Tips From a Hotel Room Cleaner

I spent a summer working at Yosemite National Park as a hotel housekeeper. I was 19 years old. The pay was $4.75 an hour. And the work was awful. I had hopes of staying a year in California to claim residency and pay in state tuition at one of the Universities for Art. I only lasted 7 months and went back home. 

Yosemite National Park was such a popular destination that the few hotels inside the park were booked out 3 years in advance. The rooms started at $300 a night on the low end. I was assigned a two story building at the Yosemite Lodge motel with fourteen rooms. Each room had two beds. I had 8 hours to clean these rooms, and I never finished on time without help.  We worked a mandatory 6 day workweek. The Yosemite Lodge was a glorified Motel 6 minus the TV. The reason it was $300 a night was based solely on location. 

For $300 a night, the rooms had to be clean. One eyelash on a bed sheet or one pubic hair in the bathtub could ruin a persons stay. We had access to some pretty incredible cleaning products in our metal caddies. We had a room/fabric freshener. This was Febreze back in 1999 before Febreze even existed. We also had an all-purpose spray that could kill diseases on contact. The rest of the products were basic- window cleaner, a duster, an on-your-knees scrub brush, and Comet.

Tip #1--Buy a shaker can of Comet for a dollar to clean your bathroom.

Yes, a green foiled can of Comet. The hotel could have bought anything, but we used Comet. Why? Because it works. I like Comet because it removes soap scum and has bleach but without the fumes. In my old age, I've tried the foaming bleach sprays, scrubbing bubbles, and all purpose cleaners. Just throw out all the spray bottles under your bathroom sink. You don't need them. Keep a shaker can of Comet, a scrub brush, and a glass cleaner.

Tip #2--Keep a squeegee in the shower and after every shower quickly squeegee your walls dry. 

At the hotel, we would dry the tub, tiled walls, and bathroom sink with old towels. Keeping your shower walls dry slows down mildew and soap scum. Today, I hang a squeegee off my wire caddie in the shower and spend 2 minutes dragging it across the walls to get rid of excess water. 

Tip #3--Make your bed daily. 

Housekeeping service during a stay at Yosemite Lodge consisted of re-making your bed, tidying floors, a quick vacuum, emptying trash and replacing wet towels. That's it. So what makes it feel so fantastic walking into your motel room after a long day? Seeing that beautifully made bed. Something as simple as making the bed has a huge impact on the look of a room.

Tip #4--Clean top to bottom. 

The goal here is to knock down any dust, dirt, hair to the floor, and then clean the floor. This saves yourself steps and the heartache of back tracking. Here is the order of cleaning tasks: 

-Dust picture frames, artwork, furniture and curtains. 

-Wipe down any mirrors, tables, counters, sinks, and the toilet. 

-Vaccum.

-Sweep floors twice with a broom (or vacuum.) Then mop.

Tip #5--Frequency matters.

I could clean a motel bathroom in 15 minutes- tub, sink, toilet, floors. Why? In contrast to conventional wisdom, hotel bathrooms are super clean. They are cleaner than your bathroom at home. This is because they are cleaned every day. The more you clean the easier it is to maintain. Try it. Give your bathroom a quick clean every week, and it will never get the chance to get grimy and nasty. 

LASTLY, This is completely off topic but I'd be a real jerk to not say this. If your room was clean, please tip your housekeeper. It is a hard, sweaty, nasty, poor paying job. If you leave a 2 dollar tip, they will appreciate it.

I hope these tips will save you time, money, and energy. Do you have any cheap and easy cleaning tips? Please let me know below. 

Thank you for reading!