Laundry is part of every rental clean

Every rental clean follows a set order

A rental clean starts before anything gets wiped. We walk through the cabin and strip every bed that was slept in. That gets the first load of laundry running while the rest of the work happens. Towels go in the next load, and the kitchen towels go in with them. When the washer starts late, the whole clean runs long, because the rooms are done and everyone waits on the dryer.

Once the washer is going, the cleaning works from high to low. Ceiling fans and high shelves get dusted first, then counters and tables. Floors come last, so nothing falls on a surface that is already done. Kitchens and bathrooms take the most time in a rental, since every guest cooks and showers. The fridge gets emptied of anything left behind, and the inside gets wiped before the next group puts food in it.

The last step is a slow walk through every room. We look at each one the way a guest will when they open the door. That is where we catch a hair on a pillow or a mug left in a cupboard. One of our customers wrote, “They don’t dust around things, they actually move them!” That habit matters in a rental. What the last guest left behind is often sitting behind a lamp or under a bed.

• Beds stripped and made up with clean linens
• Towels washed and folded
• Kitchen cleaned, including inside the fridge
• Bathrooms scrubbed from the mirror to the floor
• A last walk through every room

The laundry takes longer than the cleaning

On a cabin clean, the rooms are rarely what sets the schedule. The laundry is. A cabin with a few bedrooms and a loft can fill the washer several times over. A home dryer only takes so much at once. That is why we ask how many beds the cabin has before we book the visit. It tells us how long the job will really take.

Sheets come out of the dryer and go straight onto the beds or get folded while they are still warm. That keeps the creases out. Towels get a full dry. A towel put away damp in a closed linen closet smells sour by the time the next guest reaches for it. In a cabin that stays shut between guests, that smell gets into everything else on the shelf.

Guests notice the laundry before they notice the floors. A faint stain on a pillowcase is the kind of thing that ends up in a guest review. So each piece gets a look as it comes out of the dryer. Anything stained or torn gets set aside and pointed out to you, instead of going back on a bed for the next guest to find. Bath mats and kitchen towels get the same check.

Log walls and pine ceilings hold dust

Around the lake, from Incline Village to the South Lake Tahoe area, many rentals are log cabins or A-frames with knotty pine inside. Every log wall has a groove where one log sits on the next, and dust settles along that line. Wiping the flat faces and skipping the grooves leaves a gray stripe you can see from the couch. Exposed beams and lofts collect it higher up, and guests lying in bed look straight at them.

Wood walls need a light touch. Logs and pine paneling get dusted dry first, and a damp cloth goes on only where there is a mark. Soaking a wood wall raises the grain and can leave water lines that stay. A wood stove sheds fine ash that drifts onto every shelf in the room. So the hearth gets cleaned first, and the dusting comes after it.

Down in Reno and Sparks, many rentals are stucco houses and condos instead of cabins. The dust is the same problem. Northern Nevada is dry and windy, and fine grit blows in around older sliding doors and windows even when they are shut. The door tracks and window sills catch most of it. A rental that sat closed for a week still needs a full dusting before the next guest checks in.

Each season leaves a different mess behind

Ski season changes the work in a cabin. Guests come in with wet boots, and the sand and salt from the roads comes in on every tread. Left on a wood floor, that grit gets ground in by the next pair of boots and scratches the finish. So the entry gets swept before it gets mopped, since a wet mop on sand just spreads it into a paste.

Winter also means more laundry. Guests use extra towels after a day in the snow, and the spare blankets come out and end up on the beds. Those blankets need a wash too, which adds loads to the visit. Guests leave wet gloves and hats on the hooks by the door, so we check the entry closet before we leave. Damp wool shut in a closet starts to smell within a few days.

Summer guests bring the beach back with them. Sand from the lake ends up in the sheets and at the bottom of the tub. Bedding gets shaken out before it goes in the washer, or the sand ends up in the next load. Sunscreen leaves greasy marks on door handles and chair arms. Those marks look clean when dry and feel sticky to the next guest, so they get washed off with soapy water.

Empty cabins still need regular upkeep

Cabins that sit empty between bookings do not stay clean. Dust keeps settling, and a trash bag someone forgot can turn the whole place sour within a week. Flies and spiders find their way in through gaps around old doors. Monthly maintenance and regular upkeep visits keep that from building up. On a visit we dust the whole cabin and air it out, so the next guest walks into the place you advertised.

Water is the other thing to watch in an empty cabin. A drain that goes unused for weeks can dry out and let a sewer smell into the bathroom. So on each visit we run water in every sink and shower and flush the toilets. In winter, melting snow can back up under the roof and leak, and the first sign is often a stain on a ceiling. When we see something like that, we tell you about it.

Handing over the keys to a place you cannot check on yourself takes trust. Several of our Google reviewers mention trustworthiness. One customer wrote, “In addition to cleaning our house, Mia watered our plants while we were away. They thrived!” Another wrote, “The power cut out right before they came and were able to do the cleaning anyway!” Storms knock the power out at the lake. The rental still has to be ready for the guest.