To expect a cleaner to have done more

The first cleaner I had for 6 years was like this. She was brilliant. I'd get home on Tuesdays and Fridays and it was spotless. She used to peel a few potatoes and carrots too or hang out washing for me. She ironed DH and DS's school shirts on Fridays for the next week, put them on hangers and hung them back in the wardrobe. She did 3 hours twice a week and sometimes did an additional hour to do a specific job like sewing on name tags on school uniform and cleaning outside of UPVC doors and window frames front and back. She became a friend and was allowed to borrow our holiday home when she wanted too and she always left it cleaner than when she arrived. She really was a terrific help. Sadly she got cancer and had to leave. I've had cleaners since who are ok and get the jobs completed but nowhere near her standard. I was lucky to have her when DS's were younger and I needed more help around the house. I was very upset when she died.

Yes I realised afterwards and posted again 😊

OP said she paid for 6 hours for a deep clean on first visit

Cleaners are very hit and miss. Their first clean is the best so don’t take them on if this is the result.

I found the cleaners who worked in teams didn't get as much done as one by themself.

I've given up on cleaners for now. Last had one in 2022, a team of two who did the absolute basics - hoover, mop, wipe kitchen worktops down etc and never as good as how I'd do then myself. Was just a waste of money as the house was always spotless anyway. I wanted the detail done, eg inside windows cleaned, skirtings done.

I've had 5 cleaners in total. Only one was amazing and that was because she LOVED cleaning!!

Before covid, there was no real deep clean thing. If i wanted skirting boards done, they'd do skirting boards. If one week I wanted my fridge cleaned they did it. Now though, these things constitute a 'deep clean'and I'd have to pay extra 😳

Agreed. Good cleaners don't need a list, or things that they have missed pointed out to them or a settle in period to figure out how to clean the stairs.

I don't agree. It should not take cleaners anytime to settle in. We have cleaners who come twice per month and they deep clean everytime. Not one thing is left undone. It is three people, they spend two hours and every part of our house is spotless when they leave. They move furniture to clean under, clean under rugs, skirting boards, inside (and outside, of course) of the refrigerator, oven and microwave, bedding changed, glass/windows, three full bathrooms, three bedroom, playroom and office, kitchen, sitting room, all floors and all surfaces.

They never had to settle in and the quality of their work as never decreased.

We also have at home childcare for a few mornings per week and our childcare provider will clean floors if they need it, fold, put away and iron clothing, clean the kitchen counters, load and unload dishwasher, help children put away their toys and change bedding and this happens in less than 2 hours. So, I use that as an example that even one person, while watching young children is able to do more than your two cleaners did in three hours.

Even I could have done your cleaning in 3 hours , and I don’t deep clean my own house , husband does it . I’d get a different cleaner for 2 hours per week and find an ironing service for the ironing .

I've had 3 cleaners in the past, 2 were excellent and 1 was very poor.

I'm a minimalist and so the homes were easy to clean. In 2 hours the good cleaners could clean every room and strip and remake my bed. The bad cleaner couldn't be arsed to even pick up the dining chairs to mop.

For a deep clean everything should be cleaned.

You need a new cleaner.

6 hours and they couldn't clean a 3 bed house with a bit of ironing?!?! That's shocking!!

A good cleaner knows what to do - moving room to room doing all the important stuff (including bathroom) and then moving on to the finer details when time is running down. You're quite right to not want her back.

Good cleaners often have long waiting lists. They're busy because they're good! And I find most cleaners are physically fit - to be thorough it's really demanding!

I teach, but on one of my days off I attempt to clean our 4 bed house. In reality a decent clean takes 4 hours, but I know exactly what to clean to make it LOOK like I've done loads, when in reality I only have a spare 1 to 2 hours! The nitty gritty can wait until the weekend when DH can help!

I've tried cleaners a few times and with the exception of one (who was doing an end of tenancy clean and was absolutely fantastic), they've all been disappointing. I'd expected some level of expertise, but the majority were just like your average person off the street armed with a spray bottle. All of them seemed to prioritise odd things to spend time on whilst missing out more obvious candidates (e.g. I keep a clean and tidy house and did a pre-clean before each one, and made it clear that I wanted them to tackle things like the oven or the bathroom grout etc, and they'd still go ahead and start with dusting and hoovering and cleaning already cleaned stuff).

I've just given up now as it felt like a waste of money and caused me more stress than doing it myself. I've opted for majorly decluttering, buying a robovac, and doing quick blitzes multiple times a day rather than deep cleaning.

I got rid of one who did this. She also tried to charge me £165 for the privilege of 4 and a half hours cleaning!

She said because I asked her to clean the kitchen cabinet fronts this constituted a deep clean so more expensive as 'physically demanding'.

I don't give a shit what you study. I did statistics at University and worked at a senior board level in global businesses (if you want to play top trumps) but I'm now a cleaner and I've never known demand like it. I think my real-world experience trumps any academic theory. It's not always been like this....just in the last couple of years. I see similar posts on fb too but again, that doesn't translate into the demand I'm seeing.

I think that these cleaners were CF. Many moons ago, I worked as a cleaner during university vacations as it beat working in a shop. I happily ironed clothes and did odd jobs like change the bed. I don't get all these people who are saying that your expectations are too high.

Also if you're working all day till 9pm with no lunch break, I'd be looking for a new job.

I wouldn't get bogged down in any discussion on them fixing the missed jobs if you're not intending on having them back. You don't owe them anything except the pay for the work done. Move on.

We have a fortnightly cleaner, she knows my priority is bathrooms and floors, other than that I'm happy for her to do whatever she can see needs done. She knows what to do and what's fine and doesn't need done every visit, there's no specified list to work from. She's been coming to us for years and the work she does literally keeps us sane. I happened to mention once that I absolutely hated putting clean bedding on, I get myself all flustered with the duvet covers, and she said to leave that job and she would do it, no problem.

As for ironing, I stopped doing that yonks ago. Nothing needs or gets ironed unless it's visibly obviously creased like a shirt (and we never wear those anymore anyway). Hang things up properly, fold, then put away. No ironing required. Once you stop doing it you wonder why you spent years doing it.

Why do you say that her 'expectations are too high'?

That's interesting, where we are you can't get a cleaner for love nor money

We recommended ours to a friend (as another friend decided not to continue so we knew a slot was freeing up) but it turns out ours had a waiting list so it was immediately filled. They are currently on 10 waiting lists at the moment and have been since December.

I literally study economics. And it is the case. You only have to look on Facebook and see how many cleaners comment on a request post. I have 2 separate cleaners and when I advertised I had over 500 local cleaners apply for 1 role and 1000 for the other.

Realistically the girls were probably on minimum wage and the agency got the majority of the money. Sounds lile your expectations are a bit to high for cleaners. You can always ask your hubby to do it on his lunch break 😂. Seriously, there are cleaners and there are Iron maidens. Id get cleaners hours shortened by 2 hours and get an iron maiden for them spare 2 hours. At least everything will get done. Good luck.

I have a cleaner fortnightly for 2 hours for my bungalow 2 bedrooms,office,large kitchen,sitting room,bathroom,and hall. Easily gets things done in that time - will also wash up and clean outside windows saving me cost of window cleaner. Has just raised her hourly rate from £12.50 to £15 - I am very happy!!

I've noticed that most cleaning companies seem to want to start with a deep clean at the moment for an exhorbitant fee. It's a bit insulting as its almost insinuating that your house isn't up to their standards. It's happened to me twice and both times it's been what I've considered a sub par surface clean. First time I went ahead anyway with the regular clean and hugely regretted it. 2nd time I told them where to go. Half wondered if its crappy cleaners who only last a few weeks so they try and maximise the initial outlay from the customer.