Cleaning Guide & Checklist For Your Short Term Rental

When you have a short term rental, the responsibility of taking care of the rental falls in your hands. It’s your responsibility to ensure that the short term rental is in the highest condition possible. For one thing, this will ensure that you do have guests who want to come and stay at your property. And you hope they will return for stays in future and also recommend others to come and stay too. After all, word of mouth and good reviews are both highly important to earn a decent profit from your short-term rental. Therefore, you want them to have a good time to ensure you do get those five-star reviews to help grow your short term rental business.

One thing you need to do when taking care of your rental is to make sure that is furnished to a high standard. You don’t want the furnishings in the property to be low quality as it will leave guests unimpressed and unlikely to stay again. Therefore, you must go for high-quality items that will be long-lasting.  Also, ensuring there is enough of everything is important too. You don’t want guests unable to complete their stay as the inventory is short. Another important factor is cleaning. After all, this will make a huge difference in whether you get a good or bad review. If guests find the short term rental is dirty and untidy, it will spoil their stay and leave them scathing in their review. This ultimately will affect your business. But it’s quite complex to ensure cleaning is to a top level and you need to have a plan of action. Whether you decide to go ahead with professional cleaners or do all the cleaning yourself, you need a plan of action. Therefore, here is our guide and checklist for cleaning at your short-term rental. 
 

Make arrangements for when to clean

The first thing you need to decide is when the cleaning will take place. You want to ensure the house is appropriate for when guests arrive so cleaning needs to be done before new guests arrive. You want to make sure the old guests have left first before you do get started on the cleaning. Here are some tips on making decisions on when to clean.

Decide on an appropriate check-out time
 

While you have to be fair to guests to ensure they get a decent amount of time in the morning to get dressed and packed before they go, you do also need that time to be able to clean. So while you can’t ask guests to leave by 7 or 8, an appropriate time is 10 or 11. This still gives them some of the morning to get ready and also have breakfast and get dressed. But also leaves you enough time to get the cleaning sorted before the next guests arrive. 

Select a reasonable time for check-in

This leads to our next point which is to make sure you leave enough time for cleaning before the new guests arrive. You don’t want to still be cleaning when they are ready to come to the short term let. Therefore, advertise your rental at a time which gives enough time for you to complete the cleaning process. A lot of short-term rentals say around 3 or 4 to give them enough time to sort everything needed. You don’t want to do a half-hearted job which could leave guests feeling disheartened when they arrive. 
 

What you need to clean

Before you begin to clean the short term rental, you need to make sure you have everything that will help you to clean the rental effectively. After all, you want to make sure it’s cleaned to perfection so that there are no bad reviews left after the stay. Therefore, it’s time to go get plenty of stock to ensure you do an adequate job with the cleaning. Here are a few things you will need to help you get started with cleaning the short term rental.
 

A good hoover 

You will need to hoover around the house after every guest has been, so it’s important to get a high-quality hoover to get the job done properly.
 

A sturdy brush

A vital item to clean the kitchen, you need a good brush to help you to ensure the kitchen is as clean as possible.
 

A high-quality mop

A useful item for both bathrooms and kitchens, a mop is essential to ensure those wooden or tiled floors are shiny before they arrive.

An all-purpose cleaner 

From the kitchen sides to the shower, an all-purpose cleaner is essential to get all those stains away before the new guests arrive. 
 

A good bleach

A disinfectant is highly important for cleaning the toilets and sinks around the short-term rental. 
 

Scours, sponges and cloths

You will go through plenty of these when you are cleaning. Scours and sponges and cloths are so important to use with the all-purpose cleaner to make sure everything is wiped down ready.

Where to clean 

The next thing to consider when making a cleaning plan is where exactly you will need to clean when you are at the short-term rental. There are likely some areas that might not need as much attention as others. And they might not have to be cleaned every time between guests such as certain areas in the living quarters. But other areas get more untidy and dirty such as the kitchen and bathroom and will need spruce between guests. Remember areas like door frames and handles that are often forgotten about and also windows. Here is our guide to the main rooms you need to clean.

Kitchen

One of the major rooms that require cleaning between guests is the kitchen. This area gets dirty quickly due to the preparation and cooking of food. Therefore, this must be cleaned to perfection in between guests. Here is our guide to cleaning the kitchen.

Worktops 

The first thing you need to do is give the worktops in the kitchen a good, thorough clean. This is where people have prepared food and is where you will find the most grime and bacteria. Therefore, you need to spend the longest time giving these worktops a good clean and disinfectant before guests.
 

The oven

One of the most tedious jobs is cleaning the oven, but it’s necessary between guests. You need to clean both the inside and the outside of the oven, ensuring it’s cleaned to perfection. You also need to clean the hob and extractor fan to make sure this is all clean.
 

Drawers and cupboards

Giving the inside and outside of drawers and cupboards a clean is important. Food might have been kept in them during the stay of the guests. So it’s important to clean it out and ensure all crumbs and food has been removed. 

Food

As well as cleaning the sides, you need to make sure all the food in the kitchen has been removed if they are past its date. Remember to check all the oils and spices and any bottles that are in the cupboards. You can then restock anything as necessary before the new guests arrive.

Microwave

You will be surprised how quickly the microwave can get dirty. Therefore, make sure this is all cleaned before guests with every part removed and thoroughly washed through. 

Bins

You can request for the old guests to remove the bin bags before you arrive. But you will likely have to check if they have been emptied and put in new bins before the new guests arrive. 

Living room

While the living room is not as big a job as other areas in the house, there are some ways you can ensure it’s clean and tidy before the new guests arrive. After all, it is the main part of the house where people will spend their time so you want it to be clean and comfortable.

Hoover the floor

Whether it’s wood or carpet, it’s important to give the living room a thorough hoover before you let the new guests arrive. Move the sofas and other furnishings so you can find any rubbish left behind these items. And don’t forget under rugs too.

Wash cushions and coverings

You should also put any cushion covers through the wash and blankets that cover the sofa. That way, they will be clean and fresh for the next guests. Buy extras so you have sets to swap with while you wash the other set.

Polish the glass

From polishing coffee tables to the television screen, it’s a good idea to use a glass cleaner and polish to spruce them before the next guests arrive.

Bathroom 

Another important room to clean is the bathroom. This is the most complained about in terms of cleanliness and requires attention between guests. Here are a few of the main areas that need cleaning.

The toilet

You should give the toilet a thorough cleaning in between guests. From wiping around the basin to adding bleach, you want it to be clean for the new guests to arrive. Make sure you clean around the rim and leave a toilet brush for guests to use during their stay.

Sink

You should also clean the sink, wiping around the taps which will have been used by the guests. Also, clean the mirror above the sink to wipe away any grime from guests.

Bath and shower 

The bathtub is also another area that needs cleaning in between stays. Remember to wipe the bath mat too and change any towels that may have been used during the stay. If there is a shower, this also should be cleaned including the system, the floor in the shower and the shower head. 

Bathroom floor 

The floor is another area that needs to be cleaned before new guests can arrive. Whether you have wooden floors or tiles in the bathroom, make sure these are mopped and cleaned before guests do arrive at the home.

Charging a cleaning fee

A lot of owners of short term rentals charge a cleaning fee which helps to cover any loss of profit. It can go towards the cost of a professional or for cleaning supplies. This tends to be an extra charge to the main rental fee. How much you charge is up to you but it should cover the amount of time you will need to clean. A lot of owners don’t know whether to charge for fear of putting off guests. But if guests know the time and effort you will go to as extra with a cleaning fee, they will likely want to pay for the reassurance of a clean and tidy home.

If you decide to go with a professional cleaner, you should check out the rate and take this into account when working out the rental cleaning fee. That way, you aren’t losing money from the total that has to be paid for a cleaner. The other option instead of a cleaning fee is a security deposit. That way, if they make a mess during the stay, they lose this deposit which then goes towards getting the accommodation back to its former self. This often gives the owner added reassurance that the place will be left in good condition. 

Hiring a cleaning company

As we have discussed, cleaning is a complex job when you have a short term rental. Therefore, some owners find that it’s much easier to hire a professional cleaning service to do this. Of course, there are some negatives to this. It’s an added cost that you will have to pay out from your earnings. Additionally, you will have to make sure they have access to the property and also that they do a good level of service. However, some of the good things about a cleaning company are that they are professional and will do a high level of service. Also, they take over this tedious job for you which is time-consuming. You won’t have to stress out about cleaning the property before the new guests stay. If you don’t live near the accommodation, it will also save you from having to journey there every time you have guests.