What I've Learned After Six Weeks of Hosting

Wendy-and-Frank0
Level 10
Stonington, CT

What I've Learned After Six Weeks of Hosting

  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.
43 Replies 43
Em4
Level 10
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

@Emily140  #20 so funny.  really lovely house.  if not for the exterior you'd be forgiven for thinking your home is a NZ villa.

 

sorry i'm unable to offer advice re cleaning linen.  i hire mine from a commercial linen company who delivers freshly santised and pressed laundry and picks up used.  in this area most people nearly without exception use this service.

 

Em

🙂

@Em4Thanks. I'm wanting to look into this!  After a couple months of doing astounding amounts of laundry, which also offers no cost/tax deduction for my time and water and electricity.... I realize using a service may make more sense.  I imagine this is what most hosts do, expecially in area of high-cost water (as I am).  I highly recommend to new hosts to purchase sheets either bleachable or darker colors, buy 4 sets at once, all interchangeable and hire a service or drop off/pickup in town....!  Truly the cleaning and laundry is the workload that your friends do not understand when they think you are "just making money off your house."  I take a photo of the pile of clean sheets, pillow cases, shams, duvet cover, bath towels, hand towels, kitchen towels, placemats, linen napkins.  It's a mountain--for just one little cabin 🙂

Em4
Level 10
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

@Emily140  absolutely agree.  laundry is a massive task.  i prefer to be able to use my time to clean and sanitise every surface including door handles, remotes, phones etc, cleaning the ensuite and as wendy says...looking for hair.

 

but in my experience, limited though it is, a whole home has the most cleaning due to the kitchen. 

 

Em

🙂

@Em4, I sanitize light switches, too.  Ha ha ha

Em4
Level 10
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

@Wendy-and-Frank0  yes.  laughs.

 

Em

🙂

@Emily140, the "futon" is an IKEA Friheten sofa bed.  It actually looks really good. I moved into the room for a weekend so I could give it a test drive.  I slept surprisingly well, but you need queen-size sheets as the mattress is bigger than a full.  I also move the sofa 1/4 turn before making up the bed so that when people are laying on it, they face the flat-screen.

 

Laundry:  my favorite subject.

 

A squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid (less if you have a front-loading machine like I do), 1/4 cup 20 Mule Team Borax, wash everything in cold water, and use vinegar as a fabric softener.  EVERYTHING comes out.  I wash the pillows this way, too and the towels.

 

 

@Wendy-and-Frank0thanks.  I have the same issues with my futon.  I want it away from the walls when open, or it scuffs off the textured paint.  I've learned to be careful with this -- we need to remember people LEAN against the wall to read or watch TV...  My place is 100+ years old and walls in living room not built for leaning!  My futon is SUPER comfy to sleep on, it's from "Futon Shop" I believe.  Full size.  I bought it for my own friends/familyguests who will honor my instructions not to lean on wall.  So now I've just realized/decided I'm going to hide the info about futon until I put up some wainscoting on that wall that can support a leaner 🙂

Thanks for the Dawn dishwashing tip.  Will try.  Last week I bought my first bottle of "Shout" put it on the lip gloss (I assume since kinda pink) stains on my 600-ct cotton pima sateen sheets... but did absolutely nothing.  Maybe too late since I had washed and dried (baked in) 3-4 times already hoping for miracle.

Jodie11
Level 2
Brossard, Canada

Wendy, I love your list. Very proactive and host oriented. = )

After hosting for awhile now, I would add:

21) The price is the price and the offering is what it is. Don't negotiate. After all you do (see #1-20) and the high standard you set don't give in to people who want to "cut a different deal". They are high maintenance and are never satisfied. They rarely give good reviews.

 

Just my 2 cents - based on a hard learning curve. LOL

Quick question: did you get a handheld steamer or a full size one? Do you mind disclosing the brand if you like it?

 

Thank you and keep on doin' your magic!

     

@Jodie11, I never, ever, ever reduce my prices.

 

Neither BMW nor Mercedes do, and I am no Ford Pinto.

 

*wink*

Em4
Level 10
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

@Wendy-and-Frank0

@Jodie11

 

my pricing is the highest in this area and others follow once we're into the high season.  but i also have it high because i am competing with hotels, B&Bs, motels and other BNB's.  i can then adjust the price on the basis of the booking.com metric all hoteliers get access to.  we can see one anothers pricing.

 

but i aso agree with Jodie and I've written it elsewhere, at a certain price point the guests are mean. 

 

Em

🙂

@Jodie11,

 

I bought the McCulloch steamer from Amazon.  It's not hand held but it's very light even when it's full of water.  I subscribe to the company and every month I get new mopheads and new nylon brushes.

 

The nylon brushes are good for one or two uses so I get ten new ones every month.

 

The brass brushes rock.  My barbecue grills look brand new.  As I said, I always thought my house was clean until I got this.  I use it on patio furniture, too, where pressure washing can really mess up the teak.

 

Read the reviews on Amazon and really consider it.  The thing is a godsend.  I paid $138 for it and I use it daily.

Em4
Level 10
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

@Wendy-and-Frank0

@Jodie11

 

i bought my steam mop from off tv.  it has a triangular shaped head and while it is good for large open spaces that are not sealed timber (it srtips the layers of varnish) it is a pain in the ensuites but it is excellent in the kitchen and laundry.  i have a rug doctor for carpets all of which are steamed 2x before opening with the high use areas being steamed 1x a month while we're open, more if required.  i think a handheld steamer might be better for the ensuites.  i've also just noticed a robot mop.  has anyone used one?  i have the robot vacuum but its only really any good when the carpets are clean.  my vacuum is a stihl and while that is fine for large open spaces its bulky in the guest rooms. 

 

Em

🙂

@Em4,

 

I don't have carpets anywhere.  I think they're a ton of work but they're better at hiding dust.

Thanks Wendy for the recommendation. I am looking into a steamer - sounds like a good option (better than baking soda and scrub brush!).

 

Love the great tips!