Airbnb & short stay
Managing laundry between back-to-back Airbnb guests is a common headache for hosts. Here is how to streamline your linen turnover without the stress.
Managing laundry between back-to-back Airbnb guests is a common headache for hosts. Here is how to streamline your linen turnover without the stress.
# How to Manage Airbnb Laundry Turnaround for Back-to-Back Bookings
If you host an Airbnb, you already know the stress of a same-day changeover. Your guests check out at 10:00 am, the next ones arrive at 2:00 pm, and in between, you have a mountain of sheets, towels, and bathmats to wash, dry, fold, and replace.
How do you manage Airbnb laundry for back-to-back bookings?
The most effective way to handle back-to-back Airbnb laundry is to use the "rule of three" for your linen: keep one set on the bed, one set in storage ready to go, and one set in the wash. This removes the need to wash and dry linen on-site during the small cleaning window, allowing you or your cleaners to simply swap the dirty linen for fresh sheets and take the laundry off-site to be washed later.
Here is a practical look at how to streamline your short-stay laundry turnover.
A standard washing machine cycle takes about an hour, and a household dryer can easily take two hours to properly dry a load of heavy towels or thick cotton sheets. If your property sleeps four to six people, you are looking at multiple loads of laundry.
Trying to run the washing machine and dryer while cleaning the property often means the cleaner is waiting around for the dryer to finish before they can make the beds. This wastes time, increases your cleaning costs, and adds unnecessary stress if the previous guests check out late.
To avoid the onsite laundry bottleneck, experienced hosts and property managers keep at least three complete sets of linen for every bed, and three sets of towels for the maximum guest capacity.
With this system, whoever is cleaning the property strips the beds, bags up the dirty laundry, and immediately remakes the beds with the fresh set from the cupboard.
When stripping the beds, always check the linen for stains before bagging it up. In short-stay accommodation, the most common stains are makeup on pillowcases, sunscreen on towels, and food or drink spills on sheets.
Identifying these stains early is important because they often require pre-treatment. If a sunscreen-stained towel goes straight into a standard hot wash, the stain can set into the fabric permanently. Bagging stained items separately makes it easier to treat them properly or alert your laundry service so they can apply the correct stain removal process.
As short-stay bookings pick up through spring and summer, managing the constant cycle of washing, drying, and folding at home can become a full-time job.
Many hosts from the Northern Beaches to the Lower North Shore choose to outsource this completely. By using a pickup and delivery laundry service, you can have the bagged dirty linen collected directly from your home or the Airbnb property. It is washed, dried, professionally folded, and returned to you ready for the next booking. This ensures your linen is cleaned to a high standard, extends the life of your sheets and towels, and frees up your time to focus on managing your bookings.
If you are spending hours tied to the washing machine between guests, it might be time to look at a professional wash, dry, and fold service.
You should have at least three complete sets of linen and towels per guest capacity. This allows one set to be in use, one set ready in the cupboard, and one set being washed, completely eliminating the need to wash and dry linen on-site during a tight changeover window.
Washing linen on-site during a short turnover window often causes delays, as domestic washing machines and dryers can take several hours to process multiple loads. It is usually faster and more efficient to swap dirty linen for a fresh set and wash the dirty items off-site or use a laundry service.
Advice from SOAK Laundry, Dee Why NSW. Book a laundry pickup or call 0460 120 120.