How to make cleaning your rental not suck

Cleaning is the last thing we want to spend our time on. But a bulletproof cleaning system is vital to running a successful furnished rental business. Here’s how you can operationalize your cleaning so you can continue doing what you love.

Equip yourself with the right tools

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to cleaning everything. It’s important to have the right tools to be able to clean anything. If you want to know what it takes to clean a Landing Home, click here.

Leverage professional cleaners

If you don’t want to handle the cleanings yourself, a great solution is to outsource the work to a professional cleaning company.

How to find a cleaning partner

If your rental is in an apartment building, check to see if your building has a cleaning company partner already. This is often the most convenient way to get connected with a reliable partner. It makes it more efficient for the cleaner since they already do work nearby.

You can also go the more straightforward route and compare google reviews. Services like care.com or taskrabbit.com are other viable options as well. No matter which direction you choose to proceed with, make sure to set clear expectations for your standards of cleaning up front. Furnished rental turnovers can often be more intensive than a normal home cleaning that these companies are used to.

How to work with a cleaning partner

Finding a good business partner is like dating. You need to be a top-notch communicator with your needs. Part of this is creating robust lists so nothing gets dropped. Creating a room-by-room checklist with clear points of action is a great way to work with partners.

Also, loyalty goes a long way. Working with the same cleaner over a long period of time makes your life easier. You learn what each party likes and needs, and a great relationship is formed. This also makes it much easier to scale your business since you already have someone you can trust. If a past guest leaves an absolutely heinous mess behind in one of your homes, you will need someone dependable. A great partner goes a long way.

Bulletproof your cleaning processes

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” This quote from James Clear highlights the importance of building repeatable systems. Cleaning is no different. You want to build processes that anyone can do.

The easiest step is to make sure everything has a home. If every single thing in your home has a place it naturally lives, it’s easy to reset. You just need to define it.

Also, it is important to recognize wear-and-tear when you do your cleanings. Part of your checklists should be to inspect large pieces of furniture room-by-room and make note of the condition of your investments. Not only furniture, but of your space too. Scratches on walls, stains on floors are things you should diagnose and address during your cleanings.

A great way to stay ahead of your cleanings is to do regular maintenance and upkeep. If you do it little things more frequently, it saves you the headache of having to do a large fix or replacement down the road.

While inspecting rooms, don’t forget the forgettable. Check high corners, above cabinets, underneath furniture. These places easily collect dust and deserve just as much love as anywhere else.

Lastly, know how certain things are to be cleaned. Stainless steel surfaces are different from wood. Properly cleaning white linens often takes more than just detergent. Always have oxy-clean stocked. Have the right materials on hand so you can take care of what you need to when the time comes.

Cleaning doesn’t have to be a bother

Setting up a system for your cleanings takes work. But that’s the name of the game. Once you’ve operationalized your systems, it’s smooth sailing from there. It takes work to build a self-sustaining machine. Hopefully this helps you get there.

But what if you’re looking for the easiest way to take care of your cleanings? Landing Autopilot was built as the all-in-one solution for managing your furnished rental. Not only do we take care of the cleanings for you with our world class teams across the country, but we will handle the revenue management, customer service, and more. All so you can make more money with less work. Learn more about Autopilot here.