19 Wild Stories That Show Being a Cleaner Is More Than Just Sweeping Up

These days, almost everything can be handled from the comfort of your couch — often with just a few taps on a screen. Craving dinner? Have it brought to your door. Not in the mood to scrub and sweep? Hire someone to take care of it. Your place stays sparkling, and the experience sticks with you long after.

• 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 / Threads
• 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 / Threads

There’s this odd habit guys have. Instead of swapping out the empty roll, they just balance the fresh one on top.

• 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 / Threads
• 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 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 implied that I broke it!

• So, I used to have this housekeeper, Maria—sweet, super thorough, but also... let’s just say she jumps to conclusions. One day she’s cleaning my home office and finds a stack of receipts for lingerie. She looks at the sizes and immediately goes pale. Later, she finds me and whispers, “I don’t want to overstep, but... these are way too small for your wife. I should probably tell her.”
  I couldn’t stop laughing. I told her, calm as anything, that my wife had been on this strict diet and exercise kick, and I’d bought the lingerie as a little congratulatory gift for when she hit her target size. I even pointed out all the new dumbbells, resistance bands, and yoga mats she’d been having to dust lately.
  Maria’s face turned bright red. She spent the next ten minutes apologizing for assuming I was cheating.
• My wife and I are disabled and have a housekeeper who helps with cleaning and cooking. We pay her a really good hourly rate, and guarantee her 20 hours a week. We want to keep her, but she frequently misses details that are accessibility requirements for us. For example, paper towels must be on the roll a certain way for my wife to use them, and items must return to their specific spots so we can find them without exhausting ourselves.
  I provided videos of where things go and use the Tody app with notes and photos, yet she often marks tasks complete when they are only half-finished. Recently, I asked her to put granola into a jar and move it to the pantry; she jarred it but left it on the counter and marked it done. I find at least six things misplaced daily, like canning labels and pectin moved into the dish cupboard.
  I tried adding app reminders, but it felt like I was constantly nitpicking. If I move things back myself, she never realizes they were in the wrong spot. I suspect she may have ADHD, which might make it hard to track detailed notes while she is busy.
  Since we are rarely home to talk in person, I am considering arranging a set time for a sit-down meeting.
  To any housekeepers: how would you prefer to be told about missed details? If there are several small items out of place, does it feel like the client is being ridiculous and not appreciating the things that you do get right? © Canadian_Diabetes / Reddit

This should be outlawed. I clean vacation rentals. My husband calls this one “the prison camp”

• I really enjoy cleaning and on the whole, I think I’m a pretty good cleaner. I also make friends pretty easily, I’m chilled and know how to “read the room” so have really good relationships with all my clients.
  Including (or so I thought) with the woman who sacked me today.
  I’ve been cleaning for her for about 1.5 years. She’s very organised and quite particular and her apartment is pretty easy to clean. She’s quite chatty too. Lives alone and works from home. She’s really nice and we had good chats but, as you’d imagine, it could get distracting. We got to know each other quite well.
  A month or so ago, she asked for my email address then sent this quite formal email listing all the things I was missing and details of what she wanted from a cleaner including “detail focused”, “initiative”, “good communicator”.. the fact she listed all these meant she thought I wasn’t, I guess?
  Today was the second clean since that email. I felt I did a particularly good clean today.
  I got a text later this evening saying basically. “It’s not working out. Please leave my fob in the mailbox.”
  I left a towel on her bed.. moved to do the floor, and yes I did forget to put it back. My bad.
  And I didn’t dust a bit of skirting board near her dog bowls. Oh and when I moved her bread bin to clean the counter, I oriented it sideways instead of width ways.
  I’m sounding facetious but I do genuinely would like to know... does she have a point? Should I try harder in general? © Catwise88 / 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 / Threads

This was the unexpected “greeting” waiting for me when I arrived to see my new clients for the first time.

• So, I was cleaning for this rich family and they left this note that was basically like: “We hid 10 ducks around the house so that we’ll know you’ve cleaned properly. Put them in the jar.” I was... furious? Like, seriously? Tiny plastic ducks dictating my life? So I thought, okay, let’s have some fun.
  I cleaned everything, found all 10 ducks, and decided to “redecorate” them a bit. When the family got home, the wife freaked out. I had hidden all the ducks again, but this time together with their car keys, wallets, TV remotes, and phone chargers.
  She’s screaming, husband’s panicking, and I’m just like, “Find all 10 ducks. That’s your stuff.”
  Five. Whole. Hours. They spent hunting ducks before finding anything. I’ve never been prouder and slightly terrified at the same time.
• 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 / Threads
• 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

From shocking finds to unbelievable mix-ups, these cleaner stories prove that every home hides a surprise or two. Want to bring a little excitement to your own routine? Check out this article on clever products that make cleaning faster, easier, and actually fun.