Post COVID-19 Clean
Hopefully soon we will be back to life as we knew it before the pandemic and renting our properties! Once stay-at-home orders are lifted, travelers will start vacationing again and we all will be back in business. But naturally travelers will be wary (as they should). As vacation rental owners, it is our responsibility to ensure our properties are clean, safe and germ free for people to feel safe which help them enjoy their well-deserved time away. Implementing a few small changes in how you operate post COVID-19, can make a difference. Clean homes rent!
Clean versus Disinfect
There are different ways to clean. The pandemic leaves no room to cut corners. A dusting and cleaning with soap and water may get rid of dirt, but it does not kill most germs. You must be thorough and frankly, hyper aware of what needs to be disinfected. You need to make sure germs are killed and not simply moved from one spot to another throughout the home. If not destroyed, germs can live on countertop surfaces and floors for up to a week. This means you should read labels to make sure the materials that you are using, kill germs. More so, some materials require leaving it on a countertop for a few minutes to kill the germs.
The most likely areas to attract and maintain germs are the kitchen and the bathroom. That’s not to say germs can’t live in other places, but the kitchen and bathrooms should certainly be areas to focus on.
Outsourcing your cleaning? No problem!
If you’re not the one cleaning the property, make sure to communicate with your cleaners. Ask questions:
- Are there any additional steps you are implementing in response to Covid-19?
- What products are you using? How do these products work?
- Are you focusing in on high touch areas such as door knobs, lights switches, remote controls, cabinet and draw handles, etc.?
- How often are you washing bed linens?
Instruct your cleaners to make sure they cover/disinfect the high touch areas such as door knobs, light switches, cabinet and draw handles, remotes and appliances. Simply asking questions and providing cleaners with guidance will emphasize to them that they must do a an extraordinary job, and more so today than in past.
A few more thoughts…
- If you do not already do this, consider adding cleaning supplies to your property and hand sanitizer soap. Make sure the hand soap you provide, is a disinfectant that kills germs.
- Do not shake out linens and wash them often. When washing the linens, be sure to use the hottest temperature available. Of course, you can consider allowing your guests to bring their own linens and let them know that it’s safer this way. In fact, we may see an uptick in guests bringing their own linens as a result of the pandemic any way.
- Consider using disposable cleaning supplies such as paper towels. If you or your cleaners are using reusable supplies, make you wash them thoroughly in extremely hot water.
- Use gloves. Gloves protect you or your cleaners!
- For more information on how to protect your home and guests, please see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) website.
Clean rents! Travelers want to know what you were doing to make sure the place itself would be clean and safe. You don’t necessarily need broadcast to world that you are taking steps to ensure cleanliness (since hopefully you’ve been cleaning appropriately so before the pandemic), but should you be quizzed on the topic by a prospective guest, you should be prepared to discuss all of the above action items you’ve been taking.
Be healthy, well and safe!
Last but not least, visit www.epa.gov for information and which disinfectants work to kill COVID-19. Not just any old thing you find in your cabinet can help get rid of this terrible virus. Make sure you’re using the right products for your rental property, and your home!
Hopefully, this short article helps you to be prepared or provides you with some additional ideas for you to think and/or implement.
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