21 Totally Weird, Dangerous, And "Amazing" Things Housekeepers Have Found Abandoned By Guests

Recently, Reddit user u/charliensue shared a story on the subreddit r/housekeeping about an "unexpected surprise" they got while cleaning an Airbnb.

Various fresh vegetables, including carrots, eggplant, bell pepper, corn, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, and avocados, are arranged in a refrigerator

Then, they asked other housekeepers on the page: "What amazing things have you gotten from cleaning unoccupied properties?" and wow, were there some weird surprises:

1.User u/mojolopez, sharing their experience with rental homes, says, "A gun in the fridge, a dead fish in the air handler, about 30,000 clothes hangers. Behind the dryer and behind kitchen drawers is always interesting."

A man in disheveled clothing crawls on a wooden floor, reaching toward a spinning top
A man in disheveled clothing crawls on a wooden floor, reaching toward a spinning top
A monkey wearing a pirate outfit, from the movie
A monkey wearing a pirate outfit, from the movie

Walt Disney Pictures

"On vacation timeshares, they say, 'People always left laundry soap, liquor because they didn't want it open in their car I guess, frozen food, [and] video games, [which were] lost in the couches.

"In a motel room, a worker left his wallet with $700 between the headboard and the wall. He was so happy when we returned it to him. Once a worker left his glass eye on the soap dish and I thought it was a piece of soap."

2."I clean apartments after people move out," says u/Square_Sink7318. "I have yard sales every few months I find so much stuff. Dishes, clothes, guns, money, drugs, I’ve even found live fish in a toilet before, lol."

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3.A cleaner named u/tigermom2011 writes, "I used to clean high-end vacation rentals in Breckenridge. People left behind fridges full of organic fruit, fancy cheese, alcohol, [and] baked goods. I saved so much money on groceries. Also: shampoos, conditioner, body wash. Less appetizing things that did not come home with me: sex toys and lube."

A bottle of wine on a rustic wooden table with cheese, nuts, dried apricots, a knife, a glass of wine, and sprigs of evergreen
Melaniemaya / Getty Images

4.Another, u/TheodoraGriffon, says, "Yesterday I got a free Dyson vacuum, with a stand and all the attachments as well as a spin mop and a large variety of method brand cleaning sprays. I’ve found birth certificates, drugs, love letters, voodoo dolls and so much more… gotta love this job!"

Handwritten letter dated Saturday, Jan 6: expressing love, ready to go out and walk, describes joy in daily routines, looks forward to spending time together
Handwritten letter dated Saturday, Jan 6: expressing love, ready to go out and walk, describes joy in daily routines, looks forward to spending time together
A voodoo doll made of twine with several pins stuck into it lies on a dark surface
A voodoo doll made of twine with several pins stuck into it lies on a dark surface

Bgwalker / Getty Images, Juan Ruiz Paramo / Getty Images

5."I used to clean big vacation homes on the coast where people would rent for a week," writes u/Sketchbooks. "Many times (especially if [they were] getting on a plane) they'd leave all the leftovers behind. I took home SO MANY unopened boxes/bags of food some weeks."

"Condiments were the biggest category; there were three families and they'd all get a ketchup and only open one. They often left half-full bottles of liquor too. I mean, we knew they were opened by strangers, but we were cleaners in our 20s so taking it home was deemed worth the risk."

6."Not me, but when I used to travel for work up to DC, one of my coworkers found a severed finger between the bed and nightstand," says u/Icy_Anything8874. "We decided to stay at another hotel chain after that."

A woman with long hair and a surprised expression wears a long-sleeve top

7."I had a client who was moving out of state and he left a lot of kitchenware behind," shares u/No-More-Parties. "When I told him what he left, he told me I could have the Dutch oven... It wasn’t until I went to use it that I realized it was the $500 Le Creuset Dutch oven."

A baked dish with a golden-brown crust served in a small black pot on a floral plate, next to a white napkin with red stripes and a silver fork
Image Professionals Gmbh / Getty Images/Foodcollection

8.User u/999meli writes, "One of my clients who I’ve been working with for [over five] years moved to Atlanta. She let me take her whole-ass $300 Dyson fan."

9."I found $1500 in a bedside stand," says u/fatslayer1016. "I turned it in, and more than half of my coworkers were irate. They thought we should have split it amongst all of us instead of returning it "

A woman with a surprised expression, eyebrows raised and mouth open, wearing a light-colored top

10."In the 80s, [a] half pound of pot and a bong on the kitchen table. Lots of XXX videos. Beer of most flavors, liquor, boxed wine, [and] many coolers," writes u/One-Satisfaction8676. "Beach towels by the hundreds, [a] Smith & Wesson 9mm, feather pillows, [and] fishing tackle box with several hundred dollars in lures."

John Krasinski, wearing a business dress shirt, appears pensive with his hand resting on his chin in an office setting

11."I clean for a property management company after move-outs," says u/hotlilbaker. "Someone left a dead pigeon wrapped up in the freezer and a squirrel [hidden] in the closet 😐."

A person holds a paper bag labeled
A person holds a paper bag labeled
A man in a striped shirt looks into a brown paper bag with a note that reads,
A man in a striped shirt looks into a brown paper bag with a note that reads,

Fox

12.User u/HotRodHomebody writes, "Not a home, but a car we worked on at my shop. Back of a Volvo, trunk corner, little access door on the side panel, found a bag of cash, about $700, mostly small bills... [We] figured somebody was probably a server who owned the car previously. The owner of the car was the new owner and a new driver, 17 years old. They were thrilled when we handed it over to them."

13."I found a pistol underneath my mattress at a hotel 20 years ago," writes u/Timmy24000.

Man in a white shirt and striped tie stands in front of a painting, looking slightly to the side with a neutral expression
Man in a white shirt and striped tie stands in front of a painting, looking slightly to the side with a neutral expression
A man with dark, styled hair and a focused expression wears a collared shirt and tie
A man with dark, styled hair and a focused expression wears a collared shirt and tie

NBC

14.From u/dinkdonner: "I got cherries, bananas, and apples last week! :)"

15."I clean up rentals that are going to be put on market," says u/ahhhfrag, "and literally have thousands of dollars worth of high-end bongs and weed pipes that [people once] left behind. I couldn't believe my eyes. Been giving out $300 bongs and vaporizers to all my friends and I still have a suitcase full."

Dan Levy from Schitt's Creek, looking surprised with his mouth slightly open, wearing a plain black sweater. Pop TV logo in the corner
CBC Television / Pop TV

16."I get lots of food and alcohol," says u/HighDynamicRanger. "One year around Christmas time a guest left a whole ham, a pie, some really tasty wine, and $200 with a note that it was for me to take home. (They had shown up early and I helped them with any questions, so she was thanking me.) It was very sweet and we had a few yummy meals."

A neatly prepared platter with glazed ham slices, sugared grapes, colorful jellied candies, and pink roses for decoration. A fork and knife are on the platter
Glowimages / Getty Images/Glowimages RF

17.One user, u/aquagrl914, says she used to do move-out cleans. "[At] one house," she says, "the tenants had been arrested for growing [weed] and had been eventually evicted. We found five quart-sized jars filled with beautiful green nugs. I could never figure [out] why the cops didn’t take it when they searched the house. [It was] one of my favorite and most memorable clean-outs."

Cannabis plant with focus on a dense cluster of leaves and buds
Gabriela Carrara / Getty Images

18.Says u/Round-Antelope552, "[I] have located dropped pills: anti-depressants, something for [the] heart, cancer-grade pain meds, paracetamol, something else. Definitely nothing anyone wants their pet or child to find; [to be honest, I'm] glad I went to those jobs because some people just don’t check."

A hand is picking two cherries from a tree and placing them into a pot filled with cherries. The background features green foliage

The "greatest" thing they found, though, was "traditional Chinese pork belly. I’d been working for four hours straight, [driven] a bunch, and was almost sick from being hungry and working, and then this. And a huge box of cherries — [that] took me days to get through."

Bohdan Bevz / Getty Images

19."My brother used to be an apartment manager at some pretty high-end lofts, where a few of the residents were pro athletes, TV personalities, etc.," writes u/eternal_casserole. "A lot of them had no need to save money, so when they moved, they would just throw out furniture, huge houseplants, all kinds of stuff."

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20."I cleaned a client's house every week for three years," says u/SinglePotato5246. "She'd gift me things on holidays, my birthday, HER birthday, etc. She was such a lovely woman."

"[I] never left her house without something being given to me (plus a tip!). I was sad to leave her behind when I stopped cleaning houses."

21.And finally, from u/Goldnugget2: "I once found a gun, a diamond ring, and a dead body. Don't know the story, but definitely the ending."

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Note: Some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.