I always use having a house sitter as a motivation to do a “deep clean.” I’m relatively clean, but goop on refrigerator shelves, corners of the baseboards, light switches - ! It is kind of awful and kind of fun to take one whole day and just clean clean clean - things you don’t see in daily life but once you get cleaning, you just go on and on.
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Changing gears, YES!, I want to take myself out of a stressful mode, facing disappointment in a Sit now, and focus on those Sits that gave me a clean home to enjoy, and maintain, and the Hosts who actually cherished my care for their home, car and dog, garden, farm and more.
Thank you to my hosts – 4 of 6 – for the kindness, supportive generosity and guidance for me in a new country, and for the opportunity to get to know so many different locations, and explore more while on my Trusted Housesitters’ Sits.
I am so comforted by the clean sheets, cosy beds, nice welcome with a meal and chat, and tea, long walks to learn your area, and get oriented to your area,
and for the way our reviews celebrated the exchange.
Off for a walk, the dogs are calling.
Aloha,
Claire + Tarkina
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Cleanliness and tidiness is something we look for in the photos of a listing and comments in previous feedback.
Like @anon84784007 
this has been our experience too - six sits all very clean bedrooms - maybe some cobwebs in some of the other rooms in the large country properties but that doesn’t bother us . As long as the kitchen , bathroom , guest bedroom are clean and clutter free that’s what we’re looking for and will maintain during our stay .
Once a sit is confirmed we do specifically ask the homeowner to leave us a clear shelf in the fridge for our own food and to leave us cupboard space to put our store cupboard groceries. ( It’s something that not all homeowners have thought of )
Mostly these have been left clean but if not to our standard we can easily clean a shelf that is clear -
I have had great success by asking before taking a Sit, and clearly stating in my Profile myneed for space in
fridge,
shelf space for pantry items, and in
the loo for my bath items.
I love when the host says, I made space for you. It is so nice and comforting, because I carry my own dishes, and food, and my dog’s food and treats, and bath salts, so, I need space to feel welcome and comfy.
Yay!
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I’m horrified by some of the responses here. We keep our place fairly clean, but we always do a deep clean before we have any guests staying at our places that includes sitters!
Luckily my dog doesn’t shed (I think I shed more than him lol), and we also have no shoes inside rule. Sometimes, I fear this rule might scare sitters away when I mention it.
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@wendy_chicago I love it! We’re the same. It’s always fairly clean, and then we do deep cleans for guests/sitters. We also don’t wear shoes in the house (not in ours, and not in other people’s homes). We get amused looks. We get comments from family members. But that’s the way we roll - our house, our rules 
I had to smile when I heard my young nephew getting out of the car recently, loudly reminding the others in the car: “Now remember, shoes off at the door”
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The house at the first sit I ever did was extremely dirty to the point of unhygienic. HOWEVER, what might surprise my fellow pet-lovers is that I strongly suspected this would be the case, before I arrived. That was because the homeowner was in the midst of a very acrimonious “review argument” with the sitter before me, and the one before that…about cleanliness…
I took that sit because I wanted to “get on the ladder” at THS, and figured my gung-ho, can-do attitude would see me through. It did.
This despite the fact that the owner cheerfully told me that they fed their 4 cats on the kitchen table, to avoid the dogs. I did not need to be told as the remnants of MANY days’ cat food was crusted onto the table’s surface.
That wet patch by the (full) washing machine wasn’t a leak, as I first thought - that idea was squashed when I saw one of the 2 dogs casually lift his leg against the machine’s door.
One of the cats left me a lovely squishy “foot-pack” on the upstairs carpet that I stood in going to the loo in the middle of the night.
There were no cleaning products, and the owner had left no dog food at all (it was a three-day sit). SO, the dogs got cat food until I could get to the shops.
The dogs were lovely company though and we had some lovely walks and hunkered down in front of the telly with the heat on full (it was winter). There was takeaway food within walking distance, so I didn’t need to use the appliances.
Yes, I did some cleaning! The place definitely looked better after I left .
When I think back to that sit now I actually only think about how lovely the doggies were and what fun walks we had in the neighbourhood. This post reminded me of the house though 
By the way, the owner gave me a five-star review and I have never looked back!
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@botvot My family makes fun of us too for having no shoes in the house rule. My mom sometimes ignores me until I give her a pair of slippers (even during the summer! 
). She swifts/mops her floors every day, I tell her if she had the same rule she would only need to do that a once or twice a week.
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Re: shoes and cleanliness…
My father came from a family of shoemakers in Sicily, so we were always told to wear shoes all the time, because “we’re not poor, go put on shoes”. You didn’t want to get caught by my dad with bare feet! We had slippers, but with my 3 little brothers, the floor wasn’t very clean anyway.
I guess I was brain-washed, so now I can’t handle bare feet on the floor. At home, I wear flip flops or shoes I keep just for indoors. If I visit family, I pack them. They’re only as dirty as the floors I’ve walked on
I grew up in Guatemala with the same mentality that we would wear shoes inside because my parents said the same as your dad, “we’re not poor” 
I think it stuck with my siblings but not me. I wear socks or slippers inside though, even in the summer because I tend to get cold with the AC.
I’m sure our little dog brings some dust inside too but mostly just sticks.
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I like wearing house shoes, slippers or flip flops inside- i hate going barefoot inside a house unless the floor is pristine!
We did a housesit recently where the HO took off her shoes to go inside but the floor was filthy!! After they left next morning I vaccumed the whole downstairs area we would use and it filled an entire Dyson cannister!!! Eeek!!
Being from Finland and living in Thailand I’ve never worn shoes inside. It’s a big no in both cultures.
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We’ve always worn slippers in our home and asked guests to remove their shoes. I bring slippers on my sits and other travel.
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I actually meant to ask similar question after having to throw away mouldy food, clean the fridge that turned into goo and started leaking everywhere, a microwave covered in crusted food and a kettle lined in limescale.
It would be easy to say ‘leave the house as you found it’ but will the owner remember how THEY left it for me to find?
I started taking photos and videos of the place as soon as I ‘move in’. One is evidence of the condition of the place as it was left for me and the other is reminder for me how and where things were, and if I need to replace anything.
I also ask to be shown where cleaning supplies are (I’ve been on a sit where there were no cleaning supplies so I had to buy them in order to clean after myself)
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Dear Bridget,
Yes it’s clear that some of our HOs are not exactly obsessive cleaners whilst lots of sitters are clean people. I often have to clean certain areas before I use them and not everyone has the right equipment. I try to buy enough cleaners and cloths etc for me but not to leave for the HO. Most of our sits have been good, but photos don’t always tell the true story, even though I am careful.
Easy ways to guess if house clean, is the bed made and clothes hung up. Kitchen, clean and tidy or full or pots and rubbish, bathroom towels looking wet, .does the home look clean and tidy or are the general areas messy.
Sorry, but these are my basic markers, if it looks bad on the photos it will be worse when you get there!
Good luck everyone.
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I did a sitting for a lady twice. Very dirty when I arrived for the first sitting. even dirty dishes all over the sink. I had to clean the whole flat. it looked she hasnt done anything for 2 weeks. When she came back she realized how clean her flat was and apologized that it wasnt as clean when I arrived but she was in stress and didn’t have time to clean much. So I accepted a second sitting and what can I say, it was even dirtier. I loved her cat but the dirt was disgusting.
That’s awful, and I’m so sorry. We should not have to deal with that. ALWAYS report and review &&the sits that don’t meet minimum standards.
This applies to both sides of the arrangement. There are non-negotiable requirements of adequate care and cleanliness. Those who shirk responsibilities are not a good fit here.
@kaliom wow, that is unbelievable!
I’m from Germany and I’m currently on my first sit in the UK. And I’m appalled at the (non-existent) cleanliness. The bathroom is the worst. The shower is moldy from top to bottom. The shower tray is so dirty that someone’s footprints are visible. The toilet and sink are dirty and sticky. There are piles of laundry on the floor all over the house. The bedding provided to me is dirty and torn. This is an impertinence and I feel extremely uncomfortable. What to do in such a case?
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