Then you are better than the rest of us Scrooges
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I have 2 comforters, the white down for cold weatherâŚLOLâŚyeah in Miami now itâs hot as blazes. The other is light weight. Duvet sounds good and versatile option.
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It is nuts to wash to comforters after each use. Buy duvet covers and put the comforters inside. It is much easier and cheaper just to those.
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Use the three sheet method all the hotels use now (google it). A second top sheet is way easier to launder than a comforter. Itâs a very nice, crisp, clean look.
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After paying over $2000 for 5 nights for a guest house in Hawaii, I was pretty annoyed to find no laundry detergent. I needed 2 scoops for 2 loads. I thought it was an oversight and the property manager told me they donât supply it. And I couldnât help but think, âthis woman has not had to purchase laundry detergent since she started this freakin job.â I did take my $9 bottle of detergent with me when I left because I was afraid the next vacation home wouldnât supply it either. The next home had an HE washer and did supply detergent and mine wasnât the right kind â I suppose the cleaners will be able to use it and at least it wonât get wasted.
If hosts are not going to supply detergent with your washer/dryer â please make it clear to your guests so they can throw 2 scoops of detergent into a ziplock bag when they are packing. It took me 45 min roundtrip to get to a store to buy detergent.
45 minute roundtrip driveâŚouch! Thankfully my guests only have a 1.5 mile drive to a large grocery store open 7 aâŚm. - 11 p.m., And a Dollar Store is just 2 miles away.
I donât supply laundry detergent and do email guests a list of all the things provided and also mention that they are welcome to use the washer/dryer to wash their clothes; however, they will need to purchase their own detergent.
Where did you stay?? Along the Kohala Coast? You were on the Big Island?
I agree, if they charge 400$ a night and let you use washer/ dryer,mthey really should be providing detergent.
I had people who were heavy washers and used laundry almost every day. With me it was not a issue of detergent but use of a dryer who takes lots of energy, and non stop trips to laundry section of the house that goes through kitchen and non stop door slamming all night long.
I just bought detergent inBig lots for 7.59$. It says good for 42 loads. It comes to 18 cents per load.
We supply detergent, Woolite, bleach, OxyClean, Clorox2, and dryer sheets. Come stay with us! Most of our guests do no laundry at all, and those that do, donât take advantage. I donât see the sense in offering the amenity and not the tools to use it.
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âI donât see the sense in offering the amenity and not the tools to use it.â
I think the reason some people like myself offer unlimited use of washer/dryer but donât provide the detergent is because many guests do all their laundry before leaving so they donât have to deal with it when they get home.
So during their stay I donât mind providing things that they will use while they are staying like unlimited dish washing detergent, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, shampoos, trash bags, and all the other kitchen supplies. But doing a familyâs laundry before they leave is so that they donât have to do clothes when they get home.
I provide a popcorn machine in the movie room so of course I supply all the things to make the popcorn. But I feel like a washer/dryer is kind of like providing an oven or a microwave.
I just read yesterday on another site of a single guy doing two loads of laundry each day and being very wasteful. I wouldnât mind providing a couple of complimentary pods for guests who really just need to do a couple of loads of laundry. But I would not want to leave a bagful as some guests just assume everything left out is stuff for them to take home. Or if you do leave a large bottle guests can be very wasteful because it is not their detergent. I sleep 6 and sometimes make an exception for 7. I can imagine the number of loads of laundry that are running during the week. Iâm sure at home they wait till there is a full load but when it is someone elseâs expense people will take advantage.
I have a room with just one double bed and I donât allow children so I donât get the same kind of clientele. Yes, you need to charge for extra people. You might also add a cleaning charge if you havenât already.
Depending on your fixture you might be able to get a motion sensor light that turns off after while if no one is in the room. I provide amenities and have never had anyone abuse it but if I did I would probably just raise my price. The idea of just putting out a few pods of detergent and other single services of amenities helps reduce abuse.
This is absolutely one hundred percent true⌠My sister manages a rental on the property she rents near the bay in south Kona⌠Itâs a house that can sleep ten and you can only imagine the laundry from going to the beach etc. The washer and dryer is going all the time right before guests check out, for exactly the reasons you cite. My sis even knows the pattern: âoh they are leaving tomorrow so are doing all their laundry.â
The owner of her place used to provide guest detergent but pulled it this year. Itâs a huge expense for a rental house and, as you can imagine, very expensive to buy in Hawaii. She provides everything else in the house⌠But laundry detergent for the mega loads you are doing on your holiday should be on you.
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Our circumstance is differentâŚwe host couples only and most are weekend stays. The washer is one of those âsmartâ ones that senses load size and adjusts accordingly. Even if they did want to stay in and do laundry all day, I donât have any way to monitor it but so far so good. No one has taken unfair advantage or Loaded up their suitcases with the detergents and cleaning supplies back there.
Last night my Indian guest tapped on my door to ask if she could do laundry. I thought that was much more gracious than the Chinese broad who just took over. (I had offered to this Indian lady to do her laundry). She was very sweet, did one load and this morning upon check out, gave me a lovely thank you card. She also complimented the decor in my home and her room, and said she Face-timed with her Mother in India and showed her the room! And mama loved it too. 
Itâs people like this that make hosting a nice experience.
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Maybe I am jaded, but I think this is a bit presumptuous!! I wouldnât have loved it, especially if laundry guidelines are covered in your house rules. I canât provide laundry for my guests since my laundry is in a private area of my home. Itâs clearly stated in my house info doc. I will offer clean linens halfway through their stay. Often times though I hear them rinsing out clothes in the bathtub⌠
For certain âspecialâ guests I will offer to do a load since I am taking out my laundry anywayâŚ
I know that this thread is about detergent and laundry, but I once had a family help themselves to a few boxes of individually wrapped specialty cookies I had stored in a âsafeâ space, above the fridge in a deep cupboard. No idea how they found them, but they took my entire supply and then gave me a list of recommendations about how to improve my place (on the private part of the review system, not the public). It was irritating and I have thought about putting a lock on one of the condoâs cupboards so that I can do things like put out a couple of laundry pods for short stay guests. I know that I go through a lot of detergent too, but bringing stuff up and down (I have another condo in the building) gets to be a lot of work and sometimes itâs just easier to put a bottle out.
I had my friend staying with me for 10 days about 10 years ago. she was a big fan of laundry. After 2nd day, i had to stop her of washing 2 pairs of underware and then drying them in a dryer. She ignored me and the 3 rd day did the same thing. I asked her if this is how she does it at home. She said, she does her laundry almost every day, because she has 4 people in a household. I said, it makes sense with 4 people, but not when you are alone and wash 2 pieces of clothes every day. so, she stopped doing it every day, but the last day she spent 4 hours doing her laundry. How she explained it, what if they search her luggage at the airport, and here is all her dirty clothes there.
I know ReenyâŚI was doing the same thing because it was easier to just leave it when I was trying to get out with the rest of the stuff minutes before guests were arriving. I didnât really have any place to lock it up but now that there is a door on the room that canât be turned into a spare (no window) I stick it in an empty desk drawer in there, and hope guests donât go snooping through all the junk in that room. I need to get a lock on it. There is a gigantic bottle of woolite and boy is the good stuff expensive.
That was really slimy of the guests to take all the specialty cookies and then leave you comments in private feeback. Do you think they thought a previous guest left them and they were left for anyone to help themselves? Or do you put out a few of the cookies on the counter, so it was obvious this was your supply?
I read about a guest who took home all the new spices/seasonings an owner had just purchased. She contacted the owner to let her know that she did her a favor and cleaned out the cabinets, and threw away all the expired seasonings. Little did she know the owner had just recently visited the property and had replaced them herself. People!!
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No, there were a limited number of the cookies out on a platter of treats on the kitchen table, so they knew they were for guests and in a limited way. Bags of candy were there too, although they were untouched. The thing is, the cookies were pushed right to the back of a high cupboard and were actually quite difficult to see. Two of the guests in the family were tall, however, which is why I think they were able to. Iâm 5â 8" and I had to use a stepladder to reach them, so that gives you some idea of how out of sight they were. Iâve thought about putting a lock on that cupboard, or maybe buying a container that locks. Itâs just that itâs not the expense (although of course thatâs an issue), itâs that these things take time to buy and organize.
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Walmart has a lockable footlocker (it can take a padlock) for $19.95. I think I may make the investment and just keep it at the back of the closet in the master bedroom. Iâm sure I would end up saving money on at least some of the supplies. http://goo.gl/HxTdYv