To have said this to my cleaner?

People on here just think cleaners are all in the right. ‘If you don’t like it clean your own house you lazy so and so’ - is often said. Clearly not understanding that cleaners are paid to do a job and the person paying them to do the job is within their rights to question why it’s not been done properly.

We’ve only ever had one good cleaner / housekeeper. And we paid her well. The rest have been on and off pretty average - bad.

Cleaning means cleaning, not deciding which bits you feel like cleaning and which bits you don’t. Pathetic.

Sooo ... now that you know that it's cat sick, that your cleaner isn't prepared to clean cat sick, and that she may well be offended or have sacked you... are you going to do anything to try to rescue the relationship? Because I don't think it's too late for a "I'm sorry, you're well within your rights to not want to clean cat sick, hope you have a good week and see you soon x". What's the worst that could happen?

I think if you have to ask if what you said was unreasonable then it almost certainly was....... & she obviously thought so &, as one previous poster says, this is when you find out you need her more than she needs you

anyway, you say she wasn't that good - nows time to prove you can do better 😂

I find it strange that you told her you thought she had forgotten that room, that does sound rude. Perhaps the rest of the home took longer this time.

Easy job? Oh and you've been lucky with your cleaner because she's foreign? She'll do the jobs other people might not - not sure if that's the flex you think it is tbh

You think cleaning peoples homes is an easy job - as for the twenty quid an hour I expect she's self employed and has to pay NI contributions from that and put money aside for a tax bill if they earn over the threshold -plus travel between jobs. Not a fortune as a self employed person

People who are allergic maybe?

Anyway, a while later she replied and said no problem, sorry if you thought the laundry room hadn't been cleaned, she said she had cleaned it but would give it a good clean.

to which you could have replied: „perfect, thank you!“

Lesson learned for next time, I suppose…

Well, I often do what my very occasional cleaner does for me.
But deep cleans are definitely difficult hence why they are paid more.
As for the hands, are you serious, who doesn't wear gloves these days?
I wear gloves, my cleaner also asks for gloves.

How grim, leaving dried up cat sick for a cleaner to sort. I wouldn't come back,

If you know your cat sleeps on top of the cupboard and there is something that looks like cat sick down the doors, it's your cat's cat sick. What else could look like that in the laundry room. I think you were pretty cheeky to accuse her of not cleaning the room when it was obvious what had happened. She was being the bigger person not mentioning it.

You aren’t doing any cleaning in between, houses have to be cleaned as you go.

Your perceived high standards clearly don’t apply to yourself.

What strikes me about your posts is you don’t have a shred of embarrassment.

Whether the cleaner returns or not, you need to think about how you speak to people but I expect you won’t.

I'm absolutely appalled at comments like that. The lack of respect for cleaners is nauseating.

Again she sounds really professional OP, I would apologise (say you were having a bad day and not thinking etc) and hope that she hasn't filled your spot and may be willing to reconsider.

You said in a previous post she 'sounded bossy' but having her business practices set out clearly and communicating these clearly is not bossy at all, it's what professionals do, it's a hallmark of quality of service. If someone has no t&c's in place they do not understand their responsibilities, either towards themselves or towards their clients or towards anyone who may work for them in the future.

Cleaning is not an easy job. Its hard physical work and wrecks the skin on your hands.

Try it if you think its so easy.

She sounds very professional, she is running her business well with good t&cs in place and firm boundaries to make sure she is protected from clients who would take the pee whilst offering a good and reliable service.

Her business sounds more professional and well run than many, no wonder she is full with a waiting list, this is what most customers would like to see and will wait for.

See, one of our Managers said she got on much better with her cleaner after she realised that cleaners work for themselves and not for you. She said once she realised that, their relationship was fine.

Bluntly, it sounds like you need her more than she needs you. She sounds like she has a clear sighted understanding of her own worth and does not have to put up with someone who tells her how she should do her job or who doesn't apologise when they realise they have left cat sick cupboards for her to clean.

Cats can climb and jump up high.

You started you post with " this one isnt all that great"..... yet shes the best cleaner. Wtf do you want from her?
I hope this somehow finds its way back to her

I think most cleaners expect to keep on top of day-to-day muck and grime, not to have to deep clean vomit/faeces/urine/blood, not to have to do things like washing up unless it is specifically part of the contract and so on. I can see why she was annoyed. You should apologise and ask her to come back.

I think people need to have a bit of respect for their cleaners. After a lifetime in childcare I gave up and became a self employed cleaner. I loved it (retired a year ago) but sadly did come across a few people like the OP.
I would never clean up after animals, other than vacuuming cat/dog hair. Certainly not cat sick, surely if OP saw it shouldn't she have wiped it up before cleaner arrived?

No wonder friends wont pass numbers on.

I remember spending 4 hours cleaning upstairs of a house. 4 bedrooms, family bathroom and and en suite. Dirty underwear left on floor; literally couldn't see bedroom floors for toys, books, clothes; shower traps full of hair looked like they had never been cleaned; bins overflowing with used tampons; (I could go on). Anyway I worked incredibly hard non stop for 4 hours and was pleased with the results. Planned to return following week to do downstairs, homeowner mentioned I'd missed polishing mirror in one of the bedrooms. No mention of all the hard work I'd done.
I didn't return

Oh just to mention, as I said I retired a year ago many of my old customers are still looking for a cleaner. Not easy to find good, reliable cleaners who are DBS checked, insured and registered with the tax man and reliable

I think if you want to keep her you need to back down. You ultimately noticed it but have used it to criticise her.

Sometimes also people need to speak in person and stop relying on text messages where things can get lost. Speak to her and sort it out.

You sound like a difficult client.

I've clearly not had enough sleep because I read this as years ago you used to clean donkeys. I was thinking that's quite specific, just donkeys? Maybe the occasional horse? And why didn't people just clean their own donkeys? Yep afternoon nap is definitely needed.

Her job is to clean. She didn't do it. There's always pity and excuses from some people who defend cleaners but can you imagine if you only did the bits of your job that you liked? Maybe get an agency cleaner.

Well now you know otherwise. Would a dog poo on the carpet be out of bounds?