Airbnb turnover cleaning: from checkout to guest-ready

A turnover is everything that happens between one guest checking out and the next guest checking in: the clean, the laundry, the restock and the final check. Doing it in the same order every time is what makes it fast, and it is what makes it easy to hand to someone else. For the room-by-room list itself, print our free Airbnb cleaning checklist and keep it with your supplies.

The order of a turnover, from checkout to guest-ready

Laundry takes the longest, so it starts early, and anything that could turn into a dispute gets photographed before anyone touches it.

1. Confirm the guest has gone. Airbnb encourages guests to message the host once they have completed checkout. Wait for that message, or for the checkout time, before anyone goes in.
2. Walk through and take photos before cleaning. Photograph anything damaged, missing or out of place in every room, and look for belongings left behind.
3. Strip the beds and start the laundry. Airbnb's own cleaning advice is to strip the beds and start a load first, so there is time for several loads if you need them.
4. Open the windows if the weather allows. A professional cleaner featured in Airbnb's Resource Center says masking smells with bleach or air fresheners usually does not work, and suggests fresh air or an air purifier.
5. Clean the kitchen. Empty the fridge of leftover food, run and unload the dishwasher, put everything away, and wipe the counters, appliances and cupboard fronts.
6. Clean the bathrooms, then disinfect. The CDC's advice is to clean a surface with soap and water first, then disinfect it, and never to mix cleaning products. The EPA adds that the surface should stay wet for the whole contact time on the disinfectant's label.
7. Make the beds and reset the bedrooms. Put fresh linens on every bed and a fresh case on every pillow. Check under the beds and inside the drawers, which the same cleaner names as commonly overlooked spots.
8. Dust and wipe the living areas. Include the things guests touch most, such as light switches, door handles, remotes and countertops.
9. Restock everything, using the table below.
10. Take out the trash and do the floors last. Vacuum, then mop hard floors working toward the door, so nobody walks across them again.
11. Lock up and do a final walk-through. Set the thermostat, turn off the lights, lock the windows and test the door code. Then look at each room from its doorway as the next guest will.

Timing a same-day turnover

You set your checkout and check-in times in Airbnb's listing editor under Arrival guide. If your checkout is 11:00 AM and your check-in is 4:00 PM, your cleaner has five hours on a same-day turnover, and any travel time comes out of that.

Work out how long your clean really takes

Time your next three turnovers from arrival to the final photo and plan around the longest one. Then enter that time, your checkout and check-in times, travel and a safety margin in the calculator on this page to see whether the turnover fits.

Ways to make a tight window work

• Keep a spare set of linens and towels for every bed. Airbnb recommends an extra set of bedding and towels for quicker turnarounds. The beds are made from the clean set while the used set waits for the washer.
• Keep the guest's checkout list short. Airbnb suggests five common tasks: gather used towels, throw trash away, turn things off, lock up and return keys. Guests can flag excessive checkout tasks when they rate the stay. Our checkout instructions template covers what to ask.
• Check with your cleaner before you agree to a late checkout or an early check-in. Airbnb leaves both to the host's decision, and every extra hour comes out of the cleaning window.
• Decide whether you want same-day turnovers at all. Airbnb's preparation time setting works in whole nights, so it removes same-day turnovers entirely, but it also removes nights you could have booked.

What to check and restock

Airbnb's essential amenities, listed in the common questions below, are the minimum to restock every time. Beyond that, restock whatever your listing promises, because guests rate accuracy as well as cleanliness after a stay.

Some checks are monthly rather than every turnover. The US Fire Administration says to test smoke alarms monthly, and Airbnb asks hosts to test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms regularly, so put an alarm test on the first turnover of each month.

Photos as proof

"It was clean when I left" is not evidence. A photo is. A turnover needs two sets of photos, and they do different jobs.

Before cleaning: damage and mess

Anything damaged, missing or far beyond normal mess should be photographed before anyone moves it. Airbnb and Vrbo both give you 14 days after checkout to claim for damage, as the common questions below explain. On Airbnb, the guest then has 24 hours to respond before you can ask Airbnb to step in, and AirCover for Hosts also covers extra cleaning needed to remove stains and smoke odors. Photos from the first hour after checkout are easier to rely on than a memory two weeks later.

After cleaning: guest-ready

Our free checklist marks four items for a photo: beds made, towels hung, supplies restocked and trash removed. A photo of each lets you see that the home is ready without driving over. You can ask for more, but every photo adds a little time to the clean, and on a same-day turnover that time comes out of the window.

How to hand the turnover to a cleaner

Airbnb's advice for hosts who hire a cleaner is to run through the cleaning process once yourself, so you know exactly what needs to be done, and to have a second cleaner or another backup plan.

• Write a one-page house sheet. Say where the clean linens and spare supplies are kept, how to get in, which bin goes out on which day, what to photograph, and who to message about damage or anything running low.
• Agree the pay and the rules in writing. Our guides on how much to pay an Airbnb cleaner and the cleaner agreement template cover both.
• Send every turnover as soon as it is booked. Include the date, the checkout and check-in times, and whether it is a same-day turnover, and ask for a clear yes or no. Our guide to hiring a reliable Airbnb cleaner covers how to confirm jobs.
• Have a backup before you need one. If your cleaner cannot make it, our guide on what to do when your cleaner does not show up has a plan for the day.

If you would rather not text your cleaner about every booking yourself, TurnMyRental reads your booking calendar, texts your own cleaner each turnover so they can reply YES or NO, and sends them a photo checklist on the day. You still pay your cleaner directly, and our plans are a flat monthly price based on how many properties you have.