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Vacation Rental Sheet Maintenance

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One of the missions at The Distinguished Guest is to share the beauty of a well-made bed for vacation rentals. After all, guests spend hours and hours in your beds—sleeping longer (and hopefully better!) than they do at home. Your vacation rental sheets are key!

And you can’t have a well-made, comfy bed without carefully considered luxury sheets. (A nice mattress topper or thick mattresses are perfect for creating that comfy bed!)

Ditto for your bath towels, which are also used intimately by your guests. And when these towels are of inferior quality, mismatched, or (the horror!) bleach-stained, your guest’s impression will be… not great.

Equally important, though, is making your sheet set work for you. As you’ll read here at TDG, it’s all about finding the ideal balance between quality products and time-saving measures to help make turnovers easier for you and your crew.

Here are my Top 4 Tips for you to keep in mind.

1. The 3 x 3 rule.

I’m a firm believer in the the 3 x 3 rule. That means: three sheet sets for each bed + three sets of bath towels for each guest, based on total occupancy.

So, for example, if you have a rental with three queen beds and a max occupancy of six, you should purchase 9 sheet sets and 18 towel sets.

It may sound like a lot, but in the end, this saves you quite a bit of hassle. You or your cleaner can take one set of sheets and towels off-site to clean, which speeds up turnover.

Plus, if you’re in a pinch with turnover, or one of your linens goes missing/is stained, the backup sets will be ready and waiting in your owner’s closet. (Make sure you lock the closet, so that guests don’t assume the extras are for them.)

A note about color, I prefer white sheets because they are easy to clean and guests love them.

2. Break out the magnifying glass!

OK—I exaggerate. But you or your cleaning crew should closely inspect your sheets and towels for wear and tear and stains at every turnover so that stains can be treated quickly.

Bonus tip: In your checkout instructions, ask guests to leave the fitted sheet and flat sheet on the beds instead of stripping them. They’re much easier to inspect that way. (Take a look at my “#1 Time Waster” blog post for more on that topic!)

3. Laundry products make a difference.

For stain treatment, I swear by Oxi Clean Gel or a Clorox Bleach Pen.

Regular laundry should include 1/4 cup of good detergent of your choice and 1/4 cup of baking soda to block stains and help with softness.

4. Replace often.

All sheets and towels should be replaced every two years depending on occupancy—or earlier than that if damaged in any way. Consider the material when buying new bed sheets; Egyptian cotton, organic cotton, eucalyptus sheets, and microfiber sheets are all popular options. If you live in warmer climates, consider a jersey sheet set or eucalyptus sheets as they are breathable.

Call me a nerd, but it can be super-rewarding to take inventory of my linen situation, toss old linens and upgrade to a complete, spotless set, all neatly stacked. You’ll love it; your cleaners will love it; and your guests will love your attention to detail. A win-win!

Need help getting started with your short-term vacation rental? Check out my Blueprint Course for beginners!

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Alanna has been my go-to person as I've navigated the learning curves of running my vacation rental businesses.  She helped...

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