The rule behind every good checkout list
Ask for what a guest can do faster than a cleaner can, and nothing else. A guest can carry their own trash out on the way to the car in ten seconds. A cleaner walking back through a finished property to collect bins loses several minutes. That is a real saving and a reasonable ask.
Stripping beds is the opposite. It reads as a chore, it takes the guest real effort, and it saves the cleaner almost nothing, because the beds are being stripped either way and the linens usually end up in a pile that has to be sorted. Every item on your list should pass that test before it goes on.
What is worth asking for
| Ask | Worth it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Take trash to the outside bin | Yes | Seconds for a guest, minutes for a cleaner, and it stops odour building before the turnover |
| Load and start the dishwasher | Yes | It runs while nobody is there, which is time the cleaner would otherwise stand and wait for |
| Leave keys in the agreed place | Yes | It is about access, not cleaning, and a missing key stops the next check-in |
| Close and lock windows and doors | Yes | Security, and it protects the property between stays |
| Turn the air conditioning or heating off | Yes | Costs the guest nothing and saves real money over a season |
| Text or message when you have left | Yes | It is what lets the cleaner start early rather than wait out the window |
| Strip the beds | No | Effort for the guest, almost no saving for the cleaner, and it reads as a chore |
| Wash, dry and put away dishes by hand | No | Slow, and it is squarely what the fee pays for |
| Vacuum or mop | No | The floors are being done again regardless |
| Take out recycling by category | No | High effort, easy to get wrong, and frequently redone anyway |
How many is too many
Three to five asks is a workable ceiling, and there is no magic in the numbers beyond this: a list a guest can hold in their head on the way out is a list that gets done. Past that, compliance falls and irritation rises, and you have paid for both with a worse review rather than a faster turnover.
If your list has grown past five, the usual cause is that the cleaner's scope was never written down, so tasks migrated onto the guest one at a time. The fix is upstream: agree the turnover scope in writing and the checkout list shrinks on its own.
A checkout message you can copy
Plain, warm, and short enough to read on a phone with a suitcase in the other hand.
- Thanks for staying with us. Checkout is at 11am.
- On your way out, if you could drop the trash in the bin by the side gate, that helps a lot.
- Pop any dishes in the dishwasher and hit start.
- Close the windows, and leave the keys on the kitchen counter.
- Turn the air conditioning off and pull the door firmly behind you.
- That is everything. Safe travels, and it would mean a lot if you left a review.
Note what is not in it: no apology for asking, no explanation of the cleaning fee, and no list of things you will charge for. All three make the message longer and none of them make it more likely to be followed.
Where and when to send it
- 1Put the checkout time in the listing and in the booking confirmation, where a guest plans around it.
- 2Send the full instructions the evening before checkout, which is when the guest is actually thinking about leaving.
- 3Keep a copy in the property, on one page, somewhere obvious.
- 4Keep all three versions identical. A house manual that disagrees with the message is worse than either one alone.
Can you charge extra for cleaning after checkout?
Not by changing the cleaning fee. Airbnb's help pages describe the cleaning fee as a one-off charge set by the host that forms part of the total price, and that total is fixed when the booking is made. It is not a running tab that can be topped up afterwards because a stay was messier than expected.
Anything genuinely beyond an ordinary turnover, such as damage, is a separate matter to be raised with the guest and with Airbnb through its own process. It is not handled by adjusting the cleaning fee, and framing it that way in your instructions tends to produce an argument rather than a payment.
What to do about the property that always checks out badly
If a particular property is consistently left in a state, the checkout list is the wrong lever. Look at these first:
- Guest count against property size. A property routinely booked at capacity generates more of everything, and the fee may simply be set for a quieter property than the one you have.
- Length of stay. Short stays turn over more often and generate more cleaning per booked night than long ones.
- Whether the cleaner has enough time between checkout and check-in to do the job properly rather than quickly.
- Whether your fee is priced for the property you actually rent, which the calculator will tell you in about a minute.
Common questions
- What should Airbnb checkout instructions include?
- Keep it to things a guest can do faster than a cleaner can: trash out, dishwasher started, keys left in an agreed place, windows and doors closed, air conditioning off, and a message when they have gone. Three to five asks is a workable ceiling.
- Should I ask guests to strip the beds?
- It is a common ask and a weak one. It takes the guest real effort and saves the cleaner almost nothing, because the beds are being stripped and the linens sorted either way. It is also the ask most likely to be read as a chore charged on top of a cleaning fee.
- Do guests have to clean if there is a cleaning fee?
- The cleaning fee pays for the professional turnover, not for an exemption from the house rules. But the two are connected in how guests feel about them: a substantial fee alongside a long chore list is the combination that generates complaints, so keep the asks short if the fee is not.
- Can a host charge extra for cleaning after the guest leaves?
- Not by increasing the cleaning fee. Airbnb describes the cleaning fee as a one-off charge set by the host that is part of the total price, and that total is set at booking. Anything beyond an ordinary turnover, such as damage, goes through Airbnb's own process instead.
- When should I send checkout instructions?
- The evening before checkout, which is when guests are actually planning their departure. Put the checkout time itself in the listing and the booking confirmation, and keep a one-page copy in the property. All three should say exactly the same thing.
Where these numbers come from
- Airbnb Help Center, cleaning fees — Read August 16 2026. Source of the description of the cleaning fee as a one-off charge set by the host and part of the total price.