Cleaning your vacation rental in Florida is not the same as cleaning our own home. This article will help walk you through how to clean a vacation rental. Our team has been involved with cleaning many vacation rentals throughout Central Florida for several years. Following our guide will make it seem like a walk in the park.
Start with the most difficult rooms first
When you first begin to tackle the cleaning, go to the most difficult room first. We normally have you clean in it this order:
- Bathroom
- Kitchen
- Bedrooms
- Living Areas
- Outside Areas
Laundry
First, put all your linens in the wash, then clean the towels. If you are doing a turnaround, you may not be able to wash ever comforter. If so, many choose to use duvet covers to help keep the bedding as clean as possible.
Keep the same flow
Check the home for left behind items, changes, damages and other cleaning tasks that can require extra time. As an example, the shower can be unusually bad, so tackle that first since it can require extra time.
Follow wall to wall
Working your way through each room, start with high areas such as ceiling fans and move to dusting surfaces and blinds. In the bathroom, leave no hair behind and lay out clean towels. In your kitchen area, ensure dishes, pots and pans are all clean and sanitized. For beds, ensure they look crisp like they do in a hotel suite. Floors will be last. You don’t want to leave footprints behind. Floors will look best when they are freshly swept, vacuumed and mopped.
Use the right products
Florida vacation rental cleaning is not just about making it look clean. The space has to be sanitized as well. Be careful using harsh chemicals on delicate surfaces. If surfaces allow, use bleach in showers and bath tubs. It works well at killing mold and germs. Sanitize surfaces with Disinfectant wipes for the safety of your guests. For the laundry, bleach the whites and wash on warm setting to kill germs.
How long should a cleaning take?
Cleaning a vacation rental, on average, can take 2-4 hours. This is determined by:
- Laundry
- Size of property
- Condition guests left it in after they left
- Experience level of your vacation rental cleaning team
Inspecting your vacation rental
Every rental needs to be inspected. This is basically a final walk through.
- Check every dresser, drawer, closet and under the bed to ensure nothing was left behind.
- Check the pantry and cabinets for streaks, hand prints or foot prints.
- Hair must be remove, pay special attention to the bathroom.
- Document damages with photos and pay attention to any items needing maintenance. Photo evidence is required for claims on sites such as AirBnB and VRBO.
Cleaning expectations
Travelers expect a clean property at arrival, therefore you must ask previous guests to do their part. Even though you might charge a cleaning fee, you can still request they do a few tasks to help keep your cleaning time timely to prepare for the next guest. This includes:
- Stripping the beds
- Starting towels or washing towels they used
- Taking out trash
- Starting the dishwasher
- Double checking they have taken all their items with them
- Locking the door
Cleaning a vacation rental requires a lot of attention to detail and preparation. Everyone must do their part to ensure a memorable experience. This is just a starting point in your own vacation rental cleaning process and if you are in need of vacation rental cleaning service, please reach out to us.