@anon55123711 You’d be a welcome sitter at my house anytime then! 
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Defroster of freezers and fridges over here! 
As I see the chance they’re leaving the fridge/freezer quite empty, before doing any big personal groceries shopping, I normally switch them off or low the temperature to defrost them completely.
I think they’ll appreciate the extra space once back jeje
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@Irene_is_travelling I’ve done a freezer once, it was faulty and was so full of ice that the homeowner told me I was welcome to eat anything that I managed to chip out of it. I did manage to get it defrosted and saved most of the food for her. The next time I went back she had a new freezer thankfully.
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Jaja these owners told me the same, to eat what I can take out.
Seemed like going to look for fossils in Antarctica: there was fish frozen there since last year 
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I guess we’re very spoiled here in the US as practically all refrigerator-freezers are frost-free. haven’t seen a frozen freezer in at least 30 years.
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lol - new at this! However on my 10 day sit in a four-floor flat in London, with beautiful white walls, I purchased Magic Eraser, and took off ALL of the many scuff marks in the stairwells - it looks so pristine when I was done. This is so funny that apparently we do these things. Magic eraser is a great tool to carry!
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I’m loving that one! Magic eraser in the travel bag.
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Wow!! European freezers are frost demons. Lost count of how many we’ve defrosted…
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And @Cuttlefish please be very wary of using a magic eraser on painted walls… depending on the type of paint
finish (flat, eggshell etc) it will take the paint finish off along with the marks. Learnt the hard way on this one.
I would certainly test magic Eraser as it states in their directions first! For sure!!!
I clean out silverware drawers. Take all the silver out, run it through a dishwasher when it’s pretty much full, wash out the tray, take all the dust and crumbs out of the drawer, and put it back the way that it was. Was
I also do the same with spice racks. There’s something so Zen for me about wiping down all the little bottles and clearing all the crumbs, leaves… Whatever is in there, so that when you open the drawer it’s much tidier.
I didn’t even think about this as some special thing I do for people, I just have always done it anywhere I’m staying.
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Yes, I’ve done drawers too. It’s just so nice to find something to do.
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Hi @lucca. Welcome to TrustedHousesitters and the community forum. I’m glad you found us, and have jumped in and are contributing to the conversations.
Congrats on your 10-day sit in London. I bet it’s beautiful this time of year, and what a special time to be there, to experience the transition to Charles III. I love it when I just happen to be in a place when something of national or international importance takes place.
I hope your sit is going well.
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I ALWAYS fix the hinges on the kitchen set.
Wow, I must say I am shocked by all this. We have only fixed issues on long stays of 3 months and 7 months when the owner has been made aware of the issue and authorised our fix. I would be horrified if someone was staying in my house and started ‘fixing’ things. I have had a rental property and well-meaning tenants created a lot of problems over the years by trying to fix something instead of letting us know that there was a problem.
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I hope it wasn’t actual silver that you put in the dishwasher!
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No, of course not in the Midwest US, grew up calling everything you eat with silverware… Including plastic silverware. Language is funny!
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@Londongal I don’t understand why you find these things shocking, they are mostly just normal, run of the mill tasks that busy homeowners don’t get around to doing.
Cleaning windows and drawers, cleaning filters, oiling squeaky hinges, tightening lose screws etc.
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I am interested to get the homeowners’ views on this. I can understand changing a battery on a remote control or replacing a lightbulb as these directly impact the sitter but spring-cleaning seems a bit excessive.
I was thinking it’s a fine line between helpful and insulting.
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