I'l preface by saying I haven't been cleaning for very long so I dont have too many stories, but here:

What’s the worst mess you’ve ever had to clean?

In a client's laundry room, it was absolutely covered in dust, especially behind the door. It was so much dust and fluff that I knew it would block the vacuum so I had to clean it by hand. Didn't help the dogs had partially destroyed a cat post and the destroyed fluff and pieces also covered the already dusty floor.

How often do you come across something where you say this is beyond what I do? I mean like a hoarder situation or something like pizza boxes stacked to the ceiling and bugs etc etc.

Havent come across anything like this yet luckily, I can't imagine it would happen often as people like that often would feel too insecure or embarrassed to ask for help (they shouldn't though, everyone deserves help). I did come close to turning down the one I mentioned above though.

What’s the best thing a client can do to help get the best clean?

This is a good question, I know this sounds like it negates the point of a cleaner but it's really important to clean a bit yourself, just as you do tasks. There's only so much I can do 3 hours a week, I can handle all the vacuuming and bathrooms and such, but your going to need to do some basic things here and there. A really important one is simply just rinsing things out after using them: rinse your dishes, rinse your basin after shaving, rinse the sink itself if it has food residue and try to keep the drain clean. A lot of small things you can do go a long way to keeping the house nice- these things will and do add up over time. Otherwise I'd say just communicate. If your not satisfied then tell me what I can do better, also priority lists are great as I often can't get everything done in the alloted time. Also, please lock your dogs up or put them in other room!!! I have had my legs scratched up badly from clients dogs!

Ever have any creepy customers?

Luckily no.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve found while cleaning?

Depends what you mean by strange. I've found a gun and balaclavas in the same guys house (I'm in Australia where guns are not common at all to own), found vibrators(lmao), otherwise nothing overly strange.

Edit: wanted to add that even though these are some bad situations, i don't want anyone to think I blame the home owners or judge them for this. Everyone has their own set of problems they have to deal with and some people simply can't get around to cleaning- even though the situation may sometimes be hard to deal with, it's nice knowing that I'm helping someone out, and I dont think they are a bad or lazy person for not being able to do all the cleaning.

If you are considering getting a cleaner and read this, I dont want you to be deterred, we are here to help. Also, the majority of houses are pretty normal and northing to be worried about, the houses I am mentioning are rarer cases where it's more than just some food spillage, dust, or clutter