I was thinking of making the suggestion to THS of offering a cleaning service. I have found that one of the more stressful aspects of house sitting is often the cleaning at the end. I get so nervous about it. I always worry that I will forget something or that the home owner will be particularly fussy and that I won’t meet their standards. It can be especially nerve racking when the owners come back early in the day. So it occured to me that it would be so great if THS could partner with cleaning crews and offer the service. Wherever that is possible anyway. It could be offered for a fee either to the homeowner as an extra incentive to get more applications on their sits or to sitters who want to be able to relax more and not stress about the cleaning.
If a HO used a cleaning service to attract applicants I think it would be a great idea, but I don’t think THS wants to be that hands on unless like Airbnb they got a cut of the cleaning ‘action’ 
Absolutely true. It is also when damages happen, indoor cats run away, etc, etc.
So my solution would be that THS would put less emphasis on this final cleaning. Maybe offer an explicit option in the Welcome guide that home owners would take care of it, that sitters did not need to do laundry, dusting, etc.
The logistics would be near on impossible to organise I would think and no advantage for THS in adding it into the mix. #bunfight
It would be a big undertaking but I think many would want to take advantage of it.
That would be a great option, i believe the original option wouldn’t get much interest from THS and HO if extra costs were involved.
As a sitter, I wouldn’t use that service unless it was an emergency like an illness or total lack of energy on my side. I am still responsible for the house and accidents can happen to everyone, IMHO bringing more people into the equation only increases the chances of accidents happening. For me, it would be even more stressful to be responsible for somebody else’s actions.
It is different if it’s the HO who hires the cleaning service, it would be them telling the cleaners what to do and their responsibility if something happens. Anyway, as a homeowner (not on this site) I would only let my regular cleaning person come into my house in my absence.
From THS angle, I don’t see it either. They would need to take a good cut as @BonnyinBrighton says and logistics would be really complicated not to mention all kinds of liability issues.
But who knows? Maybe THS wants to expand their business after all.
Nice idea in theory and it has been suggested before . With an Airbnb the local cleaner that is contracted to clean gets repeat work every time guest check out . With THS a cleaner would be used as a once off - ( once or twice a year ) so won’t be familiar with the home - so will therefore charge much higher fee - so I can’t see it working .
Nice idea, but remember your role is not that of a cleaner. You just need to clean up after yourself and make sure things look neat and tidy ready for the home owners’ return. I say ‘just’, but it can still take a good few hours… Adding in any sort of third-party cleaning service via THS would inevitably end up being reflected in membership fees one way or another, and it all starts to feel a bit like Air BnB with pets included!
It would be a bad move (business wise, non core) for THS and opens the doors for potential conflicts. Security, quality etc etc. not to mention brings in variables similar to when one sitter hands over to another. We actually enjoy the end of sit clean as we feel it’s a sign of respect to the HO.
Although HOs who have difficulty getting applicants might offer to top and tail the sit with a cleaning service.
Please don’t get stressed about meeting owners standards. This is easy to work out. Leave the place as you find it because this will be to their standards. Cleaning is a big issue in the forum but in my opinion blown out of all proportion. I worry that some of the forum comments will put people off sitting or cause the sort of anxiety you describe. Yes, you need to leave the place clean and tidy but just imagine how you would like to see your home on your return and that will be good enough. If a home owner is very picky then you will probably never please them anyway.
How I wish it were so. Once, I had my stars for cleaning reduced for leaving the place exactly as I found it. To this day, I don’t know why, as cleaning was not mentioned in the review at all.
Yes, as a soon to be sitter, all the emphasis on cleaning has put me off. I am a reasonably clean and tidy person, more so in other’s spaces, but not a “neat-nick” and I don’t like cleaning. My frame of reference is if I had a friend who agreed to stay in my home and look after my pets, water my plants and take in mail/deliveries, would I expect her to do a deep clean while here? Certainly not! Any hint of that expectation and I will withdraw my application, as that would not be fun!
It’s easy to take photos with a date stamp when you arrive, and then just before you leave.
If an owner review dings cleanliness, just reply that your before and after pictures are identical (and post them if possible but not sure replies allow photos). If the owner complains to THS then you have evidence to back up your position.
No, it does not work that way. The sitter’s dirt is dirtier than their own dirt. The sitter’s hair is more gross than even their dog’s hair.
Haha! This works both ways. I once got ‘caught’ red-handed cleaning the hob part of a range cooker ten minutes after the home owners had left - they only made it to the end of the road before realising they had forgotten something. I can live with my own mess, but didn’t really want to live with a visual catalogue of their favourite meals encrusted onto the hob for a sit of several weeks!
I also tend to stay away from people who have those red flags. I also tend to get bervous when the house is too perfect because if there is going to be a problem it is likely ti be in those cases.
Exaclty. I think most home owners understand that their pet is the priority and as long as the house is decent yhey should be happy and grateful that they were loved and well taken care of. But unfortunatey there are always exceptions.
I appreciate the kind words but it only takes one to make you nervous about getting a bad rating. Even when you have a perfect score.