We've all seen Hoarders. We know that people have the potential to have the weirdest homes.
But we don't have to go into those places. We maintain a safe distance from them. Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky to do so as we are.
The people who have braved these weird homes have stories to tell. We must listen.
u/Tmoses_ asked:
Dear Maids/Cleaners of Reddit, whats the weirdest thing you've seen in someone else's home?
Here were some of their answers.
It's Like A Murder Scene
Not sure if being a junk hauler counts as a "cleaner" but we had about 5 truck teams consisting of the driver and navigator cleaning this woman's house (she was a hoarder) and we found a dead rat underneath mounds of moldy clothes and boxes on an unused bed. He had a ring of walnuts around him and little tufts of what appeared to be a blanket ripped to shreds that he was laying on. The rat of course was dead but he went out like a king. It reminded me of the book and movie The Rats of Nimh.
Desperate Housewives But Like, Real
Work for a residential cleaning company for a few months. Me and one other person were cleaning a fairly wealthy family's home. Ring the door bell two young kids open the door look at us and run off. They knew us as we came to the house once a week. I take the upstairs other guy takes the main level. Hear the female homeowner yelling from her room to come look at something.
I walk into her bedroom find said home owner completely naked. It should be noted that she was mid 30's married and a very good looking fit woman. I immediately turn around and apologize profusely. Homeowner laughs and says it's ok I don't mind I needed you in here. Me confused talking through the door asks how I can help. She asked that I pick out clothes from her dresser and bring them to her (10 feet away I might add.)
(The only reason I didn't run away is that these people always tipped big and every encounter with them was always extremely odd.)
I gathered all her clothes bring them to her. She asks for my help getting dressed. I decline saying that I didn't feel that it was needed nor did I feel comfortable (I'm happily married) in the situation. She once again laughs and proceeds to stand up dress herself, hand me a $100 dollar bill, and go about the rest of the day like nothing happened.
I'm extremely confused, talked to my buddy about what had happened come to find out it had happened to him too. We started to ask other people that worked in the house before if they had experienced the same thing. After talking to a few people one guy said he banged her and when they were done the lady's husband came out of the closet. Turns out he's a major cuck and she just likes to bang. Also, we found out later they had always requested guys to clean and would not allow any of the female cleaners in the house.
Talcum What
I had a summer job as an apartment maintenance worker. My cousin was the head maintenance man so I kinda just got hired to help. Im not that handy. But the office workers called us in one day and asked to accompany them to an apartment unit because the man who lived there was 2 weeks past rent and they weren't able to get into contact with him.
Mind you, this is an upscale building. The apartment we went into was like 3k a month. But we walk in after knocking and immediately notice a white powdery tint over mostly everything in his unit. Like all of the table surfaces and counters, the tv, the furniture, etc.
We looked into one of the rooms and we see hundreds of empty baby power bottles basically filling the whole room. The worst was the bathroom. It was caked over everything. We were all pretty creeped out and ended up leaving. The leasing staff investigated online and turns out it looked like this guy had an extreme baby powder fetish of some sort.
They ended up evicting him and hiring a professional cleaning service to come clean the whole unit. By far the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
How Do People Live Like This
My dad and I have a junk hauling company and one job was the most disgusting jobs I've ever had. it was a chain smoker couple who got evicted. I was expecting is was going to be a small job so we got to this house and it stunk outside so bad I almost barfed multiple times. but when we went in it smelled like the inside of a landfill. But we had no choice so we went in and the fridge was dumped and it had a lot of meat and shattered jars all over the house. We found A lot of hypodermic needles, porn magazines and a sh*t load of cigarettes on the floor when me and my sister were working upstairs my dad went downstairs and these people grabbed a pipe wrench and broke all sewage lines flooding the basement.
Arrrgh, Me Booty
I was house/pet sitting and found a huge piratey looking treasure chest in the client's side yard. Massive wooden trunk, at least as big as a standard car boot, outside partially under a tarp and wrapped up in tape.
No idea what was in it, but I clearly watch way too many crime documentaries because to this day I still wonder if there was a dead body in there.
I'd Rather Die, Honestly
Not a cleaner, but my mom briefly worked for a company that cleaned college dorms for use during the year. Surprisingly, most of the dorms weren't out of this world disgusting, some trash and a couple stains to scrub out, whatever. But one dorm in particular she said had literal human sh*t everywhere; the walls, the doors, the ceiling, EVERYWHERE. Hearts and smiley faces of all shades of brown were smeared into the otherwise crisp white walls. The fecal matter murals drove her over the edge, as she has a strong stomach, but she never worked for a cleaning service again after seeing that dorm.
Daddy Paid For This...Dearly
There was no news story or I would certainly site here... from what I remember the home owner when I was there got the house from her dad. I'm 90% sure that her dad had been missing for years and the police suspected that it was his goop and "remains" in the bathroom. I don't know much more than that because after I gave my statement and the police let my boss know what was going on I left.
Gimme A Break, Gimme A Break
Someone tried to shred Kit Kat wrappers. I now have a habit of manually cleaning the shredder to check for weird stuff.
Likely a kid trying to hide evidence of their candy sneaking habits. I visited my sister a month or two after Halloween, and when we pulled out the sleeper sofa candy wrappers SHOWERED onto the floor. Immediately knew which my nieces it was lol
Popo With A Sock Fetish
Both my mother and sister sometimes clean houses for extra cash on the side.
My mom used to clean a younger (early 30s) cop's apartment. He was unfazed when she accidentally sent his iPad mini through the wash, but got really angry when he found out that she had done them same to his entire collection of crusty socks.
Your Stomach WILL Turn
Go to my first solo job working for the company. Homeowner isn't supposed to be home and they gave me the code to the garage. Walk into the house immediately hear and feel wet carpet. It was urine. Could hear a dog barking upstairs and decided the dog must have had an accident. Walk past the piss to a tile section of the house and see what looks like a murder scene. The kitchen is covered in what can only be described as goop of yellow and orange color. I decide I needed to investigate the rest of the house before I started working.
Look in the first bathroom covered in literal sh*t and a scum that can only be described as play dough mixed with motor oil. If that's not odd enough I keep hearing what seems to me a person moving around upstairs. Walk into the master bathroom and immediately knew I needed to leave. The floor was yellow and brown, the tub was covered in red, yellow, brown and green goop/film.
Boss comes by goes in house (thinking I'm overreacting) comes back out with a horrific look (same one I probably had) and calls the homeowner. Turns out the homeowner was home the entire time. My boss said we would not clean it they needed to call a hazmat team. Turns out hazmat team wouldn't clean the house either. Cops get called, Someone was murdered (years before) and the goop in the bathroom was human remains.
To say the least I didn't work for the cleaning company again after that day.
Just like any dog!
My old roommate worked for a cleaning company. He regularly cleaned a house belonging to a well known local politician. This guy apparently had a spot in his shower where he regularly peed. Literally an established pee-corner that was gross and stained and had urine buildup. Erdnuss19
Freeze!
Found a gun one time. zenmia
Buffalo Bill? Is that you?
A little hollow turtle filled with cut fingernails. UrthenAether
Nope. I came here to read about finding weird sex toys. Did not come here for this. I will still upvote but consider this a warning. ScottsTots2013
Too much #2....
Diarrhea on the ceiling/walls/floor, turds under the bed and in the closet. BrigandsYouCanHandle
RIP Bugs....
A dead rabbit. It was their pet. It's was their daughters and she started crying so much that I had to clean the house again. Ohgod420
Child's Play
Not a maid anymore, but I used to long ago. Strangest thing was a bathroom that had 3 foot tall clown dolls lining the upper part of the wall all the way around. sarajane82
I had my grandmother do this for me with porcelain dolls in my room. I loved it as a child but looking back it was creepy as hell. Woshambo
How Special?
A cookie jar filled with eraser shavings. Febuarie
Maybe they were saving it for something special..? Tmoses
Got a Permit?
A taser. silliputti0907
At least it wasn't a coconut... Thalida87
This thread... I am not disappointed. No sex toys but really crazy storyies, way better than expected. Thalida87
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Dating and the search for love and companionship... What a nightmare.
This journey plays out nothing like in the movies.
Every Prince or Princess (or everything in BTW) seems to have a touch of the psycho.
The things people say during what should be simple dinner conversation can leave a dining partner aghast.
Like... do you hear you?
Redditor detroit_michigldan wanted to discuss all the best ways to crash and burn when trying to make a romantic connection. They asked:
"You're on a date and it's going really great. What can another person say to ruin it completely?"
I once had a guy ask me if I was willing to follow him into the woods, depending on the price of the meal.
Yeah. No steak is worth that.
Plans After...
"Thanks for the ride but I have a date with someone else, I figured you wouldn't drive me if you knew I was going on a date with someone else and I really needed a ride."
"Online dating, talked to her for a while, finally got the courage to ask her out and then she said that as we got there."
iareyours
Mirror Image
“'You look just like my wife!'”
catalinachild
"I did have a guy tell me I reminded him of his son. I don’t believe English has a word to adequately describe my feelings at that time."
UnicornMagicRainbow
"That would definitely do it."
chaotica78
Third Wheel
"'Hope you don't mind if my mother joins us.'"
ofsquire
"Actually had a girl do this on a first date because she had anxiety issues. Honestly wasn’t bad except that 90% of the time she was silent and her mom talked over her."
"I didn’t mind that much and wouldn’t have minded trying again when she was more comfortable except that she was let go at the company we worked at and she deleted her social media profiles and she never responded on her number. Ah well."
Seightx
Liar
"'Hey bro aren't you gay? I made out with you last night.'"
"Random dude I've never seen before in front of my (f) date."
JHXC16
Was he lying though?
Filter Issues
"'You looked better on Tinder.'"
waqasnaseem07
"Isn’t it basic knowledge that everybody looks slightly worse than the worst picture you can find?"
no_user_ID_found
The Past
"'My ex used to do that too.'"
xxIvyOF
"Yep. I’ve definitely had two otherwise-decent-guy date-situations sour because the ex-comparisons just would not stop flowing. No woman wants to be seen as interchangeable—I’m not here to perfectly fill that ex-sized hole in your life. Focusing on the present moment and a future we could build together is a courtesy we need to grant each other in earliest dates of dating."
LarkScarlett
Powerless
"'I'm an alpha, you cant handle my top energy.'"
Midnightgay28
"I actually left a dude in the middle of dinner, in part, for saying this. I ordered an Uber under the table while pretending to listen to him. Went to the bathroom, and never came back. That was when I was young. Now I’d just say, 'How about we enjoy this meal in silence, before we head our separate ways.'”
UnicornMagicRainbow
Mommy...
"'Mother says I should be back by 9.'"
"Saying 'mother says' just feels weird."
bunnyrut
"That gives me Norman Bates vibes."
Werewolf_lover20
"'Mother says alligators are aggressive because they have an overabundance of teeth, but lack a toothbrush.'"
sodaextraiceplease
Obvs...
"'If you were going to be murdered, what method would you prefer. Purely hypothetical. Obvs.'"
Specific_Tap7296
If it looks anything like a Dateline NBC episode... RUN!
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Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"

Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
People Were Moving Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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When we first meet someone–whether through mutual friends, at school, or in a new work setting–we generally feel people out to determine if they're worth getting to know.
While the process could take time, some people make our jobs much easier after spotting instant red flags.
Curious to hear about our general radar of people, Redditor xxFluffie asked:
"What is something that makes you immediately dislike someone?"

Some people just think they are absolutely hilarious and never realize they're the only ones laughing.
Next In Line
"They laugh about having screwed someone else over. If you think you're not next, well, you'll learn."
– whiznat
Unfunny
"when you mention you don't like a thing and they immediately do that thing 'as a joke.'"
– wayfinder
Playing Devil's Advocate
"Kneejerk contrarians. People who, no matter what you say you like or believe, just have to dismiss it and say they like or think the opposite."
– BubbhaJebus
People who put others down get slammed here.
Bad Parents
"When they treat their kids sh**ty in public. I don't mean handling tantrums, setting a rule, having to hurry to the train etc. I mean perfectly normal-behaved kids getting in trouble for trailing along peacefully, looking at things, asking questions etc."
"If you don't like tiny humans who learn the world, why have them??"
– raxeira-etterath
Public Humiliation
"Treating people sh**ty in public for laughs. Like being rude to service workers because they think it’s funny. Big red flag."
– Ok_Personality_1080
Simply Uncalled For
"Someone who is a d*ck to other people or animals for no reason."
– xebt1000
Those with ulterior motives rubs people the wrong way.
The Scheme
"If they try to get me to join their MLM scheme."
– spazmcgee1
Hard Sell
"A guy I used to be friends with in high school reached out a couple of years after graduating about a business opportunity he wanted my opinion on because 'you've always been smart', then he set up a Skype call and brought some other dude into the call and they started trying to sell me on what was clearly an MLM scheme. The guy went from friend to 'I'm never talking to you again' in a matter of 10 minutes."
– Mental-Afternoon-164
A Timeline
"Good gawd, this! I've had more than one exposure to this abject bullsh**tery..."
- Back in the late 80's/early 90's I was invited to a meeting of literally the OG "Pyramid" where you're recruited to pay in, and then you go out and recruit others to pay in, and the last in line got f'kall.
- In 1995 I had a coworker try to reel me into Amway, which was a hard no.
- In 2000 it was Pampered Chef, though to be fair they did have useful products.
- In 2009 a coworker tried to get me into some stupid video calling service that was obviously stupid from the description. He even got offended when I called bullsh*t.
– Mystical_Cat
Too much ego is a no-go.
I Can Do Better
"Being a b*tch just to stroke their own ego."
"We get it, you can lift 5lbs more than the 12 year old, you don't have to rub it in their face just because you're slightly better"
– Livia_Pivia
Can't Top This
"Oh, you did <story that's been told>? That's nothing! I did <implausible story>.
"I get the whole empathy through relating common experience, and I'm someone who does that (which drives some people crazy on its own), but there's a big different by empathising through common experience, and one-upmanship."
– Tisarwat
Lacking Conversational Etiquette
"Starting to talk over me when I was already talking."
"Stop it you rude, arrogant jerk."
– R33Gtst
If one or more of these traits sound familiar to you, you're not alone.
We don't have time for braggadocios, pyramid-schemers, and conversation interrupters.
And that's just for starters.
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Children tend to believe just about anything they hear.
That there are monsters under your bed, watching too much TV will make your head explode, and silly faces will be permanent if you make them too often.
The sky is truly the limit when it comes to silly things that children will believe.
Some call it naivitée, other's youthful innocence.
But it's hard not to look back with embarrassment on certain things we believed as a child, that today might simply seem dumb.
Redditor Disastrous_Toe_6548 was curious to learn the multitude of silly things people believed when they were children, leading them to ask:
"What's the dumbest thing you believed as a kid?"
Pleading to deaf ears...
"My dad told me he had hearing loss and couldn't hear me if I whined because my pitch would get too high."
"Would completely ignore me until I asked him questions in a normal voice."
"Trusted him implicitly until I was 12 and he yelled at my younger brother for whining."- Tyrion_Stark.
Get it while you can.
"That they took everything off the shelves when the supermarket closed."- fgyfddg.
Silly superstitions.
"My grandfather used to tell me that if I played with the fire, I'd pee the bed."
"I believed him for a while, until I got older."
"I think he was just trying to protect me from the fire."- teddypa1981.
"Rain, rain go away..."
"That if it was raining where I was, it was raining everywhere in the world."- morningshartz.
Age is just a number.
"My parents used to seem really old to me, so much so I believed they grew up like cave people as children, wearing giant leaves for clothes and what not."- Laleena_.
So that's how they're made!
"That smokestacks from the power plant created clouds."- Scaniarix.
An instant cure.
"The sun gives you sunburns, therefore, moonlight should heal them."- velocipeter.
Better safe than sorry.
"Don't drink and drive meant all drinks."
"My dad was super confused when I told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda until we got home."- hulagirlslovetoparty.
Don't believe everything you see on TV.
"There was an episode of Mickey Mouse where Mickey couldn’t reach something at first, so he tried again and somehow his arm was long enough to reach it."
"As a small kid I believed that if I couldn’t reach something, I should just try reaching for it again and my arm would then somehow be long enough to reach it."- That-Dutch-Person.
The miracle of childbirth.
"That babies are pooped out."
"When I was like 7 I was listening to my aunt as she explained that childbirth was pretty intense and painful for her, and I was all solemnly like, 'yeah, sometimes just my poops are painful, I don’t think I could get a baby out' and she went 'um, WHAT?' and her reaction made me realize real quick that I had f*cked up somewhere and I tried to change the subject while my mind was just reeling lol."- thesoundingfurrows.
Oh to be a child again.
And to believe literally everything you're told.
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