I love house and pet sitting but I am wondering about other sitters expectations of cleanliness when coming in for a sit. We have had to clean bathrooms, wipe out drawers before putting clothes in them, not to mention really dirty fridges, ovens, kitchen drawers. I understand leave it as you found it, but I do expect it to be useable. I am a clean freak…but I am not talking about perfection. Just safe and healthy conditions. And it’s a hard one to suss out in advance. Thoughts please?
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Cleanliness of homes is one of the biggest gripes sitters mention on the forum @Saegbevs. You can use the spyglass to find other threads already on this topic.
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Same here. I expect it to have the same level of cleanliness and welcoming atmosphere as a private short-term rental. That’s the core of their end of the deal - what the host are bringing to the table.
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Yes it is hard to know in advance although sometimes you can get an idea from the pics in the listing. Often if there is a lot of clutter, untidily made beds, pics of animals on the beds you can bet the house may not be up to scratch in the cleanliness department. Not always the case but something to go on
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What’s bothering me at the moment during our 3-week sit is this: there are two ovens, both dirty, and I don’t see why I should scrub them just to make them usable. The air fryer is also not clean, so we won’t be using that either.
They have a tumble dryer, which we end up using regularly, even though the weather outside is perfect for drying clothes. But I expect a drying rack or rotary line to be free of cobwebs and dust — I’m not hanging clean laundry on something filthy.
That’s their loss, unfortunately. It’s a shame about the electricity costs, but I’m not going to clean their stuff. Maybe it all balances out in the end, since we’re not using the ovens anyway. 
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I’ve had only one dirty house in 24 sits and that early sit taught me to look for cleanliness clues.
For example: Specific references in sitter reviews that a sit home is clean. (Not just star ratings.) I also look for mentions in listing responsibilities, like how often the kitty litter must be scooped. The more specific they are about such and other cleaning, the better you can tell if the host is clean. (You of course can decide whether they sound too demanding that way as well.) And usually you can gauge by listings whether hosts are house proud, which is likelier to include being clean.
In one case, I did a sit where the listing photos showed a dog who’d hopped into the host’s suitcase. There happened to be a canister of Clorox wipes in there. To me, anyone who packs such is very likely clean.
You of course can look at sit pictures, but some hosts use realty listing photos, which are inaccurate, as you’ll see some forum comments mention.
If you want, you also can ask indirectly during a video chat. For instance, you could say: Would you please share your weekly cleaning routine with me so I know how to keep your house up? If they’re specific, it’s more likely that they’re clean. (I suggest asking indirectly, because a dirty person won’t usually volunteer that if asked directly. And dirty people often don’t even realize they’re dirty.)
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Or ask for a video tour, which can show how tidy the place is, though not necessarily how clean, because camera quality can’t necessarily show that. You might ask to see the bedroom and bathroom you’d be using. People who are house proud will keep up the guest quarters well even when no one is staying.
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Or you could ask to them to show you where the pet food supplies are and where they’re fed, or where the kitty litter pans are. If those areas are clean and orderly, that will tend to reflect housekeeping standards.
I haven’t had to do the items that are bulleted, because I’ve been able to tell from listings, sitter reviews and photos. (I look for a combo of lived in and reality to avoid realty photos.) Like my next hosts referred to wanting a clean sitter, because they’re clean. They mentioned taking shoes off at the door, for example.
Worth considering: Families with young kids will tend to have a harder time with keeping up a home.
Personally, I live clean and orderly, so I appreciate homes that are kept up. But I also know that I’m cleaner than most people, so I’m willing to relax my standards a bit when sitting.
My sitter profile also mentions that I’m a clean freak and appreciate clean homes, so hopefully dirty hosts will avoid me.
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With all due respect – whether the clothesline is clean or the inside of the ovens are actually usable, none of that can really be gauged from listings, sitter reviews, or even video calls. I think sometimes it just comes down to luck.
In our case, the hosts had only glowing reviews – not a single mention of anything even slightly “off”. And still, several things were far from welcoming or clean.
We ourselves get consistent feedback in our reviews that the places we leave are so spotless “you could eat off the floor”. We also clearly state in our profile that cleanliness matters a lot to us. But the truth is: people often just have very different standards of what “clean” means. For some, a place that looks tidy at first glance is already considered clean – but for us, that’s not enough.
So while all the tips mentioned here can definitely help reduce the risk, there’s never a guarantee. Some hosts genuinely don’t realize what others might consider unhygienic – or they simply don’t care…
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There’s never a guarantee with anything involving humans. 
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The houses I’ve stayed in have ranged from immaculate or close with a clear effort made, to clean but cluttered with a clear effort made but missing the mark, to superficially clean but a stove that isn’t used much is a mess, or a microwave is scary even though a cleaner recently went through.
I know because I’m combined that THS sends out a thorough cleaning checklist which is probably lost among other emails.
I haven’t deducted points for tidiness although I’ve come close a couple of times. It’s a problem because I think sitters generally feel that either people were nice so they don't want to, or they'll never get another sit. I'll admit as a homeowner if I saw a sitter consistentlydeducting a star for cleanliness, I’d be concerned that I might not meet their standard.
There are more sitters than homeowners. I’m not sure what solves the problem but I think sitters can definitely do some stuff to suss out conditions and talk honestly about their expectations in the chat. For instance, if reviews comment possitively about cleanliness sitters can let homeowners know that was something that attacted them because it’s an important part of the exchange.
Exactly, it’s an endless downstream of disappointings with humanity. 
#letourpetsrule
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That exactly happened woth our current sit the other way around. I’ve noticed that the Pet parent gave their former sitters often only 4 stars for cleanliness so I thought ‘Great, perfect, so cleanliness is very very important for them’. Now I see, obviously I was fooled.
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I agree- and avoid those homes. But as you say sometimes they look good but the important areas are under par
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I appreciate your suggestions - thank you
I like your idea of asking about cleanliness!
I like the advice of @Maggie8K above.
We were fooled once as the owner had a cleaner coming in every 2 weeks, so we figured that the house would be pretty clean. We don’t expect perfection.
They had the same woman cleaning their home for over 20 years, and as it turns out, the cleaner was not very good.
There was so much “gunk” on all of the wall light switches, that I had to go around the entire large house on the first day, cleaning those. 
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Haha, that’s the only reason that speaks for Alexa turning on the lights! 
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Fortunately, I’ve not found that to be the case. If I had such experience on THS, there’s absolutely no chance I’d renew. I’d just stop sitting. For me, it’s icing, so why pay to be disappointed over and over?
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I would hope you mention these things in your review. This is not only important to future potential sitters but it helps the host by providing an objective assessment of the condition of their home that they may not be aware of.
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Of course, that was just a joke and not meant entirely seriously! We’ve actually had mostly very good sits and a lot of fun. Even with this sit, overall we’re definitely enjoying ourselves, and we can live with two dirty ovens and a dusty clothesline. 
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I look at it this way: they’re usually packing in a rush, prepping for a trip, and generously opening their home to me—for free. I’ve been in their shoes. If I were paying for an Airbnb, sure, I’d expect spotless everything plus a cleaning fee. But as a house sitter, I don’t mind putting in a little effort.
I actually plan for that. I bring a few items that work better for me: a roll-up drying rack for the sink (I don’t use dishwashers when it’s just me), my own laundry detergent (allergy-free), and if their cleaning supplies are low, I’ll pick up a few basics at the dollar store. No big deal.
Because I prefer longer sits, I spend the first day settling in—wiping down surfaces, organizing, and making the space feel like mine. It might take a few hours, but once it’s done, I’m living in my own standard of cleanliness, and that gives me peace of mind.
I also bring my own bedding—my luxury sheets and favorite pillows—because that’s part of what makes me feel at home. And in nearly every case, the homeowners are grateful to return to a clean, tidy home after travel.
It’s all part of the exchange. I give the pets love and the home respectful care. A little elbow grease up front is just part of the rhythm.
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