Cleaning hacks?

I try and make the least amount of steps and retracing I can. I start at the back of the house and work forward. In the 3 properties the kitchen has the main entrance so that is the room I do the last. The only extra steps I make is changing out the laundry. I would say develop a routine (whatever works best for you) and keep to it.

Clorox wipes can be used on almost anything. Get a system and follow every time. We always listen to talk radio while working as it makes the time fly and we are learning at the same time. You might want to try your favorite music or a book on tape or something.

2 Likes

Hoping for the day when the one use disposables go the way of the dinosaur. Increasingly evidence points to it being in my lifetime, out of catastrophic necessity, not enlightenment.

1 Like

I do use Clorox wipes probably the only disposal item I use because they sanitary for door knobs etc. and they are time effective. I also do not provide paper towels or napkins either but there are plenty of extra clothes for an emergency clean up if necessary.

@dpfromva has posted a site several times with information on sanitizing stuff. Iā€™m fairly certain that itā€™s not necessary to use one time disposables to be quick and sanitary.

Not disagreeingā€¦just affirming that it is my one viceā€¦ :wink: maybe someday

Yes, I wash everything in the cupboards, and deep clean between guests, even one nighters. My guests wash dishes and clean up after themselves, but I redo everything because I want that sparkle, no fingerprints, no streaks. While the dishes are being washed, I clean the shelves they live on. Silverware needs polishing too - it is stainless steel but it is vital that they have no spots, streaks or smudges. Appliances get cleaned, and yes, under and behind things. Including headboards! @KenH. Wipe anyway. Spills are obvious, but accumulation from the air and cooking get greasy, and that takes scrubbing & time to remove. That goes for spice bottles especially. I vacuum many times, because air currents move dust, threads, etc around. Yes, vacuum the tub and the shower walls before cleaning and again afterwards to pick up the hairs that cleaning stirred up. Yes, clean garbage pail in addition to replacing the bag. Garbage pails are great incubators for bacteria which will smell, and they collect fingerprints, stickiness, etc. Try using a black garbage pail, so you can see what needs cleaning about it.
@Cindy_Turner_Dodd Yes. Wash windows!
Also, doorknobs and handles, light switches. Polish everything!

As it is on the mainland :frowning:

Our water is so hard it could go 10 rounds with Mike Tysonā€¦

JF

2 Likes

I do this, those pesky hairs!

RR

1 Like

You asked for our advise, we gave it to you basically in the stating that if doesnā€™t need to be done donā€™t do it but you donā€™t want that advise and keep defending your cleaning practices which in all fairness how you maintain your home is up to you. But you are going to suffer burn out real quick if you donā€™t lighten up a bit. All of us want our homes/rooms be the best they can be but after 1500 guests I can tell you that no guest is going to move the refrigerator to check for dust underneath it or if the top shelf of the cupboard has a bit of dust if it isnā€™t used. I got a 1 star review i in the past and this is what he saidā€¦the room and bathroom were sparkling cleaning but couldnā€™t stand the smell of the cleaning products and although the comforter was clean I couldnā€™t sleep because of the detergent or fabric softener used. So no matter what I did or didnā€™t do I wasnā€™t going to make this guest happy. So I fight the fights I can battle and leave the rest behind.

Keep cleaning, but change products. Change detergents! Fabric softener? Why?
The kitchen is not about bits of dust - it is about the combination of dust and airborne stuff that causes a greasy film on kitchen items, and the potential of ants, mice and other critters that we really do not want in our homes. That includes critters hitchhiking in guests luggage or coming home with us from the storeā€™s warehouse. Donā€™t attract them, donā€™t feed them.

Kittyā€¦you missed the point. I understand the kitchen but if the kitchen wasnā€™t used and it was a short stay over why would you clean what is already clean? If the kitchen was obviously used of course you clean. But being redundant in your cleaning is a waste of timeā€¦that is my personal opinion. My point about posting my review was no matter how hard you work, no matter how clean, you are going to get that guest that isnā€™t happy no matter what and not to take it personally.

2 Likes

Cleaning - Ahhh - not the best part of hosting, but an inevitable element of it! Be methodical and make sure you pay special attention to the kitchen and bathroom! You could always get some help if it all gets too much and you might want to consider regularly subcontracting certain jobs, such as:
Carpet Cleaning
Exterior House Washing
Bathroom Deep Clean
Pest Management
Yard Deep Clean

Good luck with keeping everything spick-and-span!

2 Likes

Wait a minuteā€¦ how much do you charge a night for your place and how many bedroomsā€¦ and what is your cleaning fee?
We have a 2 bedroom, one bath place. It takes maximum 1.5 hours to clean. We donā€™t wash every dish every time, we donā€™t do the windows everytime and we donā€™t obsess on wiping down every surface every time and we donā€™t get complaints about cleanliness. Maybe you are over doing/thinking this?

3 Likes

I dunno, that canā€™t possible make much of a difference. Maybe a minute or so? As a traveler I hate having to clean dishes after every single meal. I think you should have at least 2 sets per guest if not more (depending on how many you sleep).

Our cleaner takes about the same amount of time to turn over our house (on her own) with 5 beds (sleeps 10), 2.5 baths, and 3 stories. All of our guests last ā€˜seasonā€™ gave us a Sparkling Clean comment. We ask guests to strip bedding, which she says helps a lot actually. We have back up sheets for every bed - so the first thing she does is launder towels (we donā€™t keep two sets of those), makes the beds, starts from upstairs (with everything needed in hand) and works her way down. Depending on her mood, sheā€™ll take the spare sheets to launder at her own house sometimes. Similarly, you could have spare sheets so that you donā€™t have to wait for sheets to be done to go back and finish the bedroom.

Do you have a dishwasher or do you have to wash by hand? Does your washer and dryer have a ā€˜quick wash/dryā€™ setting? As others have mentioned, minimize your steps by keeping all your supplies with you, and working once room at a time. Laundry and/or dishwasher should be the first thing you start.

2 Likes

I am speaking as a host, as a guest, and as a former 5 star resort manager. First, I would not stay 5 minutes in a place that smelled of cleaning products or any sort of fragrances. It is so easy to use fragrance free products and non toxic cleaners. This is for the health and comfort of cleaners, hosts and guests.
As an Air guest, I have opened cupboards in an otherwise spotlessly clean kitchen and found several items that had not been washed, which had been overlooked by the excellent cleaner, but which I needed at the moment. Iā€™ve dropped something and while picking it up off the floor could not help but notice and have to touch the accumulation underneath a cabinet.
I moved rooms in one excellent resort hotel when items overlooked by cleaners made me feel that my health might possibly be jeopardized.
No, Iā€™m not a clean freak, and I love to backpack in remote regions of so called less developed countries. I just seriously believe that I owe it to my guests to make them feel safe, and that their health is a concern.
That one guest who expects to find a surgical suite scrub in my off grid, dirt road, wilderness home will always be disappointed.

1 Like

My hack is to deep clean one room in my houses at every turnover. Furniture pulled away from walls, walls brushed down, top of curtains vacuumed, all furniture property polished, windows cleaned. It does not add a huge amount of time. Ten rooms, working in a clockwise fashion, ten cleans could be in a time span of 3 weeks. Nothing gets away and it is always clean.

7 Likes

I believe you are confusing me with another poster. The only responses I have given ā€œdefending my practisesā€ is that I rewash the plates and the sliding glass doors always have handprints. :thinking:

Nice! This is a really well detailed helpful tip! lol

1 Like

Only after cleaning the tub - no need to do this twice. Youā€™ll probably get 90% of the hairs when you wipe down the tub and walls, anyway.

1 Like