When is pollen season in Charleston?

Roughly mid-February through late April, heaviest in March. The visible yellow is pine pollen; oak and grass overlap and affect allergy sufferers more, but do not show on surfaces.

Is it worth cleaning a porch that will be yellow again by evening?

Yes. Guests grade whether the property was obviously cleaned before they arrived, not whether it stayed clean afterwards. An untouched porch in March reads as neglect.

Does pollen affect indoor cleanliness scores?

Indirectly. Most of what lands on interior floors in spring is tracked in on shoes, and dull window screens make a clean room look dirty. Sills, thresholds, mats and screens are where it shows.

Should linens be washed on site during pollen season?

We would not. Bedding dried in a property in March can pick up a faint yellow cast that guests report as unwashed. Fluffy launders off site at our North Charleston facility and delivers linens with the turn.

Do you clean outdoor spaces as part of a turnover?

Yes. Porches, piazzas, decks and outdoor furniture are part of the 75-point standard, and the report includes photos of how the property was left.

Charleston Pollen Season: Turnovers Feb–April

Pollen Season in Charleston, and What It Does to a Turnover.

For about eight weeks every spring the Lowcountry turns yellow. Guests arriving in March walk onto a porch that was spotless at nine in the morning and photograph it at four. This is what pollen actually does to a turnover, and which parts of it are worth fighting.

By Lazaro Moreira, owner of Fluffy · Charleston, SC · Updated September 2026

In this guide

When Where it shows Reviews Handling it Linens

When it happens, and why it is worse here

Lowcountry pollen season runs roughly from mid-February to late April, with the heaviest stretch in March. The yellow that coats everything is mostly loblolly and longleaf pine, and it is coarse enough to see, which is exactly why it matters to a rental. Oak and grass pollens overlap and cause more misery for allergy sufferers, but they are invisible. Pine is the one that shows up in a guest photo.

Charleston is worse than most of the country for this because the tree canopy is dense, the season starts early, and the properties guests book here have porches, piazzas and screened rooms as their selling point. An inland condo can close a window. A Sullivan’s Island beach house sells the outdoor space.

The scheduling consequence

A porch cleaned at 9am on a dry March day can carry a visible film by mid-afternoon. On same-day turns during peak weeks, outdoor surfaces are worth doing last, closest to check-in, rather than first.

Where it actually shows

Pollen does not settle evenly. It collects where air slows down and on anything with texture, which is why some surfaces look untouched and others look neglected an hour after a clean.

Porch and piazza floors, rails and ceiling fan blades — the first thing a guest sees before they are even inside

Outdoor furniture cushions, which hold pollen in the weave and transfer it to clothes

Window sills and door thresholds, where it drifts and then gets tracked in on feet

Window screens, which go visibly dull and make a clean room look dirty from the inside

Cars in the driveway, which guests notice and nobody cleans

White and light-coloured linens near an open window, where a yellow cast reads as unwashed

What guests grade you on

Guests do not deduct points for pollen existing. They deduct points when it looks like nobody accounted for it. A dusted rail and a swept porch on arrival tell a guest the property is looked after, even if both are yellow again by dinner. An untouched porch in March reads as a property nobody has visited in a week.

The practical target is not a pollen-free property, which is impossible in March. It is a property that was obviously cleaned today.

What we tell managers

Do not promise guests a pollen-free stay in spring. Say the property is cleaned before every arrival and outdoor spaces are included. That is a promise you can keep in March.

Handling it during a turnover

Rinse and wipe rather than dry-sweep where possible; dry brushing lifts pine pollen into the air and it resettles indoors within minutes

Do outdoor surfaces last, after the interior is closed up, so what you disturb outside does not come back in

Wipe window sills and thresholds inward-out, and check screens — a dull screen makes a clean room look dirty

Keep entry mats and runners clean; most of what lands on interior floors in spring arrived on someone’s shoes

Change HVAC filters more often through March, and check the return vents

Store spare linen sets closed rather than on open shelving near a window

Linens in spring

Pollen is where an on-property washer and dryer costs a manager the most. Linens dried on site during March pick up whatever is in the air of the utility room, and white bedding that carries a faint yellow cast will be reported as unwashed even when it is clean. It is a complaint that is very hard to argue with, because the guest can see it.

Linens laundered and dried off site, then delivered sealed with the turn, sidestep the problem entirely. That is true year-round, but spring is when the difference becomes visible to guests rather than just operationally convenient.

How Fluffy handles it

Linens are processed at our own facility in North Charleston and delivered with each turn, so nothing is dried in a property during pollen season.