If you’re planning on turning your home or condo into a vacation rental, you’ll need to come up with a specific plan for cleaning your home between occupants. Whether you hire a cleaning service or plan on doing the work yourself, you’ll be better off with a concise list that details the most important cleaning tasks and the manner in which you’d like them done. Read on for some sample ideas on how to write your vacation rental cleaning checklist.
Divide up the vacation rental areas
It makes the most sense to divide your cleaning checklist by area: bedrooms, living room, kitchen, etc. Then record the specific duties you’ll want to complete in each room every time a renter vacates your vacation rental.
Cleaning tips for the living area
Also known as the living room, this is where your vacation rental guests will spend a huge chunk of their time. Be sure to cover the following:
- Sweep or vacuum floors, then mop or scrub them
- Dust window sills and ledges
- Dust all furniture, window dressings, picture frames, ceiling fans, and lamps.
- Vacuum furniture, including under seat cushions
- Check sofa bed and remove any used linens
- Provide clean linens for the sofa bed
- Wash all windows and glass doors
- Empty and clean wastebaskets
Cleaning tips for the bedrooms
It’s essential to provide clean bedrooms in your vacation rental so your guests feel at home. Remember to:
- Change sheets and pillowcases
- Vacuum floor and under beds
- Check for personal belongings left in drawers and closets
- Wash blankets and comforters after every 10 rentals
- Check for wear & tear or stains on sheets and blankets
- Dust furniture and clean mirrors
- Check windows for fingerprints
- Check for dead light bulbs
Bathroom cleaning tips
Like the bedrooms, the bathrooms in your vacation rental absolutely must be sanitary and fresh. Make sure you:
- Clean and sanitize toilets
- Clean, scrub and sanitize all surfaces, including showers, bathtubs, vanity, and sinks
- Clean mirrors
- Polish chrome
- Wash floors and tile walls
- Provide clean linens
- Empty wastebasket
- Replenish liquid hand soap
Kitchen cleaning tips
The kitchen in your vacation rental must be sanitary in order to meet standard health codes. Include the following on your kitchen cleanup checklist:
- Clean, scrub, and sanitize sinks, countertops, and backsplashes
- Clean appliances, counters, cabinets, table, and chairs
- Clean range top and wipe out inside of oven
- Clean inside and outside of refrigerator and microwave oven
- Wash floor
- Empty dishwasher, and quickly organize cupboards
- Refill dishwashing detergent, liquid dish soap, coffee filters, and trash bags
- Put out clean dishtowels, and a new sponge
Cleaning tips for miscellaneous areas
And then you’ll have the other miscellaneous areas within your rental, such as a kitchen nook, a library, the laundry room, the garage, the outdoor areas, and any balcony spaces. Make sure you do the following in these spaces:
- Check all light bulbs and change those that have burnt out
- Change your furnace filter once a month
- Ensure washer and dryer are empty
- Clean out dryer lint trap
- Wipe off patio set, clean barbeque grill
Be sure to factor a deposit into your cleaning needs
When managing a vacation rental, it’s essential that you charge your renters a deposit substantial enough to cover excessive cleaning needs or potential damages. Following any renter’s stay, you should look for damages or missing items and take note of whether any space was left excessively dirty. Build a clause into your rental agreement telling your renters that they’ll lose their deposit if any of those previously mentioned problems occur
