I visited a friend of mine this past weekend and was shocked by the condition of his house. I remembered him as messy but this...was unreal. Dishes overflowing the sink, layers of grime and dust on every surface, trash all over, carpets filthy. The guest room I was in was ok though.

I tried to do some light cleaning while he was at work. I started with his laundry. I wanted to put some clean things away and opened the door to his room...oh my gosh. It was horrific. LAYERS of dust, huge piles of clothes, old piles of electronics, tons of trash, stuff his dog had chewed up, and the bathroom almost made me puke. It was like an abandoned home. I had no idea.

Then I went into the guest bath and pulled back the shower curtain. The bathtub was filthy - covered in God knows what. I got to work, bleached the sucker clean, and cleaned the rest of the surfaces too. I had to throw out the curtain though - it was destroyed with mold and who knows what else.

He noticed what I did and thanked me. I brought up getting a weekly cleaning service - I couched my advice in terms of him just needing a hand since he's a bachelor, it's not so expensive, etc. etc. - he was open to it. I told him I'd give him the numbers and he said okay. He was really open to it.

But I'm unsure if cleaning services are enough. Will his house just get overrun with clutter again? Is he a hoarder, or some other mental illness - or just a super messy bachelor? If I lived in town, my husband and I would definitely help him clean more - we love him so much and want to help him. But since we don't, we're not sure what to do.

Thanks for your help -