To feel a bit awkward re the cleaner?

You quite simply need to talk to her.

I do the kitchen as it's a faff.

I started with a cleaner six weeks ago, two hours a week. One week she does two bedrooms , two bathrooms, hoovers DH's office, the landing and stairs. Second week dining room, sitting room , hall and cloakroom, plus one bathroom. She has got faster since she started so I am compiling a list of things we can clean that I don't do very often.

My cleaners came on Thursday, I have two ladies who come in for 1 hour- so a total of 2 hours cleaning time, in that time they cleaner 5 toilets, 5 bathroom sinks, hoovered and mopped 5 bathroom floors, hoovered a 3 storey/5.5 bedroom house with 2 flights of stairs and 2 reception rooms (excluding 2 of the rooms) and also hoovered and mopped the kitchen/diner/family room and hallway.

It's a surface clean but they can do the whole house essentially in the 2 hours.

To prep for that I make sure there is nothing on the floor in their way.

I would be super disappointed to only have 2 rooms done in the same time, even if the clean was far more thorough.

Just pay her for more time.

When you start a new cleaning job it can be a nightmare tbh. If I deep clean a bathroom it takes well over an hour. The kitchen? Blimey! It sounds like she's a thorough cleaner tbh. There's no point scratching around on the surface. Why don't you start an interactive notebook. That's what I do. She can write down what she'd like done. You can write down what's been achieved etc. Any problems etc. Also what cleaning products she needs/suggests. You are right in that the bathroom that took an hour last week should take 10 mins the week after. Hope that helps.

My cleaner spends the majority of her time
doing kitchen and bathroom. But I think 2 hrs
should be enough.

OP isn’t expecting a whole house clean though. What do you consider a whole house clean because OP told her not to bother with the bedrooms. So it looks like she just wants more than the two rooms which are being cleaned in the two hours.

Unless things are super messy personally I’d expect them to do be able to do more than a kitchen/diner and one bathroom. At least she should be able to do one of the other bathrooms.

Also is your cleaner coming every week for 5 hours? Because the frequency matters. OPs one is weekly not fortnightly or something.

I think it’s unrealistic to expect a good quality, whole-house clean in just 2 hours. We have a small house and mine comes for 5 hrs each visit

Mine comes for 5 hours at a time and does kitchen laundry bedroom bathroom and some hoovering. She comes 3x a week so I guess different bedroom and bathroom each time. I think your expectations are unreasonable for 2 hours (this is something I have discussed with my cleaner - that many have unrealistic expectations). You could discuss that you want more rooms done but it won’t be as thorough.

I have a 3 bed house with 1 bathroom and 1 downstairs loo (tiny). My cleaner spends 4 hours a week at mine, of which about half an hour is ironing and changing the sheets on 1 bed. I wouldn’t expect a cleaner to cover your house in 2 hours!

I agree with others she doesn't have enough time to clean everything that thoroughly in 2hours.
So you heed to get specific.
Please can you always do the kitchen and bathrooms and then if you have time do the rest

But that’s a completely different matter. Changing bed linen, doing bedrooms, laundry and other housekeeping chores, rather than just cleaning, does of course require 4-5 hours + depending on size of house.

The OP just wants a good clean of bathrooms, WC and kitchen-diner, general hoovering etc, which as an ongoing job - ie her cleaner comes weekly and the rooms aren’t filthy to start with - should comfortably be done in 2 hours.

oh and half an hour of ironing. So cleaning as described takes 4.5. I also think she’s quite fast.

when I do our kitchen thoroughly it often takes me over and hour and half if I steam mop the floor too.

Ours sounds the same size and it takes 5 hours (she hoovers bedrooms and changes a bed too). She also does 1 load of laundry and hangs it up. I’d say it’s cleaned to a good standard but not ‘deep cleaned’.

If you’re as clean and tidy as you say you are - and I’m not disputing it OP - your cleaner should be able to get the two bathrooms, small WC and kitchen diner done properly in two hours, especially if you’re all out.

I’m a cleaner, and regularly do this. (I also wish more customers understood how much easier it is to get on with the job in an empty house, at least part of the time!) Yesterday, for instance, I did customer bedroom and en-suite, guest bathroom, small WC, large kitchen diner, study, living room and hallways in 2.5, which isn’t unusual. It was my second job of the day, so I was working more slowly too. Definitely not cutting corners either, my rating and reviews confirm that, so I’d say YANBU.

Sounds as if you’ve got a nice cleaner though, so just have a word and maybe book cleans for first thing in the morning, in case she’s flagging a bit by the time she gets to you.

Tell her nicely you need more done. Especially the bathrooms. I tell mine the family bathroom and en-suite are priority.

My fortnightly 3 hours cleaner does the kitchen and utility room, stairs and landing and one reception room or bedroom . Very very thoroughly.
Its how he works, and your cleaner sounds similar. I suggest rotating the rooms she works on each week and doing a lighter clean on the others yourselves.

When my cleaner comes in she always asks if there is anything in particular I need doing that day. She will do things like unblock the shower drain cos I have a disability and can't do it myself. Or sometimes if I will be having a visitor she will concentrate on getting the spare room ready.

Leave her a list each day: "Today I would like you to clean x.y.z rooms. Thank you."

I’ve had a Wonder Woman who was trained at a hotel who could do whole five bed house with time enough to also sort out a kitchen cupboard. I had another, lovely thorough woman who could not get half of it done in the same time. She was always moving never took a break but just not fast.
You need to be very specific and if she needs more time she needs more time, or you need someone quicker. Seems two hours should be enough to do what you want as you don’t include the bedrooms in my opinion.

I just use cleaners on an ad hoc basis not a weekly basis and this is my experience.

So I used to have a cleaner that would do the kitchen and bathroom and hall really well in under 2 hours but I’d paid her for 2 hours of course and a bit more.

My apartment back then would get so messy and dirty unfortunately due to mental health issues. And she would do such a great job!

Moved cities and my new apartment is kept reasonably clean and uncluttered now and yet the new cleaning company I’ve worked with so far have sent various cleaners who are all a lot slower. Despite the fact my current apartment is in a much better condition for them to clean!

One girl took two hours for the bathroom and (small) hallway. I had only requested for those to be done so I guess she stretched it out. And it was done well so fair enough.

The next time I asked for the kitchen bathroom and hallway to be done and they sent two cleaners for one hour instead of one cleaner for two hours . They did it but the kitchen wasn’t cleaned very well. Like some parts were but the one doing the kitchen had not even cleaned the worktops or sink. But the one doing the bathroom left it sparkling.

It’s so hit and miss with cleaners. I think everyone thinks they can do it as a job as they clean at home, but a lot of people are not capable of being good professional cleaners.

@Icanseethechurch that isn't a lot of time at all. I have a 3 double bed, 4 bathroom home and mine takes 4hrs. Mine is thorough too. Hopefully you can get more hours with her or else just ask her to prioritise

Cleaner here. I’ve just finished a weekly clean on a 4 bed, 2 shower room with large kitchen diner (high gloss finish). It’s a 3 hr every week. Every room dusted, hovered or mopped. Windows done, cushions/pillows plumped and bins emptied.

perhaps you need to be more precise with your instructions.