Hi
I hope I am not out of line posting here in that I am a Guest, not a Host, but I figured you all would be able to answer this question best for me. I am currently staying at an AirBnB. I recently colored my hair and was horrified this morning to find that some of the color bled onto my host’s white pillowcases. I’ve tried to clean it but it is still obvious. What do I do? I feel terrible!
Email your host immediately. The worst that can happen is they will charge the price of a pillowcase against your deposit. Don’t throw the pillowcase away, they will need evidence to show airbnb to justify the cost.
Yes, let you host know as soon as possible. Do this via the Airbnb message system so that if there is a dispute, it’s on record that you feel terrible about it and want to pay. But there shouldn’t be a problem. Most hosts are pretty good at stain removal! But they need to know quickly so that they can get to work before the stain sets in. In our house manual, I ask guests to let me know about any stains ASAP so that I can treat them.
It’s unlikely that your host will want the aggravation of claiming from your deposit so the best thing to do is to be friendly, apologetic and to offer to pay for a new pillowcase. They’re not expensive and your host might see it as being a cost of doing business and appreciate your honesty.
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this is a HUGE problem!!! I have had many towels that had dye stains all over them;I can get the stains out but I have to use a lot of stain remover and its not cheap;its also time consuming to have to put stain remover on every towel.When I do the walk through I point out the makeup remover pads for women…they still use my facecloths and stain them! I have had women dye their hair in my bathroom…I notice the white grout is a little pink! It can be scrubbed out but PLEASE! I feel like adding to my website…please dye your hair BEFORE coming!Thats one of the problems w long stays;their grey hair comes through and they want to dye it. When I meet the guest and I notice they wear a lot of makeup;Im thinking…ok its gonna take a lot of stain remover on their laundry.When I do get an occasional "earth momma " who doesnt wear makeup,I am greatful!
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I did not dye my hair in her bathroom nor do I dye my hair to cover grey. But thank you for your helpful advice. You sure sound like a nice host, where’s your place again?
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Alternately, my host could be diamonds54 and she’d be really, really pissed off. But thank you for making me feel better.
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I’m in the Adirondack Mountains of NY.
@tinadunn Just tell the host, its really not a big deal. We have this happen all the time, towels stained with make up, kitchen towels stained from cleaning up spills, etc. I guess we consider it the ‘cost of doing business’ if we have to throw away pillowcases, linens, etc. We just had this happen last week, someone left a wet item on their bed and the color transferred, and left a large darkish stain on the sheets. I could have charged them for new sheets, but seriously Target/Home Goods/Amazon 300+ thread count sheets are less than $40, and it wasn’t a big deal to me.
I would offer to replace the pillowcases and if the host says NBD, then leave a gift card and a STELLAR review.
What @azreals says is true! I’ve had many wineglasses broken, plates shattered. Little things like that are not a big deal at all, especially if the guest notifies me immediately. I agree, that leaving a great review is worth more to the host than buying a new set of pillowcases.
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Hi,
I stayed at a VRBO rental and noticed they had a basket with 4 white face cloths and a label “For Makeup Removal” - they just bleach them when needed.
I agree, Lynn. We have white bed linen and white towels & facecloths. Bleach might shorten their lives a bit but it removes every stain. Although I suspect that a dryer shortens the lifespan of laundry as much as bleach does (or more — all that lint that’s created is my laundry fibres) so I line dry and that helps with the bleaching process too.
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Bleach is an amazing invention 
The linens in our high turnover properties are white for this very reason. On a whim I bought orange towels, and we have had great luck with them as well.
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Was just thinking about this a little more. I may start putting ‘make up’ wipes in the bathroom, you can either get them at Costco very cheap or buy the travel size at Target for $1. This would eliminate the make up problem, and the guests would feel we are going above and beyond for $2 ( I have 2 bathrooms, so would leave the $1 travel size wipe in each)
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We have makeup wipes in our bathroom. No problems with stained face cloths as yet 
I’ve never really had a problem with make up removal from guests! But I can’t use bleach due to the septic system. I only do a load of whites once a month. My guests are stuck with colored towels but I’m starting to feel like I should offer whites? I don’t know. I offer cranberry and green towels, which is very much in keeping with the Adirondack feel of my rental, although I will never be one of those hosts with the bear and moose covered shower curtains!
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@jaquo What kind do you use? I just saw Target is offering Honest company 10 pack for $.99 online, thinking of stocking up
We get sets of toiletries from Amazon. It includes shampoo, body wash, conditioner, bath soap, hand soap and makeup wipes. I also leave q-tips and cotton pads in the bathroom toiletries basket.
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I don’t have the link to hand but they are by Kenzo - really cool 