Education on linens

I’ve read a lot of host discussion on sheet thread counts, and the conclusion seems to be that high thread counts are more or less a marketing ploy. Higher thread count per square inch, or however they measure it, but the threads are much thinner. You can only fit so many threads of a certain thickness into the same amount of space.

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Keugenia, what I have found after 5 years is that good sheets are worth the investment. Depending on your budget and price per night of course. My listing promotes luxury 1000 TC, 100% cotton sheets and is on the expensive side for the area. The sheets I have found to last years and years are Sheridan and Mercer&Reid. (I’m in Australia). I have had top range Sheridan sheets for over 10 years and they never ever pill and are as good as new. I wait for the sales and get them for about $300 a king set. Other cheaper brands I have tried and thrown out after a year or so.

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Where are your units? I have two in Waco.

I have one in Round Rock and one in Lakeway. I’m currently trying to find a linen service for both homes. My Round Rock home has three washer and dryers for cleaners to use, however, they constantly mess up the laundry or the machines and it’s driving us crazy.

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I understand that! I have a lint trash can, LABELED, sitting on the dryer, with a sticker that says “please clean lint filter”, and I will still have lint an inch thick on the filter! Huge fire hazard.

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Same! Even with EVERYTHING labeled, CLEAR instructions printed in large print and stuck to the machines, linens color coded, they still do it wrong. It’s infuriating!

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I have learned from staying at AirBnBs recently with others (both friends of my boyfriend and people that hire me for equestrian services at away competitions) that many people really DO NOT CARE what the rules are. They may or may not even care to read them to know what they are. They do whatever they want and don’t care if it is in line with the House Rules or even with common courtesy of staying in someone’s home. They feel that they pay to not just stay there but to do whatever they feel like while they are there. They consider it their right since they are a paying customer.

It boggles my mind!!!
And explains why I am not a huge fan of many people…

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I’m surprised you just learned this. Everywhere I’ve been in life I see that. People don’t care what the rules are, they only care that they don’t get in trouble. For example, students know cheating is against the rules but they do it and hope they don’t get caught.

Military personnel know sexual harassment is against the rules.

Politicians know selling political favors in exchange for campaign donations is against the rules.

Athletes know certain supplements are against the rules.

And people are certainly dismissive of rules that they know are difficult to enforce.

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There are lots of fascinating psychology experiments about cheating and altruism. It can depend on peer group cues (you see others cheating, you hear disapprobation of cheaters) or exposure to information that predisposes one to be altruistic or selfish.

i wonder if hosts can make environmental tweaks that curtail rule-breaking. Notification of an exterior camera is an obvious stick. What would be the carrots? The hosts that greet guests in person have a point here.

What sparks that entitlement to break the rules (assuming your guest is not a sociopath)?

In my accounting work for nonprofits, the people most likely to divert funds were dedicated volunteers who put in lots of hours, so they could rationalize they were owed. Add financial pressure and access to funds and – the perfect recipe for conversion or embezzlement.

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One thing I floated recently was the idea of a high cleaning fee that is partially refunded. Since Airbnb deposits don’t work, what if it was say a $300 fee for a whole house with a $100 refund if the house is in good condition. No need to tell me all the possible problems with that, I’ve thought of them. LOL. But I do think it would be workable.

I’ve seen some of it is tied to maturity. The most level headed mature people I know are very generous. The selfish people I know tend to be immature and self centered. It’s hard to define what I mean by mature. It’s partly linked to age. We know that young people are bigger risk takers and rule breaking is a kind of risk taking.

As an example, when I was in my 20s and 30’s I thought nothing of speeding. 80+ mph wasn’t unusual. That’s when the TX limit was 65. As I got older I thought, “what if I have a blowout? What if a deer jumps out on the road, tickets are dumb…”

I was also a dishonorable person when I was in my 20s. I think as I aged it felt like a karmic obligation to make up for all the terrible stuff I did back then.

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Maturity also depends on experiencing the position you put others in when you find yourself in the same situation.

One of my daughters drove me nuts when she was a teenager. She wasn’t bad, she didn’t get in trouble or do stupid things, but she would leave the house without telling me where she was going, or with whom. And she would tell me that she would be home by dinnertime and walk in the door at 1 AM. Meantime I’m at the point of wondering if I should call the police or the hospital.

Once she had teenagers of her own, she apologized to me, saying she couldn’t believe she put me through so much worry.

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I guess I just relearned…tried to be positive.

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“Don’t expect anything and you won’t be disappointed.” :wink:

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I wish this worked all the time but I have guests now that just waited for me to depart from the check-in tour to drive two suvs onto my lawn. Even pulled further in than the remaining rut remnants that I am still working to repair. We had actually already discussed the no lawn parking rule at check-in as well… and they did it again the next day with one vehicle. And all of this is recorded on the video doorbell that they see every tune they go to the front door (and was disclosed in the listing.

Ugh…well at least I also have on my House Rules the $50 fine per instance. Hopefully I will get some of it. I am ready to put up physical barriers if I am successful (maybe landscape timber’s placed in cinder blocks…?

Opps—At 62 this is still me. When I eventually get a speeding ticket, I may not deserve it that day but I will deserve it if you consider my habits.

In TX many of the interstates have a speed limit of 80. We even have one toll road where it’s 85 but that’s not near me. And in other states nearby that I’d drive through it’s 75 (AZ, NM). But when I go back east where there’s a lot more traffic and lower limits it seems so slow to me.

My local HOA ordinances changes are being discussed for 2022 implementation. One is NO parking in yards, parking on gravel/paved areas only. The city will tow then charge the offender the towing & “get your car back” fee.

Our soil is sand. It’s easy to get stuck. Rental homeowner yards are ruined. This happens at the $1M+ homes that sleep 20 people. They’ve got plenty of parking but Guest A doesn’t want to block person B’s car so parks in grass.

What are those guests thinking?!?

EDIT: a friend tried lining her driveway with a decorative chain to block off the yard. Guests took it down & parked anyway.

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Ooh, good idea. Militaryhorse, Instead of costly landscaping barriers, put one pole with a sign. “Parking On Lawn Prohibited. Violators Will Be Towed”

If you’ve actually got a local ordinance: “Parking on Lawn Prohibited by Law. Violators Will Be Towed.”

That the problem though…not o it is there no such ordinance the neighbors in the two houses across the street park about half a dozen cars all over their “lawns” that look like dirt patches with a few grass patches…