(Part 3) Top products from r/AirBnB

Dog hair.. my area of expertise, lol.

Giving your dog a bath once a week (or biweekly) will do wonders on shedding. I can’t empathize that enough. I dunno what your situation is in terms of where you can wash him, but I wash my dog in the tub with a long detachable hand held sprayer. This is an example of one, but I’d recommend finding one that is longer for washing the dog. Or maybe one that attaches to the tub facet if you can. That one I bought for my standup shower for cleaning the shower between guests, but too short to wash the dog. I bought a much more expensive one for my master bath where I do wash the dog but also serves as a nice attachment for myself.

As for hair removal, get a good bath brush to use while you give him a bath. This has been a huge game changer for me when giving him a bath. It makes the shampoo work more effectively and removes hair like a champ. Probably can find a similar one at a pet store.

Running that Roomba regularly is also key. If you have hardwood floors, any hair on the floor will be vacuumed up before it spreads to clothing/shoes or is kicked up in the air. Make sure you clean out the filter and the brushes every 2-3 runs. I have extra filters as replacements and clean the filter under the sink water and let it dry after I switch it out. You can buy Roomba replacement brushes/filters on amazon also for cheap.

Another deshedding tool is the Furminator, but only use it after a bath when your dog fur is clean and dry. Using it otherwise will pull and snag and be uncomfortable for him/her. They are expensive and I’d hold off on getting one of them before buying stuff for bathing.

In the winter, my dog doesn’t shed very much so if you live in a climate with colder weather in the winter, it won’t be as much of an issue generally for most breeds.

Edit: i never used to give my dog regular baths because using the hose outside caused for very difficult baths. Tobie hates the cold water and it was impossible to keep him still like I can in the tub. You might also be able to find a self dog wash in town. One of my car wash places has a dog wash station.

Dude...so? EVERYONE should have some way to thoroughly clean their house.

Carpet Cleaner:

High End

Mid Range

Basic

I stopped using Resolve on my carpets a few years ago because they changed the formula and I suddenly had bleached out white stains on my carpet and upholstery. Now I have a brush and squirt bottle of ammonia, water, and a drop of Dawn. It cleans everything. It's the same cleaner I use in both my carpet cleaning machines. Yes, I have both Bissel cleaners and they rock.

Why do I use ammonia instead of vinegar? Because you will continue to smell the vinegar for months and months and months every time you put your face near the spot you cleaned. Lay down on your couch? It stinks. Both vinegar and ammonia are grease cutters and I use a vinegar mix in my kitchen, no problem, but on furniture and carpets, I use ammonia.

Also, having fostered hundreds of bottle baby kittens, nursing mommas, and having 5 cats of my own and a house rabbit, that whole thing about cats peeing on carpet you sprayed with ammonia because it smells like cat pee? Wive's tale. It has never ever once happened. Ammonia DOES clean the stench of cat pee out of carpets and furniture though.

Want to freshen up your furniture between guests? Make a spray of fabric softener and water and spritz the couch. Smells great, doesn't hurt the furniture.

If your floor is tile, please buy a mop (yeah, I use ammonia there too). Caramel popcorn is easy to clean. Come back when your guest spills sunscreen all over the floor.

so a coded garage door (one that we can easily multi-program), plus specific keys for the actual apartment door-door.

that's kind of what i was thinking, i just want sure how to best do the garage door as an entrance.

probably easiest to do a key-chain garage door opener + key, like this

I installed the Schlage Connect for Zwave and control it using a cheap Wink 1 hub.

It's been fantastic. Easy to add and remove codes remotely (like /u/r_salis, we do a 4-digit code matching the last 4 digits of the guest's phone number so they remember it easily). You can see all activity down to the minute, including when guests or the cleaner have entered with their code or have manually locked or unlocked. And you can remotely lock or unlock it from the phone.

It's intuitive for customers to use, and the backlight comes on when guests start pressing their code. The only unintuitive thing is that they have to press the "Schlage" logo to lock it from the outside after closing the door, but we include that in the instructions and always take a quick look at the app after guests leave in case we need to lock it remotely.

Very happy with this lock.

Why not get an electronic lock with a keypad, and text them the code? I know some hosts like to meet in person but that may be worth foregoing if they're more than half an hour late. This works great: http://www.amazon.com/Schlage-BE365VCAM619-Camelot-Keypad-Deadbolt/dp/B000NJJ1MQ

http://www.amazon.com/Biokleen-Bac-Out-Stain-Remover-Ounces/dp/B0009ET4XQ


Thanks. Great amazon ratings too. Think I'm going to try this.

I bought these for each side of the bed and my guests love them.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0775ZTKZL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_MpaNBb49X3T4Y

Also if it's a shared bathroom, hooks on the back of the bedroom door so they can keep their towels in their room but hang them up to dry.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OJFWBC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_QraNBbECGSEMT

I second the recommendation for MasterLock. I actually have two different MasterLock key boxes and this one has proved to be the easiest for my guests to use/remove and bring inside with them/replace when done.

I put at least one of these at each bedside, 2 in the master, one in the living room and mounted it with this to keep it from walking away. Also if an outlet was not easily accessible at the the bedside I put in an extension so there was. Lot of people use CPAP machines now. Got tons on compliments on the setup.

Sounds like you'll either need to invest in a fence of some sort, brainstorm with your neighbor, or install some kind of movement-activated, high-frequency deterrent. Googled "dog deterrent" for ya, found this.

I have about 5 of these. They are the most reliable since it doesn't use a motor. you manually turn the knob to engage the striker.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001RFMDHU?ref_=pe_1822470_153573050_E_Asin_Img

there's many different colours.

My guess would be that they flushed wipes down the toilet. Unfortunately, the package that wipes come in often states that they are flushable. They aren't. We've had American, Chinese and English guests flush wipes, so I can confidently state that clogging toilets is not specific to one ethnicity.

I would not ask guests to unclog a toilet, because I would assume that they didn't know how to do it correctly.

We use a snake. It is more effective than a plunger at unclogging toilets.

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PDNKA4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Install a wall safe for the smaller things and hide it away somewhere.

https://www.amazon.com/Paragon-7750-Wall-Lock-Safe/dp/B0040HS3QW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482194320&sr=8-1&keywords=wall+safe

I'm not sure I can envision your room layout, so I don't know if this would work; but have you considered mounting a TV to a wall using an extendable swivel mount? That way a tv "over there" can be viewed "over here". Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WYVBR0

Everybody knows how to operate a standard TV, and be familiar with what is on it. Many may not know how to operate tablet units with a limited offering.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NJJ1TY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$103. Changes codes easily enough. No cameras here.

Mine were $30 each, the heavy duty real estate agent ones.

These:

https://www.amazon.com/Kidde-AccessPoint-001166-Portable-Titanium/dp/B000CEMQLK/ref=sr_1_10?

Buy her this:

https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Classic-Kettle-Brushed-Stainless/dp/B003L0OP20

"Oh, you wanted a stove with that kettle? You should have read the listing..."

I have one of these. It works as advertised. I've taken it on flights in my carry-on luggage without issue.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00186URTY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ACFO8BDUX3YYY&psc=1

I've got one of these lockboxes attached to an exterior wall but slightly tucked away not in direct eyeline, and shielded from general view by plants.
You can manually change the code as often or as infrequently as you like, and either have it stored as part of the check-in instructions that get sent out a few days before arrival, or you can text it out yourself.
My personal opinion is having 2 keysafes, and 2 separate keys, increases the likelihood of 1 key being left behind or lost or put back in the wrong place. Keep it as simple as possible to minimise user error!