Home > Blog > House Sitting Cleaning and Etiquette
Quick Facts
| Our standard | Leave it the same or better — no exceptions |
| Short sit departure clean | 30 to 60 minutes |
| Long sit departure clean | 1 hour for most homes, 2 to 3 hours for large properties |
| Mid-sit cleaning on long stays | Vacuum every 7 to 10 days, kitchen surfaces every few days |
| Most appreciated gesture | Pet photos and regular updates — homeowners want to know their animals are calm |
| Where Konrad's cleaning habits came from | Working in a hotel in Iceland |
We did two nights in Luxembourg. We arrived, walked the dog, went out once for dinner, and then we were packing. The house needed a clean when we got there so we sorted it on arrival, explored what we could in the time we had, and then cleaned again before we left. Two cleans, one dinner out, and a city we barely scratched the surface of.
Before that we had done four nights in Bruges, Belgium. Longer, but the same feeling: you start to find your rhythm and then you are already tidying up to leave. You never quite settle. The coffee shops do not know your name.
After Luxembourg and Bruges, Caro and I made a decision. We are slow travel people. Our sits in Greece confirmed it. By the end of the first week the coffee ladies knew our orders without asking. That feeling is simply not available in 48 hours.
Short sits exist and serve a real purpose, especially when you are starting out. But the cleaning and etiquette requirements are very different between the two formats.
Weekend Sits: The Fast Turnaround Reality
Short sits (anything under a week) are the most efficient way to build your review history. One month of back-to-back short sits can get you four reviews. One month-long sit gets you one. If you are a new sitter working to establish your profile, short sits are the fastest path.
The trade-off is that they feel relentless. The moment you arrive you are already conscious of the departure. There is no settling in, no unpacking properly, no building a routine with the animals. You are always in guest mode.
The cleaning protocol for short sits is intentionally minimal. Two nights in a house does not produce two nights of serious mess if you are a tidy person. Our standard short-sit departure clean:
Vacuum the floors you used
Clean the bathroom: toilet, sink, mirror, floor
Wipe down the kitchen surfaces and hob
Wash and put away all dishes
Strip the bed and leave sheets in the laundry basket
Take out any rubbish
That is it. We do not deep clean a kitchen we used twice. We do not scrub a bathroom that was already clean. The goal is to leave the space as we found it, not to perform a hotel-level turnover that takes three hours for a two-night stay.
One small practice that consistently lands well: if we are leaving before a reasonable hour, we strip the bed before we go and send the homeowner a quick message letting them know. Every time we have done this, homeowners have responded warmly. Many say they did not expect it at all. It costs nothing and it matters.
The five-star advantage of short sits is real. Less time means less opportunity for anything to go wrong. If you communicate well and leave the place clean, a five-star review on a short sit is close to automatic.
When You Arrive to a Messy House
Out of our 17 sits, two arrived in a state that needed attention before we could settle in: Luxembourg and Kefalonia. Not deeply dirty, but enough that we did a sweep before unpacking.
Luxembourg was the harder version of this because the sit was only two nights. We cleaned on arrival, spent our limited time exploring, and cleaned again before leaving. Two cleaning sessions in 48 hours was not what we had planned. We did not resent it. Homeowners are human and life gets busy before a trip. But it is the clearest example of why short sits feel more pressured than long ones. On a two-week sit, cleaning up on arrival is a one-time inconvenience that gets absorbed by the time available. On a two-night sit, it takes up a disproportionate share of the experience.
Our approach when a home needs attention on arrival: do it without complaint, do it once properly, and then maintain it from there. We do not message the homeowner mid-trip about the state they left things in. If the gap between what was described and what we found is significant, the review at the end is where to be honest about it.
Month-Long Sits: The Resident Mindset
A long sit is not an extended stay at someone else's place. It is a temporary relocation. The moment you think of yourself as a resident rather than a guest, the cleaning and maintenance approach becomes natural.
The Cries, Switzerland sit is the clearest example of what a large property actually requires. The house had multiple bathrooms, an enormous kitchen, big open living spaces, and a sauna. The vacuuming alone took 40 minutes. Add the mopping, the kitchen, and the bathrooms, and the total departure clean was two to three hours. A professional cleaner had been in at the start of the sit, so we inherited an immaculate house. That raised our own standard. We did not want to hand back something worse than we received.
For most sits, the departure clean takes around an hour. Larger properties take two to three. Neither is excessive for weeks of free accommodation in someone's home.
Mid-sit cleaning on long stays follows a simple pattern: vacuum every seven to ten days depending on the animals (more often with dogs, slightly less with indoor cats), wipe kitchen surfaces every few days, clean bathrooms as needed. We do not deep clean mid-sit. We maintain. On our Lullin, France sit (one month, two outdoor cats) the routine was a weekly sweep plus wiping down kitchen surfaces every few days. By the end the house was in the same condition we found it.
The Pet Hair Reality
The Swiss Shepherd we looked after in Leysin was the most significant shedder we have encountered. Hair everywhere: furniture, floors, the hallway, in quantities that impressed us. Our approach was a quick vacuum every four or five days throughout the two-week sit and then a thorough clean at the end. Staying on top of it throughout meant the final clean was manageable rather than overwhelming.
The general rule: higher-shedding dogs require more frequent mid-sit vacuuming than the weekly default. Ask the homeowner during the video call whether the dog sheds heavily and where the vacuum attachments are. These are entirely reasonable practical questions and they save you discovering on day ten that the sofa is invisible under fur.
Cats shed too, but generally less dramatically. Our three-cat sit in Cries produced a manageable amount, handled by the regular weekly vacuum. The main cat-specific thing to stay on top of is the litter tray (cleaned daily, emptied fully every few days) because a neglected tray affects the smell of the whole property faster than any other single factor.
The Gestures Homeowners Actually Remember
In three years we have seen what homeowners respond to in their messages, reviews, and follow-up conversations. The things they remember most are not the deepest clean or the perfectly folded sheets.
They remember the photos. A picture of their dog relaxed on the sofa, their cats at the window, their tortoise going about its business, sent during the sit without being asked for. These are the messages homeowners forward to each other on holiday. They are not checking whether the kitchen is clean. They are worrying about their animals. Remove that worry and you have done the most valuable thing you can do.
They remember being communicated with truthfully. A quick message to say everything is fine, or to flag something minor that happened before it becomes a problem, is worth more than any amount of extra cleaning. Homeowners who are confident that someone is paying attention return from their trip relaxed.
They remember the state of the place when they get back. Not a forensic inspection, but the general sense that the space has been respected. Sheets stripped or remade, dishes put away, surfaces wiped down. These are baseline expectations, and meeting them consistently is what makes homeowners want to have you back.
Where Konrad's Cleaning Standards Came From
Pro tip from Konrad: Before Caro and I started sitting, I worked in a hotel in Iceland. That job taught me a specific and practical thing: the difference between cleaning to your own standard and cleaning to someone else's. When you are in someone else's home you are cleaning to their standard, which means leaving it as close to how they maintain it as possible, not simply as clean as you personally would leave a rental.
The Universal Rules
These apply regardless of sit length:
On arrival: Do a walkthrough with the homeowner or review the welcome guide carefully. Note anything that needs attention before you settle in. If something is broken, missing, or significantly different from the listing, document it with a timestamped photo and mention it to the homeowner straight away.
During the sit: Maintain cleanliness to the standard you found the property in. If you make a mess, clean it. If the animals create a mess, clean it. Do not let small things accumulate.
On departure: Leave the property in the same condition or better than you found it. Run a final check through every room before you lock up. Strip the bed and leave sheets as agreed in the welcome guide. Check the garden or outdoor areas if you have used them.
Always: Leave the fridge in a state you would be glad to receive back. Use perishables that were offered, leave everything else as found. Our food etiquette guide covers the full fridge handover in detail.
Never: Leave pet care for the last minute to make more time for cleaning. The animals are the priority. The cleaning fits around them, not the other way around.
Short vs Long: Which Type of Sit Suits You?
| Short sits (under 1 week) | Long sits (2+ weeks) | |
|---|---|---|
| Review building speed | Fast — multiple reviews per month | Slow — one review per stay |
| Cleaning time required | 30 to 60 minutes departure | 1 to 3 hours departure |
| Sense of place | Limited — you are always leaving | Real — you settle in and build routines |
| Best for | New sitters, busy schedules, first visits to a city | Remote workers, slow travellers, deeper animal bonds |
| Animal relationships | Functional | Meaningful |
| Stress level | Higher — always transitioning | Lower — once you are settled, you are settled |
Our preference is clear. But short sits are an important part of building the profile that gets you the long ones. The two formats are not in competition. They are sequential.
Conclusion
The standard is simple: leave every sit the same or better than you found it. The method changes based on how long you are there, how large the property is, and what the animals contribute in the way of fur and chaos. The principle does not change.
Short sits: minimal cleaning protocol, well executed, early morning departure message if needed, five-star review close to automatic if you communicate well.
Long sits: think like a resident, vacuum weekly, stay on top of pet hair, and put real effort into the departure clean because the homeowner is returning to their main living space and the state it is in matters.
Find sits that match your pace through TrustedHouseSitters using our 25% discount, or Nomador if you are focusing on France and Europe.
DM us @housesittersguide on Instagram if you have questions about cleaning standards or etiquette. We answer everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
How clean should you leave a house sit?
The same or better than you found it. No exceptions. This applies to every sit regardless of length. The departure clean for a short sit takes 30 to 60 minutes. For a long sit or a large property, allow one to three hours. Strip the bed, clean the bathroom, wipe down the kitchen, vacuum the floors, take out the rubbish, and put everything back where you found it.
What if the house is messy when you arrive?
Clean it without complaint, document the condition with timestamped photos, and maintain it from there. Do not message the homeowner about it mid-trip unless the state is clearly problematic for the animals or your own safety. If the gap between what was described and what you found is significant, be truthful in the review at the end of the sit.
How often should you clean during a long house sit?
Vacuum every seven to ten days as a baseline, more often with high-shedding dogs. Wipe kitchen surfaces every few days. Clean bathrooms as needed. You are not deep cleaning mid-sit. You are maintaining the property to the standard you found it in. Think of it as the cleaning you would do in your own home, applied to someone else's.
Do homeowners care more about cleaning or communication?
Both matter, but most homeowners remember the communication more than the cleaning. A photo of their dog relaxed on the sofa, sent without being asked, is more memorable than a perfectly cleaned bathroom. Regular, honest updates that remove the anxiety of wondering if everything is fine are the most valued thing a sitter provides. The cleaning is the baseline expectation. The communication is what gets you invited back.
How do you handle pet hair during a sit?
Vacuum frequently throughout the sit rather than leaving it all to the end. Ask the homeowner during the video call how much the dog or cat sheds and where to find the vacuum attachments. A quick pass every four or five days with a heavy shedder keeps it manageable. Leaving it until the departure clean turns a one-hour job into a three-hour one.
