Your cleaning tips and advice

[Stephanie]

Hello everyone,

Cleaning is an essential element of a host’s life and can really make a difference in whether a guest enjoys their stay or not. Here in the Community Center it’s one of those things we all have in common and is shown in the many great conversations providing tips and solutions: 

What are your cleaning tips? / Grout cleaning / How do you keep your home smelling fresh?

One of the tricky things when starting is to know how to calculate your cleaning fee, or charge one at all. Maybe you have a designated cleaner and so this provides a useful guide or you calculate it time/expenses. 

Do you have any cleaning tips or routines that help you to prepare your listing? Do you have a cleaning fee on your listing, if so how do you calculate this?

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Sheila584]

Kudos to you for not having  cleaning fee. I think that is absolutely stellar and very five star professional ....it speaks volumes . My hats off to someone with polished class !

[Pete69]

Sometimes you get used to seeing things and just overlook them as if they're not there. For example scuff marks accumulating on a door or cobwebs outside.

If you use reading glasses then be sure to wear them for your final inspection of bath and bedding before being done with cleanings. Hair can survive the wash and dry cycles.

At the end of my season I re grout parts of the shower that have become stained.

I leave at least a day between guests but usually there's about 4 or 5 weekdays between guests, so that gives me plenty of time to leave the windows open all day and night. I want NO smell to my guest suite. At the end of my season I steam clean the carpet.  

[Sarah977]

@Pete69  Very true about wearing one's reading glasses when cleaning or for final inspection. Many of us are of an age where our vision isn't as sharp as it used to be. A friend who hosts employs her 20 year-old son to help her clean. As well as doing some areas himself, he'll inspect the places she's already done. His sharp young eyes have often caught things she simply didn't see, like a hair stuck to a shower wall, or some dust in the corner of a bookshelf.

[John47]

@Stephanie 
Yes, I do charge a cleaning fee but it's the exact amount that my hired cleaning service charges to do the bulk of the cleaning and as my rentals are almost always by the week, doesn't add that much to total. Varies by which cottage as different rates for different sized units but only $80 max. However, now due to the new MA STR tax, to avoid guests (and almost all of mine are regulars and/or non-Airbnb) being charged tax on the cleaning, they will pay them directly. 

As to cleaning tips:
Since all my units have kitchens, i try and check under the stove and refrigerator esp after guests with kids who tend to drop things on floor that go under those appliances. I only operate during summer so before and after season, I prop up or move both out of way to get floor cleaned under them. I use a two foot section of 1" flexible drain hose as an attachment to vac to get into areas like this where normal vac nozzle won't reach or fit.

It may not be possible for normal turnovers but a bright LED flashlight in a totally dark room will show up dust and dirt in places that aren't seen in lighted conditions. I use this technique in hotel rooms to see how ell they have been cleaned.

[David3267]

Cleaning fees are a useful way of covering cleaning costs for short term bookings, £30 over two nights = £15 per night, over 6 nights? Significantly less!

[Kira32]

Hi @Stephanie  Rubbing alcohol is my best friend!

I spray it on the matrass, clean the doorknobs, spray it on the toilet seat, refresh the inside of washing machine, mirrors etc..

[Joanne--Jo-Jo-0]

I clean like I’m the guest...lol I’m fussy and I often see things others might miss in the clean up......deep cleaning is done after every third guest or extended stays...as I have a home not just a room...so baseboards,,behind appliances  etc

I try my best to make it feel fresh and inviting as I would want it to be...I have even stayed over every so often to make sure I experience what my guests do. I feel that guests are more respective of the space when it shows I’m a neat freak..lol,,,happy cleaning my fellow cohosts!!!

[Lauren-And-Rudy0]

We stayed in a guesthouse in California with the kids and grandchildren. There were hairs in the tub, black hairs  all through the beautiful white couch - It impressed upon me to do a triple hair check in All drains!  I wipe first with cleanser and paper towel,  then with a moist soft white rag and polish rag, then a final paper towel  test wipe to be sure no debris or hair left.  
I spray wipe with a soft rag and a water diluted H2O2 ( hydrogen peroxide  mix )

everything hands touch.  Doorknobs, light switches, drawer handles, taps.  They use it in hospitals for antibacterial  protection and I swear by it!  We used it when I used to go on medical missions in Haiti  to clean our door handles , work surfaces, etc. And I swear it made a difference to our team’s health.  Love the lint roller idea as a litmus test for the furniture!  And yes! I have a basket of rags- towel for wet, and flannel for polish/dry!   It is a healthy workout!  

[Sarah977]

@Lauren-And-Rudy0  I have a friend who travelled extensively in India many years ago. She travelled with a spray bottle of Dettol (antibacterial)  in her purse, whipped it out and sprayed every door knob, bus rail, anything public before she touched it. She said she was the only traveller she met in India who never got sick.

Door knobs, light switches, remotes and phones can harbor more bacteria than a toilet seat.

I also wipe down everything in the guest space, like faucet handles, light switches, doorknobs, etc. with anti-bacterial wipes, but hydrogen peroxide on a cloth would do just as well.

[Bonnie-and-Bill1]

We do all the cleaning ourselves and don’t charge a cleaning fee as it just adds too much to the overall cost. Our listing is a bit higher than others in our area but, as I state in my listing, our bottom line cost is generally LESS than others because of no cleaning fee. I do say, in my house info sheet under “check out”, We do not charge a cleaning fee, so we do appreciate you cleaning up as best you can by washing and putting away your dishes, cleaning the coffee pot, throwing the trash out (right outside the door, across the hall) and wiping down the kitchen and bathroom areas. Thank you for helping us keep our costs down for you & future guests. 
No one has ever complained about that and almost every single guest has complied. It just makes our cleaning go a bit faster. 

We use cleaning products that kill the germs and make everything smell fresh and clean. Just before we leave, I spray the room with a lavender, essential oil spray to make our studio condo smell inviting and relaxing. I also have a linen spray that I spray on the bed linens that creates a welcoming, relaxing ambience. 

[Sarah977]

@Bonnie-and-Bill1  Be careful about using scents, they are very subjectively appreciated. Just because you like the smell of something, doesn't mean others do, it's not some universal thing.

I happen to hate the smell of lavender, other hosts on the forum have said they do as well, and one of my guests told me she also couldn't stand it.

So if I arrived to a place that smelled of lavender, or the bedding did, it wouldn't be inviting or relaxing to me at all- I would have a hard time wanting to stay there.

It's really best to keep your Airbnb as scent-free as possible. That includes cleaning products which you think make it smell "fresh and clean". The smell of fresh and clean is like country air, not cleaning products, dryer sheets and scents.

[Bonnie-and-Bill1]

Thanks for the tip! 

[Ashley327]

I consistently get "sparkling clean" reviews and make cleanliness the top priority when hosting. We host our home when we are out of town so we don't rent more than 15 days a year, but I have our cleaning lady do a deep clean before each guest. After the deep clean, I inspect the towels, sheets, pillow cases, and showers to make sure there is no hair left behind. We remove all personal products from the showers and bathrooms. We also make sure to clean the coffee pot, refrigerator, and microwave. When I have stayed in other Airbnbs, people leave behind their shampoo in the shower or don't mop the floors so their dog hair is all over the place. These details are important and will make the guest's stay more comfortable. I also think the cleaning fee correlates with expectations. The higher the cleaning fee the higher the expectation is for a clean house.

[Cathryn27]

Our 50 year-old Northern California 2 Bedroom 2 Bath cabin has 3 levels and takes 15 hours to clean, including outside (2 decks), furniture and windows. It’s an A-frame with a lot of glass.  It’s dog friendly.  We decorated on a ‘shoe string’ budget. My tips:

1. Vacuum twice - once before cleaning, then after. Takes an extra 15 minutes. Keeps human/pet hair, pine needles and other dirt from ‘traveling’ to other rooms once I start cleaning.  I also vacuum the bathrooms, including tub and shower before cleaning - even still, I’ll find a hair or 2 after scouring. 

2.  Kitchen - Every dish, silverware, pot/pan, all cutting knives and appliance is inspected. Most guests are very clean - but I always end up hand washing many items. Water spots, coffee/tea rings, tiny grease smears, fingerprints...  Bar Keepers Friend scouring powder does an amazing job on the stainless steel pots and pans, especially on the interior discoloring that occurs when they’re put in the dishwasher. The kitchen takes more time than any other room. 

A comment about stainless steel appliances: I had no idea how labor intensive they’d be to keep spotless.  If I had it do all over again, I’d have chosen a matte finish. Trends are just that: trends. 

3.  Bedrooms - Guests are asked not to strip the beds.  This allows me to run the lint roller over the sheets and bedding to capture hair before washing.  If the sheets and pillowcases are soiled, I can immediately spot treat with Oxyclean spray (works better than Shout).  This saves handling the bedding twice.  Duvets get the sniff test.  Typically they’re washed every other guest.  Pressing each duvet and shams takes 20-30 minutes.  

If I don’t wash the duvet, I inspect with the LED flashlight (Amazon $12), then steam iron them on the bed - 5-7 minutes.  They’re labor intensive, but are more easily washed/dried than bedspreads or quilts.

4.  Bathrooms - Old cotton absorbent terry towels or microfiber cloths for mirrors and glass doors. Windex spray takes care of the water spots if I don’t have time to scour the glass doors.  An old toothbrush around faucets/handles helps keep water mineral build-up at bay.  A stack of cleaning towels kept under the sink always comes in handy.  

5.  All furniture receives a lint roller (yes, I have a case of replacement sheet rolls). The vacuum doesn’t catch all the hair, especially dog hair.  Every month the couches and chairs are rubbed with white damp terry towels - they always come away grey. This helps extend the fabric life of the great buys I got from Craig’s List and thrift stores. 

6.  Pet urine - I go over corners, furniture and drapes with LED light and do the sniff test.  I treat ‘markings’ with Nature’s Miracle.  This aspect of hosting has been challenging because people don’t see what their dog has done - or they don’t tell me (I do ask them to, explaining that there won’t be an extra cleaning charge, but no one ever volunteers information...).  

Pet hair mitigation:  I also supply a basket sheets to put over the furniture guests allow their dog on.  The sheet colors complement the room colors. Guests appreciate this.

[Janine194]

I do charge a cleaning fee, however after the cleaning service leaves I go over most chrome or high point areas with a micro fibre cloth.

We are on a kite surfing beach spot, so beach sand is a big problem in the shower especially.  So we have created an outdoor shower area in the garden for kites and wetsuit.  The kiter can hose down suit outside rather than taking off in to the shower.  This made a world of difference - beach sand that takes forever to get out