I bought one of these on Amazon, figuring it might save me laundry time on winding up sits. It packs down to the size of a hardback book, so easy to pack.
I haven’t gotten around to trying it, because with cold weather you don’t save much time, since you need to clean the heavier bed linens anyway, like a comforter or such.
Then the weather started turning nice and I moved. We haven’t unpacked all of our boxes yet, because we’re having remodeling done, so I don’t know where this sleep liner is.
I still mean to try it out eventually. I fly to nearly all sits.
It could work during nice weather. You’d also need to tell your host to leave the bed bare — some people have already made up guest beds, so you’d probably need to remake them after stripping their linens off temporarily.
Drying linens in time is usually the challenging part, depending on when you leave.
On a recent sit, I was local and could leave flexibly. But the hosts’ dryer barely worked. By the fourth drying cycle, I contacted my hosts and they said to not worry about it — they’d take care of it, because they knew their dryer took forever.
I have a silk one I once bought for an adventure trip where there might be bed bugs, the way the silk is woven is supposed to prevent bugs from attacking you. I’ve considered to take it when I housesit but not to substitute the sheets for the whole stay but to use it the last night so that I can wash and dry the linen a day earlier. But it is not confortable so I never take it.
If the counters are clutter free and shiny when I arrive, it takes less than an hour to wipe down bath and kitchen and throw linens in washer when I leave. No problem!
I always leave the house as I find it, except a few times I would say I leave it cleaner than I found it since the homes weren’t quite up to my standards. So, it depends a lot on the length of the sit. If it’s only a few days, it usually involves a quick wipe-out of sinks and a brush around the toilet. I do these things daily anyway to keep things looking nice. I change sheets, put out fresh towels, and do a quick sweep or vacuum if needed. For sits that last several months, I clean as I would my own home. We have had a few sits with regular housekeeping included, which is really nice. Personally, I would be happy to pay a cleaning person to do a last-day clean for long sits. However, I might not accept a sit where this is a requirement, and if it was a surprise requirement like yours, I would politely refuse to pay for the service.
As a pet/homeowner, I feel I’m providing sitters with a fabulous and spanking clean place to stay for zero dollars, as opposed to over $200 per day for an air bnb (the rate I have paid when traveling). Our location provides all the amenities of a hotel (gym, pool, initial cleaning, linens, parking), safe streets, access to nearby hiking trails, National parks, botanical gardens–everything except room service!. I leave the home in impeccible condition for my sitters. I pay utilities, insurance, and HOA dues. At the very least, I expect to find it exactly as I left it for them–spanking clean! I would object to an outside cleaner whom I didn’t know having access to my home without my approval. If my sitter was unable to dust, vacuum, wipe down the floor if needed, and keep the kitchen and bathrooms, clean, I would expect to discuss that during the interview so that I could make other arrangements if I chose. All the THS sitters that I’ve had have been incredible --they’ve left my place in fabulous shape and taken great care of my dog!
That’s great you leave your own accommodation sparkling clean for your sitters. The difference though @Trish2024 is when you’re paying $200 per night for your Airbnb whilst on holiday, you are not taking full responsibility for any pets in your care at that Airbnb.
With @temba on this one @Trish2024 - wonderful that your place is sparkling clean and you are a thoughtful host. Sounds fab. However, no $200 Airbnb comes complete with the full responsibility of walking, caring for, feeding and being a companion for any dog. In Switzerland for example, dog care would be 300 CHF per 24 hours. This totally negates any of this monetary value chat. The exchange is precisely the free pet care for the free accomm. #jobdone
I’ve thoroughly cleaned a home including specifically buying a clothes roll out of my own pocket to get the pets hair off the couch at end cleaning and the couch came out really Nice after quite some work.
It was not much more than an hour before the couch was full of it again as the pet was allowed there and liked it. I would be very upset should the host claim that it was not «clean» because of it and would not feel responsible.
It might be in some cases also in this thread that we have different things in mind when discussing, resulting in «false disagreements» so to speak.
The host in my example said I left it spotless. Which wasn’t entirely true in my book but I did leave it cleaner than I found it. I have the dust bunny to prove it.
Yes, I think that reply really underestimates the responsibilities that sitters undertake. I have a great sense of responsibility to take good care of the pets and the house. I face the possibility of dealing with a sick or injured pet, I must make sure the house stays secure and well-cared for, and I have to deal with any type of emergency that arises, from a plumbing emergency to a burglar to a natural disaster. I often sit in an area that is prone to fires, which means an emergency evacuation with the pets is a real possibility that I’m taking on that may even risk my own life. With climate change, these types of emergencies are growing more common and widespread.
I would be wary of any owner who thinks the sitter is getting a free luxury vacation. It’s an exchange, and usually a fair one. Thank goodness that all of the people I have sat for have seen it that way and been very appreciative of what I’m/we’re doing.
I have turned down sits from owners who seemed to feel they were getting a servant, but one they would not be paying. I have also had people invite me to a sit and not take No for an answer when I politely explain that I only did sits in places I have a need or desire to visit. “But it would be so great for us if you did it” one of them said in 2 follow up messages, even though she understood that we make no money from the sit.
Some owners don’t seem to quite understand the transaction that’s taking place.
Sitters don’t get to come and go freely like hotel/AirBnB guests, so it’s hardly equivalent to a vacation! They have to be present on site to take care of the pets and the house, including on certain schedules for feeding, walking, etc. Owners often specify that they don’t want sitters to be gone for more than X hours at a time. Sitters have chores to do, both for pets and the house, that take up time and energy. Sitters must feed and clean up after the pets and be responsible for their health and well-being, including in emergencies like illness/injury. Sitters are responsible for a house and property, its security and taking care of any problems with the house that occur. More and more areas now have climate-related disasters like fire or hurricane or flood that would a sitter not just to evacuate themselves but also the pets, and this duty to rescue may risk the sitters’ own safety or life. Finally, guests who pay for lodging don’t do any cleaning at all.
If you really think that doing a sit is just like being a guest in a lodging you pay for, I strongly suggest that you do some sits yourself via TH to understand the difference. Most sitters on TH have had people sit for their own pets, so they understand the owners’ perspective. It’s best if owners also do some sits so they understand what it is really like, rather than making assumptions like you’re doing.
My heart sinks when I read comments like this. House sitting is not comparable with staying in an Airbnb, where there are no similar responsibilities or constraints for guests. Furthermore, any pet parent who places a monetary value on their assessment of the exchange surely does not fully appreciate the reciprocal ethos of THS.
We keep homes clean and tidy throughout the sit and ensure they are returned in an equivalent - or better - condition of cleanliness than when we arrived. It’s no big deal to do that, especially when they’re clean and tidy on our arrival.
Same here. Sometimes it’s evident from the listing, so you know to not even apply. But some less experienced sitter will and I always wonder how they’ll be treated.
Must say as a homeowner that a robotic vacuum cleaner goes a long way in solving much of the cleaning burden! I recommend HO’s invest in one if this is important to them.
We just did a house sit where the robo vacuum was called Meryl Sweep @bakindoki It was good on the big floor spaces and they had two GSPs so very hairy, but rubbish at corners. App was handy tho and we put it on twice a day which was bliss. #randomrobofact
Before we left travelling we had one in our apartment, we called it Roger the best thing ever! Not the fancy one like nowadays but with an app and you could also put the water in, with detergent. Only few our housesits had them and with a long-haired dogs we also used a regular hoover but the robot is life-changing!
on this one 
