October 15, 2021 by Mulberry Maids
Short term and vacation home rentals can be a great source of extra income for your home, but it comes with the responsibility of making sure your home is cleaned and staged nicely for new guests. One of the best cleaning services in Fort Collins is here to help you get through your short term rental cleanings with ease! Follow our simple checklist to increase your turnover cleanings speed and efficiency, while still making sure your home is perfect for new guests!
Before getting into this short term rental checklist, read our other tips on deep cleaning your stove and oven for new guests and find out what the real differences are between short term cleaning flips and full move out cleanings. Additionally, if you are a property management company that is still on the fence about hiring out your rental cleanings, find out all the reasons you should in this quick read!
Why is it important to have a good short term cleaning routine?
Developing a solid cleaning routine is key to the success of your short term rental. Even the best home, in the nicest area, will suffer as a rental when it is not cleaned sufficiently. Additionally, if you plan to tackle the turnover cleanings yourself, it is in your best interest to learn to be efficient, as cleaning will eat up a bunch of your time if you can’t do it quickly. If you don’t already have a solid cleaning kit put together, that should be one of the first steps to take.
Always remember that cleaning your vacation rental should be one of the most important things you do. It will help to build up more solid 5 star reviews from guests, and it will also help you do your turnover flips faster. The more consistently clean a home stays, the easier and quicker it will be to get ready for new guests.
Short Term Rental Cleaning Checklist
Having a checklist to use will help to make sure that nothing is missed during your turnover cleaning, will make cleaning more efficient, and can be a good resource if you ever start to hire out your cleanings. You can use the following list to help create your own checklist. Taking a few minutes to make a checklist form can be really helpful. Printing it out or having an online version can be handy to be able to place a check mark by each task to make sure nothing is missed.
Assuming your home is already staged and set up well as a vacation rental, make sure you address all the areas in the home to keep it as clean as possible for new guests.
General Cleaning Throughout The Home
General cleaning throughout the entire home will include both cleaning and staging, as well as taking out trash and throwing away leftover food from the previous guest. Depending how long the guest was checked in, and how recently the home was deep cleaned, not everything will necessarily need to be performed for each turnover. Make sure to take care of all the following areas:
- Empty trash and clean or sanitize in and around the trash bins as needed
- Dust throughout the home
- Blinds and window sills
- High dusting and corners
- Baseboards
- Shelves
- Wash, fold, and neatly hang all towels
- Fold and stow away or nicely stage all blankets on furniture
- Dust/vacuum any furniture or tables
- Wet wipe all light switches and door knobs
- Spot clean walls as needed
- It is easier to address small wall stains when they are new and before there are too many
- Vacuum and/or mop all floors in the home
- Look for stains or excess grime
- Don’t neglect corners and edges throughout the home
Kitchen
The kitchen is likely the toughest area to clean after a short term rental, as it doesn’t take much cooking to create a mess! Make sure to address the following areas to get the kitchen looking like new again:
- Clean the stove and oven
- Look for grease splatter around the stove area
- Don’t forget the details – look at things like the knobs and the area around the burners
- Refrigerator
- Check the interior for leftover food, spills or other stains
- Make sure the exterior is cleaned well, leaving no streaks or dust buildup on top
- Sink
- Deep clean the sink and make sure the garbage disposal is clean and free of food scraps
- Make sure dish soap is filled up
- Counters
- Clean all the countertops of food debris or other spills and stains
- Keep the counters with minimal items on them
- Stow away any clutter in cabinets
- Dishwasher, microwave and other appliances
- Make sure all appliances are cleaned inside and out
- Put away all clean dishes from the dishwasher
- Cabinets
- Make sure no excess food has been left inside them
- Wipe out any debris
- Wipe and dust the exterior of the cabinets
Living Areas
Generally speaking, cleaning the living areas should be pretty quick and easy. The biggest thing to remember is to stage any furniture, pillows, blankets, and other decorations neatly and simply. The rooms should look pristine and welcoming to new guests.
- Dust throughout the living areas
- Picture frames
- Tables
- Windows and sills
- Decorations
- Lights
- Stage couches, tables, chairs and blankets well
- Organize any books, magazines or local brochure resources neatly
- Vacuum and/or mop
- Make sure to get under the edges of any rugs
- Look under furniture
- Excess dust
- Loose items
Dining Room
Similar to the living areas, the dining room will typically be pretty easy. The biggest things to look for include stains and spills on tables, loose food debris on the ground, and even spot cleaning of walls.
- Dust
- Lights
- Window frames, sills and blinds
- Picture frames and mirrors
- Table and chairs
- Clean tables
- Wet wipe and/or sanitize table tops
- Vacuum and/or mop
- Make sure to get under the table and chairs
- Under the edges of rugs
Bathrooms
Like the kitchen, the bathrooms will be another more in depth area to clean, especially if you hosted a larger group. The bathroom is a very important area to clean well – a dirty bathroom will likely be one of the most noticed areas by guests, leading to complaints or bad reviews of your rental.
- Sink Area
- Clean the sink, counter and mirrors
- Make sure there are no streaks left on the mirrors
- Wipe around the faucet
- Look at the details and use a brush to get into all the nooks and crannies
- Clean out any medicine cabinets or vanity drawers
- Shower and Tub
- Wipe and polish all chrome
- Clean glass doors so there are no streaks or soap scum left over
- Wet wipe the whole shower and tub
- Depending on how heavily it is used, this step will vary between renters from a full deep cleaning to a quick wipe
- Toilet
- Clean and sanitize in and around the whole toilet
- Look at the details
- Behind the toilet
- Nooks, crannies and grooves
- Dusting and/or wet wiping
- Light fixtures and pictures
- Toilet paper holder
- Light switches
- Staging
- Make sure toilet paper is displayed neatly
- Fold and hang towels in a clean and organized fashion
- Leave extra soaps, shampoo, toilet paper and towels for the guest
- Vacuum/Mopping
- Do this step last as you work your way out of the room
- Make sure to move any rugs to mop underneath
Bedrooms
The biggest aspect of cleaning and staging the bedrooms will be making the beds. You want to make sure the bed is made like a hotel room – clean, crisp and inviting.
- Dust First
- Windows, sills, fans and shelves
- Dust will fall down onto clean surfaces, so wait on making the bed
- Make the bed
- Put on clean sheets
- Make the bed as neatly as possible
- Fluff the pillow
- Fold any blankets neatly to place on the bed
- Vacuum and/or mop
- Look underneath the bed for built up dust or other items
Exterior Home
While most of the cleaning and staging of the home is in the interior, if you have outdoor seating areas, they should not be neglected.
- Patios
- Sweep the exterior patio
- Clean and reorganize any patio furniture
- Make sure tables are clean
- Make sure grills are cleaned out and ready for use
- Entry Way
- Clean door handles
- Clean entryway windows and door windows
- Clean and clear windows make a great first impression when guests arrive
- General
- Make sure everything outside is orderly
- Trash bins put away
- No loose items outside
- Try to keep any grass and landscaping maintained through the summer months for curb appeal
- Make sure everything outside is orderly
Cleaning after the guests leave
Once guests have left, even if you are not ready to do the next cleaning turnover, it is always a good idea to check out the property to make sure there is no damage or excessive trash left over from the renters. The sooner the property is inspected, the quicker any issues that have arisen can be taken care of, from damage claims to unexpected maintenance.
While this checklist may seem daunting, it will be faster to get through as you gain more experience with flipping the units between guests. As always, the more consistent a home is cleaned, the overall faster, easier and efficient it will be to clean.
Cleaning services in Fort Collins that exceed your expectations!
Satisfaction is our goal at Mulberry Maids! We offer a 100% happiness guarantee to make sure that you have the best cleaning possible.
When you book a cleaning in Fort Collins with Mulberry Maids, you are getting more than just a chore checked off your list for you. You are getting the gift of free time, so you can do fun things with your family, like visiting the Fly High Trampoline Park. Let your kids shed some extra energy, while you relax and read a book!
Give us a call at (970) 460-4298 to get on the schedule or with any cleaning related questions that you have!