The cleaner handover sheet I actually use (not the Pinterest version)

When I hired my first turnover cleaner three years ago I printed off one of those free Airbnb cleaning checklists from Pinterest. You know the type. Pastel borders, clip art of a spray bottle, about 47 checkboxes arranged in a grid that looks nice as a graphic but falls apart the second a real person tries to use it in a real property with real time pressure.

The cleaner lasted two turnovers before she asked me if I had something she could actually follow. I did not. So we built one together over the next month, tested it across three properties, and I have been using versions of it ever since. It is one sheet of A4 per property, landscape orientation, laminated and stuck to the inside of the cleaning cupboard door with command strips.

What is on the sheet

The sheet is split into five columns, one per area. Not every room gets its own column because some rooms take 90 seconds and do not need a separate section. The columns are: bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living area, and "final walk" which is the last pass before the cleaner locks up.

Bathroom (about 20 minutes):

• Scrub shower screen and tray (not just spray, actually scrub the grout line)
• Replace all towels: bath sheets on the rail, hand towels folded on the shelf, face cloths in the basket
• Wipe mirror, taps, and toilet exterior with separate cloth. I colour-code: blue for mirror and taps, yellow for toilet
• Refill soap dispenser if below the line (I mark a line with a Sharpie at the quarter-full point)
• Check toilet brush. If the brush head is discoloured or bent, replace the whole unit
• Place two toilet rolls on the holder, one spare on the shelf
• Empty bin, reline

I timed this section across three different cleaners and 20 minutes is the average for a bathroom left in reasonable condition. If it takes more than 30 something unusual happened and I want to hear about it.

Kitchen (about 15 minutes):

• Run dishwasher if anything is in it. Do not hand-wash
• Wipe all surfaces, hob, and splashback. Pull the toaster forward and wipe behind it
• Check fridge: empty completely, wipe shelves, leave door slightly ajar until dry
• Microwave interior: wet cloth, 30 seconds on high, wipe out the steam. This is the one method that reliably works on baked-on splatter
• Replenish 6 coffee pods in the dish, 4 tea bags in the caddy, 2 sachets of sugar, 1 sweetener
• Check bin bag supply under sink. Minimum 5 spares
• Fold a fresh tea towel over the oven handle

Kitchen takes about 15 minutes if the previous guest loaded the dishwasher and left the fridge empty. Closer to 25 if they did not.

Bedroom (about 15 minutes per bed):

• Strip all bedding. Duvet cover, pillowcases, fitted sheet. Mattress protector only if stained
• Make bed with fresh set. I pre-pack each set in a labelled ziplock bag so the cleaner does not have to match sizes
• Plump pillows (two per person, stacked, not flat)
• Wipe bedside tables, lamp, and any hard surfaces
• Check under the bed for left items (this gets skipped more than anything else on the list)
• Vacuum or mop the floor including corners

My biggest property has three bedrooms so the bedroom section alone is 45 minutes there. The pre-packed bedding sets save about 5 minutes per bed versus digging through a linen cupboard trying to find the right fitted sheet size.

Living area (about 10 minutes):

• Vacuum sofa cushions and under them. Every turnover, no exceptions
• Straighten throws and cushions
• Wipe coffee table, side tables, TV screen (microfibre only, no spray on the screen)
• Check TV remote has batteries and works. Press the power button, confirm it turns on, turn it off
• Vacuum or mop entire floor including under furniture where the hoover reaches

Living area is the fastest section unless someone has had a party.

Final walk (5 minutes, not optional):

• Walk through every room as if you are a guest arriving. Does it smell clean? Is there hair on the bathroom floor you missed? Is the kitchen surface still wet?
• Check all lights work. Switch each one on, check, switch off
• Check the front door key turns smoothly in the lock (I had a locksmith issue that cost me a one-star review because the cleaner did not flag it)
• Take one photo of each room and send to me via WhatsApp. I do not need professional shots, just proof that the room looks right
• Lock up, confirm booking name on the next guest info card if I left one out

The photos are non-negotiable. If a guest claims something was dirty or broken on arrival, those photos are my evidence. I have used them three times in dispute resolutions and won every time.

What I stopped putting on the checklist

The original Pinterest version had things like "arrange fresh flowers" and "light a scented candle 20 minutes before arrival." I tried both. The flowers died within two days and nobody mentioned them in reviews. The candle got forgotten once, the cleaner left, and I got a message from a guest asking why the flat smelled like it was on fire when they walked in. I removed both and replaced them with "crack a window in the living room for 10 minutes before lockup." Free, effective, no fire risk.

I also took off "deep clean the oven" from the per-turnover sheet. The oven gets a deep clean once a month as a separate task. Putting it on every turnover just meant the cleaner spent 15 extra minutes on something nobody checks between stays.

The restock section at the bottom

This is the bit I added after about six months and I wish I had done it from the start. Below the five columns there is a thin row across the bottom called RESTOCK. It has tick boxes for:

• Coffee pods (min 6)
• Tea bags (min 4)
• Toilet rolls (min 3 per bathroom)
• Kitchen towel (min 1 full roll)
• Bin bags (min 5 under sink)
• Washing-up liquid (above quarter-full line)
• Hand soap (above quarter-full line)

If any of those are below the minimum the cleaner texts me and I either drop the item round or order it for next-day delivery. This caught three potential stockouts last month alone. I track all of these minimums in my inventory list and the reorder alerts match the sheet thresholds exactly.

Frequently asked

Do you pay extra for the restock check?

No. It takes the cleaner about 90 seconds to walk through the restock list and send me a text. I pay a flat rate per turnover, £45 to £65 depending on property size, and the restock check is part of that. If I asked for a separate charge I suspect most cleaners would say yes and tack on a fiver, which would be fair, but mine accepted it from the start.

How long does a full turnover take with this checklist?

For a one-bedroom flat: about 75 minutes. For the three-bedroom barn: about 2 hours 15 minutes. These assume a guest who left the place in normal condition. A bad checkout adds 30 to 45 minutes and I pay a surcharge for that, currently £20 on top of the flat rate.

Do you laminate the sheet or just print it?

Laminate. Paper gets wet, crumpled, and binned within a fortnight. I laminated mine at Ryman for about £3 per sheet and stuck them to the inside of the cleaning cupboard door at each property. The cleaner opens the door, sees the sheet, works through it left to right, done. Two of my cleaners also photograph the sheet so they have a copy on their phone.

Should the checklist be different for each property?

Mine are about 80% the same and 20% customised. Bathroom and bedroom columns are identical across all five. Kitchen changes slightly because two properties have coffee machines and three have kettles only. The final walk column changes based on whether the property has a garden, in which case add "check garden furniture is dry and gate is latched." I keep a master template and adjust per property when something changes.