vacation rental maintenance

Cleanliness is a key factor to consider when owning and maintaining a vacation rental home. Travelers are looking for a tidy, comfortable place to stay, and owners want to keep their rental in great condition for as long as possible. But cleaning a house or apartment can lead to a whole host of environmental concerns: unhealthy chemicals going down the drain and polluting the air, the overuse of disposable products, and the frequency with which you have to clean a home that welcomes new tenants weekly, to name a few. Here are seven tips that will help you go green and clean at the same time.

1. Before purchasing cleaning products and other items for your home, consult GoodGuide, a comprehensive online info center that rates products based on the greenness of the chemicals they contain and the way they are manufactured. This resource covers dish soap, laundry detergent, air fresheners, coffee and tea, appliances, tissues, toilet paper, and more. Your careful choices will help keep your guests—and the surrounding environment—healthy, whether they are settling into a vacation routine or cleaning up at the end of their stay.

2. Supply rags, sponges, cloths, and brushes for cleaning so that guests don’t feel compelled to go through a roll of paper towels in order to tidy up. Simple, friendly instructions on keeping these materials clean and dry will make them last longer.

3. Offer a clothesline and clothespins so that renters can easily dry towels, bathing suits, and laundry without using any unnecessary electricity. Let the sun and breeze do the work of a dryer—or, if the weather is not so balmy where you are, consider drying racks or an indoor clothesline.

4. Provide lots of screen doors and windows that can be opened effortlessly. These will help whisk away stuffy air and odors in a much healthier manner than chemical air fresheners can. In some locales, carefully planned ventilation can even avert the need for energy-guzzling fans and air conditioners.

5. Opt out of the antibacterial soap hype. The FDA has found that these cleansers do not prevent sickness any better than regular ones, and even have the dangerous effect of promoting “super germs” that are increasingly resistant to antibacterial products. Stick with the simple cleansers and your guests will be just as happy.

6. Setting up a compost bin will not only keep extra waste out of landfills; it will also prevent the garbage from getting smelly and cause guests to go through fewer plastic garbage bags. Composting at a vacation home can get a little complicated, especially if you will not be around to monitor the system you have set up. So this green option is best for committed owners who have the time to show new guests the ropes, tend to the compost pile every few days, and make use of the rich soil in a nearby garden.

7. If you hire a cleaning service for your rental home, make it an eco-conscious one.
Picking a cleaning company with green values protects your guests’ health as well as the workers’ wellbeing, and prevents your vacation home from becoming a dumping ground for dangerous chemicals and wasteful practices.

Joanna Eng is a New York-based writer and editor who covers travel, green living, food, careers, entrepreneurship, and more. Her travel experiences have ranged from hostel hopping in Mexico to staying with distant relatives in China to renting a beach apartment in New Jersey.

Written by: Dan Weisman

After last week’s Spring Cleaning post, we asked the FlipKey team for their tidying tips, and the most common response was: “Hire a cleaning service!” There are some parts of a spring clean that you will have to do yourself (organizing your belongings and throwing out stuff that you don’t need anymore), but don’t be afraid to call in the professionals when you get to the scrubbing, dusting, and shampooing of a deep clean. It’s no sign of weakness to let the pros handle the serious grime while you focus on getting your rental ready for this season’s guests!

If you are going to take on the challenge independently, here are some tips to keep cleaning under control:

Start at the top
Use gravity to your advantage by starting on the top floor and working your way down. Also, start each room from the top, cleaning ceiling fans, lighting fixtures, and high shelves first. On windows and walls, working top to bottom will help prevent streaking.

Wise window washing
Wash the insides of windows with horizontal strokes and the outside with vertical strokes. When the windows dry, you will be able to tell which side requires further attention based on the direction of the streaks.

Re-purpose products
You’ve always used fabric softener dryer sheets (i.e. Bounce) for the laundry, but did you know that they also dissolve soap scum from shower doors and pick up pet hair off of upholstery? You can also use alka-seltzer or denture cleaner to scrub the insides of containers that are too small for hands.

Take your time
Chances are that cleaning the entire house is going to take a lot of hard work. No one says that you have to get it all done in one day, though. Spread your chores out over a few days, taking some time each day to get away from the house and do something fun. However, once you’ve started a task, don’t allow yourself to get distracted – finish whatever you’re working on before starting something new.

Go outside
Remember to clean up outside as well as inside your home. If you have any outdoor accessories that have been in storage all winter (bikes, boats, lawn/patio furniture), then now is the time to revive them. It’s also a good idea to thoroughly clean out your car while you’re in a the spring cleaning state of mind.

Make your own cleaning solutions
Generally we like to keep cleaning simple, so here are some basic, but effective, cleaning solutions that you can make at home:

For walls: Add ½ cup ammonia, ¼ cup white vinegar, and ¼ cup baking soda to 1 gallon of warm water. Use a sponge to wash and dry with a clean cloth or towel.
For windows: Add 3 tablespoons ammonia and 1 tablespoon white vinegar to a spray bottle of water. Use newspaper to shine.
For the bathroom: Combine ½ cup vinegar, 1 cup ammonia, ¼ cup baking soda & 1 cup warm water to clean the shower and tile. 1/3 cup rubbing alcohol and 1 cup water is great for cleaning mirrors.
For wood floors: Mix ½ cup white vinegar with 1 gallon warm water. Ring out the mop before wiping the floor to avoid leaving puddles that can cause damage

Good luck with your spring cleaning!

Please feel welcome to share more tips and stories in the comments below…

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Tag Archives: vacation rental maintenance

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