On certain surfaces in my own house, yes, but
“…it’s important to remember that while vinegar does work as a disinfectant to some degree, it is not as effective as bleach or commercial cleansers when it comes to killing germs.”
(Emphasis mine)
Also, “The set time for vinegar can be up to 30 minutes,” meaning it has to saturate the surface, and stay wet for that amount of time. For reference, diluted bleach is only one minute.
Of course you know I am going to cite sources 
it will be as I found or slightly better. The guidelines here are ridicules. These people are getting a great deal.(and yes, so am I) ) But, I’m not giving their home a deep cleaning as well.
But you’re not staying in a hotel, but in someone’s home. Yes, I give the house
a good clean before I have anyone to stay, be it family, friends or house sitters. Yes you may find I’ve missed a bit here and there, not through laziness or not wanting to be thorough, but running out of time with too many things to do before I go. Having pets does not help, as you can guarantee one cat or another will plonk it’s self right in the middle of the newly made bed, and oh don’t they just love a pile of fresh laundry!
I can appreciate that. But we are staying in your home. You may be leaving for a vacation in a nice hotel. Or staying with family. I keep hearing from HO - I ran out of time. But if sitters ran out of time, arrive late, or didn’t clean. Up after themselves often leaving the home better than they found it - we suffer the consequences of a bad review. Where we don’t leave bad reviews for HO. And you wouldn’t stay in a hotel that wasn’t clean.
Good call and advice. Thank you.
Here’s what we bringer: pooper scooper, kettle, chopsticks, juicer, pillows, bedsheets, comforter, water filtration system, ice cube trays, towels, table, collapsible chairs, keyboards for our laptops, blender, nested pots/pans, yogamats, handsoap, toilet paper, flash light, table cloths, usb fan, portable solar generator, 10lb ice packs. Some houses don’t have enough supplies like soap, toilet paper, etc. Ugh! No house has ever had a pooper scooper so I bought a portable one. The sits do feel more comforable with our own stuff.
I agree WheresBabZ. This is one of the major flaws in the one-sided review system. There should be categories for sitters to rate as part of the review. Sitters should be able to rate HOs on categories such as cleanliness and accuracy of listing. Running out of time is not an excuse for not preparing for the arrival of a sitter. We certainly can’t run out of time and not clean before our departure. Often sitters are getting up super early in the morning on our last day to ensure we have time to do the cleaning and laundry before we leave.
We always leave a place slightly cleaner than when we arrived. Most have been clean-enough on arrival and we really didn’t mind with the odd one that wasn’t because their pictures reflected that it wasn’t quite as clean as perhaps others.
We always carry clothes and very basic cleaning materials with us, as we often find enough cloths to clean a house are very rare.
Hi,
I’ve run into this myself, to the point where I was very uncomfortable. It was only 4 days, so I just dealt with it, but never reviewed this person. I have bought mops and buckets on more than one occasion, for me it’s about my comfort. I have been known to do big cleans on my arrival (for long sits) but I do concede I may be a bit neurotic about cleanliness.
Which is something I now jokingly say in my application. I too have a really good look at photos, things like untidy kitchen benches, or stuff on the floor is a big no, no, for me. I think, if they can’t clean it up and present it well for their invitation to sit, then it’s not in my ballpark, and don’t apply.
It really depends on the length of the sit.
Happy cleaning.
Exactly! And I don’t consider myself a germophobe or neatnik. But basic dusting. Clean bathroom and kitchen to start. Fresh linens. Always leave it better than I found it as I appreciate being able to housesit. But when it starts dirty - I’m over it. Also had a 3 nighter that was just BAAAAD. Made it thru but let them know after and THS is was unacceptable.
And many people are sensitive to strong chemicals and artificial scents. So eco cleaning is always a safer way to clean.
But are you expecting perfection? We clean everything before the sitter comes. But I might have missed a baseboard. Or a cobweb from the spider that made one last night. Perfection is going to be disappointing. Maybe your standards are unrealistic?
I’m always thrilled when a sitter leaves things wiped down and vacuumed. That has only NOT happened twice.
I don’t want to have to vacuum (wood floors) the moment I come home because of dog hair.
I’m fine with people doing their best and leaving me a relatively clean space. It’s a couple weeks of my life, and I get to go some place I’ve dreamed of…I’m just not going to sweat it. I want to travel to a place people live, not a sterile box, or I’d just get a hotel. If something is unsafe, I’d assume that TH support can help? Heaven knows my rare chances to vacation are also preceded by mad running around, too, so i assume the best of their efforts, too.
And bleach is very toxic. We haven’t used bleach for 30 years. There’s no need to with so many other wonderful cleansers on the market.
We always leave a clean house for our sitters. And fortunately they leave it clean for when we come home. But I’ve never received get ready for your sitter messages. How do you receive them? We have been with THS for 3 years. Is this something new?
That’s true. I wasn’t sensitive to strong chemicals when I was younger - or actually, maybe I just dudn’t realise I was. But since I’ve been using eco products, I find strong chemical ones affect my eyes, throat and chest.
Apparently same for lemon juice, one of my cleaning go-tos.
More info here: The Dangers Of Bleach To Aquatic Life – Humans For Survival
@Loreemezz I would reach out to the Membership Service team in case your emails are unsubscribed, they can also check the settings menu with you. I accidentally marked some as junk and became unsubscribed by the email provider so they needed to request that I was subscribed again to get all of the emails. You can reach them at support@trustedhousesitters.com
Yeah, this whole thread is freaking me out, as a PP who spends weeks preparing my home for a sitter (so far only month-long sits).
OTOH “hotel clean” sounds really drastic to me, but then the details seem quite basic, like doing the dishes and leaving clean sheets on a prepared bed for the sitter, which I think is already covered in the prep instruction? And also seems like a no-brainer. If there are PPs already ignoring the level of clean they are expected to leave for sitters now, I don’t think raising the expectations is going to help much. I think it’s more an issue of how to get PPs to actually prepare to the standards as set out, while also having a +/- area of grace for different levels of norms.
I was intrigued by a few comments about finding no mop on a sit. I don’t own a mop/bucket. I wash my floors by hand (and do so right before a sit). I don’t expect and would not want a sitter to mop my floors. It sounds like some folks want to do that during a sit for their own enjoyment of the space, I just mean from a handover to the PP POV.
Honestly, I don’t care if my space is super clean when I return. Yeah, a clean catbox because that’s one of the main parts of the sit, and I don’t want to have to do a sink full of someone else’s dishes right off the bat, but all I really care about is that my cat is happy and cared for.