To clean or not to clean!

[Robin4]

While I do not justify exorbitant cleaning fees, I have come to the realisation through, not just being here on the Airbnb CC but, on other sites I am active with, many guests are unhappy with having to pay a 'cleaning fee' and don't realise why they have to!

I host through Airbnb and I have a $15 per guest stay cleaning fee. As you all know that is not a per night fee it is a once only fee for the duration of the stay. I would say to many guests 'Would you consider that ridiculously high?' But some guests consider that even that fee should not be charged!

The second thing is, there is a difference, hosts don’t expect guests to clean the property, they just don’t want the guest to walk out and leave it like a pig-sty! No host expects a guest to prepare for the next reservation to arrive.

We don’t expect you to wipe down the walls, the counter-tops, attend to those coffee cup rings on the bedside and occasional tables, checking for insects and spider webs.

We don’t expect you to strip the bed and remove those blood, alcohol or makeup stains from the linens, put them through the washing machine, dry them and iron ready for a future guest.

We don’t expect you to wash the towels and provide new face-washers to replace those that were destroyed by nail polish remover, acne treatment cream and fake tan lotion.

We don’t expect you to remake the bed with fresh linens and put out a new set of towels and face washers.

We don’t expect you to vacuum the carpets, rugs and steam mop the floors.

We don’t expect you to clean the toilet, shower alcove, sinks and taps.

We don’t expect that you will wash, dry and put away the dishes, cutlery, saucepans and glassware that you have used.

We don’t expect you to restock the fridge with a cheese plate, milk, eggs and bacon, fruit juice, a beer and a cider and water from the re-stock facilities.

We don’t expect you to test that the TV, the fridge, the hot water, the DVD player, the air conditioning filter, the washing machine, the smoke alarm, the microwave and hotplate, the electric blankets are all working!

This is what we charge a cleaning fee for! To return the property to the state which the guest enters it in.

We just expect you will put your rubbish in the bin, pick up those used nappies and condoms that were left under the bed and dispose of.

Put furniture back the way you found it.

Leave the property in a relatively tidy state.

That’s all we expect!

There are certain overheads that must be covered in order to provide a listing in the first place.

There is a property mortgage to be covered, insurances, council rates and permits, maintenance, breakages, gardening, electricity and gas, water the constant supply of condiments……..This is what you pay for in the listing amount.

It is most unfortunate that many guests do not seem to be able to differentiate between the two!!

The listing amount covers the cost of supplying the property. The cleaning fee covers the cost of continuing to offer it to guests!

Cheers…..Rob

[Laura2592]

I was on a different forum for travel online and there was bitter bitter complaining about the extra "cleaning fee" charged on Airbnb. The upshot was that there are a lot of fees on ABB and guests may think they are paying a low rate until they go to reserve and the rate actually might even double with all the add ons. We have a neighbor who has a cleaning service but more often than not we go behind her and re-clean certain things between guests. We actually pet sit for her for free so its more of a trade of goods rather than a true business arrangement. We try to keep our fees very low. 

At my primary home I have a cleaning service every two weeks. I have been through 3 different services  trying to find a good one and pay upwards of $120 per clean. I can tell you right now that I would never hire any of these cleaners for our Airbnb. Not only are they just doing basics like dusting and running the vacuum, they charge extra for laundry, cleaning stoves and fridges and all the other stuff we do for turn over. So we have a "pro" but we do at least as much cleaning as she does. 

So I have not found a real solution. We are doing a price increase at the beginning of the year but will not be increasing our cleaning fee. I wish we could vary it for the type of stay-- more guests, more pets generally means more to clean. 

[Rowena29]

I could be wrong @Laura2592 , but I think things have got better - re how guests perceive the cleaning fee - since airbnb changed the way they show the total price.  NOW  when you enter the dates and the number of guests, the results show the total price, including any cleaning fee and the service fee.  whereas a year or so ago when I was searching myself, entered the dates and guests, found a place, yep can afford that, went to book - another 60 for cleaning and another 40 in service fees when pay time came.  It peeved ME off, and I'm sure other guests too.    Now it think the search is a lot more user friendly and much less likely to cause angst. 

I'm so glad to hear you say that you find cleaning expensive and time consuming. After reading some of these posts I was beginning to think there was something wrong with how long it takes me to clean and change over.  And like you I have found that professional cleaners mostly just do a cursory vaccum and dust (and charge a fortune) - nothing like good enough for guests. Maybe it's ok if you've got a modern place all modular, with carpets  - but an older house wooden floors which have to be vaccuumed AND mopped,  heaps of glass, God I work like a navvy.  Much harder than I do in my own home which is starting to look  positively squalid due to neglect!

[Jenny1110]

I completely agree with the comments made

i have had furniture moved and not returned to original place

mattresses moved from beds then just stood against walls and left

a whole Fortnight of washing up left on the work surfaces to be cleaned up 

filthy oven and hob left

 condoms left in drawers, under bed and In toilet that won’t flush away

sanitary products left in bins in bedroom 

bed linen covered in makeup and coffee, all ruined

i am the cleaner, looking after the property 

it takes 4 hours to thoroughly do a 2 bed 1 bathroom 

including windows 

[Rowena29]

@Jenny1110

I know I"m preaching to the converted, but I just had to get our place ready for 5 guests in 3 hours after 8 guests staying 2 weeks checked out ( shouldn't have happened = long story - an airbnbn glitch)

The previous guests left everything pretty tidy considereing there were 9 of them and they' been there a forntight. Hell, they're the only guests so far to properly clean the BBQ.  I had to get 3 bedrooms ready.

It took THREE of us literally running flat out to the point I thought I might vomit, for the full 3 hours to get the place to what I would consider the bare minimum. No windows or glass cleaned. I didn't have time to check the soap dispensers or the shampoos etc to see if there was enough in them.  That's 9 hours of solid work, and I wasn't really very happy with the state of the house.  I still had to bring home 6 -7 full loads of washing which will take at least another 3 -4 hours.

I wish the fairy that can clean  modest houses  in 2 hours for $50 outlay would come to my area.

[Jenny1110]

I think we both know, if someone is cleaning a modest house in 2 hours then it’s a poor clean

i usually have to take all washing home as well

now because of Covid-19 the cleaning is far more intense

[Robin4]

@Jenny1110 

Jenny I find I do have to disagree with you to a certain extent about the cleaning regime.

I have always cleaned and disinfected everything a guest could have come into contact with ever since I have been hosting.....it hasn't taken Covid-19 to make me lift my game.

My problem is I host in a 60 year old property in an area that originally used to be market gardens. It's great soil for growing things but it's lousy for building on. Because of this I am all the time chasing cracks in walls and surface joints. You can't make a new building out of an old one and that is half the charm of the listing, it's library of old musty smelling books, it's lots of old things in an old building. The issue is, it does not have to just be clean, it has to be seen to be clean, I have to go that extra yard to convince guests that the property has had a good and thorough clean. There can be no such thing as a fingerprint on taps, chrome-work and glassware.......they have to be spotless. Vacuuming under an electric bed is a pain in the rear-end with all the electrical equipment that is under there but, by God, the one time I didn't do it, the guest would find a sock or a condom or at least fluff! I have to be thorough!

So about the only concession I have made to the coronavirus is, I now wear disposable gloves and I am a bit more liberal with the disinfectant.

It does take me around 3 hours to do a cottage turnaround by the time I take into account washing, ironing and restocking, and at this stage I have 15 bookings for this month of April.....it's a bloody lot of work! 

Cheers.......Rob

[Jenny1110]

@Robin4 

i have always cleaned meticulously 

Now as part of the five step cleaning regime it is more intensified 

after each stay, curtains come down , soft furniture is all steam cleaned all China is washed cupboards cleaned as normal but all of it. 

The hardest thing to get through to people is you don’t need a vast array of products to clean

i use hot soapy water to start followed by a sanitizer left to air dry to finish

using separate coloured cloths and leaving guests the same 

so red for loo and handle, red white for all else in bathroom

blue is general and green for the kitchen

its up to them if they use this system. 

Because I am a professional cleaner I use just two products that is all that’s required containing Lysol 

I wear full PPE on entry and change gloves between rooms and then as required 

we have now asked guests to only use what we provide and ask for more when needed

Like you cleaning is non stop and we are booked up all year including Xmas and new year 

Glad your busy too

Jenny

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jenny1110 Without telling anyone Airbnb has updated the cleaning protocols. You don't have to do, for example, the curtains anymore unless they are dirty.

[Jenny1110]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

They will be after a stay of 4 months

thanks

Jenny 

[Sarah977]

@Jenny1110  You don't need to take the curtains down and wash them

 You don't need to rewash dishes that haven't been used. You don't need to steam clean all the soft furnishings. They have changed the required protocol. You can stop spraying Lysol around, which is a health hazard in itself. You are spending a lot of time doing unnecessary things.

[Jenny1110]

@Sarah977 

I understand your theory in not now needing to do these things

however I am along with my husband recovering from COVID-19 

we were very ill for 3 months, and actually consider ourselves lucky to have survived

i don’t take any risks whatsoever with the cleaning now. 

I only use a Lysol based product for final end of clean, the only other product used is washing up liquid which is first clean with hot soapy water. 
our guests have been in house retrospectively 4 months each, the first couple did no cleaning whatsoever, the house was absolutely chocking in dust cobwebs and the floors were horrible 
as for the family in now, we will see, but I won’t hold my breath

jenny 

[Robin4]

@Jenny1110 

Jenny I am sorry that you both got bitten by the Covid bug and I guess if there is a positive you have come out the other side and hopefully now have immunity.

I agree with all you are saying, you can never be too clean but, the frustration for us is.....there is no Covid here! There has not been one active case of Covid in the community in my state of South Australia since November 23rd last year, there has not been one death in the past year and only 4 deaths altogether. 

The risk of catching Covid-19 here is not non-existent....but by God it's close to it.

We are well covered with disinfecting stations at the entrance to all public places of business, transport and entertainment along with QR codes, and manual check-in, and anyone entering a supermarket, hardware or place where more than 5 people could come in contact with each other are required to check-in by an adjacent security guard either via QR code or page written registry. 

If there were to be an outbreak in the community, which each city has had at times, contact tracers can shut it down within a couple of days and life goes back to normal.

There is an infinitely higher chance of catching the flue than catching Covid-19.

But Airbnb are lumping us in with the rest of the world  and insist we treat each guest as a potential carrier. It complicates our cleaning regime un-necessarily. I am as busy as a one armed paper hanger as it is. I won't get one night off this month ........

I partially get around it by now having 8 entire sets of bed linens and 6 towel sets which I use on a rotation basis allowing for a week between washing and next use,  and these linens are stored in the main house, not in the listing so the guest does not have access to them. All glasses, crockery and cooking utensils are dishwasher cleaned and I have a range of good disinfecting products to tackle air, surfaces and fabrics. But it is a lot of work, particularly with the number of one nighters I get. 

My other ace up the sleeve, I have had my first Covid jab 2 weeks ago!

Cheers........Rob

[Trude0]

I clean the guest house myself, I like doing it, and I want to make sure the cleaning is done properly (but I have a cleaner who cleans my own house...😂). My fee is approx. $ 50, for a tinyhouse with bedroom, living room, full bathroom and kitchenette - sleeps 4.

I used to include cleaning in the per night fee, but started to add a fee (reducing the per night fee), because it made sense to me to charge a bit more per night for guests staying 2 nights, vs for those staying 5-6 nights. Cleaning takes approximately the same time.

As far as I can see, the options we have with Airbnb, are discounts in % for stays longer than 1 week, and then longer than 1 month - or is there also an option for us to set the discount terms we like? For instance, can I choose to discount from 4 nights?

[Sarah_Matthew0]

We charge one price and that’s it, in my experience guests don’t want hidden costs and it can be confusing, we clean the house ourselves and expect it to be left as it’s found. Generally it  takes 2 people 1.5 hours, laundry takes longer especially in the Winter.

[Jo620]

Hi Sarah ,

I'm new to Airbnb and i have just covered my costs of my cleaning products .I often see fee for cleaning and I respect this when i'm visiting .This will my very first time i will be hosting so wish me well.

Jo