Washing Airbnb linens yourself or using a laundry service: which works?

Ask any host what slows down a turnover and the answer is usually laundry. Making beds is quick. Washing and drying two sets of sheets and six towels in the gap between checkout and check-in is not. There are three main ways to handle it, and the right one depends on your property, your cleaner and how tightly your bookings run.

Option 1: wash on site during the turnover

If the property has a washing machine and dryer, your cleaner puts the first load on when they arrive and swaps it over during the clean.

Works when: there's a decent machine and a dryer, turnovers have a few hours of slack, and you only have a bed or two.

Problems: a 2-bedroom flat can mean three or four loads, which is more time than a same-day turnover allows. Without a dryer, nothing is dry by check-in. Your cleaner is either paid to wait or leaves before the laundry is done.

The usual fix is to keep a clean spare set on site. The cleaner makes up beds with the spare set, washes the dirty set, and either leaves it to dry or comes back to fold it. That way the turnover never waits on the machine.

Option 2: your cleaner takes it home

Some cleaners wash linens at home or at their own premises and bring back a clean set next time. You pay a per-load or per-bed fee on top of the clean.

Works when: there's no machine on site, or the cleaner already offers it.

Problems: you need enough sets that one is always out being washed. You also have less control over how it's done, so agree on things like temperature and fabric conditioner up front. Our post on paying your cleaner covers how to structure extra fees like this.

Option 3: a laundry service

A commercial laundry collects dirty linen and returns it washed, pressed and folded, typically within a few days.

Works when: you're in an area with a laundry that serves holiday lets, you have more than one listing, or turnover time is tight.

Problems: cost per set is higher, and you need more stock because sets are away for days. Pick-up and drop-off need to fit your cleaner's schedule. Some services also use their own linen on a rental basis, which saves buying sheets but means you don't choose the quality.

Comparing the real cost

Don't just compare the price per wash. Count:

• Labour. How much of your cleaner's paid time goes on laundry?
• Linen stock. More sets in circulation means more to buy and replace.
• Utilities. Running a dryer for hours every turnover isn't free.
• Risk. What happens on a same-day turnover if the machine breaks?

For one listing with a machine and dryer, washing on site with a spare set is usually cheapest. For two or more listings, or properties without a dryer, a service or a cleaner who takes it away often wins once you count the hours saved.

How many sets you need

Whatever the method, you need enough that one set is always on the beds, one is clean and ready, and one is being washed. Our post on linens and towels per bed goes through the numbers in detail. If you use a laundry service with a few days' turnaround, add a set.

Write it into the checklist

Laundry is where turnovers go wrong quietly: a set left damp in the machine, towels in the dryer that never got folded, the spare set used and not replaced. Make the routine explicit in your cleaning checklist:

• Strip all beds and collect all used towels.
• Make up beds from the spare set.
• Start the first wash before cleaning.
• Move washing to the dryer before you leave, or bag it for collection.
• Check the spare set is complete for next time.

Our post on stains on linens covers what to do when a set comes back from a stay needing more than a normal wash.