Airbnb, etiquette company release guide to teach you how not to be a terrible houseguest

Before Airbnb made it easy to book a room in a stranger's home, when's the last time you were someone's houseguest? And no, sleeping in your cramped childhood bedroom during the Christmas holiday doesn't count.

As more travelers find themselves standing on other people's welcome mats — and more hosts are opening their homes to guests — Airbnb has paired with a British etiquette expert to ensure that we're all being polite about it. Debrett's knows everything from how to execute the perfect air kiss to what to wear with a kilt (never white or cream hose, you heathen) and now they've written some guidelines for hosts and their guests.

In the intro to the Guide to Homesharing Etiquette, they write:

The traditional guidelines about having guests to stay, and the behaviour that is expected of them, are being challenged by the myriad ways in which we open our doors and share our homes, ranging from simply offering a guest a bed for a night to laying on an elaborate display of hospitality.

Most of the suggestions seem to be straightforward reminders about common courtesies. We read a lot of the more specific recommendations in our mother's voice: wipe your feet, don't take things you haven't been offered and don't text at the dinner table.

The bathroom is Debrett's biggest area of concern ("Don't we know it," Thailand just said to itself) and they advise guests to "conduct a brief, forensic examination before unlocking the bathroom door." If guests are sharing a bathroom with their hosts, they're advised to get in and out with Special Forces-like efficiency, limiting the length of showers and ensuring that they haven't left any Colgate smears on the vanity.

The guide's suggestions are really less about formal etiquette and more about just being polite. Most of all, it emphasizes the importance of communication — the in-person kind — between travelers and their hosts, and encourages everyone to put their iDevices away and talk to each other, even if it might take you a few minutes to remember how to make emoticons with your face.

Now make your bed, wipe your feet and — gah! — change those kilt socks before you go out today.