Companion to the lesson "The Turnover System: Checklists, Linens, and Photo Proof." Doubles as the subcontractor training sheet.
Unit: Date: Cleaner:
Order of operations
☐ Linens first (start the washer if laundry is on-site)
☐ Top-down and back-to-front
☐ Kitchen and bathrooms while the machine runs
☐ Dusting
☐ Floors absolutely last
☐ Staging and photos at the end
Wet floors are the last thing you make and the first thing a photo shows.
Safety. Never compress trash bags by hand; wear gloves for bathroom work; dispose of needles, broken glass, or anything biological in a rigid container, not a bag. Mop a room and leave it: announce yourself ("cleaning!") when a co-cleaner is in the unit, keep mop heads and cords out of walkways, and dry a floor section before photographing it.
Per-room checklists
☐ Every room: dust surfaces and decor, wipe window interiors and sills, spot-clean walls and switches, check bulbs, vacuum, then mop hard floors.
☐ Kitchen: dishes done and put away, counters wiped, small appliances dusted, microwave in and out, appliance exteriors polished, sink sanitized and fixtures shined, fridge emptied and wiped, trash out and bin relined, restock per host list.
☐ Bathrooms: toilet cleaned inside and out, shower and tub scrubbed for soap scum and mildew, counters sanitized, sink and fixtures polished, mirror streak-free, trash relined, toiletries restocked, towels folded to host standard.
☐ Bedrooms: all linens changed (no exceptions, no visual shortcuts), beds made to host's photo, headboard and surfaces dusted, under-bed check, bedside supplies staged.
☐ Living areas: cushions and throws reset to photos, remotes and cables in place, declutter any guest leftovers, odor check.
☐ Final pass: staging per listing photos, cleaner closet photographed for restock levels, every room photographed from the same angles, completion logged, door locked and verified.
Staging standard
The listing photos are the spec. Pull them up on your phone and match the bed, the towels, the throw, the blinds. The host's five-star memory is the photo, not the grout line. Smell is the review you never see coming: run the exhaust fan during showers, take trash out early, air the unit before you lock up.
Photo routine
Angle
Frame (mark each turn)
1. Each bedroom, from doorway
☐
2. Each bathroom, mirror and toilet in frame
☐
3. Kitchen, counters end to end
☐
4. Living area, staging visible
☐
5. Cleaner closet contents
☐
Same rooms, same angles, every single time: the repeatable frame is what makes the archive useful in a dispute. Store photos organized by unit and date; send the set with the completion message.
Restock and cleaner-closet prompts
☐ Photograph the cleaner closet (toilet paper, soap, coffee, linens) at every turn.
☐ Message the host when anything runs low.
☐ Restock each unit per the host's list before you leave.