KISSIMMEE – Stephen R. Craig spends quite a bit of time talking to people about pet stains. He also knows a thing or two about toilet paper – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
And he’s noticed an odd tendency that some people have, when they’re expecting guests to arrive, to put toilet paper on the roll – still wrapped up in paper. It makes no sense, Craig said, because your visitors don’t want to have to unwrap their toilet paper.
“I’ve never understood why people put wrapped toilet paper on a roll,” he said.
Craig talks about subjects like pet stains and toilet paper for good reason: he’s the president of Pro Resort Housekeeping, which provides house cleaning services to Central Florida’s thriving hospitality industry, including vacation homes.
And understanding what the absolute best products are for maintaining a vacation home, Craig said, can be a key aspect to keeping guests feeling happy and clean – and coming back.
“Nice little touches like this make a difference,” Craig said. “And the guests appreciate this.”
Craig gave a special presentation in February during the monthly meeting of the Central Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association, the trade group representing property managers who oversee vacation homes, or fully furnished houses rented to tourists on a short-term basis. The meeting was held at the Legoland Florida theme park.
An Flamand, the president of the CFVRMA, said she invited Craig to address the members because of his vast knowledge of how best to maintain a clean property.
“Steve to me is the male version of Martha Stewart,” she said.
Craig has been a housekeeping consultant since 1986, and has worked with 197 vacation rental companies, destination resorts and timeshares throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. His specialty is visiting a property and training key members of the staff on effective housekeeping and inspections procedures.
Craig said the cleaning industry itself stays busy creating new products, ones intended to make the task of keeping a property clean more efficient than ever.
Dymon Cleaning Products, for example, “makes over 78 different kinds of towelettes and stainless steel cleaner wipes,” he said.
Craig is also fond of Purex 3 in 1 cleaning items.
“This is a handy little product,” he said.
Craig also recommends Rug Renovators, a dry carpet cleaning brush that he said comes in handy for keeping a carpet clean.
“You can give it to the home inspectors,” he said. “It’s absolutely amazing how effective it is. Dry compound has become more and more popular for cleaning carpets. You really need to explore dry carpet cleaning.”
When it comes to treating pet stains, he said, be sure to know exactly where the stain is.
“You need a black light to tell you where the moisture is in the carpet,” he said. “But there are a couple of great products out there now to treat it.”
And knowing just what those products are, he said, is what helps keep a business like his in operation – and the vacation homes that they service being continuously appealing to guests.
“At the age of 69,” Craig said, “I can still clean like a whiz.”

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