When it comes to the vacation rental business, one of the most time-consuming tasks that must be done is laundry. It doesn’t matter if you already own a vacation rental property or you are thinking about it, laundry is probably already on your mind. If you’re stressed about how to manage the laundry of your vacation rental home, don’t fear: we’ve got five hints that you can use to make the task easier to do.
Avoid Over Supplying
You must be aware that your guests will use whatever is made available to them. Because of this, you want to avoid opening yourself up to unnecessary and excessive loads of laundry. For short stays, one full set of bath linens, including a bath towel, hand towel, and two washcloths, per guest should be enough. You might even consider storing one or two extra sets to plan for any emergencies that might arise.
Do You Have a Pool?
If you have a pool at your vacation rental home, there are ways for you to protect your bath towels by providing beach towels. You should provide at least one per guest and then a few extra just in case. You can attractively display these beach towels by rolling them up and arranging them in a bin or basket near the main door to the pool so they will be noticed and used.
Avoid Stains Proactively
While it might seem like an additional expense, but vacation rental owners who leave disposable makeup wipes in the bathrooms tend to keep their towels looking new and fresh longer than those who don’t. Individually packaged, hypo-allergenic makeup wipes can be bought by the case and are much cheaper than replacing stained towels in the long run. Plus, your guests will think of it as a thoughtful amenity, because like we said earlier: they tend to use everything available to them!
Easy Bedding
For the sake of easy care and simplicity, it’s recommended that you use white cotton bedding in vacation rental properties. If the home has multiple differently sized beds, you can find the label on the sheets, both fitted and flat, and mark the size with a Sharpie. This makes it, so there’s no more guessing as to which sheet is a queen, king, or full!
Also, keep in mind that most comforters are much too large for residential washer and dryers. If you are planning on using comforters on your beds, consider using duvet covers because they are easy to remove and clean in between guests.
Some vacation rental property owners wash their comforters every two to three weeks while others wash them after every single guest. Washing blankets is a good practice to have, but it can be time-consuming when you’re turning over a unit with only a few hours to spare.
The best thing that you can do, and we’ve mentioned this before, is to use removable duvet covers and to not bother with any other type of blanket because they can take a long time to dry.
Another idea is to keep multiple comforter covers so that you can replace all of them and then clean the old ones after you’ve turned over the unit for the new guests.
Pillows are a bit more complicated than blankets are. Washing pillows several times a week can be time-consuming, and it might take multiple cycles of the dryer to get them fully dry – which can result in a weathered-looking pillow.
What you can do is run the pillows in the dryer for about ten minutes before washing them to kill off any bugs or bacteria that it might have. To make this step more effective, you can add a wet towel with the pillows to create steam that will make sure that everything bad will be destroyed.
Supplies
You’ll want to make sure that you always keep all necessary laundry supplies stocked. If guests have access to a washer and dryer in the rental home, it’s nice to leave out enough detergent for a load or two but keep the bulk of your supplies in a locked cabinet where guests can’t get to it.
Here is a list of things that you should have in your supply closet:
Laundry Soap
Make sure that you always have enough detergent stocked up to handle the laundry that must be done in between guests. Laundry pods are convenient because they are pre-measured, simple to use, and makes it easy to keep on eye on your supply. You might also consider using fragrance and dye-free detergent; this is to be safe in case one of your guests has an allergy.
The same goes for fabric softener if you decide to use it. You’ll want to find something that is fragrance and dye-free, and if you can find them in pod form, that’s even better!
Bleach
By adding a tiny amount of this cleaning agent in a washing, cycle helps keep your linens looking crisp and fresh, and it helps remove stains.
Spot Treatment
This is especially true if you don’t provide makeup wipes for your guests. Spot treatment product is made to combat tough stains, which is a must if you are using white linens! Make sure that you’re always following the directions that can be found on the product of your choice.
Dryer Sheets
While it’s not necessary, it’s recommended that you use dryer sheets. You should only use them when drying bed sheets or duvet covers because they can affect the absorbency of bath and pool towels.
If you already have vacation rental properties up and running, you might consider doing yourself a favor and taking a few minutes to make sure that you’re following these money and time-saving tips.
If you are only just getting started with your vacation rental property, make sure to follow these guidelines when stocking and purchasing your vacation rental property because then you’ll know that you’re doing it right from the get-go.
