The Ultimate Step by Step Airbnb Cleaning Checklist

Check out our Airbnb cleaning checklist to make cleaning your Airbnb as fast, efficient and thorough as possible.

As an Airbnb host, you want to avoid the stress and hassle of having guests complain about the cleanliness of your accommodation and potentially asking for a refund. Getting the best reviews you can is important to give you consistent revenue from your Airbnb. Whether you’re offering guests basic lodgings to rest their head, or high end accommodation, cleanliness is of the utmost importance to your guests. While not necessarily fair, if a guest notices one small thing that hasn’t been cleaned properly, they are likely to perceive the whole place as dirty. That’s a frustrating experience if you’ve worked hard to get the place clean. It’s important to anticipate this and present to your guests a wonderfully clean accommodation each time, but without spending forever doing a changeover between guests.

Our Airbnb cleaning checklist is designed to ensure that your guests will give glowing reviews of your Airbnb’s cleanliness, while making your changeover as thorough and quick as possible.

Airbnb Cleaning Checklist

1. Change Linen & Towels

Strip used linen, bed sheets, towels, bathmats and tea towels. Replace with fresh.

2. Clean Kitchen

Wash and put away any dishes left out.
Empty dishwasher.
Check other appliances are empty, clean and functional.
Check fridge – remove anything left behind by guests, wipe any spills, ensure consumables (e.g. milk and condiments) are re-stocked.
Wipe down all kitchen benches.
Clean and polish sink, taps and other hardware.
Empty bins.

3. Clean Bathroom

Sanitise and clean toilet.
Shine sink and mirrors.
Spot clean shower: depending on how long your guests stayed, you may only need to wipe over the shower for most cleans and give it a deeper clean periodically.
Scrub glass shower screen and squeegee dry.
Don’t forget to check drain holes!
Empty bins.

4. Re-Stock Consumables

What you choose to leave for your guests is up to you, but typically this would include:

tea, coffee, paper towel, bin liners, cling wrap, dish soap, sponges, facial tissues, toilet paper, hand soap, shampoo and conditioner, body wash.

5. Dust, Tidy, Reset

Spot dusting throughout: wipe down tables, surfaces, light switches and skirting boards where needed. While you’re doing the dusting, check that guests haven’t left anything behind.
Make sure all lights are working (keep some spare light bulbs handy!), taps aren’t dripping or leaking, fans, air conditioning and heaters work and maybe keep a lamp on for your late check-in guests!
Tidy & reset: stack magazines, plump up cushions, straighten rugs, arrange décor items, leave out guest information booklets, redraw blinds and curtains.

6. Sweep, Vacuum and Mop

Depending on the type of floor you have, how dirty it is and how long your guest stayed, you may only need to spot vacuum or spot mop the floors.
If you have any outdoor areas, sweep up dirt, debris, leaves etc so your porches, balconies and outdoor entertaining areas are neat and tidy, and dirt isn’t tracked into the house.

7. Guest Ready Finishing Touches

This might include any extra touches you leave for your guests, such as chocolates, wine, flowers, bread & cheese or vouchers.
If you have a welcome board, get that set up with the guests’ names.
Check keys are returned and ready.

Pro tip: Don’t forget the bigger picture

Even if you have mastered your changeover cleaning routine, a common mistake we see Airbnb hosts make is to neglect the ‘big picture’ presentation of their properties. Some tasks, such as cobwebbing, window cleaning, carpet steam cleaning and pressure cleaning may not need to be done every changeover, but they definitely can build up over time and take away from the presentation of your Airbnb. So, make a plan to soak your rangehood filters, vacuum out your window tracks, spot clean your walls and dust those blinds! Failing that, give us a call and we can give your Airbnb the spring clean it deserves to keep it clean, fresh and fully booked 🙂