Turnover cleaning checklist

When to use

Hand this to the cleaner at the start of a turnover, on paper or in whatever shared note you both already use. {checkout_time} and {next_checkin} tell them whether they have two hours or six. {kitchen_line} is the standard for this kitchen: “counters clear, sink dry, coffee maker rinsed, fridge checked for leftovers.” {bath_line} names hair in the drain, the mirror, and the toilet, in whatever order you mean. {bed_line} says whether they strip and remake or only remake with the spare set. {property_name} is mandatory if this person cleans more than one of your homes.

The list follows a walk so they are not bouncing from a bedroom back to the sink. If your cleaner walks in a different order, rewrite the order. A checklist that fights the route gets skipped from the bottom. Tick marks belong to the person who did the work. A host who ticks the boxes from the driveway has not used the list.

Deep cleans, seasonal jobs, and filter changes do not fit this page. If you add them, the between-stay clean will miss the fridge. Keep the deep work on another day with another page.

Timing tip

The cleaner should see {next_checkin} before they start, because a same-day turn is a different pace than an empty night. If {next_checkin} is “tomorrow 4pm,” they can wash towels on site. If it is “today 3pm,” towels come from the spare shelf and laundry waits. {bed_line} should say which of those is the plan so they do not guess.

Send the checkout-time change if you approved a late leave. A cleaner who arrives at {checkout_time} to a guest still eating breakfast needs a message from you, not a surprise. This sheet does not grant them the right to enter occupied homes. Say that in the agreement, and respect it here by keeping the times honest.

Rerun the list on a stay that was dirty in a way the last turn missed. If the same box is unticked twice, the line is unclear or the time is too short. Fix one of those. Do not add a scolding line.

Common mistakes

Forty boxes is the first one. This page is nine. Each room line has to hold the detail inside the blank, not as twenty sub-bullets. If {kitchen_line} becomes a paragraph, split a deep-clean page later and leave “counters, sink, fridge, floor” here. One page gets used. Three pages stay in the van.

The second is mixing damage with dirt. The lost-item line and the instruction to tell the host are here because cleaners find the evidence. They are not asked to decide a claim, to accuse a guest, or to repair a hole. The incident report is the host’s. The cleaner’s job in that moment is to stop, tell you, and not throw the evidence in the trash bag.

The third is a list written for a different layout. {bath_line} that mentions a second bath you do not have will be “completed” without a thought. Strike what is absent. A false room teaches the cleaner that the page is approximate, and then the real rooms get approximate too.

Pay and standards

This checklist is not the cleaner agreement. It does not set a rate, a tax status, or a fine. Those belong in the agreement you both edit, which is not legal advice and is not done by printing this page. What this page does is define “done” for a normal turn, so “the clean was finished” means these boxes and not a mood.

If a box cannot be ticked because a supply is gone, the restock list is the companion. The cleaner should mark the gap rather than quietly skip it. You cannot fix a missing pod you never hear about.