How you approach your Airbnb cleaning is going to be crucial to your success. Travelers expect a clean, fully functional property upon arrival, and anything less can result in a negative review. During Covid-19, any review about a lack of cleanliness is not going to fly.
Updated 02.18.21
Airbnb Cleaning: The Nitty Gritty
Between guests, it’s easy to miss grime that can build up over time. Make sure to inspect well at least once a month for these 7 things that are grossing out your Airbnb Guests. Even if you do a spring Airbnb cleaning you may miss some of these little oversights.
1. Fingerprints on The Walls
I’m a mom of a toddler so i’m quite familiar with fingerprints, but don’t always notice them (or i’m just ignoring them!) Have a good inspection of your walls in your Airbnb you may find there are marks and greasy looking prints all over, which may make guests think ”what else hasn’t been cleaned around here?”.
Solution: Go around armed with a ‘magic eraser’ and wipe away any fingerprints and marks on your walls and baseboards. Trust me you will find them. Once a year you should consider to touch up paint where needed.
2. The Faucets
The faucet and the handles of the overflow hole can have some serious bad guys lurking in there. If you have hard water it can cake onto the facet and leave a yellowish hard film and seem impossible to scrub off.
Solution: Use A hard water mineral cleaner when needed. A toothbrush with Comet will also do the trick.
3. Back of Chairs
Check the back of your dining room chairs. I bet there’s a bit of pasta sauce or chocolate clinging on for dear life. If guests touches a sticky chair back they will be grossed out. Carefully examine your chairs. The legs are often full of splatters and spills and they don’t often get seen and cleaned.
Solution: Fill a bowl with some warm water and dish soap and go to town with a dish sponge, preferably one with a scrubber side.
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4. Lightswitches
I once had a guest who arrived with the flu. I could hear coughing and sneezing the whole weekend from the suite. Cringe! I was determined to completely air the place out and do a deep cleaning. That’s when I saw the light switches. We have metallic switch covers and they were covered in creamy fingerprints and had some gunk on the wall around. How long had they been like that? I’m glad The next guests did not have to ask themselves that same question.
Solution: Use some disinfecting cleaning wipes, or spray a paper towel with an all-purpose cleaner and wipe those switches down! This is especially crucial in the Covid-19 era of hosting.
5. The Sofa
Imagine the remote slips down the side of the couch and your guest reaches down, only to be greeted by a handful of crumbs and a sticky candy wrapper.
Solution : When guests check out you really should vacuum the couch, and down the side and middle cracks. Look for spots and with a damp cloth work on those. Using a lint rollerworks wonders, if you your guests had pets then definitely consider using an animal hair vacuum.
6. Vinyl Blinds
If you have blinds they may have an oily residue with dust on top. Vinyl blinds splattered with grease, such as in a kitchen, require a bit more cleaning than blinds that are simply dusty. Not the best combo for a guest to see.
Solution: Since the blinds are vinyl, they may be washed with a mild soap-and-water solution after vacuuming and dusting them to remove any grimy residue that remains.
7. Oh and The Toilet
This may be an obvious thing to clean. But how clean, how deep cleaned is it really for every guest. For sure, you cleaned the bowl and the underside of the seat? But what about the sides and the treasure of unmentionable gunk lurking on the floor behind the back of the toilet?
Solution: Sit on the toilet, like a guest will and look around with fresh eyes. What do you see? Are the baseboards clean? Are the corners of the floors clean? Pick up use some wipes and disinfect or use a swifter to get behind the toilet.
Airbnb Cleaning Schedule
At the very least, you should have a cleaning scheduled after each guest departure. Not only do you want your home cleaned after travelers leave, but your Airbnb cleaning provider will be the eyes and ears of your property and can notify you if there are any maintenance issues or damages. If you have a week before the next guests arrive it’s better to go in and clean right away. You don’t want germs or bacteria to move in. You can do a quick freshen up and dusting the morning before they arrive.
Deep Airbnb Cleaning
I do a regular vacuum to deep clean when guests leave. I also have a iRobot Roomba that I let loose in there an hour or so before check-in. It’s a great machine to gather any dust that has settled and clean under the beds and furniture. Make sure to check for the nitty-gritty and use an Airbnb cleaning checklist. If you have professional cleaners make sure they use your checklist.
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