11 Hacks to Save Time on your Airbnb Cleaning Checklist

Last updated on September 16th, 2023 by I. Duckworth / Host Tips / Leave a Comment

Airbnb cleaning guide

So you have your Airbnb cleaning checklist all written up and everything is going great. Now you are looking to streamline your cleaning and cut your time in half. I mean, who wants to be cleaning all day?

I’ve managed to streamline my cleaning time now and genuinely enjoy what was once an ugly job. And I’m going to show you how to as well.

By using these 11 hacks you will save time, money and your Airbnb will sparkle. That means very happy guests and 5-star reviews all round!

In no particular order…

#1 Use one Cleaning product – FOR EVERYTHING

Yes, you heard right. For everyday cleaning all you need is one multi-purpose cleaning product. You don’t need one for glass and another for stainless steel and another for floors. Keep it simple!

PH7 Cleaning Product

Your local cleaning store will sell large bottles of quality undiluted product. You can then mix the solution yourself.

This will save you a ton of money not having to buy expensive products from the supermarkets. It’s also kinder to the environment, which I like.

Think of how easy it would be to take only the one spray bottle around with you. No more juggling bathroom, shower, kitchen and toilet cleaners any longer!

Go for a good quality, non-toxic, all-purpose cleaner and trust me, you will never look back.

#2 Separate your sheets/towels into boxes

This hack is one for the hosts with several houses or a big house with lots of rooms. Add this to your Airbnb cleaning checklist now!

Plastic cleaning box for Airbnb

Get yourself some stackable, clear boxes and a black permanent marker. These two items will save you so much time when it comes to sorting your linen.

There is nothing worse than taking a set of sheets up to the room. Then realising you have grabbed a queen sheet rather than a single. It happens so often. They all look the same when they’re folded!

I have all my boxes lined up. One for queen sheets, single sheets and king single sheets. Then I have boxes for towels, hand and foot towels and one for pillowcases/slips.

They’re all labelled so I know exactly where to go. I can take a stack of sheets all at once knowing I’ve got exactly what I need.

#3 A Spray Mop is Your New Best Friend

If you have never heard of a spray mop then you are really missing out. It is the same as using high-speed internet compared to dial-up. Its fast, easy to use and doesn’t take any effort to set up.

spray mop

The spray mop contains a flat microfiber cloth on the bottom. As a result, the spray nozzle points straight onto the surface you’re cleaning. Simply fill your detachable bottle with your multipurpose cleaning solution.

The trigger for the spray is right by your hand. Just give it a squeeze and you have your cleaning solution right there where you need it.

No more buckets, no more squeezing out water or rinsing your mop after every room. You can do a whole house in under five minutes. And when you’re done, the microfiber cloth comes right off and goes in the wash with everything else. 

Not only is the mop a whiz on the floors, the flat bottom is perfect for different surfaces. Such as kitchen cupboards, walls, fridge doors and even rounded objects like bins. You simply point, spray and wipe. It couldn’t get any easier!

Think of all the jobs you can tick off on your Airbnb cleaning checklist with this little hack!

#4 The Lint Roller Is Your Second Best Friend

The lint roller is like having a little friend that follows you around picking up all the hair, dust and fibers that you miss.

It is also great for cleaning other things around the house, not just your sheets.

  • Run it over throw cushions
  • Rid your sofa of crumbs and stray hairs
  • Run it over your blinds or Venetians to easily catch all the dust
  • Pick up small pieces of broken glass 
  • De-fluff speakers 
  • Clean inside kitchen cupboards and drawers
  • Pick up all the pesky fluff and dust that settle on your floor edges

I could keep going, but you get the idea. To repeat, get yourself a lint roller!

#5 White Linens + Dark Towels = Success

It is a common debate on what colour sheets and towels to use in your Airbnb. And after years of hosting thousands of guests, this is my foolproof combination.

white sheets linen

White sheets, white duvet cover. Charcoal towels, charcoal hand towels and charcoal foot towels. A store like K-Mart has some good cheap options.

White linen is always a winner. There is a reason all hotels, hospitals and spas use white on their beds. It is the colour of clean. You see a crisp white sheet and you instantly think of comfort and cleanliness. I cover using white sheets in detail on my guide to selecting the best Airbnb sheets here.

The bed is also one of the most used parts of your Airbnb, so it’s inevitable that it will get stained. For example, dropped food, dirty shoes and.. well.. other things that happen in the bed. All of which is no match for a good soak in bleach and some stain remover. Something you couldn’t do if you used grey or black.

All of which is no match for a good soak in bleach and some stain remover. Something you couldn’t do if you used grey or black. Go and add this to your Airbnb cleaning checklist now.

Oh, and use dark towels

Now for your towels, why don’t I recommend white here? Two words, make up.

black charcoal towels

I had the whitest fluffiest towels I could afford when I first started Airbnb. They were beautiful. The first booking I had ended in heartbreak. My plush towels had foundation and mascara covered all over them.

It didn’t take me long to realise that no matter how many make-up wipes I left out for my lovely guests, the towel was always their go to for drying their face.

So I made the switch to charcoal towels and have never looked back. It has saved me so much money not having to buy expensive stain removers. It’s especially good not having to soak the towels over night anymore.

I encourage you to read my article on furnishing your Airbnb on a budget which has some good suggestions about bedding and towels.

#6 Put That Iron Away!

One of the biggest time-sucking jobs you can do is ironing. There is absolutely no need to iron sheets, pillows, throws or towels. If this job is on your Airbnb cleaning checklist, its time to cross it off.

I’m sorry if you can’t stand to see a wrinkle on your duvet cover, but guess what, your guests don’t care! They really don’t. No really.

No iron

In all my years of hosting Airbnb, I have never, not once, ironed one single sheet and I have never, ever had any complaints or comments about wrinkles.

If the thought of even one crease on the bed is enough to give you nightmares, give this a try: Start by filling a spray bottle with water and add little fragrance like lavender or rose.Next, make the bed as per usual, then pull the duvet cover nice and tight.

Finally, en spray over lightly with the infused water and pull tight again. This will eliminate creases as well as leaving your linen smelling fresh and clean.

#7 How to make a hotel style bed in under a minute

Yes, you heard right, a beautifully made hotel style bed with all the bells and whistles in under 2 minutes.

How I hear you ask? This is something that I have perfected over many months and days making countless beds on my own. So here goes.

How to make the perfect bed

How to make a perfect bed in 10 Steps

  1. Standing at the base of the bed, throw your fitted sheet over the bed fitting the bottom half only
  2. Then throw your top/flat sheet over the top and let it fall flat over the entire bed
  3. Now move up to the left-hand side, fit the bottom sheet and then place the top sheet up to the top edge of the mattress so it sits flush.
  4. Repeat with the right-hand side
  5. Now still on the right side, tuck in the sides running the length of the bed all the way to the bottom, then tuck in the ends and then back up the left-hand side. (don’t forget to do hospital corners!)
  6. Back at the bottom of the bed, throw the duvet over so it lies flat and is sitting perfectly on both sides.
  7. Next head back to the top left-hand side of the bed. Fold the flat sheet that you had sitting flush against the top edge of the mattress down onto the duvet and tuck it in tight.
  8. Make your way down the side of the bed tucking in the duvet as tight as you can and make another hospital corner with the duvet. Continue to tuck all the way to the left-hand side.
  9. Now place your pillows onto the bed leaning them up against the wall/bedhead and follow with the top pillows and a decorative cushion
  10. Lastly, place a throw blanket on the bottom corner and you’re done!
    The most efficient way to make a bed on your own in under 2 minutes. The trick is to keep everything nice and tight. Now only will it look very professional but it will save you having to iron as the duvet won’t show any creases or wrinkles.

The most efficient way to make a bed on your own in under 2 minutes. The trick is to keep everything nice and tight. Now not only will it look very professional, but it will save you having to iron as the duvet won’t show any creases or wrinkles.

#8 Get Yourself a Cleaning Caddy

A cleaning caddy is super handy for hosts that have their Airbnb up a flight of stairs, in a basement or next door to each other.

cleaning caddy

It will keep all your cleaning products in the one place so you are not going back and forth forgetting something. Which we all know will happen at some point.

Pick a caddy with multiple areas so you can have everything right at your fingertips and not have to rummage. Something with a handle is also really handy as a box can get a bit awkward to carry especially when multitasking. 

It’s an absolute must for your Airbnb cleaning checklist.

#9 Don’t Just Vacuum The Floor

Dust is the biggest enemy to an Airbnb. It is like leaving a road map of how unclean your house is to a guest, even though you just spent the last half hour vacuuming. 

Turbo vacuum head

Forget one corner or one windowsill and its a 4-star review. No really, a guest is more offended by dust than forgetting to supply them with enough towels. You don’t want bad reviews, it can be crippling.

The best, easiest and quickest way to combat dust is with your vac, not a duster that just moves the dust around.

While you’re in the bedroom doing the carpet, make sure to run the vacuum over common surfaces. Surfaces such as bedside tables, the floor edge, inside the cupboard, on the shelves, on the windowsill, etc.

It takes no time at all and you’ll have a dustless surface, less to do on your Airbnb cleaning checklist, and very happy guests.

I highly recommend getting yourself a power head on your vacuum. Make sure it that it has two settings. The one for carpet will spin cleaning brushes underneath which is amazing at picking up fluff and hair. The other setting is for hard floors where you don’t need the spinning function.

The power-head attachments are expensive, but the amount of time they save, their cleaning power and dust busting abilities make them completely worth the extra money. 

#10 Stick To A Routine

If you are following your Airbnb cleaning checklist, then you have all the tools to make a solid routine for your guest turnovers.

Having a routine saves you a huge amount of time even though you are doing all the same jobs. 

Here is my cleaning routine for one of our three bedroom houses.

  1. Go to the bathroom and wipe down the shower with one of the guest’s towels. (this saves having to water-log my cleaning cloth later)
  2. Strip the beds and take the sheets, kitchen cloths and used towels to the laundry bag.
  3. Collect new sheets, towels and kitchen cloths from my labelled storage boxes. 
  4. Make all the beds (in under 5 minutes each)
  5. Pick up my cleaning caddy and start wiping down all the surfaces starting in the kitchen, then the lounge and then the bathroom.
  6. Take out the rubbish and replace the bag
  7. Vacuum all the floors and top surfaces like bedside tables.
  8. Set out the new towels and kitchen cloths
  9. Replenish the dishwasher tabs, coffee, tea and milk.
  10. Write a welcome note on the mini whiteboard stand.

As long as you stick to the same routine every day, you wont forget anything and your Airbnb will be sparkling clean every time.

#11 Listen To An Audiobook

Now unless you are a little bit OCD, no one really likes to clean. So a distraction to keep your mind from going a little mad each day is to listen to an Audiobook while you work.

Red Sony headphones

Invest in a good pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones as there is nothing worse than having a cord getting in the way. And having those earbuds in your ear for long periods of time is a killer.

If Audiobooks aren’t your thing, podcasts are like opening a Pandora’s box of amazing knowledge and entertainment. There are podcasts on just about every subject imaginable.

Or if you want to be really creative, why not learn a language! You will find so many free courses and podcasts on learning a new language. Who would have thought you could get so smart just by cleaning!

Your Airbnb Cleaning Checklist Done In Record Time

Bnb Duck Airbnb cleaning checklist

These are my tried and tested methods that I have perfected over many years and hundreds of turnovers. 

To get to that point where your brain goes on autopilot while you clean is the #1 goal. It is like getting to a state of zen while you meditate.

So with these 11 hacks in your back pocket, you’ll complete your Airbnb cleaning checklist in half the time without even realising it!

Now you can take these hacks and start implementing them into your Airbnb cleaning checklist and watch your cleaning time cut in half.

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