To not clean up for the (potential) cleaner?

[Minikievs]

I have a lady coming tomorrow to look at the house with a view to doing a weekly clean for me. We aren't the tidiest household (not horrendous, what I like to think of as normal family mess) but it's mainly that there's too much "stuff" everywhere.
House isn't dirty, but if you ran your finger along some surfaces they would be dusty. Hence the search for a cleaner!
Anyway....I have had a quick, basic tidy round (ie thrown stuff in various cupboards) but I haven't cleaned. I don't want her to come in to a spotless house, tell me it only needs a quick hour once a week, and then to turn up and have a house that isn't as clean as when she first visited.
So AIBU to not clean up for the cleaner?

[NormHonal]

YANBU. Much better to let her see a real picture of how things will be.

I do usually tidy up in advance of our cleaner coming to clean though - they can't exactly do much if the floor has toys all over it as it usually does etc.

[whois]

Obviously don't clean before she comes!

But do tidy before she comes each week so she can get in with cleaning.

Also be good to have her come for an extended first visit to get back to a more base zero state.

[PiperIsOrange]

If you are paying for 2 hours, you dont want that time tiding instead of cleaning.

for example in the bathroom make sure the bathroom has everything put away.

dc make sure the window sills and floors are clear, so they can dust and hoover more quickly.

the living room make sure all services are clear.

[Mintyy]

Yanbu.

This is what we do before our cleaner comes -

Clean the toilet (don't think she needs to do that for us)
Wash up and/or load dishwasher
Make sure no dirty washing lying around

[minipie]

YANBU to not clean.

But if your house has stuff on all the surfaces, you need to decide which of the following you prefer

1. pay her for an extra half hour so she can move all the stuff before she cleans
   
2. move it yourself before she comes
   
3. don't move it, don't pay for the extra time, and end up with her doing less cleaning because she has to spend some of the time moving stuff
   
4. ask her not to bother cleaning any rooms/surfaces that are too messy
   (eg my parents' cleaner never cleaned my sister's room because it was a bombsite).

[MsVestibule]

Clean, no. Tidy, yes. Even if you just shove all the clutter in boxes, at least she can clean properly.

I think the only way of forcing me to be tidy would be to pay for me to have a cleaner!

[LEMmingaround]

I should like to pay someone to tidy my house so i can clean it - really quite like the cleaning bit. Hate the tidying.

[maddening]

Show her it is as it is. Ask her what she wants and arrange with her what she will do and to go round the house checking out what has to be cleared before she comes.

[AlwaysLurking38]

Show her what she's up against lol

[moxon]

Lol LEM I feel similar, often.

[moxon]

But of course, I should point out that I don't really want anyone else tidying because how will I ever find my stuff if it hasn't been put back in the right place!!!

[cansu]

I am currently looking for cleaner and actually want soeone who will do things like make beds unload dishwasher etc. is this not ok?

[toomuchtooold]

YANBU to not clean it.

On the tidying, I would tidy up as much as you will want to on a weekly basis before she comes round - on the one hand any tidying you do will let her do more cleaning for you, but on the other hand signing yourself up to a weekly obligation to have the place totally tidy could be so inconvenient it takes away the advantages of even having a cleaner!

It also depends though on the cleaner. I've found some are a bit more precious and want to do cleaning not tidying.

[dimsum123]

Mine folds the laundry, changes bedding, unloads d/washer. She's a godsend, been with us 8 years.

[fishybits]

I tidy, clean the loos and make sure the dishwasher is loaded.

Frequently come home to find the dishwasher unloaded, sheets on the beds changed and plants watered. It's almost as though she's finished early and looked for things to do. I love her.

[Minikievs]

I did a quick tidy and shoved loads of stuff away, which is probably what I'll do when she comes. She looked round and said she was fine with the way it was and she would have no problem with cleaning if the house was like it was on her 'interview' meeting. She then said "I don't really understand people who clean for the cleaner. It's my job to clean and I'm here to make your life easier rather than you rushing around the night before to clean up for me" I could have kissed her

[daisychain01]

Yy to tidying up before the cleaner arrives - 30 mins normally does it for me. DSS knows because I nag him plz nicely every time Thursday night he has to

Take all stuff off floor
All clothes into laundry
Towel into bathroom

Toilet cleaned within reason, but I do give our lovely cleaning lady a thick pair of gloves. She said she's fine doing it.

I agree with sanity have a walk round and tell her your preferences about what to clean and what to leave.

I bought her one of those plastic truggs so she can walk from room to room and also avoids putting cleaning bottles on the furniture (which a previous cleaner used to do!)

[Nospringflower]

Can I ask how much people pay their cleaners? I am thinking about getting someone but don't know how much it will cost me / how long I would need. Thanks.

[CarmineRose1978]

Marking my place because we have someone coming round to assess our place for cleaning on Tuesday. I'm not hugely bothered about her/him doing the dusting etc, just want the floors mopped downstairs, and the kitchen and bathrooms done. So we're not going to clean the loos etc as I'll want the cleaner to do it.

[Fabulassie]

I was a cleaner - definitely tidy. If you don't, it will take the cleaner much longer to get anything done. But the only actual cleaning you should do is to remove visible feces from the toilet (floaters and streaks. You'd be amazed to hear that some people actually leave these.)

[Augustwedding]

We pay £10 ph and have her every week for two hours! Love her!

[madmomma]

Euphemia do you love tidying because there isn't much clutter in your house? Tidying is the bane of my life :( I could clean all day but tidying makes me want to gouge my eyes out.