113. The Craziest Things We Did For Our Clients Before Setting Boundaries 🧽

It’s Hustled Up After Hours, and we’re spilling the tea like never before! In Episode 113, we’re diving into the wildest, most ridiculous things we’ve done for clients back when we were just starting our cleaning business. From carrying literal bricks to sniffing laundry to figure out what was clean (yes, really), we’re pulling back the curtain on just how far we used to go to impress, accommodate, and people-please. Spoiler alert: it often came at the cost of our sanity — and sometimes our safety.

We’re also reading some jaw-dropping submissions from fellow cleaners and entrepreneurs who shared their own boundary-breaking stories. From crawling through doggy doors to dealing with unexpected (and wildly inappropriate) surprises, this episode is as unhinged as it is hilarious. But amidst the chaos, we’re serving up some real talk on the importance of setting boundaries, protecting your business, and valuing your time. If you’ve ever done way too much for a client (or are doing it now), this one’s for you.

Grab yourself a drink, get cozy and come hang out with us! 🍻

Some of the stories we shared! ⬇️

Our stories

• Holiday Tree Decorating: An elderly client had me decorate a miniature Christmas tree for every holiday — including switching it from Valentine’s Day to Easter decorations during a cleaning job.

• Ceiling Soot Wipe Fail: I tried to clean soot off a client’s ceiling and made it worse due to flat paint smudging — and inevitably had to offer a discount for paint.

• Literal Brick Moving: A client asked Laura and an employee to retrieve “light items” from her car, which turned out to be literal bricks and cinder blocks. No tip, no bonus — just sweat.

• TV Show Guilt Gig: After filming a paid TV segment, the host asked Laura and I to clean her entire outdoor gazebo area — including cobwebs and dusty furniture— which they had absolutely no training for.

• Laundry Sniff Test: Unsure which laundry baskets were clean, I sniffed every item — including underwear — to determine what to fold.

• Creepy Pajama Client: A man met us in pajamas, openly berated his roommate, and proceeded to watch adult content — audibly — during the cleaning. They heard everything, but they still stayed to finish the clean.

• Bathtub Poop Incident: Laura discovered a pile of human feces in a tub. Instead of alerting the client, she cleaned it herself to avoid embarrassing them.

Listeners' stories:

• Juice Bar Chauffeur: A cleaner drove her 80+ year-old client to a juice bar instead of cleaning. Very sweet, but a major boundary blur.

• Electric Gate Escape: A cleaner got locked in a client’s yard and had to jump a fence to escape due to an electric gate.

• Doggy Door Entry: The Crazy Cleaning Lady forgot her key and crawled through a doggy door to get paid — setting off the alarm in the process.

• Roof Dryer Vent Help: A cleaner climbed onto the client’s roof to clear a clogged dryer vent for an elderly homeowner. Talk about liability!

• Move-Out Turned Moving Day: Cleaner showed up for a move-out clean and ended up helping the client move instead — but at least she got paid in food and a 6-seat dining set.

• Mouse Head on Stairs: Client asked cleaner to remove a mouse head from her stairs, then clean the bloodstains from the rug. No big deal, apparently.

WE NEED TO KNOW: What's the craziest thing you've done for a client?! Sound off in the comments!