Spring Cleaning Guidelines & Tips for OBX Homeowners
In the months before guests begin arriving in full-force, we set our focus on pre-season cleaning and inventory inspections. Historically, pre-season preparation is a stressful and somewhat chaotic time for the local vacation rental industry – spring cleaning, stocking and preparing hundreds of rental homes over the course of 90 days is no small feat! Each year, our focus is to navigate through those obstacles as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. For more information please view our owner documents page here and sign up for our Homeowner Tips Newsletter to receive reminders and tips directly to your inbox.
Here's a routine our team follows when spring cleaning a home broken down into six days working from the top to the bottom of the house to make sure nothing is missed. Each day has a checklist of items that need to be completed specifically for that area of the home before they can move on. We have included other details and reminders to ensure the cleaning is done correctly the first time around. This information and more has been made into a PDF for easy reference while you are conducting spring cleaing:
Download PDF of Daily Outline for Spring Cleaning Process
Day One
The first day serves as a day for preparing the home, reporting any issues, and starting to launder items. This way items that are missing can be replaced. Our cleaners start applying cleaning products where necessary, move furniture and appliances, and remove cobwebs from the upper level.
Day Two
The second day is devoted to the kitchen, one of the most important places in the house. All appliances are cleaned inside, outside, underneath, and behind to make sure nothing is missed. They are also tested to make sure they are in working condition. Once they are done they take inventory of everything in the kitchen so the owner knows if they need to replace any items.
Kitchen Pictured: OBX-tra an Oceanside Corolla Home
Day Three
The third day covers a lot of ground in the home by focusing on the living room, dining room, and bathrooms. All furniture must be wiped down and cleaned underneath, air vents must be dusted, blinds wiped, windows cleaned, and much more. Any area and bathroom rugs are also washed on this day.
Day Four
On the fourth day, our cleaners focus on all bedrooms, hallways, foyers, and stairs. They wash all comforters, blankets, and mattress pads. They dust and vacuum under all furniture, check for cobwebs, clean storm doors, windows, etc.
Bedroom Pictured: Frankly My Dear C0643
Day Five
The fifth day covers the laundry room, all decks, and outside of the home. Our cleaners pull out the wash and dryer and clean behind them along with sweep and mop the floor. Outdoors they pick up any trash and debris, check the hot tub, clean grills, the outdoor shower, and more.
Day Six & Inspection Process
The sixth day is all about the final touches and preparing the home to be inspected. Our cleaners go back through our checklist to make sure they didn't miss any items. We encourage our cleaners to be present during the inspection so they can hear all of the feedback from the inspector and fix any easy items right there and then. Any items must be addressed within a day or two depending on how much work needs to be completed.
