On day 11 with 50 days to go and I am rocking out barefoot cleaning, washing and vacuuming. Same as I would do in my own home.
Great fun and excercise 
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I basically spring clean the entire house, apart from any rooms I have been asked not to enter. I also wash, dry and put away all bed linen and all other washing, the day before departure. As I have my car, and of course I only do this when I do sits in Oz, I carry my own sheet sleeping bag and additional sheet to use the night before so as there is nothing further for the homeowner to do on their return. Everything is washed, dried, put away and the bed freshly made before my departure. This personally makes me feel I have completed the sit 100%. When I travel internationally, I do a complete spring clean before leaving so it is just normal for me to do it this way.
I did a sit last year and the HO didnât even bother making her bed that I was to sleep in OR change her sheets, it was disgusting! I had to clean the whole house and bedding before I could even eat or sleep in the house, gross.
You put a lot in to the sit! I find it very off-putting when the HO doesnât have clean sheets on the bed I am to use. It often means the rest of the home might need some cleaning as well.
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@Rosalie ohhh it certainly did need more cleaning, never been in a housesit so bad, ever. I felt sick over it. I mean to say, the bed was a marital bed, and that made it worse! Left it like new though, as I always do. I think it is just how I was raised.
That does sound very bad indeed. It impacts the whole sit.
@ziggy its the height of disrespect to not even change the bedding for the sitters. Its the most basic courtesy possible- for someone who is planning to lovingly, and withoyt payment, care for their home & pets! I canât imagine theyâd be so disrespectful to their family/friend guests. But who knows?!
We had that experience once and were truly dusgusted, especially as the rest of the home appeared lovely and clean, so we did not realise till we went to bed and pulled the top cover backâŚyuck! And there was no fresh bedding to be found anywhere so we had to wash & dry it all late at night. We were shocked & angry and nearly walked out there and then but decided the hassle & cost was too much to bother with so we just got on with it. We did not mention anything till AFTER getting our 5* review!!
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@Lokstar totally agree! This bed wasnât even made when I got there, I had to strip everything, right down to actually even flipping the mattress after I removed ALL the bedding and washed everything, everything! Three childrenâs rooms, two of them you couldnât even get into for squalor/mess, I just closed the door on them. The bathrooms, there would have been at least a dozen wet, dirty towels on the floor and the recess and bath tub was full of c**p. I wonât even start on the kitchen and fridge! I even washed and dried SIX loads of their dirty washing that had just been left, and there was still more 𫨠They told me the pool and yard work was done by a contractor, who obviously never came, outside as bad as inside. I thought it would have all been done by the time I arrived but it was actually worse. A cleaner turned up a few days later but the first day/night I spent cleaning the bedroom and kitchen otherwise I couldnât have stayed there. Never sat on the couch without my own sheet on it as it was so gross. Rant rant rant but this just brought it all back what we sometimes have to put up with when a sit can be so very disrespectful for what we offer. I am now extra extra careful when choosing my sits but as they had travelled to the other side of the country, I had no choice but to stay. Never again.
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@ziggy I am truly horrified to read all that- what a nightmare. I thought our situation was bad but yours was 10x worse. I think I would have just walked out in protest and told them to sort it all out for themselves. How ever inconvenient for them- they made no effort whatsoever for you. It makes my blood boil to hear such stories. No one should have to put up with such massive disrespect. Iâm so sorry you had that experience.
Did you report them to THS?
Did you get a good review?
And did you write honest feedback?
Sending you a big hug!!
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@Lokstar thanks for that and appreciate a hug, probably need that sometimes hey! That sit was through another site here in Oz as I couldnât travel at the time due to injury. I did get a good review but was very careful what I wrote in mine. I basically didnât mention the house AT all, only a short review on a nice dog. Homeowner is a politician here so I really wanted to just walk away and forget it ever happened to be honest but I didnât leave a review that would entice a future sitter. It was only the fact that a lovely cleaner came in that week and spent the day cleaning that made me stay. She said if they were home it would be as bad the day after she cleaned anyway so I just put it down to yet another experience. I have found that most sits through TH have a far better standard of homeowners so Iâm very choosy now 
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This sounds horrific 
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Do you even clean rooms that you are not needed to go in?
@Hallt64 Yes, if the doors are open and I feel the floors need doing as well as dusting, or the ensuite needs a wipe over etc, I always do that. If the owners bed hasnât been made before they leave, (they have stripped it to wash and not remade) I will always make their bed also. If a door is closed off or I am asked not to go into a room, I never open that door or enter it. I have never gone outside of anyoneâs personal boundaries.
I know you asked Ziggy in particular but personally I wouldnât clean any rooms I had not used and I wouldnât make up the ownersâs bed unless it is the one I/we had been using during the sit.
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Iâm with you 100%, although classed as Housesitters, itâs usually pet sitting and not there to be a cleaner. Happy to clean and dust where we have used though but no chance of anywhere else
I personally donât.
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If I was wearing a hat, Iâd take it off to you. But I wouldnât be going that far. Each to their own though.
Itâs just who I am I guess, and just what I do. If I am cleaning half a house, I canât justify to myself not to do the whole house. It doesnât take long to do the little extra at all, as those rooms havenât been used, but I donât want to leave a home with a dusty floor, etc and unmade beds - I detest unmade beds so itâs probably a personal thing for me. But at the end of the day, I leave knowing I have done the very best job and the HOâs, of course lol, are always very appreciative. Itâs just the little things sometimes that makes a difference to me personally and as I usually have plenty of time, why not? My motherâs influence I guess, God rest her soul.
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@Twitcher thereâs nothing like coming home from holiday and jumping into bed with fresh, clean sheets. HOâs are usually pretty tired from driving or flying long distance (I do live in Australia so everything is usually long distance lol) so the last thing they feel like doing is making a bed. I just think of how nice it would be for me to come home to that after a long journey so the old âdo unto others thingâ Iâve always done it so itâs just normal for me to do I guess, no biggie as we would say 
@ziggy - as I mentioned I would definitely make up their bed with clean linen if I had used it.
If I was in a guest bedroom and they chose to leave their own bed unmade when they left I would respect that.
I am on a housesit now and before I left my own home I cleaned, changed bedding and towels as I also like to return to a clean home and bed.
As you say, each to their own and do what you feel comfortable with.
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Sorry, I felt I was doing a good thing for people guys, maybe I shouldnât be so touchy about feedback. Letâs leave it then hey, everyone is different and thatâs okay 