Taking out garbage between ~every~ guest?

[Sydney150]

I have a lot of guests who only stay one or two nights (private bedroom and bathroom). Most of the time there is little to nothing in the garbage cans. Maybe a napkin or tissue. Do you think I should be dumping the garbage bags out between every single guest no matter how little garbage there is? I know I don't have to throw away the bag every single time and I can dump their garbage into one of my other cans. But is that even needed? Do you think guests would feel my space was not cleaned properly if they could see a  napkin or tissue in the garage bins? I feel like it should only be as needed, meaning something unpleasant or offensive to look at, something that smells, or more than 1/3 or so full. Let me know what you guys do. 

[Sarah977]

@Sydney150  Absolutely you have to present new guests with completely empty garbage bins. It could make the difference between a 5*review and a 4*, with markdown for cleanliness. And I beg to differ- a used tissue someone blew their nose in is unpleasant and offensive for the next guest to spot.

The thing about guests is that if something catches their eye that annoys them, they can start looking around and feel critical about other things they might not otherwise notice or normally care about. So a few tissues in the garbage can left over from another guest can set them on a quest, looking for some stray hair or a crumb you might have missed.

As I hate creating plastic garbage, the only bin I put a bag in is the kitchen bin. The others I just wash out or wipe with a bleach or Lysol wipe if it's basically clean.

[Sydney150]

Thanks that's a good point! So far I have been doing exactly that but it sometimes feels futile to carry the bedroom and bathroom bins down when there's so little in them. I don't personally find that disturbing as guest in hotels/Airbnb's but had a feeling I was in the minority so I am glad I confirmed here.

[Sarah977]

@Sydney150  Well, I have an upstairs private room listing, too, and yes, sometimes there's little in the bins, but more than you get, because I have a 3 night minimum. But I make garbage when I clean, too. Used paper towels from cleaning windows, hair and stuff I clean out of the broom, slivers of leftover soap I toss. So I actually have more than just what the guest left. Bring a small bag or container upstairs with you when you clean, and toss the minimal garbage in that, so you don't have to actually bring the bins downstairs. That's what I do, anyway.

[Sydney150]

Thank you 

[Lisa723]

@Sydney150 I absolutely agree with @Sarah977. If I arrived at a place and found someone else's garbage in it I would be pretty grossed out and wonder what else the host didn't bother to clean. This is a psychological factor, of course, but it's still real as far as guest experience goes.

[Anonymous]

@Sydney150 in order to have an active listing, Airbnb required you to sign on to its mandatory "5 Step Cleaning Process" and formally agree to all of its steps. You had no choice but to allow them to advertise on your listing that you've agreed to do everything on the checklist, so it's displayed to prospective guests as "Enhanced Cleaning" (not that there's an alternative).

Just curious, did you read the document before agreeing to it? 

[Sydney150]

Thanks Andrew. I did read it when I started Airbnb, which was a little under a month ago. All my commonly touched surfaces are disinfected between every stay (drawer knobs, door handles, lights witches, etc), the bedding is laundered, and the window is left open for a couple hours. I am very conscious of it whether it is required of me or not, particularly in the age of Covid and having asthma myself. It doesn't specifically mention garbage bins, but I have been doing exactly that thus far and was simply wondering what other takes were as it sometimes feels futile. Please refrain from suggesting I don't take cleaning seriously. Nearly every review of mine has mentioned my place is very clean and it is something I am proud of. Thanks so much. 

[Anonymous]

@Sydney150   My criticism there is not of you or your cleaning skills, but rather of the absurdity of Airbnb's attempt to standardize cleaning. Isn't it odd how the rules specify that you can't re-enter a room once it's been sanitized, but not a word about removing old garbage from it?

Anyway, in my experience, all it takes is the guest finding one wadded-up Kleenex at the bottom of their bedroom bin to undo all the effort you put into cleaning everything else. Nobody will ever know whether you disinfected the doorknobs, but this is a thing they can actually see, so I definitely wouldn't call it futile to empty it.