After a string of these for a few weeks, I finally printed out photos of the soiled towels and put them in the front of my binder where they would have to see them, with a humorous request not to be one of those guests! Inside the binder, in the general instructions, I ask that linens and towels be used for clean bodies, and mention that make up removing towels, cotton balls, paper towels, cleaning towels, etc. are provided to use as appropriate).  It has worked wonders! And nobody has been offended. In fact, I had one guest apologize for her messy husband who soiled the towels, and we had a good laugh about how she "had tried not to be one of 'those guests'!"  LOL. She had already bought replacements for me! I think it helps to ask in advance and use humor, rather than pursed lips! 

[Dwina45]

PS I was really struggling with charging people for the linens and towels that were unusable due to stains, because I had been looking at it as cost of doing business, but when it was every cleaning, and brand new towels, I decided I would have to. Then I came up with the photo idea in my previous post, and thankfully the frequency of problems has dropped to the point where I can absorb the expense.