To ask if you have a cleaner...

[thedinosaur]

...
1.How often do they come?
2.How many hours do they do?
3.What are their tasks?
4.How much do you pay them?

I'm trying to work out wether we can afford it and if it's worth it.

Have a small house (2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and lounge). Currently have 1 DC and 2nd on the way so expecting things to get a bit hectic.

Don't know where to start or what to expect.
My DF(riend) used to have a cleaner who cleaned house top to bottom, put washing on and did set ironing. Is that normal?

[PlausibleSuit]

I do. Large two-bedroom flat. She comes once a fortnight, for four hours. I do a tactical clean myself in-between visits.

She vacuums, mops the wood floors, cleans bathrooms and kitchen, cleans windows and other glass, dusts furniture, bookcases etc, empties the bins. She will also do the oven sometimes, and put washing on if there's any in the basket and the machine's empty (same with the dishwasher). She would iron but I've asked her not to as I send it out elsewhere.

It works out at around £85 per visit, so would be roughly £21 per hour. It's through a cleaning company. That's more than we've paid for cleaning previously but she does a remarkable job and I feel we get good value for what we pay. The place is noticeably gleaming after she's been.

[Mummyme1987]

I have a cleaner, she charges £10 an hour. 3 bed house, 5 hrs a week.

[Itscurtainsforyou]

I do
Once a fortnight, for 3 hours (or less if there's two of them), £34.

We have a 4 bed house, they clean floors (carpet & kitchen/bathroom), kitchen, toilets & bathrooms, dust and that's about it.

They would probably do more if we asked (friends cleaners change beds, put bedding in washing machine etc).

Works ok for us - makes us tidy up before they come and clean important bits in between.

[Mummyme1987]

Mine does washing and the usual cleaning.

[Mummyme1987]

Around here cleaners charge £9-£15 depending on if it's an agency or a one person firm.

[Badbadtromance]

I have a cleaner £10 per h and she comes once a week.. small 3 bed house
She does two hours

[Fizzyknickers]

Huge 3bed, 2x reception rooms, dining room, large kitchen and utility. 1 family bathroom, wet room and a downstairs WC. 2 kids, 2 dogs. She comes for 2h twice a week, £10 ph. She is worth every penny. She cleans, tidies and puts away laundry!!!!! (That's my favourite bit!)

I work PT, have significant health issues and a child with additional needs too. I'd probably sell the children to keep the cleaner... 😂😂

[INeedABiggerBoat]

£13.50 per hour, 2.5 hours once a fortnight. Small 3 bed flat.
Mops floors, hoovers, dusts, cleans kitchen and bathroom thoroughly. DH and I always have it tidy when she arrives and we do a light clean the week she isn't due. Occasionally I add an hour for her to iron or clean fridge or clean oven.
I also tip her £10 each visit because I've heard that the agency takes a fair whack and while she's paid over NMW she's not quite on London living wage.

[MoveOnTheCards]

Yes. 3 hours a week to do 3-bed/2 bathroom house (over 3 floors). She does general clean, vacuum, etc. each time, then rotates bigger jobs, like windows, washing down woodwork or giving the fridge a good scrub. We pay £30 a week (£10/hr).

We sacked a couple of agencies for general crapness, cleaners not turning up, turning up really late (as in 5.30/6pm for a 3hr job when we had a 2-yo) or just doing part of the agreed time. They were a rip off for what we got.

Our current cleaner works on her own, is reliable and a Godsend!

[luckylavender]

I do. 3 bed bungalow. 2 cleaners for an hour each every two weeks- £30.

[Winteriscomingneedmorewood]

I am a cleaner!!
Jobs vary from a 2 hour spruce up to 5 hours a week thorough clean - whatever the customer wants really.
I have various other duties which are agreed between us as we go along!! I have in my time walked / bathed / brushed dogs. Cleaned out chickens /collect eggs regularly. Picked up cat poo and dead birds. Ironed school uniforms and helped with homework!! Whatever it takes for a home to run smoothly!! Wash curtains +rehang, put up /took down Xmas trees!
Obviously clean windows / all rooms, hoover /mop /dust, steam clean floors, just ask and if she is good dh won't find anything too odd or obscure!!

[Winteriscomingneedmorewood]

Don't know where the dh came from? Could mean diligent housekeeper I guess?!

[Cakecrumbsinmybra]

£10 per hour, she does 4 hours a week (sometimes a bit more).

4 bed/4 bath house.

She usually hoovers and dusts most of the house, mops the ground floor, cleans 2.5 of the bathrooms. Or she might do 4 bathrooms and a bit of hoovering. I try to make sure it's tidy before she comes. It really depends what needs doing, we discuss it before I go to work. She did the oven last week and some descaling of stuff so only had time for hoovering, no bathrooms.

She's great.

[SomeBerryJam]

I do. She comes once a week for 2 hours and charges £10ph. I have a decent sized 3bed semi and does vacuuming, polishing, cleans bathroom, steam mops floors, even puts a wash on sometimes.

I have 3 kids under 5, still go to work and I used to stress about keeping on top of the cleaning of the house. Since I've had her, she has literally changed my life (a bit dramatic, but you know what I mean)
she is honestly an angel in disguise and she doesn't understand how much she's helped me, dunno why I didn't get her sooner. Well worth my money.

[Corcory]

We have one, 4 bed house but she doesn't do the bedrooms. 2 public rooms, kitchen dinner and two bathrooms in 4 hours a week. Including the ironing. She mops, hoovers dusts, polishes. Cleans bathrooms and kitchen worktops, cooker etc. She also cleans inside of downstairs widows and glass internal doors. Charges £9 an hour.

[WorkingBling]

A cleaner, or any other help in your home, should do whatever you need and are willing to pay for as long as it's agreed up front.

Our cleaner doesn't do any ironing as we feel we don't have that much and the rest of the cleaning is more important. She does however change all bedding and wash bedding and towels as that's a big job we hate - but most people I know don't get the cleaner to do that.

Other standard jobs are sweeping and mopping floors/ vacuuming, cleaning kitchens and bathrooms (properly - not just a quick wipe round the sink and mirrors), dusting/ wiping all surfaces. Ours then does a few other things each week so that bigger chores get done at least once a month e.g. window cleaning, fridge cleaning (she doesn't clean the oven, because I ask her not to), inside cupboard cleaning/ sorting etc.

My parents cleaner, who works much more hours, also does things like get curtains down for washing and ironing, cleaning silver and other ornaments etc.

[WorkingBling]

Oh god, "cleaning silver". I sound like some ridiculous posh person! My parents have a few pieces of silver, inherited, which their cleaner polishes every month or so. It's not like a silver dinner service that has a special place!

[Shoxfordian]

My cleaner comes every week for 3 and a half hours

She cleans the floors; bathroom; kitchen and changes the beds.

We pay 32 a week to her and 50 a month to the agency

[kaytee87]

Mine come once a week, 2 of them for an hour and a half and I pay them £30.
We have 4 bedrooms, kitchen, utility, 1.5 bathrooms, dining room, living room, playroom & study. However there's only my, dh, myself and our 14mo ds living here at the moment so not all of the rooms need done every week.

[kaytee87]

Should add our cleaners don't change the beds, do laundry or ironing. If/when I go back to work I will add on extra time for that.

[CalmanOnSpeeddial]

Once a week for 2 hours in a bed house. She hooves, cleans floors dusts a bit and does sinks and surfaces in bathroom and kitchens including hob. The bare essentials really.

[raisedbyguineapigs]

Hmm I've got my cleaner coming in on her first visit tomorrow. She's doing a couple of weeks deep clean them maintenance for a 3 bed house but quite big. I budgeted for 3 hours a week for general cleaning and changing the beds once a fortnight. I am literally working an extra day to pay for a cleaner! I hate cleaning and I'm terrible at it. I'd rather go to work and do something I actually enjoy and am good at

[beCreativeInitiate]

Yes.

Cleaner / mothers help. 5 days a week for a 5 bed, 5 bath house.

She does everything; groceries to cleaning, tidying, laundry etc. Occassionally cooks.

It's wonderful. If it came down to her or holidays, I'd take her.

[Yerroblemom1923]

BeCreativeInitiate that sounds ideal! What does she charge?

[lookingbeyond40]

Two bedroom terrace house, one bathroom, kitchen, lounge, dining room

2.5 hours a week and it costs me £35. She does the whole house in that time, but focusing mainly on kitchen, bathroom hoovering and mopping.