Cleanliness is the one review category a host controls completely. A guest forgives a slow lock and a noisy furnace. They do not forgive hair in the shower, and they name it in the review.
What should be on an Airbnb cleaning checklist?
Five items happen in every room, then the room-specific list. Cobwebs and fixtures first, then surfaces and touch points, then floors last — top down, and dry before wet. Bins emptied and relined in every room, not only the kitchen. Nothing gets cleaned twice, because nothing falls onto finished work.
The five that repeat in every room:
- Cobwebs, vents and baseboards, ceiling corners included
- Bins emptied and relined
- Touch points — switch plates, door handles, door frames, handrails, remote controls
- Dusting worked high to low, fixtures and shelves before the surfaces beneath them
- Floors vacuumed, then mopped into the corners and along the edges
Kitchen
- Counters cleared, wiped and put back, and the backsplash with them
- Sink and drain scrubbed, faucet and fixtures dried by hand so they do not spot
- Cooktop, the front of the range, and the knobs
- Microwave inside and out, turntable included
- Refrigerator and dishwasher exteriors, handles included
- Cabinet and drawer fronts spot-cleaned where marks show
- Table and chairs wiped, legs and rungs included
- Floor mopped in detail, including the toe kick under the cabinets
Inside the refrigerator is where hosts lose ratings. On a residential service that is an add-on rather than standard, so make certain it is written into whatever your property's turnover covers, and that it is checked every single time.
Bathrooms
- Toilet base to lid — under the rim, around the hinges, behind the pedestal
- Tub and shower scrubbed, glass and grout worked for soap film
- Shower door track cleared out
- Sink, counter, faucet and drain scrubbed, chrome dried by hand
- Mirror, towel bars, switch plates and the vent cover
- Floor mopped behind the toilet and along the baseboard
Bedrooms and living areas
- Beds made
- Every horizontal surface dusted, lamps and picture frames included
- Fan blades, light fixtures, stair rails and spindles
- Blinds, window sills, doors and trim
- Floors, including under the bed — the most common miss, and the one guests photograph
Happy Maids publishes its full list at this level of detail on the room-by-room cleaning checklist. Hosts are welcome to print it and hand it to whoever cleans the property, whether that is us or not.
What do guests notice first in a short-term rental?
Hair, smell and glass, in that order. Hair in the shower or on a pillow reads as "nobody cleaned this," even in an otherwise well-cleaned unit. A closed-up musty smell registers before anything is looked at. And water spots on glassware and mirrors quietly undo a good turnover.
The short list that protects a rating:
- The shower drain and shower floor — checked with a light, every turnover
- Under and beside the bed — where guests drop things, and where the last guest's things are found
- Inside the microwave and refrigerator — door seal and crisper included
- Glassware and mugs — worth a hand-dry before guests arrive, since a dishwasher in a hard-water area leaves a film on glass
- Air — windows opened during the clean, so the unit is aired rather than scented
Scent deserves its own note. Reaching for a plug-in or an aerosol to cover a smell is the reflex, and it backfires with guests who have asthma or allergies and with anyone traveling with an animal. Air the room out and remove the source instead.
How long does an Airbnb turnover clean take?
Most turnovers run two to five hours. A studio or one-bedroom left in reasonable order sits at the low end with a single cleaner. A three-bedroom house that slept eight, with a full linen change, sits at the top, and moves faster with two cleaners on it. Condition matters more than square footage.
That variability is why one-time work is priced by time rather than as a flat rate. A deep clean, a move-out or a post-remodel clean is hourly and pro-rated for every ten minutes. A recurring plan is a flat rate, set by the size of the home, the services chosen and its condition.
The constraint that surprises hosts is not the cleaning. It is the calendar. An eleven o'clock checkout and a four o'clock check-in is a five-hour window that also has to hold travel time, and a crew booked at another property at one is not available at noon. Schedule turnovers against your calendar in advance rather than after each booking confirms.
Between seasons, or after a long stay, a deep clean resets the property to the standard that turnovers then maintain. Happy Maids sets short-term rental work up as its own service line, described on the Airbnb cleaning services page. Confirm the scope for your property in writing before the first turnover — laundry, linens and restocking are the three items hosts most often assume are included.
Does a turnover clean need a disinfectant, or just a cleaner?
Mostly a cleaner. Cleaning with soap and water lifts soil and carries most germs away with it. Disinfecting is a separate step for a short list of surfaces, and it only works if the product is registered for the job and the surface stays wet for the full contact time.
This is where most hosts, and a fair number of cleaners, go wrong. The EPA is specific about it: contact time is the time the product must remain on the surface to be effective, the surface should be visibly wet for that entire time, and if it is not still wet after five minutes, more product should be applied. Spraying and wiping straight away disinfects nothing.
Two practical rules follow:
- Look for an EPA registration number on the label. No number means the product is a cleaner, whatever the front of the bottle implies.
- Disinfect a short list and clean everything else. Toilet and its handle, bathroom counter, kitchen sink, door handles, light switches. Floors and walls do not need it.
How do you turn over a pet-friendly listing?
Allow more time and change the tools. Dander and hair work into upholstery, rug pile and the edges of hard floors, and that is what an allergic guest reacts to on the second day. A sealed-HEPA vacuum, worked slowly and in two directions, does more here than any product will.
What a pet-friendly turnover adds:
- Upholstery and soft furnishings vacuumed rather than brushed off
- Floor edges, baseboards and the gaps under furniture, where hair collects
- Fabric headboards, throw pillows and any rug the property owns
- Vents and filters checked, since that is where dander recirculates from
On products, the ASPCA's position on household products and pets is worth knowing if a guest arrives with a dog: most cleaning products are safe around dogs and cats as long as they are used per labeled directions. Rinse anything an animal eats or drinks from, and let floors dry before the animal walks on them. There is more detail in which cleaning products are safe around pets.
What is not included in a turnover clean?
Some of it is scope, and some of it is a different trade entirely. Knowing where the line falls keeps a host from discovering it in the middle of a five-hour turnover window. Happy Maids publishes the full list on its policies page, and the shape of it is standard across the industry.
Not part of a cleaning service's work:
- Carpet shampooing or steam cleaning — a different machine and a different trade
- Anything above a two-step ladder, including exterior windows and high fixtures
- Washing walls and ceilings, or removing construction debris
- Moving heavy furniture
- Mold, biohazards and animal waste
Add-on work is available but has to be arranged ahead: inside the oven, inside the refrigerator, inside emptied cabinets, interior windows within step-ladder reach, and a linen change carrying a per-bed fee. Requests need at least one business day's notice and cannot be added on the day, because the crew's route and supplies are set the day before.
Should a host clean their own rental, or hire a service?
Clean it yourself while you have one property and a flexible week. Hire the moment you have back-to-back bookings, a second property, or a job that will not move. The real economics are less about an hourly rate than about what one cleanliness complaint costs a listing over the following year.
The argument for a company over an individual is depth, and an office. Happy Maids will not claim a visit can never move: severe weather, cleaner illness and scheduled holidays are named in its own published policies. What it does guarantee is your service day, which is not changed without your consent.
What a company has that one person does not is a bench to draw on and somebody in the office who calls you and reschedules. With an individual cleaner, a sick day means no clean at all and often no phone call either. Neither arrangement guarantees same-day cover inside a five-hour window, which is the argument for booking turnovers against your calendar well ahead rather than booking each one as it confirms.
Happy Maids has cleaned homes across Barrington and the Northwest suburbs since 1985. See the areas served, read the reviews, and call 847-382-0082 — a person answers the phone.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on an Airbnb cleaning checklist?
Five items in every room — cobwebs and vents, bins emptied and relined, touch points, dusting worked high to low, and floors vacuumed then mopped — followed by the room lists. Kitchen: counters, sink, cooktop, microwave inside and out, appliance exteriors, cabinet fronts. Bathrooms: toilet base to lid, tub and shower, door track, mirror, floor behind the toilet. Bedrooms: beds made, all surfaces dusted, fixtures, and under the bed.
How long does an Airbnb turnover clean take?
Most turnovers run two to five hours. A studio or one-bedroom left in reasonable order sits at the low end with a single cleaner; a three-bedroom that slept eight, with a full linen change, sits at the top and moves faster with two cleaners. One-time work is priced by time — hourly and pro-rated for every ten minutes — while a recurring plan is a flat rate. The tighter constraint is usually the checkout-to-check-in window, not the cleaning itself.
Does a cleaning service do laundry and change the linens for a short-term rental?
Confirm this in writing before your first turnover, because it varies. On Happy Maids' residential services, laundry is not included and a linen change is an add-on carrying a per-bed fee that must be requested at least one business day ahead. Short-term rental work is arranged as its own service, so ask exactly what your property's scope covers.
Do you need to disinfect an Airbnb between guests?
On a short list of surfaces, yes: toilet and handle, bathroom counter, kitchen sink, door handles and light switches. Everything else is a cleaning job, since cleaning removes soil and carries most germs with it. Disinfecting only works if the product carries an EPA registration number and the surface stays visibly wet for the label's full contact time.
How do you clean a pet-friendly Airbnb between guests?
Allow extra time and vacuum with a sealed-HEPA machine, slowly and in two directions, over upholstery, rugs, floor edges, baseboards and the gaps under furniture. Check vents and filters, since dander recirculates from there. Rinse anything an animal eats or drinks from, and air the unit out rather than covering the smell with a scent product.
What will a cleaning service not do in a rental property?
Carpet shampooing and steam cleaning, anything above a two-step ladder including exterior windows, washing walls and ceilings, removing construction debris, moving heavy furniture, and mold, biohazards or animal waste. Add-ons such as inside the oven or refrigerator, interior windows and a linen change are available with at least one business day's notice.
Should I hire a cleaning service for my Airbnb or clean it myself?
Clean it yourself while you have one property and a flexible schedule. Hire once you have back-to-back bookings, a second property, or a job that cannot move. The value of a company over an individual is depth and an office — somebody calls you and reschedules, where an individual cleaner's sick day means no clean at all. Happy Maids names severe weather, cleaner illness and scheduled holidays in its published policies rather than claiming a visit can never move.