How do you leave your house before you go on holiday?

[AJOC]

I'm the sort of person who has to come home to an immaculate house! Clean bed sheets, hoover lines, mopping us out of the house sort of thing!
DH really doesn't mind how the house presents when we return! He thinks mopping us out of the house is an unnecessary stress added to the already stressful task of packing for a family of 4.

Just curious to see if anyone else shares my passion for a deep clean before going on holiday or am I OTT and should help more with the loading of the car and come back to whatever state the house is in lol

And I never want my house to be "spotless" because that is just another word for soulless!

I think I have finally got over the "what would people think if you were in an accident " line I was brought up with

I haven’t! It wasn’t something I was brought up with so not sure where it came from but it is part of my motivation for leaving a tidy house.

I like to vacuum all the dust that has settled as soon as we get home too!

@Muchtoomuchtodo I'm the same as you. I changed them the day before so we've slept in them once. Still fresh by my standards!

I have never understood this tbh. Why does it need to be any cleaner or tidier than it would be on any other random no.-holiday day? Hoovering / mopping yourself out of the house is bonkers! We had a neighbour like that. My mum agreed to feed her cats while she was away, and when she unlocked and went in through the front door she fell straight over the hoover! Batshit.

Bit of bleach in toilets and everything tidyish

Are you me? I have a pact with friends that if one of us die suddenly we'll pop round and make sure houses are tidy etc!

I like to ensure I haven't left loads of dirty washing and put the dishwasher on, though rarely are we leaving an empty house (adult kids at home)

I don't think you're bonkers at all and in the past I have mopped my way out the door. I think this is because I went away for a few days once, left cat food in a bowl (cat came with me) and returned to a bowl of maggots. It was so disgusting that I vowed to give the house a thorough cleaning before I went away again! A bit extreme I know.

Now I always make sure all crockery is washed, dried and put away (no dishwasher), I wash bedding before I go away and hang it on driers so it's ready to go on beds when I get back, and have a quick hoover round before I go. Widowed parent so also doing packing loading car etc so only my teenager thinks I'm mad 😂

I've looked after several houses that have been left with unwashed crocks and frying pans by the sink, open bins left full and I think if you've got people coming in while you're away that is pretty grim. I have tidied a bit and washed up in those houses because maggots aren't pretty 🪰

We have a cleaner 🙊 lovely to come back to, mopping out of the house is bonkers - like you say stressful enough getting ready to go away without that!!

Our house is never immaculate no matter how hard I try - I live with the most untidy man on earth. He does have some good qualities though......I hate coming home to a slum, so I do make sure the place is at least halfway tidy and clean before we go.

I leave it clean and sort the fridge, if time allows fresh bedding but as long as we come back to a tidy house that's fine with me

How do you clean the mop??

Seriously, normal tidy & laundry done. Unplug and many appliances as possible (Thanks for that neurosis DM)

I leave the house immaculate for the benefit of burglars and the friend who pops round halfway through to check on the houseplants! I know it causes stress (we always have a huge argument as we're leaving) but I can't help myself. I'm sure there's some primal reason behind it as virtuallly every other woman i know does it., and their male partners never quite get it.

It is lovely to come back to a clean tidy house though.

I’m with you Op. I like a clean house to come back to and I mop us out the door. All the washing done and put away. Bins emptied, no washing up left on the side, dishwasher emptied, clean sheets on. Everything has been polished and dusted the night before, bathrooms spotless and toilet tablets left down the toilets, plug in air fresheners replaced with new ones so they don’t run out and cause a fire. Most electrical appliances are switched off and the whole house is hoovered.

No rotting fruit in bowl,no washing up in sink. House tidy. Do not do a big clean before. Tidy is fine as usually feel down I'm.coming back so the last thing I want is to come into mess.

Yep me too. Fridge cleaned, bleach down toilets and plug holes, house gets a good airing, bins emptied, beds changed and made, hoovered, mopped.

Mopping out of the door is a bit extreme but I must admit I'm always the last one in the house while everyone's waiting for me in the car... Just making sure it looks nice and tidy and clean for when we get back 🙈

I like to tidy, vacuum, washing done, bleach down toilets. But the rest is taken care by my cleaner while away. Would hate to come home to have to clean.

Anything that might start to smell in our absence is removed before we go on holiday, but otherwise any burglar breaking in would think, "This place has been done over already," and leave it alone.

We always have a good clean and tidy in the run up to a holiday. We often have family or friends to house and pet sit so want it to be nice for them. I would never want to leave the house without emptying all bins, getting through all the washing, changing beds and cleaning out fridge and fruit bowls etc. If the house is going to be shut up then it's horrible to come back to smells.

We have a cleaner who often keeps coming so I don't hoover or mop our way out! Unfortunately this holiday she was also off when we were away!

I have in the past arranged things like the oven cleaner or car valet to come whilst we are away too, as the DC are out of the way and it's nice to come home to. Credit crunch has put paid to those extras though!

I’ve never even thought about this. I’m too busy trying not to forget to pack things to think about the house. And my cleaner comes in when I’m away.

I put the rubbish out and that’s about it.

I leave the house clean. Change all the beds, put Harpic down the toilets, wash the bins, put plugbuster down all the basins and book a cleaner to pop in and dust and flush all the toilets and run all the basins.
Lovely to come home to a fresh house.

I thought we were the mad folk trying to make sure the house is fairly tidy and clean. Clean bedsheets, no way I don't have the time for that.

I'd just leave it however it is but my dh is the one who is more about not wanting to come bk to messy house. I'm more for making sure we have everything we need for the holiday. I'm the one packing for myself and the 2 kids so I'm always stressed out!

Uv taken it to a whole new level maybe my dh isn't so bad after all lol. It's nice to come bk and the house is tidy but it never lasts. I'm one of those folk that empty the suit cases out asap and have piles of clothes and contents all over the living room to be washed/shipped upstairs ot to where they belong. It's only like that for a day though and then it's all done 😊

Yes, I hate coming into an untidy house.

I usually end up packing last minute and leaving it looking like it’s been burgled.