Airbnb Cleaning Checklist: Room-by-Room Guide

From the exterior windows to the interior walls, several surfaces need to shine if you want to outshine the competition. Clean up your act with this free Airbnb cleaning checklist and tips for preventing cleanliness issues.

Key Takeaways:

• Using a cleaning checklist helps guarantee that no important tasks are skipped during turnovers.
• It’s recommended that you charge a cleaning fee, as it will help you cover the costs of hiring a professional cleaning service or your essential cleaning supplies for your Airbnb, which include sponges, cleaning cloths, and disinfectants. 
• The kitchen is one of the biggest pros of vacation rentals over hotel stays, and as such, it should always receive a deep clean that includes scrubbing the sink, clearing the drain, and throwing away any leftover food.

Guests almost always comment on the property’s cleanliness in their reviews. What’s more, they can be unforgiving. There’s little room for error and a single stray hair can mean a negative review which will tarnish your reputation. 

Considering that cleanliness is one of the biggest factors in guest satisfaction that drive five-star reviews, using an Airbnb cleaning checklist is a must. You’ll need to stay on top of your vacation rental cleaning, whether you’re using cleaning services or opted for the more old-fashioned route of doing all the surface and deep cleaning yourself.

We have done the “dirty work” for you and put together an ultimate cleaning checklist that covers the whole house. From general cleaning tasks to more specific jobs per room, find out what needs to be completed before your next guests arrive.

The Benefits of Using a Vacation Rental Cleaning Checklist

With a detailed cleaning checklist, you can rest assured knowing that every cleaning is completed in a specific manner to ensure consistency. That said, it isn’t just crucial for staying organized. Cleanliness also directly impacts guest satisfaction and reviews and with travelers’ expectations becoming higher, you need a strategic approach to maintaining ideal cleanliness, booking after booking. 

Not only will a cleaning checklist help ensure a spotless property, but other areas of your short-term rental business will also improve. Here are some of the other advantages that a cleaning checklist offers: 

• Fewer unscheduled maintenance requests as potential issues can be flagged and addressed promptly
• Better workload distribution within your cleaning team
• A streamlined cleaning process that removes guesswork to ensure faster, more efficient turnovers
• Improved delegation making it easier to hand over your cleaning instructions to an outsourced cleaner or a professional cleaning team
• Compliance with local laws
• Better inventory control helping to avoid costly emergency runs
• Better professional positioning as failure to maintain a high standard of cleanliness is seen as rookie hosting mistake

An Airbnb Cleaning Checklist: General Rules

While it is crucial that you ensure every inch of your property is sparkling clean, here are some general cleaning tasks that you or your cleaner must tackle every time before the next guest arrives:

• Check your house for any left-behind items 
• Take out the trash
• Wipe and sanitize high-touch surfaces like light switches, door handles and doorknobs, and the handles of cupboards
• Vacuum and sanitize all the floors, accommodating hardwood floors and carpets
• Wash and change sheets and towels
• Dust all the surfaces and furniture
• Dust light fixtures and ceiling fans
• Clean shelves and wipe the dust off decorative items
• Clean and sanitize toilets, bathtubs, and showers
• Replenish essential supplies and cleaning products, such as hand soap, dish soap, toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, and other supplies that you highlight in your listing’s description 
• Ensure that you have stock up on extra toilet paper and paper towels as these consumables tend to run out faster 
• Look for any property damage
• Double-check that all windows, doors, and smoke detectors which are critical for guest safety work

A Vacation Rental Cleaning Checklist by Room

From the exterior of your property to high-traffic areas like the kitchen, you need to have a cleaning strategy in place to tackle room by room. The kitchen and bathroom are particularly important. In addition to the general cleaning tasks, here are vacation rental cleaning checklists per room.

Living room 

Living spaces are areas where guests spend most of their time while staying at your Airbnb. So, you’ll want to ensure that everything is arranged nicely so that the area is inviting and creates a relaxing atmosphere. Here are the cleaning tasks to keep your living room tidy and spotless:

• Clean the TV screen and disinfect the remote
• Dust other electronics like a game console
• Dust the coffee and side tables
• Vacuum the sofa and armchairs (remember also to vacuum the space between the seating cushions as well as beneath the individual cushions)
• Spot clean any carpet stains (leave a carpet cleaning kit for guests to use if they spill anything)
• Wash throw blankets and the covers of throw pillows
• Clean the blinds
• Dust any shelves and decorative items
• Organize miscellaneous items
• Clean all the mirrors
• Vacuum and mop the floor (be sure to clean under the furniture and rugs as well)
• Disinfect high-touch surfaces like light switches and doorknobs

Bedroom 

As the quality of your guests’ sleep will determine the quality of their stay, you’ll want to ensure that there are no nasty surprises. Here’s how to create an environment conducive to a good night’s rest:

• Check the duvet covers and bedding for any rips or stains
• Wash all the dirty linen and replace it with fresh linen
• Make the bed
• Check the laundry baskets and remove any dirty towels that your short-term rental cleaners may have missed
• Clean between the headboard and mattress (this is a place where you’ll often find lost items)
• Clean under the bed (this is another place you’ll need to check for left-behind items)
• Wipe down and disinfect the bedside tables
• Dust bedside lamps
• Empty and clean all the closets, dressers, and drawers
• Vacuum the carpet/mop the floor
• Clean the blinds
• Disinfect light switches

Bathroom 

Guests can be very critical of bathrooms. So, it’s key that all your property’s bathrooms are sparkling clean before the next check-in. Here’s how to do that:

• Clean and disinfect the whole toilet (in other words, the seat, bowl, lid, and tank)
• Wash and disinfect the toilet brush
• Clean and disinfect the shower (remember to check the shower curtain, if you have one)
• Clean and disinfect the sink
• Check the all the drains for any hair (while unpleasant, cleaning hair from drains should be done every time you clean your bathroom)
• Use a stainless steel cleaner to ensure all the taps and showerhead sparkle and are smudge-free
• Clean all the mirrors
• Wash and replace all the towels
• Wash and replace the shower and bath mats
• Mop the floor
• Clean and restock the bathroom cabinets and drawers for essential bathroom supplies like extra towels, first-aid supplies, etc.
• Check for any signs of mold
• Clean the blinds
• Disinfect light switches

Kitchen 

One of the advantages that a short-term rental offers over hotel accommodation is that it has a kitchen. In fact, access to a kitchen is one of the main reasons why travelers book an Airbnb rental over a hotel room, making this area key to keep clean. Plus, considering that this is where food gets prepared, it’s crucial that your kitchen is hygienic.

• Clean the inside of all the kitchen appliances to remove leftover food and wipe down and disinfect the exterior (this includes the microwave, dishwasher, and oven)
• Clean the oven wire racks and drip pans
• Deep clean the stovetop
• Clean the sink’s drain filter
• Wipe down and disinfect the inside and outside of drawers and cupboards (ensure that there are no crumbs)
• Wipe down and disinfect all countertops and backsplashes
• Check that the drying racks are empty and all the dishes are clean and have been returned to the right cupboard/drawer
• If you provide pantry essentials, double-check the use-by dates of all the food (this includes any spices, oil, and condiments)
• Empty the refrigerator and wipe down and disinfect all the shelves
• Ensure there are clean sponges and tea towels
• Restock dish soap, trash bags, dishwasher fluid and any other consumables
• Remove the garbage and line all the trash cans with a clean bag
• Sweep and mop the floor
• Clean the blinds
• Disinfect light switches

Utility and laundry room 

If you have a utility and laundry room that guests are welcome to use, you need to ensure that this space is guest-friendly and clean too, especially considering they’re often a place where guests enter the property. Here are what you’ll need to do:

• Clean the interior and exterior of the washing machine (remember to check the laundry detergent tray of the washing machine specifically)
• Remove the dryer lint from the dryer
• Disinfect light switches and buttons/knobs of the appliances
• Replenish the laundry detergent
• Clean behind and between the washing machine and dryer
• Clean around any supplies
• Mop the floor

Home exterior 

Hosts often forget that the exterior of their property also needs regular inspections and attention. Plus, considering that this is what guests will see first, it’s even more important that you ensure it’s properly maintained and included in your Airbnb cleaning checklist. 

• Clean the windows and the actual window frames
• Clean and disinfect any outdoor eating areas
• Clean the barbecue
• Empty any trash bins and line them with a clean plastic bag
• Clean any patio furniture
• Sweep the patio
• Clean and disinfect safety railings
• Wash and replace chair cushions
• Remove weeds and other debris like sticks, branches, and leaves
• Clean the swimming pool (if you have one)

Cleaning Supplies That You Will Likely Need

One of the benefits of paying for a  professional cleaning service is that cleaning supplies are typically included in the fee. Otherwise, you’ll need multiple tools and supplies. Yes, the list might be long, but it will make your cleaning tasks much more efficient when you have the right products at hand.

The following are the essential cleaning supplies that you will need:

• A vacuum cleaner
• A microfiber mop
• Microfiber cloths
• Sponges
• Scrub pads
• A toilet brush
• Rubber gloves
• Spray bottles
• An all-purpose cleaner
• A stainless steel cleaner
• A degreaser
• Disinfectants
• A cleaning product for glass surfaces
• A quality wood polish
• Dishwashing liquid
• Air fresheners
• Hand soap

It is also important that you keep the most essential cleaning items inside your rental property if your guests need to clean a spill or perform a quick surface clean. However, just make sure that these are stored well out of reach of children.

Simplifying the Vacation Rental Cleaning Process

In addition to these room-by-room checklists, automation can also help you to make the Airbnb cleaning process even more straightforward and ensure you maintain your cleaning standards consistently. Whether it is to trade in your broom for a robotic vacuum or sign up for vacation rental software, many hosts put their faith in these tools to make their vacation rental cleaning more efficient.

1. Make use of smart home cleaning devices

Cleaning a property, even more so if it is used as a vacation rental, takes loads of time and energy. Luckily, introducing smart home devices in the cleaning process can be a smart move, especially if you clean your properties without the help of outsourced professional cleaners. Here are some of the smart home cleaning devices that are worthwhile investments:

• A robot window cleaner
• An automatic carpet cleaner that automatically sprays, brushes, and suctions
• A robot mop
• A robot vacuum
• A microwave cleaner to clean the microwave inside
• A toilet bowl cleaning system
• A SonicScrubber
• An air purifier to ensure a fresh scent for the duration of their stay

2. Use vacation rental software

Whether you have hired the services of a professional cleaning team or have your own cleaning crew in place, vacation rental software like iGMS can help to streamline the process by:

• Sharing daily cleaning schedules with your cleaners
• Creating unique Airbnb cleaning checklists for a specific short-term rental or a specific purpose
• Auto-assigning cleaners to your properties
• Tracking the status of each cleaning task (the assigned cleaner will be able to mark the task as accepted, declined, or completed)
• Notifying your cleaning team of last-minute changes by pinning to-do notes at the top of your guest requirements’ list
• Prioritizing subtasks in your Airbnb cleaning checklists to measure the workload against the hours assigned

It’s especially useful for an Airbnb host who chooses to delegate cleaning to a third-party company or cleaner. 

In addition to simplifying the cleaning routine, iGMS comes in handy to improve other operations such as:

• Managing multiple accounts and listings on the top OTAs from a single interface
• Synchronizing reservations across multiple platforms to eliminate the risk of double bookings
• Organizing messages into a single feed with a unified inbox

Improving communication with automated templates and triggered messaging

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3. Introduce a cleaning fee

A cleaning fee can also help an Airbnb host simplify the cleaning process further. By adding a cleaning fee to your listings, you will be able to hire a cleaning service or a subcontractor and save time and money on cleaning. What’s more, it will offer you and your property more protection.

While hosts have the freedom to set their own cleaning fees, factors like your location and property size will impact how much you should charge for a cleaning fee. For example, according to AirDNA data, the average cleaning fee for a shared or private room is $50, while it can be as much as $350 for properties with six or more bedrooms. 

If you will be using the services of a company, you will also need to consider the average hourly rate and then charge slightly more to cover unexpected costs.

Mop Up the Competition With a Cleaning Checklist

While the cleanliness of short-term rentals was always a top priority, the COVID-19 pandemic placed it in a whole new spotlight and guests haven’t reduced their standards and expectations since. If you have not created an ultimate Airbnb cleaning checklist yet, it should be at the top of your current to-dos. Not only will it make your Airbnb cleaning easier, but it will also help you attract more happy guests. 

Then, by adding vacation rental software and even a robotic tool or two, you will be able to improve your cleaning too.

FAQs

1. What is an Airbnb cleaning checklist?

A cleaning checklist is a list of tasks (shared as a hard copy or digitally) that an Airbnb host or cleaning crew must complete between guest stays. To ensure hosts can maintain the high cleaning standards, it should also integrate regular inspections into the cleaning workflow.

1. How can Airbnb hosts communicate with their cleaners?

Centralized communication solutions that include automated scheduling like iGMS can help keep Airbnb cleaners informed about the property’s status, specific requests, or changes. As changes and scheduling are automated, it reduces the risk that a cleaning will be missed.

1. How often should you replace your short-term rental’s linen?

Linens like sheets, blankets, towels, bath mats, and tea towels, must be washed after each guest’s stay.

About the Author
Olga Vasylieva is the Content and Social Media Team Lead at iGMS. Olga is on a mission to help hosts and property managers grow their businesses and deliver an excellent guest experience. She is a travel enthusiast and is inspired by life in all its aspects.

March 12, 2026