If anyone does wash the pet bedding before leaving, its always wise to run a rinse cycle afterwards to remove the pet hairs from the drum.
Imagine the HO putting their holiday clothes in to wash and coming out covered in dog hairs?
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I think washing the pet bedding is beyond the call of duty and we’ve never done that on a sit. Happy to wash our own bedding though- if time allows.
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Agreed, we have never done that either
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Us too @Lokstar - that’s not a pet sitter’s job. On a recent sit we threw one of the (many) dog beds in the bin as it was soaked with cat pee & acrid didn’t even come close. Washing it would have been a waste of time & beyond the call of pet duty. #knowyourboundaries
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@BonnyinBrighton I think that’s a requirement for pet owners not for sitters! We would only wash the food bowls and surrounds before leaving, but never the pet bedding.
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@Lokstar @Cuttlefish @Hallt64 we don’t routinely do this but it is in the sitters cleanliness checklist …!!!
When we have done it ( mid-way through a long sit or when cat was sick ) …… we’ve done it because of common sense and not because it was in the checklist as we’ve never been sent the checklist .
Although I understand some sitters get sent it for every sit !!!’
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We have still never been sent a checklist for cleaning @Silversitters at almost 40 sits in and 3 years full-time. Yes, common sense says that needs to be done if one of the animals is unwell, but routinely as part of the sitters exit? Errrr. No!
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Its a long time since we received a Sitter cleanliness check list (thankfully!) And to be honest - having read the link @Silversitters posts here-it seems to be a great deal more comprehensive now than I remember it being. And I think a little OTT on expectations!
If hosts receive the same level of cleanliness ‘instruction’ then in our experience many hosts fall short! I guess many do not receive it or don’t read it. Even the most pristine homes miss something- e.g not cleaning/clearing the fridge, no space for sitter stuff, or not emptying bins/dishwasher etc before leaving. We often have to give the toilets an extra once over or vaccum the floor.
Etc etc
We leave things spick & span as found.
We use common sense and courtesy. No need to be instructed like school kids!
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Before the start of the sit I am on now, I got an email with a link to this page:
I believe those instructions have improved recently. For example now it says:
“Do you have to handle chores like stripping beds, doing laundry, taking out the trash or doing the dishes? Or is there a housekeeper that handles that?”
Speaking as a home-owner - I wish!! 
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I discuss cleaning with the home host in the initial call both as in… I am looking for a clean home and give examples and that I will clean up after myself and give examples.
I explain that I will absolutely clean up after myself but don’t plan on cleaning rooms that I do not use, or cleaning like a cleaning service.
If the sit was a month or more (not likely for us), as a home owner, I know dust accumulates, toilet bowls need to be brushed, taps run, etc, so in such a case, I would voluntarily “take care of” the home as such, which to me would not be “cleaning” per se.
I reassure that the home will be well cared for and that I will read the welcome guide (to be sent right after confirmation IMO).
And without doubt that I have read the listing and responsibilities and look forward to hanging with their pets.
I secured 4 sits recently, no problem being candid about cleaning and other topics during the initial call.
As a home host I have a departure checklist for a thsitter and a checklist for myself to prepare our home for welcoming a thsitter.
There are no guarantees with THS but there are reviews 
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We definitely wash it half-way through if it stinks too much 
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From what you described, what would a cleaning service do, in addition? Because scrubbing toilet bowls, dusting everything (especially in a large home), pretty much sound like cleaning service to me. And I have a cleaning service that comes every other week. Even getting them to be perfect is impossible and never happens.
The culture of pet sitters and actual rules of this site have created these expectations. I don’t think they are fair to pet sitters. We haven’t listed our home yet, but we might. And we would just never expect these kinds of things. I think that’s unfair if you just price out these services individually. I’m reading about people driving to the airport, making dinner, baking muffins, plus cleaning perfectly and spending many hours daily with multiple pets. I mean, come on. That’s unreasonable to expect.
That being said, if asked, we would probably gladly offer to pick someone up from the airport. But the other stuff – sorry they should be happy to get someone who cares about their animals, takes care of their needs within reason (we avoid listings if they give something like a 4 hour window where you have to be back – our pets don’t receive that level of care every single day).
This is very unfortunate because I had nice things planned like we are pretty good with video. I was going to send daily compilation videos showing activities with pets. And planning nice outings with dogs who want those things. Planned to bring nice treats. Etc.
And the reality is that I’m sure we would leave the home clean. But perfect? Probably not.
But if someone has unreasonable expectations in exchange for having a place to sleep, I’ll just pay for an air BNB at that point. And they can have the people who couldn’t afford one.
I know these things sound harsh but, again, as a homeowner, I would be thrilled to hire someone like me to take care of my home. Totally thrilled and I wouldn’t expect certainly dusting or tile scrubbing, those kinds of things, to be done at all.
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The definition of “clean” is the issue. That could mean a very wide spectrum of things.
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TLDR sorry…
Where is this feeling coming from? No one I’ve sat for (bar one lady!) expected the house to be spotless but they did expect it to be left clean, similar to how it was when we arrived. After stays of more than a week this does include cleaning the bathroom! But it sounds like you are clean and tidy and homeowners won’t expect the world (like how you wouldn’t) so if THS sounds appealing maybe you should give a sit a go and see if you like it or go for shorter sits where you wouldnt need to clean much at all
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@Junipers these would be my expectations as a HO:
–please make sure our cats aren’t hungry or thirsty. You can leave food and water in the bowl. Ideally also please refresh their food twice a day, whenever that’s convenient for you.
–please show our cats love and affection, or leave them alone if that’s what they want.
–you are free to leave during the day. Ideally, please don’t leave them alone for more than 8 hours. But we understand that may not always be possible. Please in no case be gone for more than 12 hrs without communicating cat care plans with us.
–please make sure our cats do not escape when you open and close doors.
–please give us daily updates about our cats. Short videos would be much appreciated.
–don’t worry about cleaning at all. We will have a cleaning service scheduled shortly after your departure.
–if our cats are alive and well, and our house is still standing, you will get five stars from us. So please relax and enjoy your stay.
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@Junipers good question! Well, I started reading this site where a sitter said that they hired a cleaning service the day before, then also cleaned a bunch, cooked, baked, drove to airport, and more. Then they were really upset bc they received 3 stars for tidiness. I think their HO mentioned dust bunnies. Then I continued reading other posts to learn that a pretty deep level of cleaning is expected.
I was surprised bc we have struggled for years as home owners with pets who couldn’t really travel. I was overjoyed to find this site, where it seemed like responsible per sitters were everywhere.
We do have one sit scheduled and I’m sure we will leave the house spotless. But I cancelled another bc we are on vacation, and frankly I don’t want to do the work of a cleaning service on my vacation. I scheduled an air BNB instead for the same time period.
I didn’t realize before signing up that was expected – so we are currently planning to limit our house sits to those times when really cleaning for basically an entire day is on our “that would be worth it” list.
As a small business owner, I already don’t like the concept of reviews. I have a five star review average. But people can hold you hostage over that. Most probably wouldn’t – but the expectation on the site shouldn’t include this level of cleaning. Even reviews aren’t ideal bc the sitters feel like they can’t relax essentially.
Just my opinion. I’m sure it also depends on how much the person actually needs the house sit to enjoy travel. We don’t need it that much. We would like it but not if we also have to scrub and clean for an entire half or full day then wake up and do a lot of laundry etc.
To each his own I suppose… Hopefully I’ll realize that most home owners are more chill. For the sit we have scheduled, they were totally friendly from the first message, trusted our profile, and have limited responsibilities listed. That’s what fits our style the best, so hopefully that will go well, and we’ll find more along those lines.
I read another one today that was in a location we love. Near great hiking. But dog must be let out 4 times a day. I don’t see how we could hike or barely leave the house. And it’s a 3 week stay. I’m sure we would be home often but we would also want to leave to hike. So I don’t know. Like how would they provide that level of care themselves unless they never left the house?
Maybe I’ll see things differently when we list our house, hopefully next Winter. But I don’t think so.
I am still thrilled to have found the site for the freedom this might offer as a HO, and as a bonus, we get a free cleaning service out of the deal. 
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What you described is out of norms. You might find someone willing to do all that, but not usually. And if you find the wrong match, they might ding you for unreasonable expectations.
As for going hiking, various sitters might take dogs out with them. Depends on the pet, the sitter and location and activity. I’m not a hiker, but I’ve taken dogs sightseeing, like on hop on, hop off buses, cruises or ferry rides, for meals out, etc. I’ll soon be doing a repeat sit for a lovely, social dog who never met a stranger. They live in an area that’s very friendly to dogs.
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@Maggie8K what specifically was out of norms?