Home > Blog > Who Washes the Sheets and Towels During a House Sit
Quick Facts
| The community consensus | Strip the bed — most sitters and homeowners agree on this minimum |
| Our standard | Remove sheets and towels, put in the laundry basket every time |
| If time allows | Wash, dry, and remake the bed before departure |
| If homeowner says "don't worry about it" | Strip anyway — that phrase almost always means "it would be appreciated" |
| If the welcome guide specifies | Follow it exactly |
| The two-night sit question | Still strip — it takes under two minutes |
| When it stops mattering | When everything else about the sit was excellent |
This question has generated some of the most consistent debate on the TrustedHouseSitters forum and Reddit. Who is responsible for washing the sheets and towels at the end of a house sit? The short answer is that most reasonable people agree on stripping the bed. The longer answer involves what happens when they do not.
Based on 20 sits across 12 countries with TrustedHouseSitters, Caro and I have a consistent routine at every sit departure. This article covers what we do, what the community recommends, and when this question is and is not worth worrying about. Use our 25% discount when joining.
The Standard: What Caro and I Actually Do
On the morning of departure, the first thing that happens is the sheets come off the bed. Not after breakfast, not after packing. First thing. The sheets and pillowcases go into a pile, joined by all the towels we used during the sit, the cleaning cloths, and any other linen we touched. Everything goes into the laundry basket together.
If the homeowner is returning later in the day and we have time, we run the wash, dry everything, and remake the bed before we leave. A homeowner coming home after a long journey who finds a freshly made bed has had their return made noticeably easier. That takes a few hours of elapsed time but very little actual effort.
If we are leaving early or time does not allow for a full wash, the sheets and towels go into the basket clean of personal items and ready for the homeowner to run themselves. The bed is made without sheets. Base and duvet visible and neat. Which signals clearly that the linen has been removed rather than being ambiguous.
The whole process from waking up to stripped bed takes under two minutes. It is truly one of the lowest-effort things in the entire checkout routine, and the impact on the homeowner's impression of the sit is disproportionate to the effort.
What "Don't Worry About It" Actually Means
A homeowner who says "don't worry about the sheets" is almost never telling you to leave them unwashed on the bed. They are doing the social thing. Giving you permission not to stress about it. While expecting you to do the basic standard anyway.
When a homeowner says this to us, we take the sheets off and put them in the basket. We have never had a homeowner respond to that with anything other than appreciation. The phrase "don't worry about it" followed by a sitter who strips the bed anyway, every time, without making a thing of it, is the quiet version of going above the minimum. It is what good sitters do.
When the Welcome Guide Specifies It
Some homeowners address the linen question directly in the welcome guide. When this happens, follow it precisely. If the guide says "please remove the sheets and leave them in the basket in the hallway," do exactly that. Not your interpretation of it, not a close approximation. Exactly that.
Caro and I once had a sit where the welcome guide specifically mentioned removing the sheets and leaving them in a designated basket. This was not a problem. We already do it. The instruction simply confirmed the expectation and removed any ambiguity.
If the welcome guide says leave the sheets on the bed, leave them on the bed. Some homeowners have specific laundering preferences or their own system. Respect it. Our checkout guide covers the full departure routine and how to make sure nothing is missed.
The Two-Night Sit Question
Some sitters feel that stripping and washing the bed is only realistic on longer sits. On a two-night sit, the machine cycle might take longer than the remaining time in the property.
Strip it anyway. The washing cycle is not the point. The point is that the sheets come off the bed and go into the basket. You wake up on the last morning of a two-night sit, you take the sheets off while you are getting out of bed, and they go in the basket. The homeowner runs the wash when they return. The bed is neat, the used linen is contained, and the homeowner's return is clean.
In three years of sitting, including shorter weekend sits, Caro and I have managed to strip the bed at checkout every single time. On most of those sits, the total elapsed time for that task was under two minutes.
Why Some Sitters Skip It
There are a few reasons sitters leave sheets on the bed. Time pressure is the most understandable. Rushing to catch a train or ferry truly leaves no margin. This can be mitigated by stripping the bed the moment you wake up rather than leaving it as the last task before walking out the door.
Some sitters simply do not think about it. The sheets were there when they arrived, and they leave them as they found them. This is not malicious. It reflects an absence of thought about how the homeowner experiences the return to their home.
Some sitters believe they are contributing more to the sit than the homeowner and express that through small acts of omission. This is a mindset worth examining. House sitting is a mutual exchange. The homeowner provides free accommodation. The sitter provides reliable home and pet care. Both parties are receiving something of genuine monetary value. The standard of conduct should reflect that mutual respect. Stripping a bed takes two minutes and demonstrates that the sitter understood the arrangement.
The community debate about this tends to get unproductive when homeowners treat an unmade bed as a major failing and leave it in a review. If the sit was good. The pets were well cared for, the house was clean, the communication was consistent. Then the sheets being left on the bed is truly not a consequential issue. Our THS review guide covers how to write a review that reflects the whole sit rather than a single detail.
The Mutual Respect Principle
The most useful way to think about any house sitting etiquette question is: how would this feel if the roles were reversed?
As a sitter, you are living in someone else's home. The homeowner chose to offer free accommodation in exchange for reliable care of their property and their animals. The standard of behaviour you bring to the sit reflects your understanding of that exchange.
As a homeowner, you are inviting a stranger into your home and trusting them with your pets and your belongings. The standard you bring to the listing, the welcome guide, and the handover reflects your understanding of the same exchange.
Caro and I left one sit. Portugal, earlier this year. With a homeowner who took our honest report of her dog's aggression as a personal attack and responded defensively throughout. Everything else about the sit was managed well, but the relationship never recovered its warmth. That experience reminded us that the best house sits are the ones where both parties feel good about what they brought to the arrangement. Sheets are a small part of that. Mutual respect is the whole of it.
Strip the bed. Put the linen in the basket. If you have time, run the wash. Leave the home the way you would want to return to it.
Read our cleaning and etiquette guide for the full departure checklist and our what not to do guide for the behaviours that truly cost sitters their reviews.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Should a house sitter wash the sheets and towels?
At minimum, strip the bed and put the sheets in the laundry basket. If time allows, wash, dry, and remake the bed before departure. If the welcome guide specifies what to do, follow it exactly. If the homeowner says "don't worry about it," strip the bed anyway. That phrase almost always means the minimum standard is still expected.
What if there is no time to wash the sheets during a house sit?
Strip the bed and put everything in the laundry basket. The homeowner can run the wash when they return. The important thing is that the used linen is removed from the bed and contained, not left in place. This takes under two minutes and can be done the moment you wake up on departure morning.
Do I need to bring my own sheets to a house sit?
No. Most sitters use the homeowner's linen. If you have a van or are travelling with your own bedding, you can use your own, but the etiquette question around the homeowner's sheets still applies. Whatever linen was in use during the sit gets stripped and put in the basket at departure.
