Owner here who has had a number of sitters for my two cats. I don’t know if this issue is specific to me but it strongly influences my selection of sitters.
Do you, as a sitter, have long hair? I have invited sitters a couple of times who did. In the wake of their stay, I seem to spend the next several months discovering their hair everywhere: wrapped around the brush of the vacuum cleaner, in the guest bed sheets, forming a clump in the bathtub drain.
I’m sure that if you live in household with longhaired people this is an issue you deal with routinely. My household, however, does not have anyone with long hair, and it’s unpleasant to find it everywhere after someone has stayed here. So if the pictures on your profile look like you could also do a shampoo commercial, I won’t be inviting you!
From a sitter’s perspective, I’ve had a similar experience @LingProf. I was on a sit last year and the bathroom allocated to me was the daughter’s. Three days into the sit, the shower water would not drain and the toilet, when flushed, would not empty for ages. The drain cap in the shower was very difficult to remove but when I had succeeded, the amount of long hair, toilet paper (!) and gunk was amazing. It was not pleasant cleaning this out and I sent a photo to the owner of what had caused the blockage. I also saved them a plumber’s account. Since that episode, I always check the shower drains on my sits but really I should not have to. And I have short hair!
This is music to my ears. We run an Airbnb but only go back every six months to do maintenance. We have a stick vacuum cleaner for our guests use. One of my jobs is to clean the rotating brush. It usually entails spending an hour with a pair of scissors cutting all the hair away. I didn’t know humans shed so much hair until I got one of these.
I have shoulder length curly/wavy weightless fluff for hair. They would never choose me for a shampoo commercial, but it does moult. At home I have a little cup gadget that sits over the bathtub plughole that catches the hair and is simple to empty immediately after showering. I am always very careful on housesits when showering.
Your post did make me wonder if I should get another of the little gadgets to take on housesits, but I guess drain sizes can vary, especially if travelling to different countries, so one size wouldn’t fit all.
Hi @LingProf welcome to our community forum. Thank you for your contribution, an interesting subject which many think about, have even come across as described here but haven’t considered to open up a conversation.
Enjoy being on the forum, connecting with other members and we look forward to more interesting conversations.
Thanks for sharing your view on sitters with long hair @LingProf. As always, I have learned something new on this forum. It’s frequently expressed here that there’s no way of knowing why a HO accepts/declines a sitter and your post is a perfect example of the “unknowns” of the decision-making process.
If you haven’t already, this would be important information to include in your listing. That would save long-haired sitters from writing a personalized application that will automatically be rejected by you.
Everyone has their own pet peeves, so if you’re someone bothered by long hair, then only select people who don’t have long hair. Simple. No judgement there. If you’re expecting a long haired person to attempt to scour your home in order to appease your dislike of long hair, that may be a little unrealistic.
I’ve had long hair all of my life and am therefore used to the management and acceptance of it in my life. I’ve also experienced periods of my life where I lost large quantities of my hair, and it’s an ordeal to manage that for sure. I do my best to tidy up after each sit. I think that everyone is unique and that is such a distinct preference it would be unfair to expect anyone to manage your level of fastidiousness.
Amy
