Best Soap, Body Wash and Shampoo for Airbnb
My wife Kate and I have been hosting Airbnbs for over 5 years now and we’ve slowly refined all our processes to maximize our guests’ experiences and minimize any and all complaints. We want all our guests needs to be met during their stay without our interference.
So we’ve learned that the best soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner for an Airbnb is hypoallergenic with either no fragrance or a non-offensive fragrance.
The only complaint we’ve received over the years is that a product is bothering someone’s skin or is too fragrant. Now we just don’t stock anything that has those problems.
I’ll share with you the products we buy most frequently.
Should You Stock Soap and Shampoo?
We stock body wash and shampoo for our guests.
We don’t use bars of soap like you’ll find in many hotels because guests just don’t use them up. And nobody wants a used bar of soap in their Airbnb shower, so you end up having to throw away a lot of soap.
I strongly recommend stocking both body wash and shampoo in every shower. Why?
Well because if you don’t you’ll be getting messages and/or phone calls asking you all kinds of questions.
- “Do you provide shampoo?”
- “Where can we find the soap for the shower?”
- “Could we please get more body wash for the shower?”
You’ll be pestered regularly. So that’s one big reason.
Wowing your guests
The second reason is that in order to succeed as a host you need to provide as many necessities for your guests as possible. You need to WOW your guests with thoughtful touches in order to load up on 5 star reviews.
Or perhaps more accurately, you want your guests’ stays to be frictionless. When they go to bed at night the room should be dark, quiet and the bed should be comfortable. If the bedroom isn’t quiet then buy a noise machine for your guests.
When they wake up in the morning feeling drowsy there should be a coffee machine waiting for them.
And when they jump in the shower it should be stocked with body wash, shampoo and conditioner. That way you can guarantee that your guests will feel clean afterwards.
So yes, I believe that one aspect of good hosting is providing soap and shampoo in your Airbnbs.
Body Wash We Use
You don’t need to go luxury in your shower amenities, but you also want to be aware that guests can have allergies or sensitivities. It’s best to get something decent with a relatively neutral smell.
If you can find something hypoallergenic, that’s even better.
Solimo Shea Butter Body Wash
- We use this body wash in our Airbnbs
- Hypoallergenic
- Smell that isn’t overly offensive
- Affordable
Just like we do with our laundry detergent, we tend to buy cleaning products that are hypoallergenic and easy on the skin.
There’s not a lot to say about individual body washes. We use this brand in our Airbnbs, and have never had a complaint or mention of the body wash.
In fact, since we switched to using hypoallergenic products we’ve never had a complaint about any of our cleaning products.
Cetaphil Ultra Gentle Refreshing Body Wash
- Hypoallergenic
- Dermatologist tested
- Odorless body wash
- Affordable
We still buy fragrant body washes, but there’s certainly a case to be made for buying odorless. While we haven’t ever used this Cetaphil brand, I am recommending it a great option if you want to guarantee that your guests won’t sensitive to your body wash.
In the past we have had guests complain about smell sensitivities. We haven’t had any complain since switching to hypoallergenic products, but I do think it’s still a possibility.
I guess you just have to ask yourself if you’d rather have the benefits of a fragrant soap or avoid the possible issues.
Shampoo We Use
Again, we try to be aware of guest allergies and sensitivities when we buy shampoo.
No Nothing Very Sensitive Shampoo
- We use this shampoo in our Airbnbs
- Hypoallergenic
- Fragrance Free
- Affordable
This is the shampoo we stock most commonly in our Airbnbs. My wife Kate is always on the lookout for good deals, so sometimes she’ll stock up on something else (like the ATTITUDE shampoo below), but this is our go-to shampoo.
It’s hypoallergenic, fragrance free, and just generally everything it needs to be to serve our guests without the risk of causing problems.
ATTITUDE Super Leaves Shampoo
- We use this shampoo in our Airbnbs
- Hypo allergenic
- Non-offensive fragrances
- Affordable
We have bought and stocked this ATTITUDE shampoo a few times over the years and it gets the job done as well.
Typically, we go with a fragrance free shampoo because the smell is getting very close to our guests’ faces when they wash their hair. But it’s not a must.
The only reason to avoid a fragrant shampoo is if you’re worried about guests with sensitive smelling. It’s our preference to go fragrance free, but this shampoo is still hypoallergenic, which is more important in my opinion.
Conditioner We Use
Now we only stock conditioner in our luxury listing. But regardless, you may be interested in putting some in your Airbnb. This is what we use.
The Honest Company Almond Conditioner
- We use this conditioner in our Airbnbs
- Hypoallergenic
- Non-offensive scent
- Affordable
Like I mentioned, the only place we regularly stock conditioner is in our luxury listing. But we stock it elsewhere sometimes and there’s no reason you can’t do the same.
Your guests with longer hair will certainly benefit from having conditioner available.
So here’s the hypoallergenic, mild fragrance conditioner that we typically use.
Dispensing Your Body Wash, Shampoo and Conditioner
In our listings, we actually don’t do anything special for dispensing. We just put the full large bottles in the shower and let guests use them.
We’ve actually never had any complaints, and historically, complaints have been our compass for changing the way we do things. If we don’t get any complaints we just keep doing what we’re doing.
But we have a good friend who runs and Airbnb out of his house who uses a different technique.
Shower Dispenser Our Friend Uses
Like I said, we just use the bottles, but he’s had good success using a shower dispenser.
simplehuman Triple Wall Mount Shower Pump
- Comes with single, double or triple dispenser
- More sanitary than using the bottles
- Unlabeled
- Good clean look
Again, this isn’t what we do. However, I’ll admit there is a real benefit to using a dispenser like this: your guests will feel that everything is more sanitary.
There are cheaper dispensers out there, but this is the one our friend uses. It’s no secret that visual aesthetic is of the utmost importance in short term rentals, and this dispenser looks great.
One important thing to notice is that the pumps are unlabelled. You will want to make sure you label them before your guests arrive or they may confuse the different soaps.
Conclusion
When restocking our soap, body wash, shampoo and conditioner in our Airbnbs we prioritize three things:
- Hypoallergenic
- Non-offensive fragrance
- Affordable
Every item I’ve listed today meets these requirements. And we’ve personally used most of these in our Airbnbs. Any one of them will result in happy guests that won’t be messaging or calling you during their stay.
Happy investing.
Michael
I'm living the path to financial success and sharing everything I learn in this blog. I believe in the power of cash flowing investments, due diligence and time. This is my journey so far.
I learned everything I know from books, podcasts, conversations with friends and family and of course through real world experience as a cash flow investor. And I'm always pushing to learn more.
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