A Host's Guide to Turnover Cleans
Airbnb Cleaning is the clean that happens between one guest leaving and the next one arriving. The cleaner works from a fixed list, but the host settles most of what makes a turnover work: when it happens, how the cleaner gets in and what is waiting when they arrive. This guide covers those decisions.
Fit the Clean Inside the Gap
Start with the hours between your checkout time and the next check-in. The cleaner can arrive at any point in a window of roughly two hours, so count from the end of that window, not the start, when you work out whether the clean will be done before guests arrive.
Our hours are Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, closed Sunday. We also don't clean on six holidays: Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. If one guest checks out on Sunday and the next checks in on Sunday or early Monday, there is no time to fit a clean, so block a night or adjust the listing's times.
Put Access and Notes in the Booking
The booking form asks you to describe the home. Use it to explain how the cleaner gets in, where to park, which rooms guests use, and anything that should be left alone. A different cleaner may occasionally be assigned, with notice, so written instructions do more work than anything said once in passing.
If the scope changes, for example a guest used a room that is normally closed, request the change by 5 PM the day before.
Leave Fresh Sheets on Each Bed
Beds are made and the sheets changed when a fresh set is left on the edge of the bed. For a turnover, that means putting a clean set on every bed the next guest might use before the cleaner arrives, or planning to make those beds yourself.
What the Turnover Covers
A turnover follows the routine column of our checklist. The kitchen gets its counters, backsplash and sink cleaned, along with the stovetop, the microwave inside and out, the coffee maker and toaster, the outside of the fridge, oven and dishwasher, the table and chairs, and the floor. The trash is emptied and the can wiped. Bathrooms get the toilet inside and out, the shower or tub, mirrors and glass, the towel racks and toilet paper holder, and a fresh garbage bag. Bedrooms and living areas are dusted from the ceiling fans and light fixtures down to the lamps and furniture, then tidied, with blankets folded and pillows arranged, before the floors are vacuumed or mopped.
What Stays With the Host
Some turnover jobs aren't on our checklist, so plan to cover them yourself: laundering the used sheets and towels, restocking toiletries, coffee and paper goods, washing dishes guests leave behind, and checking for damage or missing items. Cleaners don't move heavy furniture or climb above a 3-step ladder. Biohazard cleanup is not offered, and a visit may be declined where conditions are unsafe, such as pests.
Recurring Turnovers or One-Off Bookings
If checkouts follow a steady pattern, ask through the contact form whether a repeating schedule fits the unit before you count on one. If your calendar is irregular, book each turnover once the reservation is confirmed.
Either way, booking needs a card on file: a temporary hold goes on about 24 hours ahead, and the charge comes after the clean. Moving or cancelling a turnover with less than 48 hours' notice carries a fee, set out in our Terms. The Airbnb Cleaning page has the full turnover list.