I must admit the only part of the oven I clean is the door! If food has spilled, yes of course I clean it. My house is very dusty, to keep it spotless I would have to dust everywhere every day - life is too short. In winter the log fire creates a lot of dust. Floors mopped regularly, but with two cats, two dogs and a walking husband it does get dirty quickly. We live in a farming area, no made up road to the house and no rain in summer. We also have the doors open all day for pets to go in and out as they please. And yes, I do clear up the pet hair. I only expect my sitters to give me the house back as they found it - recently cleaned. We also leave money for emergencies, like the vet. And pets are allowed on the furniture, they are my family. Rant over!
Well, if the standard is return the house as you found it, then itās really important that the starting condition is described clearly and realistically. If the house is very dusty, or the oven hasnāt been cleaned, that should be stated directly ā rather than using vague terms like ānot spotlessā or ārural living.ā
At my last sit I even had to clean the clothes pegs before using them. 
I also have this attitude, I actually enjoy cleaning and will happily spend a couple of days getting a place licked into shape. As you say, people have plenty to do in order to get organised and head off on their trip, itās not going to kill me to pick up the slack.
I love the sound of your home. I would much prefer this to sitting in a show home for two weeks scared to move incase I make a mess or damage something.
Huh, interestingā¦ so let me get this straight:
a failure to plan oneās travels in a timely and responsible manner legitimizes leaving a guest to clean up after you?
If the stay isnāt meant to be comparable, then why offer the option to link to Airbnb?
A welcoming, clean, and comfortable accommodation is the hostās part of the deal - what they offer, or fail to offer, in return.
No wonder so many dishonest reviews circulate if hours of cleaning and elbow grease upon arrival are considered the norm.
My understanding has always been that it is so that potential hosts can see a sitterās reviews on Airbnb. I didnāt think it, in any way, that it suggested that this is an alternative to renting vacation accommodation.
Thatās interesting though, 
maybe this is one of the reasons that peopleās expectations are not being met. It could explain a lot of the complaints that I see on here, if people are using it expecting Airbnb standards.
Most of us do not expect Airbnb or hotel level of cleanliness, but the home should look like someone cleaned the entire place within the last few days.
Owners who cannot find the time to clean before their trip should consider hiring professional cleaners (Molly Maid in the USA) to come in the day before they leave. How much would this cost? Depends on the size of the homeāI imagine $200-300 USD for an average size home which is not very dirty to begin with.
I totally get itāwith a busy life, career, pets, kids, homeāmany people are tapped out on time. It is hard enough to pack for the trip, clean out the fridge, make sure the Welcome Guide and keys, etc, are ready for the sitter.
Travel is expensive. Dog kennels and sitters are expensive too. Do yourself a favorāhire a cleaner so that you can have a great THS sitter! He/she will repay the favor by cleaning your home at the end of your trip, so you will return to a clean home.
I think the real issue here is what people consider ā cleanā varies wildly depending on their preference and how they were raised. So while to some people a space is clean, other people would say itās pretty darn dirty. Itās such a subjective thing I have found.
Some people say that clean means no dust and no spiderwebs and minimal pet hair, other people say spiders are part of the house, and since they dusted and vacuumed, itās considered clean (spiders and cobwebs notwithstanding).
Personally, I have a fairly stringent definition of clean, and because of this I plan on spending several hours on my first day of a Sit cleaning. I almost always end up cleaning the fridge, the dishwasher, the cabinets, the light switches, and sometimes even the walls in the kitchen. The benefit of this is that even after I use the place for a week or two, itās still cleaner than when I found it, so thereās minimal tidying up needed before I leave AND I have a clean space to eat and prepare food in for the duration of my sit. I wish everyone were a clean freak like me, but itās just not the case. I genuinely donāt think most people are being lazy, they just really think that itās clean when someone like me, it really isnāt.
I realise that there are people on this site from all walks of life and therefore all levels of income but when I see comments like this I gasp! $200-$300 USD to have a house cleaned 
That is major money to me, that converts to Ā£222, thatās the equivalent of, if not more than, one monthās grocery shopping for me, or eight or ten nights staying in a hostel. Not everyone is going on luxury cruises or staying in five star hotels. People may be going to stay with family, camping, or volunteering somewhere.
People may be going on a vacation but they may have saved long and hard to be able to do so. I would hate to think that anyone felt obliged to spend that sort of money before my arrival. I am happy to do a little bit of a tidy up and some cleaning in order to make peopleās getaway easier.
[quote=āDarkAloha, post:31, topic:65296ā] I
plan on spending several hours on my first day of a Sit cleaning. I almost always end up cleaning the fridge, the dishwasher, the cabinets, the light switches, and sometimes even the walls in the kitchen. The benefit of this is that even after I use the place for a week or two, itās still cleaner than when I found it, so thereās minimal tidying up needed before I leave
[/quote]
I canāt say I have ever cleaned walls but Iām like you, I usually do quite a lot of initial cleaning on the first day but I worry a bit about having enough time for the final day cleaning so I take the same attitude as you, it will be cleaner when I leave than when I arrive.
I agree with you; $200-300 USD is a lot of money!
Bottom line is that the house should be clean when the sitter arrives.
The owner should clean it themselves or pay someone else to do it. It is NOT the sitterās role to clean the house at the beginning of the sit. Your attitude is very graceful and generous; you donāt mind doing cleaning and tidying to be helpful to the owner who is going to be away on vacation.
A benefit of the owner cleaning themselves is that they can make sure all of their cleaning supplies are organized, adequate, and in great shape. The sitter should not need to change the vacuum cleaner bag, for example, nor buy any cleaning supplies. Brooms, mops, dustpan, brushes, sponges, rags should be readily available and in working order.
We are not owners on THS, but we do home exchange, so it is a similar process. It is a lot of work to have my entire house ready for a family to arrive. I would never try to get it all done in one day. It is a multi-day process, working for a couple of hours each day.
In a recent comment I read someone suggested asking, during the video call, to be shown were the cleaning materials were stored. I thought that was a good idea.