Adventures in finding a solid cleaning team

That just doesn’t make sense to me. Yes, of course it’s detail oriented and tedious- that’s the nature of cleaning, so someone who bills themselves as a cleaner shouldn’t be dropping the ball. They should find another line of work if they aren’t detail oriented and expect the job to be exciting and interesting.

1 Like

When I first came on this forum I was of the frame of mind that not everything needed to be washed and that a lot of unnecessary laundry was wasteful. But after a few months of reading here I became convinced that everything should be washed. The idea of a wool blanket getting twisted up in someone’s private parts (for starters) and then me sleeping on it a few days later is unappealing to me.

1 Like

I’ve changed my bedding to make everything washable, bought more mattress pads and pillow protectors. I have a 1 bedroom suite and it takes 4 loads of laundry and 1 dryer load (I hang most of the bedding, except sheets and towels) on clothing lines in my basement. I have 3 sets of everything now.

The wool blanket is wedged between other layers of bedding, so far no evidence of the twisting thing. :grinning:

@Lynick4442 I found some great bamboo mattress and pillow protectors, not the cheapest, but they seem good.
I hang all outside, although that could change here over the winter unless I think guests would like frozen bedding. ha!

I’ve read all the arguments in favor of not washing everything. I was making those arguments 5 years ago. I found the arguments in favor of washing everything persuasive so I changed what I do. Believe me, when you do a month of nearly back to back one night stays, it strains the resolve. The pandemic both convinced me to continue washing everything and to quit hosting back to back nights so often.

Still, I’m the oddball who puts a new roll of TP out for each guest and removes the old roll to my part of the house for use. Not everyone can do what I do and it doesn’t matter. As long as you have the business and ratings that you want, what I do is irrelevant.

2 Likes

Oh, I put out a fresh roll, too. Such a small thing, but I think it gives a general impression that things were set up just for them. Something about a half roll of toilet paper greeting a guest seems like it would call up visions of some stranger’s butt on the toilet seat :laughing:

1 Like

I used to do that but there was the occasional leaf or twig or even bird poop and god forbid a guest finds a leaf in their bed. LOL

I do the same but with the pandemic, I have dated buckets in the storage closet and I wait a month before I use them. I’m probably more anal about cleaning with the pandemic but the guest seem to appreciate it and have written about it in the reviews.

1 Like

I have a great cleaner who is super reliable and takes great care and interest in her job. I paid her what she wanted to start and then gave her a raise within 6 months. One thing I do is share some of the reviews and guest comments with her. She lights up when she reads the reviews! A sense of ownership and pride in her work. And I thank her a lot.

7 Likes

I have a “guest” coming I’m already not fond of. I have literally revisited the 1/2 TP roll in the master 3 times. I keep going back and forth: fresh, 1/2, fresh, 1/2. I know the day they come I’ll change it out to a fresh…but in between it makes me happy to think of them picturing some stranger’s butt on the toilet seat :rofl:

3 Likes

Sounds like your area would greatly benefit from a professional airbnb management company. Start your own…

1 Like

That’s the crux of the matter. I’m going to suggest though, that instead of having cleaners, try having ‘preparation people’.

Now I was a cleaner for a period of single-parenthood so I’m not badmouthing cleaners as a breed when I say that they’re not always detail-focused, A ‘preparation person’ is though - or can be.

The way I’ve found best to do this is as follows:

  1. Stay in your rental/s for at least two days to see it at all times of day and use the TV, most of the appliances etc. Get to really know every inch of your rental.
  2. Prepare the rental yourself to the exact standard that you require for guests.
  3. Photograph all aspects - the clean fridge, the clean bathmat, the way you make the bed, the way the towels are folded, the way the soap dish is immaculate, the clean shower curtain, inside the microwave … everything.
  4. Take your prep person through every aspect in a ‘house tour’. This shows them what they should aim for.
  5. Upload your photographs so that they can be accessed online (Google docs, a free blog, the back end of your website, whatever). Your prep person can access this on his/her phone when they are getting the rental ready. They can see exactly how the flowers should be arranged, how the bed should look when made, how the bathrobes are folded etc.
  6. Continue to check and make sure that the prep person knows that there’s a bonus (bottle of wine, cash, Amazon gift card, whatever) for every time everything is perfect.

If you train the prep people yourself rather than relying on cleaners being self-motivated and bursting with initiative and attention to detail, you may well find that your cleaner problems are over. :slight_smile:

Nope. I clean our two apartments (and another STR belonging to a neighbour) and once you’ve got a great podcast to listen to, or BBC Radio 4 often in my case, I even look forward to it. It’s just a case of occupying your mind. You’ll never get a good job from someone who finds the work tedious.

5 Likes

Agreed! Our listings are in various regions. We have our crews set aside any TP roll less than 1/2 used. We pick them up listing by listing when we’re in that area (sometimes there are dozens of them).

It’s not the best to leave a guest a less-than-half role, it’s sinful to just toss it, the cleaners are kinda “meh” about taking them, so we just use them in our home, LOL!

We have three full sets of linens, and lots of extra towels (bath, hand, and wash). Also, two full sets of comforters and blankets. So, we can strip everything, get a load going and turn the stay over rather quickly.
.
We have a many same-day turnovers, so our approach helps to ensure a fast turnover, and no issues with “time to launder”. The cleaning team is us.

So I literally already did steps 1 through 6 ( with the exception of a bonus for nothing missed ) from day 1. Aside from sending digital versions of it - there’s also a hard copy in the housekeeping closet in case they need a reference. There are pics of every single thing. Even the inside of cupboards are labeled so people know where things go. We even decorated the property with as few “trinkets” as possible so they don’t have a million and one things to rearrange / clean around.

I do like the idea of a bonus for any turnover that doesn’t have issues.

But all the walking through , staying there , documenting etc definitely have done.

1 Like

So just a random thing I realized to streamline the toiletries for the cleaners - I bought little organza bags and will be prepackaging all the toiletries so they just have to grab a bag and put them out - to keep it simple. That way - no more remembering all the things to put out. Just grab a sack and go!

1 Like

Some people, including me, think this an unnecessary addition to the landfill. On top of the very wasteful single use toiletries, this strategy adds insult to injury. I hope other hosts don’t follow your lead.

4 Likes

Be nice.

20202020

JF

You’re right, let me reword that.

2 Likes

Hmmm. I read that differently- I thought the host meant they were putting everything that needed to go in each bathroom in a bag, then the cleaners take the things out of the bag and set them out, and the bag gets reused.

If it’s a bag full of single use items, then tsk tsk.