Getting stains out of Airbnb sheets and towels between turnovers

Every host learns which stains come up most often. Make-up on pillowcases and face towels. Fake tan on white sheets. Coffee, wine and the occasional thing you'd rather not think about. On a same-day turnover there isn't much time, so knowing what works first time matters.

Treat it before it's dried

The single most important rule: a stain that goes through a hot dryer is often set for good. Your cleaner should check sheets and towels as they strip the beds, pull anything marked aside, and pre-treat it before it goes in the wash. A spray bottle of stain remover in the cleaning caddy makes this a ten-second job rather than a decision.

If you use an off-site laundry service, it's the same principle, just earlier in the chain. Flagged and pre-treated items go in a separate bag.

The common stains and what shifts them

Make-up and foundation. Washing-up liquid rubbed into the stain, left for a few minutes, then washed. Make-up is mostly oil, and washing-up liquid is designed to cut oil.

Fake tan. Pre-treat quickly with a stain remover and wash cool. Hot water tends to set it. Pale tan marks often fade over two or three washes; heavy orange patches may not.

Coffee and tea. Rinse with cold water from the back of the fabric, then pre-treat. Older stains respond well to an overnight soak in an oxygen-based whitener.

Red wine. Blot, don't rub, rinse with cold water, then treat. The longer it sits, the harder it gets.

Blood. Cold water only. Hot water cooks the protein into the fibres. A soak in cold, salty water, then a normal wash, removes most of it.

Rust or mystery marks. Try once with an appropriate remover. If it doesn't shift, retire the piece.

Keep a small stain kit at the property

Your cleaner can only treat what they have to hand. A small kit in the laundry cupboard covers almost everything: a spray stain remover, a tub of oxygen-based whitener for soaking, washing-up liquid, a soft brush, and a bucket for overnight soaks. Label it so it doesn't get used up on the kitchen floor. If the property has no washing machine and laundry goes off-site, a few large zip bags for marked items keep them separate from the general load.

White makes this much easier

White cotton can be soaked, treated and whitened in ways coloured linens can't. That's a big part of why most hosts end up with all-white bedding. How many linens and towels you actually need covers why a single colour also makes replacing one damaged piece far simpler.

Prevent the worst of it

A pack of dark make-up wipes in the bathroom, ideally with a small sign, saves more face towels than any stain remover. Guests will happily use a wipe if one is there; otherwise they reach for the nearest white towel. Some hosts also keep a couple of dark-coloured face cloths for this reason.

Mattress and pillow protectors don't stop stains on the sheets, but they stop them reaching the parts you can't easily wash. If you don't have them on every bed, they're worth adding.

Know when to retire a piece

A sheet with a faint grey shadow you can only see in bright light can stay in rotation. A visibly stained pillowcase cannot. Guests notice stained linen immediately, and it's one of the fastest routes to a low cleanliness rating.

Keep a few spare pieces in reserve so pulling something out never leaves a bed short. Note retired items on your turnover checklist so you know when to reorder. The turnover supplies worth stocking covers what else belongs in that reserve, and the cleaning checklist template has room to add a stain check so it happens every time.