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In one of the rooms that I STR out, I’m considering putting a couple of 20 x 20" pillows in the closet. They are from Ikea, and I have Ikea covers for them and they are bright red so I’m assuming the folks would not think that they are necessarily pillows for sleeping.
Is this a good idea? Or should I put regular white pillowcases on them? I’m thinking that the bright red pillowcase cover will only encourage people to use them perhaps for sitting up in bed reading, etc. It’s an added amenity that is an addition to the two standard pillows that I leave in the closet for guest use for the standard pillows, they usually leave them on the bed and so I take the pillowcases and wash them.
So, if I put white pillowcases on them for guests, instead of the generic red, of course I will wash them when I notice that they are used (I put the regular pillows in the closet in a specific way so I know if they’ve been moved at all so I can do the same thing for these), but if I put bright red covers on them, will the guests understand that they may not be face quality clean?
Yes, I’m overthinking this, as I do with everything with my Airbnb rooms, but it seems that that kind of overthinking ultimately gives me the really high star ratings that I’m getting, so while it might seem obvious to someone to just put them in the closet for guest use for me it’s a fairly big decision lol.
Over-overthinker here, and I do think (no pun intended) that additional pillows will never get you a negative review (unless they are dirty or smell bad).
We offer additional pillows with separate pillow covers in the drawers underneath the beds so IF guests want to have an extra pillow (as back support for reading, exactly), we put them through the ordeal of putting on the pillow case themselves. This way (so our thinking) we will see if guests actually used them and then wash the case and/or the pillow.
Now that becomes a problem when they use the pillows without the case which is harder to detect whether they used them or not.
This is actually a question I wanted to post in this forum a while ago:
As several hosts use a plethora of pillows (for comfort purposes, decorational etc.), I wonder if they throw all the pillows/cases in the washer after every single stay?
I don’t mind using a pillow that my wife or daughter was sleeping on before (without being washed) but as a guest I wouldn’t want to do that with another guest who might have slept on there (and that would be the best case, again no pun intended, scenario).
So it’s the fine line between offering pleasing amenities while still trying to run this show efficiently without too much washing, ironing etc.
@Rolf If you place the extra pillows in a certain way, so you can tell if they’ve been taken out and used, why not just put outer clean pillowcases on them to start with?
Welcome to the Red Pillows Team!
I provide two extra red pillows because my bed has no headboard or margins. I installed a wooden wall panel for protection, and although the bed is mobile, it’s placed snugly against this protected wall. The red pillows are intended to help guests sit back comfortably while reading or watching TV in bed.
They also add a warm splash of colour to the room and are easy to inspect for stains. However, I must say most guests don’t treat them with much care, so I end up washing them often. They are honestly a bit of a hassle. Please be mindful of the pillowcase material: red dye is notorious for bleeding onto other fabrics.
I’m currently considering switching to synthetic leather pillowcases, as I’ve grown tired of cleaning off hair, lint, dandruff and other traces of use. I believe synthetic leather would be easier to wipe clean with a damp cloth.
I think extra large pillows are great if you have the space to store them. But I would use the same type of case as on the other pillows you provide - 2 pillowcases are not that much of an extra hassle to wash when they can all go in together. I’m definitely with Ola on this one, red is a massive hassle to wash!
That’s some great information there. Thanks for sharing. These are my worries: Using a bold color which should be washed seperatly (more loads), bed becomes more of a “hangout area” (snack stains + the things you mentioned) and overall higher maintenance by having to manuall pick up stray hairs that survived the washer/dryer and other fuzzballs.
I would expect that beds used as a hangout area are almost guaranteed to lead to additional food and beverage stains that need dealing with - beyond just the occasional tea or coffee spilt in the bed.
If I have a full house, all 5 beds used, that is 12 loads of laundry every turn over!
If I have my other Glamping unit booked it’s closer to 16 loads.
I do have 3 sets of washer/dryers and multiple sets of sheets, towels, mattresses covers, linen napkins, bath mats, dish towels, etc…
Everything is 100% cotton.
Oh and I also have a white couch with cotton slipcovers.
I wash as needed… Takes 2 loads to wash.
Had it for 15 years and it still looks fantastic!
So my answer is… I wash EVERYTHING!
One of the photos Airbnb uses in its marketing, or used to (it was on the main page) is of a couple fully dressed in their street clothes, lying on the white linens working on their laptops.
They also had a TV ad showing a kid jumping up and down on the bed like it was a trampoline.
When I send out the check out info, I ask guests to leave out all blankets and pillows that they used. (I have extras in a linen closet) but then add, so that I know that they need to be washed for the next guest.
I have had a few Guests that have REMOVED the normal pillowcases as well as stain-resistant pillow covers. I charge them an extra cleaning fee when this has happened, as it takes almost 30 minutes to wash anything that is stain-resistant because of the material on the inside. Plus I have to ask the cleaner to do an extra load of laundry to wash those pillow covers as well as the pillows. Some guests are just too EXTRA
which is harder to detect whether they used them or not.