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I started hosting only a few months ago and I started out slow, allowing a 2 night gap between bookings. I am thankful I did this as so far it is taking me roughly 6 hours to clean the space between guests and this is only a 1 bedroom 50 square metre apartment (entire home). I have to do this after work so I am splitting it in 2 days as I am often tired to do everything at one go.
This is my procedure.
[ ] Open windows to circulate air
[ ] Strip beds
[ ] Check cupboard items and extra pillows and blankets, add to laundry if used.
[ ] Check linen and towels for stains and treat as needed.
[ ] Wash towels and white linen, fitted and top sheet.
[ ] Empty Trash
[ ] Dust and Wipe if needed
[ ] Vacuum Sofa if needed
[ ] Empty & Clean Fridge
[ ] Replenish tea, coffee, milk, treats and water
[ ] Clean Kitchen counter
[ ] Check pots pans glasses & cutlery and clean if necessary
[ ] Hang white laundry
[ ] Wash quilt cover, pillow covers and kitchen towels (colours)
[ ] Clean windows if needed
[ ] Sweep Floor
[ ] Vacuum Floor if needed
[ ] Make Bed
[ ] Clean Bathroom: clean shower, sterilise toilet, clean sink and wash floors.
[ ] Wash Floor if needed
[ ] Hang coloured laundry.
[ ] Fold towels and kitchen cloths for next guests.
I have to admit I am a bit of a perfectionist, I want everything to be perfectly clean. Is this too much time? How long does it take you to clean your space?
Thatâs a pretty standard cleaning list. But it looks like itâs taking you longer because youâre waiting for laundry to dry; you should really have sheets towels etc ready to swap out and take the dirty laundry with you to do off site. Then youâd be able to turn over in one night.
I agree that itâs a standard list, but I struggle to see why itâs taking 6 hours. That lot, aside from the time spent waiting for laundry, would probably take me two hours.
I think youâll get quicker the more you do it. Youâll learn which order to do things in to make it more efficient.
A few tips:
Things like dusting may not need to be done each time, depending on the climate and environment where you live and how long your guests stay. I can get away with dusting once a week.
Cleaning the fridge may not need to be done every time either. Just check for spilled foods inside otherwise you could probably just clean sticky fingerprints off the door.
Buy lots of microfibre cloths and donât be afraid to use plenty for each clean. Constantly rinsing out your cloths takes time. Just take a whole bunch with you and wash them when you get home. You can usually buy big packs of them inexpensively.
Use towels youâre about to put in the wash to dry the bathtub, shower etc before you clean. It makes the job so much easier. Then you can just give it a spray with your product and a quick wipe down.
If you have a glass shower door, leave a squeegee to encourage guests to use. This will make cleaning the glass much easier.
Also a steam mop! Canât recommend highly enough. If you get one with a handheld attachment this can also be used for bathroom wall tiles and all sorts of other stuff too
We only have a spare room that we started letting out in November, but weâve spent a lot of money on three sets of top-quality cotton bed linen (king-size duvet cover, fitted sheets, pillowcases) - one set on the bed, one set in the wash, one set clean and ready for use. We also have three sets of towels the same. It works for us!
This is a totally standard cleaning list, with the exception that many people donât make mopping or dusting âoptionalâ. Iâd venture to say that most of the hosts on this forum mop and dust every time. No one wears shoes inside our rental and we still have the entire floor mopped. This entire list take 90 min (for our cleaner) in a very small apt.
Totally bad suggestion on my part especially in an age of over consumption. Why have a second set of anything when one set and a two day turn over will do ! Why have a back up of anything when the shops are so close ! I sure know I love the 60 minute trip to the shops to buy more toilet paper âŚ, it just adds to the excitement of whether Iâll get the turnover done in time ! I do love sailing close to the wind and prefer stress over organisation any day.
We have a slightly bigger space and it takes me about 3-3.5 hrs. I have sets of sheets and towels already ready to go. I dust and vacuum every time. I do things in a slightly different order. I air out, strip beds, but then I clean the bathroom followed by the kitchen, then make the bed, dust, vacuum, replenish goodies, treats, etc. The bathroom and kitchen must be spotless, so I start with them. That way if something takes me longer, things that arenât as imperative can be cut short if necessary. I donât mop the entire place every time but clean the bathroom and kitchen floors by hand every time.
Maybe I was not clear enough, but for the record I have 4 sets of sheets so I am not waiting for the linen to dry. I have the next set ready to go to make the bed.
My biggest headaches in the cleaning process are:
Removing all the hair, which I find everywhere be it on the floor, on furniture, shower, on towels and linen.
Removing mysterious stains from towels and linens. I just found a very small greasy stain on a new set of sheets which I canât get rid of I have no idea what it is. Tried Vanish as well as dish soap but no luck!
Not sure why itâs taking so long then. It only takes minutes to load the washer and the same with the drier in any case.
We all deal with hairs and stains. Bleach sorts everything for me⌠I used to hate using it but itâs the only way sometimes. Hairs get caught by the hoover and I use an extra rise on the washer to make sure the sheets come out hair free. Once theyâve been tumbled dried thereâs nothing left on them.
We too have a one bedroom apartment. I think that your list misses out a lot of things and the âas neededâ items should be done after every guest.
Because you have a full time job and are also having Airbnb guests then it might be worth your while to have professional cleaners in every few weeks for an extra special deep clean. You can probably afford it and youâd be able to accept more guests if you didnât have to leave two days between bookings - aim for same day turnovers!
There are so many things that you can do to prepare for guests in the intervals - I have two duvets and put them in their covers, I prepare the gift and toiletry baskets, fold towels ⌠these things can be done in between guests while youâre watching TV
And - just my opinion - unless you are over 70, seriously ill or disabled you should be able to do quick turnovers
I have three rooms that are contained within my house. The space is 756 sq ft, which is pretty ample. [70.2 square meters.] It takes between 2 and 3 hours to clean. There is no kitchen, but I do have to keep the common kitchen clean enough so people are willing to eat the food that I prepare for them.
I have chosen to have a professional come in bi-weekly to clean the whole house. With this help, I can do same day turnovers. I have never had anything less than a 5* for cleanliness, so it is worth considering having a bit of assistance. I wouldnât make enough money if I had two days between guests.
But it takes about four hours because this includes the kitchen which can be a lot of work. For example, checking that guests have washed and dried the crockery and cutlery, wiping the cupboard shelves, cleaning the oven /hob, the fridge and the cabinet doors. Then thereâs cleaning the microwave, the toaster, the coffee machine etc. Plus the cabinet doors, the sink (well two, the apartment has a double sink), the countertops and so much more.
And thatâs just the kitchen! It takes me about half an hour to make the bed because I iron, lint roll and smooth everything.
Then there are the supplies for guests who want yo go to the beach - for example, cleaning the fold-up beach chairs. There are so many things to do.
I have, but it must have been thirty years ago or more.
But cleaning the rental - and running up and down the stairs to it (I always forget something) - must keep me fitter that going to a gym. I hope so anyway. Because my ârealâ job is sitting in front of a computer all day, cleaning the rental is my only exercise!
I have no idea what it is. Tried Vanish as well as dish soap but no luck!
