What are your cleaning tips?

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

What are your cleaning tips?

Cleanliness Tips

 

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope you are all good. 🙂

 

The cleaning process is something that all hosts go through, either by looking after it yourself or managing a person/company to take care of it. 

 

A few months ago, @Sandra126 created a great thread on ways to clean grouting, which led to a more general topic on how to remove stains, where many of you shared fantastic tips. With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to start a new discussion where we can share tips with each other on how you prepare your listing ready to receive your guests. 

 

How do you prepare your bathroom, shower, floors/carpets and towels/linens ready to receive your guests? Do you do it yourself or you use a cleaning service? Are there any special details you always make sure are ready? Do you normally have quite a tight turnaround to get your listing ready for your next guest?

 

Please share your tips below and I looking forward to hearing your responses. 🙂

 

Thanks,

 

Lizzie


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78 Replies 78

Quick turnarounds often here, and like @Andrea9, I want guests to feel they are the first to use the space. Bit unique in that I have to carry all cleaning supplies including water and mop, and all replacement supplies, including firewood, one kilometre on a footpath. Don't feel sorry for me for one minute. It is an amazing trail! But my trick is to always have a compartmentalized bag and bucket ready to go in order to save time and 2km round trips up and down the path. If your situation is similar, you might try that. Thanks, @Lizzie for including me here, and thanks @Andrea9 and @Alice-and-Jeff0 for the tips!

We typically have about 2-4 hours to turn over our space from guest to guest.  Making sure to have a routine is the only way to make sure things don't get missed.  

Cleaning, for me, starts with preparation.  You must have the cleaners, detergents, rags and tools on hand before you even think about cleaning.  Buy and replace mop heads and brooms frequently.  Don't forget the little things like tissues and garbage can liners.  Without the proper cleaning items, the space will never properly get completed in time.   

After a guest checks out, the first thing we do after a quick inventory, is strip the bed and gather the towels and bathmats.  They take the longest to process. We get those going in the washer with detergent, bleach and softner.  We open the drapes and pull up the shades.  Guests almost always leave these drawn. 

Then we pull back the shower curtain and spray down the tub with soap scum remover.  Then toilet bowl cleaner around the toilet bowl.  Did you know if toilet bowl cleaner sits for 5 minutes it santizes as well as cleans?  We wipe down the shower and run the water to make sure the drain isn't in need of hair removal.  Then we dry the shower and check for hair stuck on the liner.  We  fill the soap, shampoo and conditioner and place them back in the shower caddy.  

The sink area is next. After removing the soap dispenser, hand sanitizer, and dixie cups, spray the mirror first so any falling window cleaner lands on the counter. Then we spray the entire area with tub and tile cleaner, scrub the sink, and wipe all the flat areas.  With fresh paper towel, I wipe the mirror and use the collected windex to wipe all the stainless steel in the shower and sink.  This eliminates water spots that, while harmless, make guests think things aren't clean. Everything goes back to it's place and filled if necessary. Full somehow makes the guest think things are cleaner, like they weren't forgotten and the room was attended to.  

The toilet is next with a spray of all the flat areas.  Don't forget those footers if you have them or the front of the bowl.  Men, unfortunately miss, and women's hair likes to collect on the porcelain next to the floor.  Mostly, you are wiping up dust.  Scrub the bowl and flush.  We top it off with a quick spray of "poo-pourri" into the bowl so when the first guest goes, they get a quick whiff of citrus, not towel bowl cleaner and we don't get a whiff of whatever they do on the toliet after a long day of travel.  Last but not least, we double check the basket of extra toiletries we've provided for things that have been used or taken.  People use the razors and toothpaste most often.

The bedroom is next, spraying and wiping the dresser, desk, bedside table and the fireplace mantle.  This is where people set random things that leave little rings, women blow off their makeup brushes flinging bits of eyeshadow and blush, and fingerprints mark up the glass very easily.  We only clean the mirror as needed and dust once a week.  We deep clean the ledges and edges about once a month to keep the marks, dust and debris to a minimum.  Don't forget to wipe that desk chair seat - it can get pretty dirty.  We organize the basket of local information to make sure things are tidy and replace items that went missing.  

We have several sets of sheets and blankets, so if we have time, we'll dry the ones in the washer, if not, new sheets are put on the bed and the bed remade.  We remove and wash the mattress pad, pillow covers, and shower curtains once a month and run everything through the washer in the Sanitize cycle.  Much to the chagrin of some, we do not wash the bedspread or extra coverlets for every guest.  Blast me if you must, but hotels don't either.  We provide both a top and bottom sheet, 4 fresh pillow cases, and fresh blanket for every guest.  The bedspread and extra coverlet get washed weekly. 

Twice or three times a year we take all items out from under the bed and do a deep clean of that space.  Mostly to rid the space of dust bunnies.  At that time we will wash or dry clean whichever little blanket we have thrown on the uphostered chair as well as surface wash the chair itself.  We will also surface wash the hope chest top.  Spot cleaning is done as needed of course.  

Once the bed is remade, we dry mop the bath and bedroom.  We find that a dry mop does a better job of picking up women's long hair than a regular broom.  Twice a week we wash the hardwood floors with Murphy's Oil Soap depending on guest usage, if it's been raining or we noticed the guests have been running around the house without shoes.  We provide slippers in the winter months only, and if they were used, we would have added them to the laundry with the towels to be washed and dried.  

The final touches come now.

We put out chocolates for the guests.  Typically one per person per night for their stay.  We buy Ghirardelli Squares,  Godiva Truffles, or Lindor Truffles mostly since these have a bit of "luxury" to them and are individually wrapped. We put the key with the chocolates so it and they won't be missed.  

We set out the clean slippers if needed.

We hang fresh towels on the bathroom bar and fold and extra set if needed and place them in the room.  We give 2 bath towels, 1 hand towel, and 1 wash cloth per guest.  Then I create a toilet paper origami. This allows me to be a little creative.  Our guests just love the Bow, the Magnolia, or the Flower pot with fresh flowers/herbs.  

We put a fresh garbage bag in the bathroom can. I love the scented "ruffies" you can get at Target.  The 4 gallon is a perfect size and keeps that can from ever needing to be washed out.  Plus, then I don't have to look at whatever was thrown in there.  Close it up and toss it.  I know, it's not very environmental. 

The clean and dry robe is hung on it's bathroom hook. 

A clean and fresh bath mat is laid last.  

Then I go to the alarm pad and set their alarm code.  On the entry table, I light a fresh smelling candle.  We leave the lights on in the room to make it feel warm and inviting for when the guests arrive.  Light and bright screams clean! By this time, at a minimum, we're ready for our next guests. If the kitchen needs attention, then that would be the next stop but we'll greet a guest even if there are dishes in the sink.  Their dedicated space is clean and ready for their use.  

Whew.  It's time to do something more fun.   

Yikes, you must mean a different type of candle than one with a flame :-)?  Yes

Nope, I light a candle with a wick and flame.  One of us is always home when a guest arrives.  If I finish cleaning very early, I will light the candle about a 1/2 hour to an hour ahead.  We cook in our home, alot, and curry, onions, fish, grilled meat, etc. are so pungent, that a little "whiff" of something clean when the guest arrives masks last night's dinner.  Plus, I have no idea before a guest arrives if they have an aversion to some smell, so I try to make it as neutral as possible.  

@Alice-and-Jeff0

 

When you say you "light a candle with a wick and flame.... that a little "whiff" of something clean when the guest arrives masks last night's dinner" it sounds like you mean a normal unscented candle? I have never heard of this, so it's intriguing. I don't like fake smells like most chemical air fresheners or scented candles and hold my breath in close vicinity of those terribly overwhelming potpourri and soap shops. I'm not allergic, it just seems something in my brain can't handle them, putting them on par with sharp chemical smells. 

So if a normal candle does the trick, that would be amazing!

Yes, the lightest candle or unscented candles can reduce unwanted odors in the air.  People lit matches in bathrooms  to obscure the smells that indoor plumbling couldn't eliminate fast enough.  

Ah yes, the lighted matches! I always thought it was the smell of match sulpher and burning wood smell that did the trick to mask the bathroom smells. Thanks Alice, I now have new appreciation for the humble candle!

 

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

marypoppins.jpg

 

🙂

Kim-and-Jen0
Level 10
Oslo, Norway

Hi @Lizzie

 

We have no special tips to clean the house, just we try keep the room simple, minimalist yet practical, no carpet/decoration/too much stuff so it doesnt collect dust. It makes the room easy to clean, look neat & tidy too. Same with the bathroom. Basically practical stuff that can be use by the guests.

 

We always make sure there is no smell linger in the room and the linen is spotless. We dont agree to use bleach to clean the sheets but if there are stain we just put a drop on the stain area before we wash it. We also make sure stacks of clean linens and towels always ready. 

 

We love nice and nice smells linen/towels, sometimes we use softner, but i have some tricks to keep my linen/towels smell good. We use dry tea leaves (from the tea bags), mix it with lavender essential oil in a small glass jar and keep it inside the drawers where we put the linen/towels so it has some nice smells. We also use soap bars (new still with the package) and put it in between linen/towels, so the linen/towels have nice smells. Thats maybe something to share. 

 

😄

Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

The largest washing machine I could find for domestic use that includes a short programme on high temperature.  No need for any chemicals to meet hygienic measures and a load is done in an hour and a bit.  Also handy for doing the duvets and mattress topper covers when needed. 

The toilet paper has to be folded JUST right!Our 2 bedroom house takes about 1 1/2 hours while our 3 bedroom takes almost three hours for a single person to clean to our satisfaction. Like other hosts have mentioned we go by the "first in" rule- Every guest should feel like they are the first person in the house. Everything filled to the top and everything in its rightful place at its specific angle. We rarely ever get lower than 5 stars for cleanliness-- and no host should ever accept anything less. Cleanliness is easy to do and sets the tone for the rest of the guest's stay.

 

As for tips and suggestions? I don't know. I saw this topic with gladness hoping somone could tell me how to spend less time cleaning, but it seems we are all doing the same thing!

@Tim-and-Holly0@Wendy-and-Frank0 

 

Whew...SO glad to know I'm not the only one who does toilet paper origami.

 

Looks like y'all have covered the cleaning thing well.

 

Even being a fanatical clean freak, I've noticed with the amount of traffic, everyone leaves a little something behind, including perfume, soap, shampoo, body odors that go in the air and are eventually absorb into surfaces that aren't scrubbed or wiped everyday. (rugs, curtains, upholstery etc.) 

 

My only addition to this thread is that we use a product called Bac-A-Zap. We are, and many guests are sensitve to odors of any kind. It is a non-toxic spray that uses microorganisms to devour bacteria that cause odors. It isn’t a cover-up and the spray’s smell is mildly pleasant and minimal when its wet. then goes to neutral once the offending bacteria is eaten up when it dries with no residue

 

As a former marathon travelers, we can smell fabreeze (or the hotel equivalant) a mile away, and it makes us cringe---reminds us of dirty hotel rooms.

Cormac0
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

@Lizzie

 

The only additional things I do apart from a deep clean between hosting.

 

1. I request the guest to leave their towels in the washing machine used and unused. (no wet towels left on beds or floors)

 

2. I have two spare mattress protectors to hot swop in the case of unpleasant accidents.

 

3. I record guest utility usage by reading the meters one hour before check-in (I turn the heat one hour before guests arrive) and checkout (after, I wash the towels at 95c, on average a wash uses 100liters of water this might surprise @Jeet0)

 

4. Bed linen immediately sent to laundry.

 

5. Windows cleaned inside and out.

 

I think minimalist is the best way to go, if you want to attract Tourist rather than house sitters, less of everything to do really!

 

It takes me five hours to clean my apartment to the standard that is required, now that I have ingaged a cleaner I can look the person in the eye and say its good, bad or indifferant.

 

 

Hotel clean and good beds is my mantra.

 

Regards

Cormac

 

The Explorer's Club Krakow III

The Explorer's Club Krakow VIII I've added a listing  

 

 

 

 

One other thing that we do is vacuum last and on the way out the door. That way there are no footprints on any carpet.

I do this too, and I make a point of having everything straight and ready in the room before I vacuum, and then I do my best not to enter the room after vacuuming. There's just something about vacuum cleaner marks in the carpet that I think sends a signal that the room is clean.

 

Jamie