I’ve wondered the same thing when can openers are rusted and don’t work, vegetable peelers are useless, knives are dull, there is no salad spinner (we have bought one twice now when on a sit) etc…I have come to the conclusion that many people don’t really prepare food from scratch.
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Yes, this is one of my top irks. No room in fridge or freezer or pantry for our food especially on longer sits! And perishables that should have been tossed out before our arrival.
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That’s interesting. I am a sitter. I never use a hair dryer so I do not own one. I wouldn’t think to buy one just for sitters if I was a HO, though. Maybe that’s a good question for an HO when you accept a sit so you know what to pack.
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One irk also is arriving to a full dishwasher (whether clean or dirty) because I do not yet know your kitchen or where anything goes. And while I can figure out the obvious, many things that are single items (unlike silverware or plates but like a casserole dish or cheese grater) I would have no idea where they belong and will spend a great deal of time trying to decide where to put things.
Same for a clothes washer or dryer! Please leave these empty. I had agreed to wash all linen and remake the bed as they were expecting company after me only to find the dryer full of clothes - it was very awkward to be handling and folding their underwear and trying to decide what to do with it! Another sit the washer was full of wet clothes and I was supposed to strip the beds and start the washer before leaving… 
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No need to waste good food.
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@carpediem16 so funny because I would never use or consider owning a salad spinner! I like salad and eat it often but wouldn’t use a salad spinner. I don’t use a hairdryer but keep one in the house just in case
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I keep a shopping list for sits and usually order for delivery as soon as I arrive. That includes toilet paper, dish liquid, etc., as well as food. That means I use whatever I please, without worrying about the host’s supplies.
I pack cloths, so I can dry my hands, wash up, etc. Also use my own kitchen sponge, because I don’t know how old or clean the host’s is. I have been given new sponges by a couple of hosts, though, unasked.
When I sit or otherwise travel, I carry an extension cord with built-in surge protection. Wouldn’t risk my devices, especially when telecommuting.
No need for a hairdryer, though I keep them for guests at home.
I buy prewashed salads in bags or tubs. No need for a salad spinner even at home.
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I wonder if HOs should be required to do at least one sit themselves - perhaps sitters could nominate a sit that might demonstrate the most Little Irritations 
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Yeah…I’d have to buy one if I was a HO, I suppose. I don’t understand how you wash a head of lettuce (not iceberg but red leaf or green leaf or even romaine etc), especially organic lettuce that can have lots of sand and bugs…how do you wash and rinse it really well so it’s not soggy wet? Other than using half a roll of paper towels or eating soggy lettuce, I don’t get how it works. Salad spinner is one of my most used kitchen items. (I also use it to wash herbs like cilantro and parsley)
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If it is perishables, just ask the sitter if they will consume it. If it will still be good upon the HO’s return, then I leave it. If not, it’s wasted anyway. I have arrived to old produce that is wilted, bruised, rotting, molding, sprouting or just very unappealing - I have no idea how long it has been in there. I often leave it for the HO’s return and let them toss it but sometimes it is already spoiling.
Its honestly never been an issue for me! I just wash it and shake it dry or pat it dry with a clean teatowel if I can be bothered
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Light switches!
It can take ages to work out all the permutations of what switches off where.
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Sure. I have had to do that when no spinner is available but it’s not efficient and means soggy wet lettuce. We eat a 85% plant based diet - so LOTS of salads. Sometimes there are not lots of clean tea (dish) towels - and believe it or not, even the clean ones sometimes have pet fur on them (this just happened on a sit)…I won’t use dish towels for drying lettuce if I can avoid it at all. I wind up using lots of paper towels. Not ideal either.
We have also bought pans for long sits and I travel with a good chef’s knife. lol. I do LOTS of food prep so kitchen tools are important to me.
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Kitchen cupboards that are so disorganized and packed with everything precariously resting on something else. It is impossible to find something or take something out without everything toppling out after. I have to resist organizing things. It drives me nuts.
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No ice cube trays for my g & t! As a result I bought one & take it with me.
Some tin openers that I can’t get to open tins!
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Restaurants do it all the time. They use colanders, for instance. Some also buy greens prewashed and precut. I do that all the time. And I spent six months eating vegan. Never needed a salad spinner.
that made me laugh out loud as we have a ‘terrifying coffee machine from the 29th century’ but fortunately for us, our next house sitter doesn’t drink coffee!
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Not having a socket near my bed so I can charge my phone overnight while still having it close to me. And, as mentioned by someone else, a single ancient pillow that is yellow under the pillow case and has never been washed, yuck!
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In case useful to other sitters: You can buy charging cables up to 26 feet for phones and tablets, at least from what I’ve seen.
I have not only cables from 15” to 26”, I also pack a 10 foot extension cord with a built-in surge protector. That means I always have access to my devices, even when charging. That’s useful whether during sits or other travel. Like some hotels have outlets behind the headboard or other inconvenient furniture, or some of the outlets aren’t working. Even on planes, sometimes the outlet in front of you isn’t working right.
When it says “you can use our bicycles”, but they aren’t road worthy at all, brakes aren’t workìng, no lights and tires need to be pumped up, but there’s no pump 
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