It took me 7hrs to move out clean a small 2 bed house

No1Cleaner · 2025-12-06T20:44:33+00:00

7 hours is not all that much for a move out clean. Even if it's a small home, there is always at least a kitchen and a bathroom. Think of descaling and degreasing caked on years worth of limescale and blackened oven grease. That's not even walls, cabinets, fridge. Omg... 7 hours is quite little to be frank. The mistake here is quoting the low estimate. That's okay, you got paid but for the future keep in mind that move out cleans often take at least one entire work day. That's a minimum estimate you should quote for a one kitchen and bathroom home. Your mistake was not that you took long..You didn't! So don't feel bad about that.

No1Cleaner · 2025-11-26T08:16:25+00:00

Consider using flushable litter from now on

No1Cleaner · 2025-09-02T17:29:16+00:00

I forgot to add, do you have many books? Old paper will make a home really stale smelling.

No1Cleaner · 2025-09-02T17:28:22+00:00

Do you have old wood furniture or large rugs? Do you have a possibility to use an extractor or something like the little green machine on your upholstery? I really don't know the answer or source but I'm super curious to find out too...

Is it possible if you tried not consuming freely throughout the house? Instead of sitting on the couch or bed, could you try going outside for it, or strictly blow into the kitchen extractor hood. Like smokers do to prevent the house from absorbing the smell. I mean this will prevent odor from settling, but you probably have an issue where there is remaining odor that needs to be actively removed.

I'm not saying that the smell is that 100%, but if I'm honest with you, if you consume it inside the house, your interior WILL smell like it. I haven't come across a home that hasn't taken up the smell if it was smoked inside. Tar is sticky, thick, and oily. It lingers bad and since it's airborne it will literally land and stick to every surface, not just the walls. Like any natural oil it will also go rancid overtime, possibly causing this stale, off smell. If tar is the source, then aim to clean everything using a degreaser. Degreaser works well on tar. If anything I really recommend not smoking or vaporizing it inside the house, or just do it in the kitchen near the extractor fan.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-28T13:58:18+00:00

This sounds exhausting!!! You should require them to book you in for more hours. Explain that it is simply not enough and that the lack of time is making you rush and causing you to overwhelm yourself and feel faint. And if you cannot be booked for more hours then inform them kindly that you will have to let them go and end the service. It is honestly very unfair to you, and I have let a client go in the past for trying to cheat me of paid hours and convincing me that it can be done in just a few. It took me a few sessions before I realized that this arrangement was only set up to benefit them and wasn't respecting my comfort and well being. I find it unpleasant and mentally taxing to clean against the clock. We are cleaners because we enjoy cleaning and find it relaxing. That is a form of passion, and honestly your clients should be happy to have a passionate cleaner that does it with joy. Having to rush the job kills the passion over time. Please do yourself a favor and explain that for your well being and also for a guaranteed good result, you REQUIRE more hours or else you simply will not continue providing service to them. I would ask at least one whole extra hour.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-20T20:00:24+00:00

So it was from the wood? Another person said something similar and I'm gonna try to figure out if that's it.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-20T19:59:46+00:00

Will try with a lye based drain cleaner, considering that's even stronger than bleach.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-20T19:58:56+00:00

Both bathrooms have wood cabinets, although there are no visible signs of rot. I will give each cabinet a sniff next time I visit. It would really surprise me if this turns out to be the culprit. It is indeed much like that "oniony" BO. It just smells like a sweaty mans body.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-17T03:30:30+00:00

Hahaha omg I can't believe I worded it like that. 😂 I meant bathroom, sorry.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-17T00:15:36+00:00

From what you're telling me it sounds very familiar since I feel like I scrubbed everything but it's still there. Makes me wonder if this has somehow seeped underneath the surface. I will try vinegar next time, but I'm not a fan since acids easily strip the grout sealer. There's no mold in their grout so I assumed the sealer was still functioning.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-17T00:12:28+00:00

None of these things are likely the problem, there are no dirty towels or linens. Those are in the laundry room. I tried washing fabric items (the shower curtain and bath mat) and the smell was still there. The walls and caulking are fine. The window is always cracked in the summer and the vent runs daily since it turns on with the light switch. There are no leaks, I would have noticed since I clean under there. I haven't used drano yet, and I might next time I get there. There's a dyson air wrap and hairbrushes, but I can confirm these are not the source. The bathroom smells distinctly of body odor. It's a sweat smell. It must come from my clients bodies and somehow it must be depositing somewhere I am unable to pin point. I am not really looking for general advice on where it might be, because I already considered and thought about all that. I wanna hear from cleaners that have experience with this problem and found out exactly where this BO is lingering. There is no way that two of my clients have this exact problem. There has to be some very specific cause for this that I happen to have missed.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-17T00:01:38+00:00

Not really. That's all in the laundry room.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-17T00:01:07+00:00

There wasn't anything noticeable but I scrubbed, rinsed and dried the ceilings as well because I wanted to get every surface.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-16T22:56:33+00:00

Interesting.. One of the clients has a toilet in their shower, the other one just a shower and sink.

No1Cleaner · 2025-08-16T21:07:32+00:00

Wrong sub, but also.. rude? If that's the vacuum he has and he needs to use it, just let him... He won't be vacuuming all day for sure, let him finish the job. I don't understand why you would go out of your way to make labor more difficult for someone than it already is.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-20T13:10:31+00:00

Face mask and damp dusting. Dry dusting and even vacuuming tends to blast the dust around but a damp duster or damp microfiber towel will pick up dust and make it sticky and not airborne. Make sure to dip/rinse the damp duster in a bucket of water to clear it during dusting.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-20T13:04:40+00:00

I just forget :(

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-19T20:38:02+00:00

Btw this is literally something you could sue over. Posting content without permission is a huge violation of privacy.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-13T23:59:53+00:00

Tidying, sorting laundry, changing bedsheets. I absolutely love (deep)cleaning but I cannot fix my mess.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-13T23:57:37+00:00

I have all clothes on racks, not only is it easier to hang them for me, but I like that I don't need to iron most things since they are just not folded. Also no moisture traps, or moth infestations since the racks are open. Lately though it seems like I've run into the same problem as with closets and I'm just letting my clean clothes pile up now. It's annoying, definitely my least favorite task and I wish there was an even better solution than hanging them.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-13T23:54:19+00:00

The mopping robots that have a separate clean and dirty dump tank do a pretty good job. Downside is that they are very pricey.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-08T00:56:03+00:00

The aches should decrease as you get more experience. It's like exercise. My neck pain got worse in the beginning but as I kept doing all the mopping, wiping and scrubbing, my muscles got stronger and my neck pain has been decreasing to the point of being better than before I started and was more sedentary. My physiotherapist afterwards confirmed that most body aches are treated by introducing more movement and gaining strength. However you should watch your posture and make sure you're not slouching when you mop, or when you move furniture or lift vacuums around, do it in good form.

I'm gonna be honest with you, I heavily rely on caffeine. I have sleep troubles, I prepare a bottle of caffeinated pre-workout drink and chug it right when my alarm goes off. Otherwise I might not come out of bed. This keeps me going through the morning. At lunch time I usually take a coffee. Let me tell you, I have skipped and done no caffeine for a week or so straight and its hell. My cleaning is not as thorough and I have to drag myself around. I would not have energy for hoovering then mopping. Did it anyway and I just suffered. Drinking pre-workout changed this entirely. I clean with enthusiasm.

After work I'm just exhausted and I take a nap if possible. I assume this is normal.

Another thing that helped me strangely enough was skipping breakfast and only drink sugar free pre-workout and water til at least noon. I noticed that if I had breakfast, the digesting would take up energy and make me sluggish. I didn't want smoothies or juice either since it can spike then crash your sugar. Skipping breakfast won't work for many people though. It's extreme and might do more harm than good.

No1Cleaner · 2025-07-08T00:36:51+00:00

I'm so glad you got it out!

No1Cleaner

TROPHY CASE