20+ Cleaners Honestly Revealed What Their Job Is Really Like, and It Shattered Our Stereotypes

This profession requires not only rubber gloves and strong chemicals but also nerves of steel and an extraordinary sense of humor. Often, battling someone else’s chaos leads to revelations that make it impossible to view people the same way.

• I work in a decent position, but I don’t like to skimp or deny myself or my children anything. That’s why I work hard, like a horse, taking on additional jobs. I even got a job as a cleaner at a factory.
  The work is simple: you come in once a day, wash the floor, and take out the trash. The male factory workers look down on me, and it’s noticeable. At first, it bothered me a bit, but then I stopped caring. I’m not there to see faces; I’m there to earn money.
  So, I’m sitting at my main job. A man comes in to get a paper signed. I look up and see one of the workers from the factory.
  His eyes widened, and he said, “Lily, is that you?” I nodded, signed, stamped it, and he left. And from that day on, the attitude from the workers changed drastically. It’s amazing. © Working stories / VK
• Back in my student years, I had to work as a cleaner. I arranged to come to work in the afternoon because I studied in the morning. They were understanding about it.
  I was worried that the people working there would scoff or be disdainful. But no, the team there was just amazing! I’m 29 now, and since then I haven’t met such a nice and friendly team.
  When I left, I baked a pie at home and went to say goodbye to everyone. The guys even gave me a silver bracelet with a charm as a memento. I still wear it and think of them warmly. © Working stories / VK

• An elderly neighbor has been working as a cleaner at the gym for 6 years. She’s found all sorts of things: clothes, shoes, jewelry. She put up notices in the locker room about the lost items and provided her address.
  The interesting thing is that most of the items remained unclaimed. Most often, people came for underwear, shoes, and watches. Out of 14 rings, only 6 were claimed. However, a whole bunch of mismatched earrings and 4 bracelets have been waiting for their owners for a very long time. © Overheard / VK
• I used to work as a GP. It was an ungrateful job, almost every day someone was rude. A couple of times, complaints came in, completely fabricated. People whom I visited at home in snow and rain wouldn’t even greet me on the street afterward. I couldn’t take it and quit.
  Now, circumstances have turned that I have to live in a student dormitory where I also work part-time as a cleaner. And now, people treat me much better than at the clinic! Everyone always greets me. If the guys see me taking out trash bags, they offer to help carry them.
  I don’t understand why someone who washes floors and cleans toilets is respected more than someone who spent most of their life helping people. © Overheard / VK

• My brother is a window cleaner. Not only did a man follow him from room to room, he pulled up a chair like a foot away from my brother so he could point out any mistakes. © Roolita / Reddit
• I clean a smart house. Every room has multiple speakers that are hooked up to the entire system. Whether it’s turning the lights on, the heat, the TV, it’s all done remotely.
  The living room has surround sound. The couches are actually movie theater seating that glows all over the room. The TV is curved, so no matter where you are sitting, you can see the whole thing.
  The cats have a little island for their water area inside the cabinets. They have glass cleaner that hooks up to the sink to specifically wash glasses.
  The master shower upstairs has 4 different showerheads, heated toilet seats all over the house and hilarious pictures in the bathrooms that say “Enjoy Your Poop,” “Remain Seated for the Performance” amongst others.
  They are amazing people. They’ve been my clients from the beginning. She is the only client that I consider to be one of my best friends after I started cleaning.
  They’re just good humans. They give me a huge holiday bonus at Christmas. And, they are the kindest clients I have.
  He works for a majorly well known company and has won a few Emmys, which are lovingly placed around the house. That I DO NOT touch. © Suitable_Basket6288 / Reddit

• After I take my gloves off, wash hands, and gather my things: “Oh, I forgot to ask, before you go, could you do one thing?” (The ’one thing’ is a long, arduous task that takes an extra 20–40 minutes.) © Come_tothe_FrogDance / Reddit
• My biggest peeve is, ironically, the house is already clean. It just takes all the fun out of it! I’m just wiping clean surfaces.
  I also can’t justify my rate when I’m able to get it done so quickly. I mostly mumble to myself about how ridiculous I am for being annoyed at them for wasting money paying me when they do it themselves anyway. I’m making money after all.
  I usually just detail clean to use up time. I enjoy that anyway, and they think I’m an amazing cleaner so that’s nice. © IMIndyJones / Reddit

• I have a client who takes their laundry out of the drier and throws it on the laundry room floor. I was really confused the first time I cleaned that these were clean clothes that needed to be folded. © Nosotrospapayaya / Reddit
• I have a client that doesn’t have trash cans in their apartment. Not even one. They managed to organize their life without a need of having a regular place for trash.
  I thought they were a psycho first. Turned out just the person that likes to optimize and think through everything before doing something. © False_Lychee_7041 / Reddit
• They had a deer. In the house. As a pet. © ClermontPorter20588 / Reddit

• I cleaned the house of a married couple. On the whole, they were quite ordinary people. The only peculiar thing was that the wife had a room full of shoes.
  This room had shelves all around the perimeter, displaying hundreds of pairs of sneakers in various colors. Impeccably clean and neatly arranged. A mesmerizing sight. © Unknown author / Reddit
• I used to clean for a couple who had a very large home, just the 2 of them and their 2 cats living there. They would write out birthday and other holiday cards to each other from the cats. They’d be displayed all nicely on the table when you came in the front door.
  They also weirdly had 2 of a lot of things... 2 fridges, 2 stoves, 2 sets of washer and dryers. The lady once said it was her husband who liked the “doubles.” © MissManson14 / Reddit

• I’ve cleaned a lot of houses, but one has a tea tap, it’s on the kitchen sink, and it dispenses water at perfect tea temperature. The part that freaks me out is I have no idea how to clean it!! It has its own mini heating system under the sink so it always has hot water ready. Which to me would mean a lot of potential for bacteria growing if it sits for a while. © FreeJD78 / Reddit
• Yesterday, I was cleaning an apartment for short-term rental. The guest left behind a freezer full of food: minced meat, ribs, a whole turkey breast, 4 bags of vegetables, 2 unopened containers of ice cream, and a box of fruit popsicles. I clarified what to do with it, and in the end, I got to keep it all! © charliensue / Reddit

• I went into a job with my coworker, and we had to deep clean 1.5 bathrooms in someone’s house. I chose the full bathroom. The tub was stained yellow and orange. It looked like it had never been cleaned before.
  The tub and facet were caked with hard water too. I put my all into cleaning it, and when I was done that thing was white as hell and the silver faucet was sparkling. I was proud and did a great job with the rest of the bathroom too.
  When I was done, the homeowner told me I missed a spot. He showed me mold that was under the caulking in the tub. I told him unfortunately our company doesn’t use harsh chemicals, and he would have to get bleach or re-caulk, etc.
  After this was explained, he seemed to have a full understanding and was agreeing with me. He even stated that before we come for regular cleaning next time, he would re-caulk.
  My coworker and I walked out of the house, and 5 minutes later he rated us a 1/5. His comments included “Couldn’t/Didn’t clean the mold” and “Shampoo bottles were still wet when put back into the shower.”
  These scores affect us personally, and luckily my boss is understanding and didn’t count it against us. It’s just insane to put that amount of work in and some people refuse to appreciate it. © DarknBallen / Reddit
• My client is 88 years old. When I first went to her, I immediately noticed that she had notes hung everywhere. But one particularly stuck with me: “Housekeeper will come at 1 o’clock. Her name is N. Be kind to her!” She really was just a sweetheart. © Competitive_Mode5692 / Reddit

• We went to clean a large private house. A woman comes out and says, “Girls, hand over your phones for safekeeping, this is private property.” Well, all right, we handed them over. And then the fun begins.
  We enter the house, and there’s some sort of surrealism: in some rooms, there’s a wild mess — trash everywhere, clutter, sticky floors, furniture looks like it’s been attacked by children with chocolate and jam. But some other rooms are spotless — white sofas, perfect order. The lighting is arranged in a way that you could shoot a movie.
  And then we realized who we were working for. It was a blogger whose entire page is filled with posts about how she’s a perfect housewife and manages to do everything herself. I later checked out her page and looked at the photos...
  Well, now it’s clear why they took our phones. The picture doesn’t match reality at all. You can do it all only if you have a crew with rags and mops like us. © Not Everyone Will Understand / VK
• Maternity leave is daily meetups on the playground. And so, we became friends with a mom. She’s from a small town, moved to our city, got a job in cleaning. Not because she loves cleaning! But with a cunning plan — to find herself a rich guy.
  And she succeeded! I thought you could only see that in TV series. But no, it happens in real life too. Her husband gifted her an apartment for giving birth to their son. © Work Stories / VK

• One woman hired me to clean her house once on a trial basis. She greeted me with an arrogant look and gave me a tour of the entire house, showcasing their luxurious and sophisticated lifestyle in every way. Then she asked me to fold a huge pile of clothes and check the pockets, emphasizing that she had no idea what might be in them.
  She leaves. I’m working on the clothes and find $20 in one of the pockets. I set it aside. Literally moments later, the lady rushes back in and asks, “So, how’s it going?” She’s almost trembling.
  I hand her the twenty. I swear, I’ve never seen anyone so upset to be given money. Then she says it won’t work out, pays me and tells me to leave.
  What was that about? Did she just want to yell at someone? © amitoughenouss / Reddit
• I work as a cleaner. We arrived at a job. It’s not that it’s filthy, but things are scattered everywhere. And suddenly the client says, “I don’t particularly need cleaning, but I’ll pay 50 euros for every document you find — I lost my passport and driver’s license somewhere in the apartment.” © Natalia Kadulina / VK
• We arrived for a cleaning job. Nothing foretold disaster until we entered the last room. There was a massive metal safe reaching all the way to the ceiling. We were stunned: how do you clean when you can’t even get in there?
  The lady was sincerely surprised and said, “Just move it and clean.” My petite colleagues looked at me and we left. © Natalia Ermolaeva / VK

And here are stories about a simple cleaning that turned into a family drama.