I'm too clean

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Started 1 year ago by Zora
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Zora
Member

I worked hard to clean and declutter my house before advertising my spare room for rent on Craigslist. I just said goodbye to a potential renter who looked around the place, said, "Wow, this place is immaculate!" and decided that I was too clean for her.

I told her that I expected her to wash her dishes after eating, rather than leaving them in the sink for a day or two, and I wanted my good knives washed, dried, and put back in the knife block immediately. You don't leave expensive chefs' knives to air dry in the bottom of the dish drainer.

She didn't think that she could wash her dishes or take care of the knives.

Well, at least she was honest.

Posted 1 year ago #
klutzgrrl
Member

That's probably a good thing - having the right views to cleanliness is so critical in a sharing situation! Someone perfect will come along who will be so delighted to finally find a nice clean home!

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

i think it is very smart to set your standards right up front.....the perfect person WILL come along eventually.
i cannot imagine the stress of having to share a space with a real slob.

and who has this woman been getting to do her dishes until now?

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

She has been living with her mom. Who can't be all that clean if my place strikes the prospective renter as immaculate. My dead mother would have been able to walk in here and find something dirty IMMEDIATELY.

Posted 1 year ago #
SunshineR
Member

Zora, my mom was particular, but I find she did relax some once she lived alone....well, maybe, ever so slightly.

I hope you find the right renter for your situation. I think that it's quite polite to do the dishes and take good care of the chef knives. In fact, that's only two expectations.

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

Zora, the perfect roomate for a person who's trying to get tidier is someone who is just slightly cleaner than the first person - enough to aspire to, not so much you make them nuts.

And the perfect roomate for someone who is perfecly happy with their level of cleanliness is just a *tiny* bit messier than the first person, just enough to feel superior to but not enough to make you hate them :)

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

I think it's best if you have the bare minimum of everything, that's what one landlady I had did. She had 4 plates, 4 bowls etc in her tiny kitchen, so you basically had to wash up after every meal otherwise no-one else could eat. It's a tricky situation, matching standards of tidiness between housemates, I've had some real slobs before, but also lived in houses where there were signs EVERYWHERE with rules, which was not pleasant either!

Posted 1 year ago #
irishbell
Member

I've never lived in this kind of situation before, but I would think it would be expected of one to clean up after oneself. What's the big deal with that?
Good thing you gave the rules up front.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

+1 to klutzgrrl's comment.

It's always a good idea to explain house rules up front; that'll weed out most people you wouldn't want to share a house with. It may take longer to get the ideal renter, but it'll be worth it in the long run. Good luck!

Posted 1 year ago #
badkitti
Member

lottielot - I agree, I have a lot less plates and cutlery than I used to have, and now I have to wash up more. Plus more storage in my new place means I don't like sein things left out.

Zora - as spmeone who's still renting, I'd be much happpier knowing any rules upfront, as I'd be more comfortable alround. having lived wih someone who never did their share of the cleaning despite helping put the rota together in the first place (hurray for not sharing student flats anymore!)

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

When I was younger, I lived in a fair number of shared flats or houses, and I was always the cleanest person there. If I persuaded my housemates to set up a cleaning rota, they wouldn't do their chores.

This time round I've decided that I want to avoid fights and that I will just do all the cleaning. All I'm asking is that the renter clean up after her/himself in the kitchen and bathroom.

Doesn't seem like much to ask, does it?

In a side note: the renter who didn't wash dishes looked at the storage in the bedroom (three-drawer chest, three large under-bed drawers, bookcase, two shelves at the top of the closet) and thought that there wasn't enough storage space for her things. Perhaps I've avoided renting to a HOARDER! :)

Posted 1 year ago #
chacha1
Member

Zora, it really sounds almost as if she thought renting a room in your house was going to be just like still living in her Mom's house - except for the paying rent part! She'd be able to spread out all over and get someone to clean up after her. Hmm, wonder why Mom doesn't want a tenant any more?

Posted 1 year ago #
Amy
Member

Dirty dishes left in the sink overnight will attract bugs.
Ick!
Look what disaster you avoided!

Posted 1 year ago #
ninakk
Member

Oh wow, I'm usually not even remotely close to speechless, but that woman really silenced me. LOL. Seriously, you dodged a bullet.

Posted 1 year ago #
charmed2482
Member

I agree, sounds like you dodged a bullet. I thinks its great you explained things up front, i think you will eventually find a good tenant who shares your love of a clean space. I like to keep my dishes washed also. I hate it when my boyfriend cooks anymore b/c it looks like a bomb went off in the kitchen when he's done. I clean and cook at the same time, and when I am done finish washing everything. I don't "wash" the dishes when I am done, but I at least rinse them off and get all of the food off them so its not sitting there getting hard and stuck on the dishes.

I wish we had less dishes, my BF acts like he can't wash a fork or glass if there aren't any clean. I honestly thing we only need one of each thing for each of us and that would be plenty. we could each wash our dishes when we are done and we would have lots more space as well.

Maybe i will suggest it in a way that will make him think its his idea...

Posted 1 year ago #
Sophie
Member

You are definitely right to explain up front how you want to live in your house.

When I was a student, I lived for about 3-5 weeks in a flat with my friend, and three young men. The boys never washed pots but rather had 100's of pots that they would then pile up on the enormous bench. My friend and I were horrified and decided we just couldn't live there. We went to the landlady and told her and she let us move out that day. The boys came home that evening and we were gone!

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

They must not have read Mil Millington then.

"Now, the thing is, if you're an English male, what you do when you leave home is go to the shop nearest to your new place, buy a Pot Noodle (Chicken and Mushroom), feast on its delights slumped on the sofa in front of the TV, swill out the plastic carton it came in, then use this carton for all your subsequent meals until you get married. There's a beauty of economy to it."

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

Rofl! That's not fair, I married my husband because he could cook :) Although his student house was squalid, and he does love pot noodles (curry flavour usually), he reckons they qualify as a food group.

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

I wash dishes while I cook. I learned how to do this YEARS ago, when I was working as a housekeeper. A houseguest, a pleasant German woman, came into the kitchen and watched me cook, then suggested that my life would be easier if I filled the sink with hot soapy water and washed my cooking utensils as I finished with them. She was right.

It makes cleaning up after dinner ever so more pleasant.

Posted 1 year ago #
trillie
Member

LOL @ what Rosa said! That is true, but how do you accomodate that in an apartment listing? Hrm :o)

Zora, I also think it's very smart to let renters know what to expect and what you expect of them. I'll make both your lives so much less stressful! And that washing up while cooking is a good idea too, but what always gets in my way is this: What do you do when there are foods involved like pasta or potatoes where you have to pour the rest of the boiling water into the sink at the end? Are you finished with washing the dishes by then and the soapy water is gone already?

Posted 1 year ago #

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