9 Airbnb Cleaning Tips to Help You Prepare for Your Next Guest

Paris, London, New York – wherever you want to go on your next vacation, there’s an Airbnb. And one recent study showed that 91% of Airbnb users were so satisfied with their rental that they’d happily recommend the service to others.

As an Airbnb host, that’s great news for you… as long as you provide them with a top-quality, clean and presentable rental. You could use an Airbnb cleaning service, but sometimes cleaning it yourself is the only option

If you’re a host with a rental to prepare, check out our 9 Airbnb cleaning tips to help you get ready for your next overnight guest.

1. Write the Ultimate Tailored Checklist

While generic checklists online are fine to give you an idea of what to clean, your rental is unique. You need to provide special attention to specific spots and corners you need to check. Please make a note of them, so you don’t forget.

Using a selection of online checklists, compile an ultimate tailored Airbnb cleaning list for your rental. Next, write up a deep-clean checklist. Plus, you can focus on the task and minimize your cleaning time when you know exactly what to clean and when to do it.

2. Race Yourself

Though a clean rental will make or break your ranking score, you also don’t want to spend your life cleaning. Why not turn it into a game? Time yourself the first occasion you clean according to your new tailored checklist and note down how long it took.

The next time you clean, try and beat your record, even by just a minute. The time after that, try and hit it again. Race yourself every time you do your Airbnb cleaning, and you’ll soon have to spruce up your rental down to a fine art.

3. Start With the Time-Consuming Jobs First

When it comes to cleaning, there’s nothing like the feeling of multitasking. So, start with jobs that take the time or many steps. Spray your bath and shower, put a cleaning treatment down the toilet, and then do the laundry.

Using your time effectively will make sure those time-consuming jobs don’t eat into your precious time at the end of your cleaning session. It’ll also allow time for your cleaning products to work their magic, so wiping them away is effortless.

4. Open All Your Windows

This tip’s vital, and it always applies, no matter the weather! There’s nothing worse than walking into a hotel room only to get a whiff of its previous occupants. Open all the windows to get the air in and the smells out.

It would be best if you also opened the kitchen and bathroom windows while cleaning. Cleaning chemicals can be pretty nasty, and your guests might be sensitive to these strong odors.

5. Keep the Microwave Squeaky Clean

You’ll understand this one if you’ve ever microwaved a takeaway curry. Delicious foods tend to leave lingering smells, and your guests will likely be using your microwave a lot.

Keep a splatter guard on hand to minimize grease and sauce spreading within the appliance. Wipe down all internal surfaces, and deodorize with baking soda and lemon.

This tip works great for all communal appliances, like your fridge, dishwasher, and oven. Think of any appliances your guests have access to and make sure they’re fresh-smelling and clean. Then you’ll make the best impression every time.

6. Focus on the Bathroom

The place where we clean ourselves understandably gets pretty grubby as a result. As an Airbnb host, you’ll often find your bathroom gets the most wear and tear. To keep your rankings high, a clean bathroom is a must.

Scrub all surfaces after every single stay, every single time. Check for dust and hair in hard-to-reach places, like behind the toilet and beside the bath. And regularly unclog your drains, even as a preventative measure.

7. Scour for Hairs

We’ve said it before, but we’ll repeat it because hairs get a special mention. Why? Well, it’s a special kind of gross when you find a stranger’s hair in your bathroom, kitchen, or bed!

They’ll be hard to spot and can be challenging to reach, but hunt for stray hairs like it’s your job while you do your Airbnb cleaning. Once you’ve cleaned the whole place, do a final once-over as part of your Airbnb host checklist, in case you missed one.

8. Vacuum Up Sofa Crumbs

There’s often nothing we like better at the end of a long day sightseeing or traveling than kicking back on the sofa with a beer and a snack. But those snacks often create crumbs that get hidden underneath and down the sides of your couch.

To keep the place clean and your guests happy, inspect your sofa for crumbs after each stay. Vacuum underneath the couch, lift the cushions, and vacuum underneath them.

It’s always nice to pretend that you’re the first person to use a hotel room. Carry on the illusion with a spotless sofa and no crumbs to be seen.

9. Banish the Dust!

It’s gross, it appears overnight, and it’s everywhere – and who knows where dust comes from, right! And yet this Airbnb host’s nemesis is pretty easy to get rid of – you need to know where to look.

Firstly, use a damp microfiber cloth to pick up dust particles rather than move around. Wipe down surface tops, but don’t forget areas that don’t get any activity – the lightbulb in your bedside lamp can get pretty dusty.

Airbnb Cleaning Gets You “Very Satisfied” Guests

For that elusive ‘very satisfied’ guest rating, your Airbnb cleaning skills need to be top-notch. Make sure you know what to work on every time by writing a checklist tailored to your rental, with specific focus areas.

Remember that the facilities used by multiple guests (the kitchen, microwave, fridge, and the like) can get extra grubby and need special attention. And don’t forget the cleaner’s pests: dust, hair, and crumbs need to be spirited away pronto.

Once your accommodation is neat as a pin and sparkling clean, how can you raise the rankings for your rental? We’re glad you asked – check out how to achieve a higher ranking in Airbnb search results.