Airbnb cleaning checklist
A short-let turnover is judged against the listing photos by a guest who has never seen the place. That makes it a reset, not a clean: nineteen tasks across strip, bathrooms, kitchen, living space and handover, ending with a photograph from the same angle as the listing.
Before the visit
- Confirm the checkout and check-in times — the window is the job
- Check the last guest's review for anything to look at
- Know the consumables standard and carry spares
After the visit
- Photograph every room from the listing angle
- Report damage with a photo the same day
- Flag anything that will run out before the next stay
Strip and check
- Strip beds and bathrooms, count linen out6 min
- Walk every room for damage and left items, photograph anything odd5 min
- Bins out, recycling separated5 min
- Start the first laundry load3 min
Bathrooms
- Full clean: shower, toilet, basin, mirror, floor22 min
- Consumables restocked to the standard: paper, soap, shampoo5 min
- Towels folded and set to the house pattern5 min
Kitchen
- Dishwasher emptied, everything put back in its place8 min
- Fridge cleared of guest food, shelves wiped10 min
- Counters, hob, microwave, kettle and toaster12 min
- Coffee, tea, salt and pepper restocked4 min
Living and bedrooms
- Beds made, cushions squared, throws straightened12 min
- Surfaces dusted, remotes and switches wiped8 min
- Floors vacuumed and mopped18 min
- Windows checked, blinds set to the listing photo5 min
Handover
- Heating or air set to the arrival setting2 min
- Welcome note and key check3 min
- Photograph each room from the listing angle6 min
- Report consumables that need restocking before the next stay3 min
The window is the constraint
Most turnovers happen in a three to five hour gap, sometimes less. That means the order is driven by the laundry: strip first, start the machine, and let the wash run while you clean, or the whole turnover waits on a dryer.
If the property has no on-site laundry, you are running a linen swap rather than a clean, and the price has to include the transport and the second set.
Consumables are part of the fee
Paper, soap, shampoo, coffee, tea, bin liners and dishwasher tablets are real costs on every single turnover, and hosts routinely forget them when they set the cleaning fee. Price them per turnover, itemised.
Track consumables per property for a month before you agree a flat turnover fee. A two-bed flat that hosts families runs through roughly twice the paper of the same flat let to couples.
The photo check
The last task on the sheet is a photograph of each room from the angle used in the listing. It takes six minutes and it settles almost every dispute about whether the property was left ready.
It also catches your own misses. A room looks different in a photograph than it does standing in it.
A turnover is not a deep clean or a move-out
Three jobs get confused on short-let properties, and each needs its own sheet. A turnover resets the property to the listing between two guests, inside the checkout-to-check-in window. A deep clean goes behind and under things — oven, skirting, inside cupboards, extractor filters — and belongs on a blocked night every few months, not squeezed into a same-day gap. A move-out clean is an empty-property job judged against a deposit, which a short-let property only needs when it comes off the platform.
| Job | Judged against | Time pressure | Linen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover | The listing photos | Hard: the next check-in | Full change every stay |
| Deep clean | Build-up you cannot see in a photo | Soft: a blocked night | Mattress and pillow protectors too |
| Move-out | An inventory and a deposit | Set by the handover date | None: the property is empty |
Hosts who run their own properties often use the house cleaning checklist for owner stays and this sheet for paying guests. A cleaner servicing serviced apartments or a small hotel block is closer to the housekeeping checklist, which assumes a trolley, a floor and a supervisor.
Damage, left items and the host’s claim
The walk-through at the start of the sheet is not just for you. If a guest broke something, the host has a limited time to ask Airbnb for reimbursement. The Host Damage Protection terms set that request within thirty (30) days of the Responsible Guest's checkout date, and they ask for proof such as receipts, photographs and videos. A dated photo you took before you touched the room is often the best evidence the host will have.
Airbnb Host Damage Protection Terms, read 2026-10-18
Do not clean up damage before you photograph it, and do not throw away anything a guest left behind. Bag and label left items with the date and the room, and send the host the photos the same day so the clock never becomes your problem.
Keep the reporting format the same every time: room, what you found, photo, whether the next guest can still check in. Hosts who manage several properties read dozens of these a week; the cleaner whose reports are quick to act on keeps the contract.
Pricing the turnover so the sheet gets done
A turnover priced as a quick tidy will be cleaned as a quick tidy, and the photo check is the first task that gets skipped. Price the full sheet: the minutes on it, the laundry, the consumables and the drive. The Airbnb cleaning fee calculator adds those up per stay, and the cleaning quote template turns the number into something a host can sign.
Agree in writing what happens on a same-day turnover that runs late because the guest checked out late. A standing rule — the host is told, the photos are sent, the extra time is billed — prevents the argument the first time it happens.