How to Improve and Automate Your Airbnb Cleaning

This article is a guide to keeping your short-term rental spotless between bookings, drawing on best practices used by vacation-rental cleaning services like MaidThis.

Becoming a vacation rental host on a site like Airbnb is a great way to supplement your income and connect with travelers from around the globe.

However, vacation rental hosts are held to very high standards of service and quality. That pressure comes from both your guests and the platforms you use to rent out your properties.

According to Airbnb, cleanliness is one of the major standards hosts are required to meet. Hosts who consistently receive low cleanliness scores may even be subject to penalties.

But meticulously changing linens, wiping counters, scrubbing bathroom tiles, and sweeping floors between every guest booking can be both mentally and physically draining.

Not to mention, keeping a clean and tidy rental property is only one part of your duties as a host.

Fortunately, there are several ways to automate your Airbnb cleaning and take some of the load off your shoulders. Wouldn't it be nice to sit back and relax while someone else takes care of tidying up your vacation rental between bookings?

Here are five easy ways to improve and automate your Airbnb cleaning.

1. Hire a Professional Cleaning Company Between Bookings

Guests on Airbnb hold hosts to the same high standards of cleanliness as full-service hotels. They don't want to trade down.

Meeting these rigorous hospitality standards can be difficult because you don't have access to the same full-time housekeeping crews that hotels do.

The solution is to bring in a professional cleaning company to scrub your rental from top to bottom between guest bookings. They take care of the entire turnover process — they're your cleaning army.

A good Airbnb cleaning crew should handle a number of services, including:

• Making the beds
• Cleaning and putting away the dishes
• Sweeping and mopping floors
• Vacuuming carpets and rugs
• Cleaning toilets, bathtubs, and showers
• Taking out the trash
• Wiping countertops, door handles, and light switches
• Checking for damage and reporting low inventory

These services ensure your guests feel comfortable in your space without requiring you to lift a finger. If you're ready to build out this part of your operation, our guide on how to hire an Airbnb cleaning team walks through the full process.

2. Schedule Periodic Deep Cleanings

Cleaning your vacation rental between check-outs keeps the property looking fresh most of the time, but it's important to schedule periodic deep cleanings, too.

This type of cleaning isn't needed all the time, but it is necessary several times per year. Think of it like spring cleaning — except you do it at least twice a year.

When hiring a short-term rental cleaning company, ask about their ability to handle more in-depth cleanings in addition to their basic turnover service. If they can't do it, the job falls back to you.

It's best to have the same company do both regular and deep cleans, because the crew will already be familiar with your property and any unique requirements you have.

Deep cleaning services worth including:

• Wiping baseboards
• Cleaning inside and under the oven and fridge
• Shampooing carpets
• Cleaning inside cabinets
• Any specialized cleaning of bathrooms or appliances
• Cleaning closet corners

3. Keep Tabs on Toiletries and Supplies

Keeping your rental adequately stocked with toiletries and other supplies is an important part of guest satisfaction — and, in turn, positive reviews and ratings.

It's easy to slip up and forget to replace supplies like paper towels and toilet paper, and you can bet your guests will notice. A guest without toilet paper is not going to be happy.

It's worth hiring a cleaning company that will take the time to do a quick inspection of your property's supplies. After they take inventory, they can notify you of anything that needs to be replenished before the next guest checks in.

Automating this simple but crucial step lets you stay proactive about guest satisfaction without adding another item to your to-do list.

4. Get Notified of Any Damage

Dealing with damage is something many hosts face from time to time — it's just part of the job.

It's never fun to inspect for and correct damage, but an even bigger problem is failing to notice it in the first place. If you miss damage during turnover, you run two risks:

• Allowing the damage to spread or get worse, or
• Receiving negative reviews from future guests who were inconvenienced by it

Some cleaning crews will look out for and notify you of any damage, giving you peace of mind that problems won't go unnoticed. Better yet, some will even photograph damage for you, ensuring you have adequate documentation for reimbursement when making a claim.

Pro tip: Make sure your cleaners snap pictures between every guest, and consider a quick walk-through video that highlights each room. You want this evidence because you or your cleaner may not notice the damage right away, or a claim might come up that you didn't expect. It's far better to have the evidence than to wish you had it.

5. Schedule Cleanings and Pay Online

As an Airbnb host, you've already got plenty on your plate managing bookings and delivering a great guest experience.

Stopping by a store or picking up the phone every time you need to schedule a cleaning can eat up time you could be spending on your guests.

Free up that time by choosing an Airbnb cleaning company that lets you schedule upcoming turnovers, send messages and share notes, reschedule cleanings, and submit payments with just a few clicks in an online platform.

There are a number of ways to save time and avoid headaches when managing your Airbnb, and automating your cleaning is one of the most effective. By doing some research and finding the right company for your turnovers, you'll have far fewer headaches.

A quick Yelp or Google search in your area will turn up professional Airbnb cleaning services to choose from.

Cleaning is just one of the systems that separates a stressful side hustle from a smooth, scalable hosting business. If you want a complete framework for building those systems — and a community of hosts to learn from — explore the BNB Mastery Program or join the conversation inside the BNB Tribe community, where experienced hosts share what's working in real time.