Yahoo Lifestyle 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.
"The guest left behind a freezer full of food: ground chuck, brats, a whole turkey breast, four bags of vegetables, two unopened containers of ice cream, and a box of fruit pops," they said. "I confirmed that it wasn't left behind for an incoming guest and to please remove it. What a score!"
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."
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"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."
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."
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!"
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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."
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."
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 "
"I've found so much money but I always return it," u/annoellynlee says in response. "You always know, the one time you don't, you'll get caught. And I would be devastated to lose money like that, so I can imagine the person's panic."
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."
"[The] pot was left in a condo rented by a fraternity from an SEC school," he added in an additional comment. "[The] pistol was left by a Nashville, Tennessee police officer. He was halfway home when he found out he left it."
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 😐."
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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.
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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."
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."
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."
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."
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."
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."
"One of the residents there was a buyer for J. Crew. One day she asked my brother if he would help her carry a bunch of stuff down to the trash, but then she said a lot of it was samples from her work, and if he knew anybody who would want it, he could rummage through. He ended up bringing me home a pair of leather boots that would have been about $200, and three cashmere sweaters. A pretty sweet bargain just for taking someone's trash out."
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."
Note: Some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.
