I think I have a cleaner!! What do I do now?!

[MushroomSoup]

She's a sister of a work colleague. I know she cleans at other houses. I'm ringing her in a day or two.

I have no clue what to ask her or what to do! Please help. I need to ask for references as she'll need a key...what should she give me?
How do I work out how long l'll need her for each week?

Eek! Excited and nervous! It's like a first date.

[SoldeInvierno]

how big is your house? I have a 4 bedroom house, and my cleaners spend 2 hours (2 people) here per week. So, in 4-man hours, they do the following:

1. clean 2 bathroom and a downstairs loo
   
2. clean the kitchen.
   
3. Hoover and dust everywhere
   
4. Wash floors
   
5. Clean inside windows and mirrors
   
6. Putting clean sheets on beds (I strip them myself before I go to work)
   
7. Iron DS's clothes: normally about 6 to 10 pieces
   

They work incredibly hard, as in they don't stop for a minute.

I've had cleaners before who couldn't do half of that properly in the same time.

[MushroomSoup]

I have a large 4 bed house but really just want the 2 reception rooms and dining room dusted and wooden floors cleaned, kitchen cleaned, one bathroom and 2 loos. Oh and halkway and stairs. Not really bothered about bedrooms, I can keep on top of those easily.

[lechatnoir]

I would be very specific about what you expect and recommend doing a walk around the house on the first day as they all seem to be allergic to things like wiping skirting boards & cleaning bathroom shelves!

[lechatnoir]

Ahh and 'kitchen cleaned' could be interpreted as a cursory wipe-down of surfaces & floor mop even if you we're expecting cupboard fronts wiped, bin changed & cleaned, sink & taps polished etc.

[Flatbread]

I think four to five man hours sounds about right.

Make an excel list of all the cleaning required every week, and one special deep clean job each time (e.g., cleaning the fridge)

I used to get a cleaner for four hours for a two bed flat in the city. There were loads of windows to clean, skirting to dust, mopping and everything takes time. My cleaner was fantastic!