I have finally got a cleaner after many years of saying we're going to get one. Decided on two hours but don't how much they can be expected to do in that time ?

Please could you tell me what yours does (and if relevant how big your house is - eg. if you say 'hoover whole house' it would be relevant, I am not just being nosey) ?

Hi Wheelybug!

Before our cleaner had her nervous breakdown (not induced by cleaning our house I hasten to add...) she came for a couple of hours a week which wasn't enough to clean the whole place so she'd usually concentrate on either upstairs or downstairs. We have wooden floors so it was pretty quick for her to push a hoover round the most used rooms too. HTH

I have a large four bed with four reception rooms and a large kitchen.

We have ours for four hours a week. She hoovers and mops ktchen and bathroom floors. Dusts piano, coffee table, mantlepieces, dining room table and sideboard. Cleans kitchen worktops and top of range cooker. Does three bathrooms (cleans toilets showers, sinks and baths).

If she has time she does insides of windows or cleans out fridge.

I'd ask her for an idea of what se thinks she can do. Did she come and see the house first?

Mine comes every other week, for 3 hours. She does
kitchen, utility room (small) - wipes surfaces, cleans sinks, cleans floor
2 reception rooms - hoovers, dusts
hall - hoovers dusts
downstairs loo - cleans loo, sink, mops floor
bathroom - cleans bath, shower, sink loo, mops floor
3 bedrooms - hoovers where possible and dusts

She goes bloody fast though

In two hours I expect:

Hoover house throughout (standard size 3 bed)
clean kitchen floor and bathroom floors
Clean loos
Clean bathrooms
Quick dust of surfaces

Any more than that would be more than 2 hours I think. When I had a 2 bed flat my cleaner would do it easily in 2 hours so would spend half hour or so doing the ironing.

Thanks all !

LOL Liath - I reckon my housekeeping skills might send a cleaner over the edge...

Hmmm... am thinking I am being a bit over ambitious then for only 2 hours. Don't really think I can justify anymore though as already outsource the ironing...

Thanks all !

LOL Liath - I reckon my housekeeping skills might send a cleaner over the edge...

Hmmm... am thinking I am being a bit over ambitious then for only 2 hours. Don't really think I can justify anymore though as already outsource the ironing...

I miss our cleaner. I manage to keep on top of it all but it was so nice when it was all done in a one-er and the whole house looked clean at the same time (not that the effect lasted long...).

Mine comes twice - 4 hrs and then 2 hrs

Our place is small terrace with loft conversion so 4 beds, 2 bath, 1 loo
Hoovers, bit of dusting, tidy, washes floors
Cleans kitchens bathrooms etc, empties all bins

Used to just do the 4 hours but now I have her change the bed linen
2nd visit is tidy, hoover and mop plus clean kitchen

Ok for me (6 bed house/3 receps) but not too messy as only 3 of us!

hoover all upstairs and the stairs
clean 3 bathrooms + 1 cloakroom +floors
hoover wooden floors downstairs
clean worktops
clean sink
mop kitchen floor

then sort of on rotation she does 1 or 2 other jobs (so maybe each one once a month)
dust lounge and dining room
clean kitchen cupboard fronts
Clean fridge door/cooker top
wipe down bannisters

then as an extra
ironing (often get this done extra )

TIP - give her loads to do in the order of importance and say do as much as you can doesn't matter if you don't do all of it - then you can see how much she can do!

ooh wow Theblonde - 6 hours sounds good.. perhaps I'll start at 2 and then creep up (I expect DH wouldn't notice - well hopefully he'd notice that he didn't have to do his chores at the weekend ).

FYM - is that all in two hours ?

Anotherquestion for those with wood floors - how often do you get them mopped ?

3 hours for 3 bed falt, does floors (hoover & mop), kitchen, bathroom. No dusting or ironing.

most of our floors are wood
mopped twice a week now

(only had 6 hours since Jan)

I have 2 hours per week, they do:

hoovering throughout (4 bedrooms)
mopping kitchen floor
cleaning bathroom, en suite and loo
dusting downstairs plus one bedroom (I ask them to do a different one each week)

My cleaner does 3 hours.
(No hoovering - that gets done anyway)
Thorough clean of kitchen and bathrooms
Mop floors
Dusting in different rooms each time
I would never ask her to clean out the fridge or clean the oven.

I also have 2 hours a week, she does:

cleans bathroom upstairs and shower room downstairs
quick whizz with duster over surfaces in living room
mops all wooden floors - kitchen, dining room, 2 bedrooms
hoovers other room with carpet

I was only really expecting her to do the bathrooms and kitchen/dining room floors to be honest but she manages to get through the rest as well, however she doesn't speak english so there's no smalltalk!

We have 2 x 1hr a week, and she

cleans the bath and toilet
hoovers/sweeps downstairs floors and stairs
washes floors (I think she only does this once a week)
cleans the hob
wipes sides and cleans sink
cleans microwave (every time! We never use it!)
wipes surfaces downstairs quickly.

It doesn't get the place sparkling BUT we are generally tidy and it keeps it all ticking over nicely, so nothing is ever gross. Also I'm not fussed about her doing the bedrooms, as we have four and there's only me and H!

I have a cleaner twice a week. We live in quite a large Edwardian semi. He does this :

Does the bits of washing up I've invariably left by mistake.

Cleans kitchen, mops floor
Dusts hall, hoovers hall.
Cleans dusts and hoovers sitting room and dining room.

Hoovers stairs, landing. Dusts and cleans landing window and banisters.

Cleans bathroom and toilet, mops the floors.

Cleans nursery and mops floor.

Cleans bathroom and mops floor in the attic.

He's been cleaning our house nearly every week for over three years now, and its been a god send.

He tidies if the house is looking a bit rough. And I can ask him to change the routine if I need to.

He works for an agency. Before he started the boss came to look at what needed doing and have a chat with me. So I got a good idea of how much I could reasonably expect him to do. I noticed that after the initial weeks, they settle into the job and it just looks and feels better and better. I love coming home to my little palace when he's been. Husband didnt want a cleaner/stranger in the house, but he digs it now!!

Our cleaner does 2 hours a week and she cleans downstairs:

sitting room (x 2) - moves rug, sweeps/mops floor, vacuums rug, shakes out and plumps up cushions, wipes mirror, dusts.

cloakroom - cleans basin and loo. Cleans floor.

Kitchen - sweeps floor, scrubs floor (quite a big job - it's a rough slate surface and she used a stiff-bristled brush), cleans hob on range cooker, cleans sink, cleans worksurface, wipes units.

hallway - vacuums, some dusting.

Thanks everyone - quite a bit of variation I think.

Am thinking:

Kitchen - mop floor and maybe clean top of range cooker
Sitting room and hall and conservatory - hoover wooden floors - ideally mop too (although not conservatory)

Hoover fist set of stairs and landing

Hoover our bedroom, dd's bedroom, my (er) study (this could probably be ignored but is right next to dd's bedroom and is the tiniest room in the world so wouldn't actually take long).

Clean bathroom inc. floor

Clean downstairs cloakroom IF IT EVER WORKS AGAIN GRRRRRRRRR.

Am ignoring dining room, 2 guests bedrooms (most of our bedrooms are really tiny so this sounds much grander than it actually is), guest bathroom and DH's study (as he never blardy works from home).

Am I asking too much ? Better to start big and be knocked down ?

Def better to start big and come down.

FWIW, I have a 5 bed, and in 4 hours my cleaner can do everything, including dusting, floors, bathrooms, internal glasswork, wiping over leather sofas, and sorting the kitchen out. Unless we've had/will have guests she doesn't do the spare rooms every week, so has time to do our ironing too. Tis an absolute godsend, and I love her.

I think they should reasonably be able to do that.

I would suggest writing a list which has 'priority' and 'if time' written next to each room. I would say everything on your list, probably excluding the study, should be priority. Get them to mark off how much they have done then you can judge for next week. You don't have any dusting on your list - perhaps put that as 'if time'?

thanks cmot and puppydogs. I really should have dusting on there as we have irritating dustcatching beautiful and original dado rails which do need (but don't get) a regular dusting... hmmm... will sort out a list with priorities on - thanks !

My cleaner does 5 hours, she cooks, cleans dusting, vacuming, irons. I live in a townhouse with 2 flights of stairs she takes £6.00.

5hours a week £6.00 an hour she can do upto 8hours dependent on how slow she irons, she has breakfast and a 10 min break as well.

2 hours is tight.

I'd say
-scrub kitchen and bathrooms
-wet wipe with antiseptic dinning room and kids rooms and living areas
- mop/vacuum bedrooms / main living areas

wheelybug - yes two hours - apart from the ironing which is extra.

Thanks all - will have to see what she thinks !

As others have said, 2 hours is tight so you will need to tell her what to concentrate on. Our last cleaner spent loads too much time tidying up after us, and dusting and hoovering, which I don't actually mind doing, whereas I would rather she had spent the 2 hours giving the kitchen and bathroom a really good clean and left the rest.

I clean a few peoples houses for two hours each week. One house in particular, four bedroom, one cloakroom, one bathroom and ensuite, lounge, kitchen, utility, dining room.....takes about two hours. For that i charge £25 and do all of it. I top dust, do skirting boards, dust all surfaces, clean all surfaces in kitchen/bathrooms, hoover, mop and do the odd windows on a kind of rota. The house is always really dirty each week, bit of a nightmare really, but i feel good when i have done it I sometimes wonder if they are happy with my work as i do whizz round to get it all done in two hours but they seem to be, i have never had a complaint and i have been doing it a long time....so must be ok! Sometimes i do get fed up when customers take the mickey abit.......it makes you feel like a slave because they always seem to want extra stuff done but don't want to pay for extra time!

Thanks Bramshott and Blossoms its v. useful to hear it from the other side. I don't want to take the piss just have no idea really but I guess the cleaner will tell me whats what ! You sound v. efficient to me !

lol! wheelybug....you should see the state of my place!!! My problem is organising my place not cleaning it. Someone made the point about tidying and not cleaning, that is quite right, i have my customers well trained so that the place is tidy and i don't need to mess around picking things up and putting away etc., makes it easier to give the place a good clean!! Also if you don't leave washing up in the sink that is great as i find that wastes good cleaning time aswell!

we have a cleaner for 2 hours a week
she cleans 3 bathrooms (tiles and glass shower screens are immaculate after)
hoovers and dusts 4 bedrooms
hoovers and dusts landing and stairs

downstairs
hoovers through 3 reception rooms
cleans kitchen floor
If she gets chance she dusts the living room
I wish she would do more but was here last week and the lovely lady works non stop and what she does is brilliant.

i have 4 hrs each fortnight

downsatirs-mop kitchen floor and laundry floor,woipe work tops and tiles
downstaris loo

sitting room-mop wooden floor,dust and polish ,plump ip cushions and leave in a twee little arrangelemnt

conserbavtory-mop tiled floor and dust

upstairs-4 bedrooms-make beds(I LOVE that)dust,hoover

2 bathrooms-clean well and mop floors

she also does something exxtra every time ao ATM she is doinf windows(just the inside)

(mine doesnt do any TIDYING-i make sure the house is IMMACULKATE when she arrives-she is just here to CLEAN)

4 bed house with 3 bathrooms

I have a cleaner for 3 hours once a week

she:

cleans kitchen floor and surfaces and hob
does bits of washing up I have left
empties dishwasher and puts away
basically leaves kitchen looking spotless

hoovers house upstairs and down

cleans bathrooms

every other week she concentrates on the downstairs, dusts, polishes, hoovers, cleans paintwork

then the next week she does the upstairs

tbh I really need her twice a week

Actually, you have a point there anonymous... I wish some of my customers would have me more often, not cos i want the money really and i would find it hard to fit them in...but because when you get on top of stuff it means you can really make the house shine with the extra visits...if you see what i mean!

Just an update - Our lovely lovely cleaner came yesterday and she made my house sparkle and smell clean (is it wrong it seemed an unusual smell ? Not that it smells dirty btw, just not that just been cleaned smell).

She did all that I'd thought of and even folded the loo paper into a little point just like in a hotel and remade our beds so they too looked like they were in a hotel . It was worth it just for those two things .

Oh I so wish I'd done this sooner....