18 Stories That Prove a Cleaner’s Job Is About More Than Just Dusting

Now, you can do a lot without leaving your home, and sometimes without lifting a finger. Hungry? Order delivery. Don’t want to clean? Call in cleaning services. The apartment is spotless, and the memories will last a whole year.

• A guy ordered cleaning of the kitchen. I arrived and was stunned. The mess was incredible, and there was a bit of a smell too. Well, I thought, challenge accepted! I got to cleaning, and the guy was trailing behind me the whole time. When I started using my cleaning supplies, he suddenly stopped me and handed me his own (I guessed he wanted a lower price). I somehow cleaned the kitchen for him and left. Later, I wrote to him from home, asking if he’d like to order a deep cleaning (I acted with the best intentions because living in such clutter is just awful). He replied, “Do you have a boyfriend?” And that was the end of our communication. © kaitosynthwave / Reddit
• I use cleaning services from time to time. The cleaner is a young woman, divorced, with 3 kids. She never complains, always stays positive, jokes, and laughs. Once, I offered her clothes my daughter had outgrown. She took them and later sent me photos of her kids wearing those clothes along with her thanks. And today, she informed me that they’re being evicted from their apartment. I had no idea she was renting. And so, forgetting about my own work, I spent the morning looking for housing for her. Of course, we’ll find an apartment for her, we won’t leave her out on the street. © yerl_grey
• I used to clean for this woman, she had an open plan upstairs area where one wall was all windows. Cleaning up there in the summer was absolutely feral — it was in Australia — would get up to 100°F routinely. As you can imagine the upstairs area heated up pretty quick. I asked her where her remote was for the AC and she told me not to use it. (She wouldn’t tell me where the remote was). Her reason was that one time a previous cleaner had left the air conditioner on all day, after she has left. These guys own a 5-bedroom house, by the beach, with a pool, 2 huge cars, a weekly cleaner....but you’re worried about the cost of an air conditioner being left on?! I ditched them as soon as I could. © ok_pomcuter / Reddit

I went to clean for new clients, and the shower stand fell on me. The owner’s son even hints that I broke it!

• I had a woman follow me around as I cleaned, telling me what I missed and that I was slow. I kept telling her, I am not finished cleaning yet and can see the spots that still need to be done. I finished the 4 hours I was supposed to and never went back. The most uncomfortable 4 hours of my life. © chickenpoodlesoup202 / Reddit
• We called in a cleaning service. The woman was running late and texted, “Can you buy some cleaning supplies from the store? I can’t make it to the shop in time?” Well, alright, I ordered them. After the cleaning, I noticed our entire kitchen countertop was covered in white spots. Turns out, this wonderful woman assumed the countertop was made of plastic (it was actually stone) and had cleaned it with some very caustic cleaning agent. As a result, everything was covered in white spots. I texted her, asking to cover the cost of polishing. Her response was, “I won’t, maybe it was like that before...” © alina_borkina
• A cleaning lady came today. She changed into her “work” clothes: short shorts and a strapless top. 2 hours later, the gardener showed up to mow the lawn. The cleaning lady kept hovering around. She went out to the gardener and asked him to cut a rose. The romance blossomed right before my eyes! I decided to intervene and changed the gardener’s schedule. No dates at my house, thank you very much. © sandugash.berdieva

I taught my child to grow plants and other gardening stuff. Look at the amazing plant clipping that the housekeeper gifted us.

• Our maid service found our positive pregnancy test in the bathroom trash, after presumably finding negative pregnancy tests in the bathroom trash for the previous 12 months. Left us a nice little congratulations note on my wife’s nightstand. © fizzleguy / Reddit
• We were having a tough time financially, and I was working in cleaning. One time I threw out my back — it hit me so hard I couldn’t even straighten up. And I had a cleaning job scheduled for the next day. My boyfriend had a day off and to avoid losing money, he told me we would go together. I’d oversee while he cleaned. I called the homeowners, and they gave the green light. So off we went, with him doing the cleaning while I instructed him on what needed to be done. © saysnatali

For some reason, men always seem to be too lazy to change the toilet paper in the holder and just place a new roll on top.

• A housekeeper came to my house and started cleaning. When she began washing the kitchen, I asked her to be careful not to scratch the surface. She looked at me and said, “I cleaned an expensive kitchen yesterday, and no one said a word, and here you are telling me what to do.” © koschka_margoschka
• A new helper came to me, and I asked her not to leave the sink with cleaning products but to rinse them immediately. My cat loves to sleep there. I was told that it would be good to train the cat and not allow her to jump everywhere. © eva.poriechkina
• I wanted someone to remove mold in my bathroom and maybe clean the entire bathroom while at it. I sent a photo. I was told, “Okay, we’ll do everything in 2 hours.” A guy came. He struggled for 4 hours and didn’t remove half of the mold. He also left terrible streaks on the tiles and didn’t clean the sink or the tub. As a result, I spent the entire next day cleaning after him... © katia_vorobiova_photo

Here’s the welcome surprise my new clients left for me on my first visit.

• I suggested to my husband that we get a cleaning service for his mom. We don’t have the time to go and clean up for her, and she’s getting older and constantly complains about it. We told her about it, and she was very happy. She just asked that one of us come over while the service is there because she’s worried about her valuables. I arrive, ring the doorbell — no answer. I call her cell — silence. I was already scared, and then the door opens. A picture worth a thousand words: a vacuum in one hand, her walking stick in the other. Yep, she started cleaning up before the service arrived because strangers would gossip about the mess in her apartment! © Mamdarinka / VK
• I live alone, called in a cleaning service. 3 ladies show up and immediately say, “We want to have some tea; we live far away and didn’t have time for breakfast.” Okay, I thought. I put on the kettle, brought out some jam, butter, bread, cheese, and sausage. They ate my week’s worth of supplies! Closer to noon, they went into the fridge saying, “We want to have lunch.” Honestly, I was in shock. By the way, they didn’t clean very well, and complaining would be useless, so I decided not to stress about it. © fatima_210566
• When I was married, we had a housekeeper. Once she found a long white hair in the bathroom and told my husband, “It’s none of my business... but if this happens again, I’ll tell Helen everything.” My husband looked at her and said, “Have you seen Helen lately?” I had just dyed my hair blonde 3 days earlier. © kikimora_na_bolote

And here cleaners honestly revealed what their job is really like.