What I've Learned After Six Weeks of Hosting

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

1. I need to go the gym more often.
2. Buy enough perishables to last three days OR learn to bake, freeze, can, invent.
3. Flat paint makes every room look sparkling clean.
4. Bleach wipes are my new best friend.  Toilets no longer disgust me.
5. Block three days every month to do deep cleaning.
6. Underpromise and Overdeliver.
7. Nobody reads so highlight the "ugly" in your first message after they book.
8. Sofa beds are a pain in the a$$ to make and unmake.
9. Window screens clean up easily with vinegar and Dawn dishwashing soap sprayed on before hosing.
10. Eggs and bacon are the least expensive breakfast you can offer, by far! And guests love it!!!
11. Ibuprofen is a must-have.  Take two thirty minutes BEFORE it's time to scrub the tile.
12. Down comforters are luxurious as all get out, but I'm still smelling duck.  Thankfully, no one else is.
13. I always thought my house was clean until I bought a steam cleaner.
14. Get a playlist going on your iPod just for cleaning.
15. Vinegar and baking soda are all you need to clean, but never say no to bleach wipes for those toilet bowls.
16. Microfiber cloths pick up dust better than anything else in the world.
17. Air BNB hosts are my salvation.  Thank you (you know who you are) for being my buds.
18. Baking soda and vinegar in sink and shower drains after every guest lives is par for the course.
19. Bald men shed hair.  Don't ask!
20. Politics divide us.  Food unites us.  Serve up a charuterie board, a good glass of wine, and don't sweat the small stuff.

[Quinn-Martin0]

I am going to give this a try in the future.  Right now, I use Mr. Clean Multipurpose Cleaner with Febreeze and it leaves a spectacular scent while you're cleaning and shortly thereafter.

[Robert-And-Nancy0]

@Wendy-and-Frank0

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  So needed to read this!  Lately hosting has not been as much fun and after reading your post and having some chuckles it has prepared me for my next cleaning. 

[Lizzie]

It is so great to see your post @Wendy-and-Frank0, you have included some fantastic tips. 🙂 

I particular love you have created your own cleaning playlist. What a great idea, I think I will create one! Very intrigued to hear what's on it? (Perhaps some Queen when you are vacuuming?!) 🙂

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

@Lizzie, if I have to turn the room over for same-day check in, I go with salsa.  Nothing gets me moving like Latin music.  If it's deep-clean day, then I go with a lot of Barbra Streisand and Sade.  The slower tempo makes me move slower thereby allowing me to focus on the pesky details, like dusting the door frames.  There's gonna be a whole lotta salsa this summer!  😛

[Lizzie]

This is amazing @Wendy-and-Frank0 🙂

[Joel-and-Dawn0]

great post! love the cleaning tips 🙂

[Ann218]

Invest in the irobot auto vacuum! Worth every penny and cuts down the cleaning time! I drop it down as soon as I start cleaning and once I'm done, I pick it up and take off to the next place to clean! Best Airbnb investment yet!

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

@Ann218, My doggies ate the robot.

They thought it was a Baby Terminator.

😞

[Em4]

@Wendy-and-Frank0  great list.  can't agree with 11 although i am sure it is meant as a joke.

Em

🙂

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

@Em4, definitely a joke.  Ibuprofen is not part of my daily diet.  I still need my liver.  😉

[Em4]

@Wendy-and-Frank0  laughs  🙂

[Sue254]

That is all true and so hysterical! I'm just starting and I'm OCD on cleaning. Girls with long dark hair should shave their heads. Seriously haha I will use all your tricks! Thank you

[Em4]

@Sue254  laughing about cleaning and hair.  very funny comment.

Em

🙂

[Wendy-and-Frank0]

@Sue254, long dark hair you can SEE.  It's the BLONDES that make me cuckoo crazy as I'm never sure I got every last strand out.  I know unscrew the drain in the shower to add the baking soda/vinegar concoction.  It's nuts how blonde hair is so invisible to me until I pull that sucker out.  Nothing wrong with being OCD.  A lot gets accomplished when their a tad of obsession in the mix!  Happy Hosting!  And if I see bald-headed women walking around, I know they stayed at your place!  😉

[Emily140]

We're in the same training cycle @Wendy-and-Frank0.  I just started this in earnest in March.  Love your list and your attitude.  I feel the same way about my new job which is indeed 80% sanitation.  I have more questions about LAUNDRY lately than I have ever imagined wanting answered.  How to get lip gloss out of sheets?  And, um, other stains?  How long do you REALLY need to wash a towel that served only to dry off a clean person ("light" would seem adequate, no?) 

Fully second the hair observations.

20:  Do not take clean guest sheets out of the dryer while still in pajamas if you sleep with your dog/cat.

21:  Keep a backup door key!

22:  Do not give access code or key location information until the day of check-in.  People cancel....

23:  Pick one random nice unexpected thing to do for each guest and you'll really enjoy it (and theoretically so will they)

OMG, that futon!!

Cheers