washing sheets and towels after hosting

[Yara1]

Dear Community, I am new to this. Is it normal to ask guests when they leave to strip the beds and leave sheets and towels on the machine? Do you ask them to wash and dry them or just leave them for the host to wash and dry afterwards?

[Karen2798]

I haven't had any complaints on a guest taking out the trash.  It's not a big deal

[Jennifer178]

I rent a room in my house and do not charge a cleaning fee.  My booking fee is a bit higher than some whole house listings so they have paid already for my labor.  I have arthritis of various degrees in my right neck, arm and hand so someone else stripping the bed would make my life easier (making the bed would benefit me more) but I would never ask.  I have had many guest ask me if they should strip the bed and gather the towels and I always thank them for the lovely offer but say no. Some have done it anyway.  But almost every guest has straightened up the guest room and completely remade the bed so it looked like it did upon arrival.  If anyone knows a magical spell I can recite that makes the duvet get into the duvet cover on its own, I would be eternally grateful.

[Jamie69]

I find that most of my guests also make the bed before they leave.

This seems odd to me because surely they know I'm going to strip the bed and wash the linens, right? Why make the bed?

One couple gathered up all their towels and all the bedding and put it in a pile. That saved me a few minutes of stripping the bed and gathering everything together.

I certainly don't mind when people make the bed before leaving, but it sure feels like a wasted effort.

Jamie

[Teresa225]

Hi Jennifer,

To manage that duvet, you roll them together - duvet and inside out cover- ending at the duvet cover opening then flip the whole thing inside the duvet and begin to unroll...

Look up burrito method duvet and I'm sure you'll find a video demonstration. It's like a miracle!

[Ryan170]

I would suggest that you use a delivery service instead of making your guest do it, but I am biased. 😉 My company [link hidden] offers free pickup and delivery for Airbnb hosts.  Promo code airbnb gets you $10 off your first delivery.  Good luck!

[Kate157]

When I am a guest, I don't expect to be doing any cleaning, beyond straightening my own things. I don't think I should have to. So, I would not be happy if there were instructions to clean up or strip the beds, and I would reflect this is my review. When my guests ask if I want them to empty garbage or strip the bed, I wave them off, "no, no, I'll take care of all that." To me, this is the host's job, not the guests'.

[Karen2798]

That's one way to think. But in my own experience, I don't mind and my guests haven't expressed that they mind either.  I guess I will take a poll just in case. l

[Judy29]

I have been to "cottage country" where it is the unspoken law that you leave the place as found.  So it if there is a laundry facility on premise it is expected to have the sheets and towels cleaned (if possible).  However saying that, this has to be clearly stated in the description and/or house rules.

Most people travel so they dont have to do those kinds of 'chores'.  So if you want to have the sheets as clean as you wish for your guests, then you have to clean them.  I would NEVER trust a guest to clean to my standards.  Wouldnt it be terrible to find that they had just removed them and folded them to pass off as clean????  It's bad enough that I have bleached all my new shirts to death trying to make sure the rooms are germ free, but would not want to chance dirty linens.  My guests complain that the kitchen is not clean enough.  Hello.....it is a commercial kitchen approved by the Board of Health and it is beyond clean with bleach!  (it does clutter up easily when I return from a catering job...duhhhh)...and guests give me a 4star for cleanliness because of that.  I would love to see how these people live.

BTW  Never ever assume that your guests are bug free.  I ended up with scabbies.  It is very infectious.  When I strip beds, I put all the sheeting into the middle of the bed sheets and fold into a ball before removing from top of mattress.  Roll tight into a ball and place in a clear garbage bag to carry to the laundry room.  I do the same for towels.  Then I just dump into the L. Tub per load with as little handling as possible.  Vacuum twice and dump the dust outside and dispose .  

[William348]

Just stayed at very nice place and my fellow guests and I got into a heated discussion about what to do with towels and sheets on check out. The others insisted that the beds be stripped and sheets put in a pile somewhere…TBD, and the same with the towels. There were no instructions in the manual about any of this. There were no laundry facilities. I was incredulous, I had never heard of such a thing or done it. My personal opinion was that it was insulting to the person that would have to pick up this mess from the floor or wherever, sort of like “I want to make sure you know these things need washed”. I have a friend that throws his used towels on the floor in hotels every day. I think it shows a lack of respect for the person that has to bend over and pick up a lump of soggy towels. Perhaps people don’t want their towels tossed on the floor of their bathroom, so which error would you make, leave them hung up or piled on the floor. In the end we left the beds as they were slept in, I hung up my towel and the other stuffed theirs into a plastic bag, wet or dry, I don’t know. I had asked the host the day before leaving and she of course said to just leave things be. I would recommend that all these things be covered in the book of rules for your location. There are as many different ideas as there are guests. The more things that you that you specify in writing helps everyone.

[Karen2798]

OMG well said, William.  You make great points.  

[Erick67]

I've been wondering about this. I'll be getting into this in the next month or so. IlI' be renting a beach cottage a couple of hours away.  I can't see driving 4hrs between gusts to clean. What do people do. Hire a service? 

[Dorothy11]

Hi Erick,

I live 8 hrs. from our airbnb vacation home. During the summer months, I am booked full. I did some searching and found a really reliable cleaning lady and a handyman who lives nearby. These two are essentials. It is common practice not to provide sheets/pillowcases/towels and people just take their laundry with them.

I do offer a linen closet they are welcome to use but I stipulate everything must be washed dried folded and put back in closet....otherwise there is an extra charge. 

My rates are low because of this but it's less headaches for me.

[Karol28]

I do ask our guests to strip the beds and gather their towels and leave everything on the floor near the laundry. I came to this after finding personal belongings left behind in the bedcovers or in the bathroom - and it is often next to impossible to get such items back to guests. Once I got people to shake out their sheets and pile up their towels, items left behind went to zero. I have this as part of our check out instructions, and have had no complaints. When I stay in Airbnbs, I always do the same, and often I'll get a grateful response from hosts. To me, it is a small way to acknowledge I'm staying as part of a community, and not at a hotel. 

[Marci20]

I recently stayed at an Airbnb for my first time. I was shocked to receive checkout instructions the evening before checkout requiring me to take out the trash, take out the recycling, and wash/dry all towels and bedding. All by 11:00am checkout the next morning. I had to get up extra early in the morning so it could get done in time, as we are a family of four and used three beds. That’s a lot of bedding! I would have liked advanced notice of these expectations, especially since we paid a sizable cleaning fee.

[Justin271]

Oh I find that very annoying and as a guest was asked to do that while I paid a $150 cleaning fee for two people. Nothing written in advance about that either in their listing. = not a great review