5. Laundry
We do the laundry for all of our Airbnb units, but that is because we work from home and it makes sense for us. Sending laundry out can be expensive in certain areas. In other areas, where wash and fold services are available at launder mats, this may be a good option.
The laundry has been one of the most difficult things to master in our Airbnb business.
WASH
IT ALL
Whether you are doing the laundry yourself or sending it out, EVERYTHING, including mattress covers, all blankets, duvet covers and quilts should be washed for every guest. Duvets/comforters should be dry-cleaned at least once a season and should always have a cover that is washed for every guest.
Doing fresh laundry of everything for every guest is a lot of work, but it is what we would expect as guests ourselves. Through experimentation, we’ve found some thinner quilts to work as bed covers, which fit in the same laundry load as the blankets, so it makes it a bit easier.
As we mentioned earlier, we use white sheets and towels, so that we can bleach them every time and wash them all together.
We’ve found that have an excess of linens is helpful when you have a lot of laundry to do. If you have four or five sets of everything per bed, you can wait until the weekend to do a monster laundry session while you binge-watch your favorite show on your phone or tablet.
Make sure you pack your laundry bag correctly. There is nothing worse than arriving at your unit and realizing that you’re short a pillowcase or towel. You can also keep an extra set of everything in your supply closet at the unit, but it may be difficult to keep linens fresh and clean if they are stored for a long period.
A good checklist when packing your laundry bag is a good idea. A good laundry bag is a MUST. We use the large blue IKEA bags; they are large enough for one set of linens and towels, the hold the dirty laundry, and they are inexpensive and easy to replace. We usually buy about 10 and go through them pretty quickly.