AIBU with my expectations for a cleaner?

She’s a gem- and rare!

That’s what we do. There’s just the two of us living here now, so we don’t make a lot of mess, and keep on top of things mostly. She comes once a week for 2 hours and spends half an hour on the bathroom, hoovers the stairs and washes the floors downstairs, then any time left is doing what I ask her to do. She might clean out a fridge or wash the microwave, or prepare a bedroom for guests if we’re having them.

The bedrooms don’t usually need much work. She hoovers them all once in a while and washes the windows etc, but mostly concentrates on the areas of the house that get most use, which suits us. If necessary she will do extra hours to help if needed (eg to sort and clean kitchen cupboards).

I used to have a cleaner for 2 hours and I would just ask her to do downstairs or upstairs. Down includes kitchen and up includes bathroom. It's far too much for 2 hours.

You need to ask yourself what you can do in 2 hours. My cleaner will spend 30 minutes cleaning my bathroom every week which I think is brilliant as I always spent longer and didn’t do such a good clean, this includes cleaning the loo/sink/shower wiping down all the tiles and giving the floor a good clean. She then spends 30 minutes in each bedrooms- duster hoover each room weekly (I have 4 bedroom) each week she does 1 room extra well does skirting etc - so that 2 hours on bedrooms. She then does the living room and dinning rooms good clean each week - that about another 2 hours work, then she flips the duster / hoover over hall / craft room / study about 30 minutes then she mops the kitchen floor last if she has time - but tbh she always does this for me. She comes twice a week, one bathroom and bedrooms on a Tuesday rest on a Thursday. She works fast, much faster than I ever did even when I was young and fit, she doesn’t tidy at all just cleans.

I have several friends who are cleaners and they always say the problem when people don't want to pay for adequate hours is the pressure to get as much done as possible means a poor clean. Neither now accept anything less than 4 hrs for a 3 bed and 5 hrs for a 4 bed. The only exception one makes is if 1 bedroom and 1 room on main floor isn't being done, they will take off an hour. The other friend won't b/c she says to do kitchens and bathrooms properly, she feels you need that time b/c that's where most of the time is spent.

I don't think it's fair to ask for 2 hrs with priorities as I imagine the pressure to get as much done as possible becomes a problem, if you can't stretch to more than 2 hrs then I think you have to say only bathrooms and kitchen. I do agree with you it would be good if your cleaner had said what she felt was realistic!

Good luck!

T hours isn’t enough for a four bed house. Also you need to clear the floors for them to hoover properly, they won’t tidy.

There is a difference between ‘tidying’ and ‘cleaning’.

I have a cleaner and I don’t expect her to wash pots, pick clothes up off the floor, empty the dishwasher, clear sides etc. I pay her to clean, which is hoovering, polishing, wiping sides, cleaning mirrors, mopping floors etc. If she has to spend her time picking up after us and tidying before she can even begin cleaning, then she’s not doing what I pay her for - which is cleaning.

She gets this when she goes to other houses and spends the first hour tidying up the crap that’s all over the house. She then has to rush and try to clean the house in the time she has left. So a lot of the time she doesn’t finish everything.

Is it just one cleaner that comes in the two hours? Doesn’t sound long enough for a 4 bed house ?
I have a lady that comes for 5 hours to my 4 bed 4 bath house

My cleaner is very fond of doing windows. I've had many cleaners over the years and even the best have favourite jobs or quirky habits.

I get what you are saying OP. My friend had an accident and couldn't walk unaided. She got a cleaner in to hoover and mop floors, she could manage worktops and higher up on her crutches. The cleaner did everything but the floors.

Two hours is nowhere near long enough for a first clean of a four bedroomed house

But she's not asking for a full house clean

Good cleaners are worth their weight in gold.

Mine spent 2.5 hours today, deep cleaning two bathrooms.

You need more than 2 hours. For a 4 bed I would say 3-4 hours for a basic clean.

We’re in a 4-bed. 2 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms, dining room, kitchen, boot room and cloak room. Three hours is the bare minimum.

I find it frustrating when I explain that I want really thorough job and don't mind paying for it, and then they treat it as a badge of honour to clean as quickly as possible and inevitably miss things. We have a largish house (5 beds, 4 bathrooms, three teens living at home) and it takes me an entire day to clean thoroughly. But I cannot find anyone who will accept that it cannot be done in 4 hours or less. It's madness. I am literally trying to pay them more!

2 hours for a 4 bed house? No chance! You need to nominate priority rooms. I have 3 hours and it’s family room, large kitchen, big hallway/study and cloakroom. All through. No bathrooms - we have 4. If you want Hoover, floors cleaned, all kitchen units, sinks and appliances outwardly clean and everything plumped and surfaces cleaned in lounge it’s not 2 hours! Choose most important rooms. Why do you keep hoovering? I do enough in the kitchen to keep it hygienic, but not every night! I’m not quite sure if your standards are achievable.

You need to tell the next cleaner you want the bathrooms and kitchen done and if they have time left hoover dust etc

I used to clean one family would leave me a job list on a white board please concentrate on x and y if you have time please do z it was usually the kitchen bathroom to concentrate then floors if I had time do dusting after a few weeks I could get it all done in two hours

@MsPolly

Think I need to change my approach when looking for someone new and say can you clean the bathrooms and anything else in the two hours is a bonus!

Doesn't work if they only want to clean the windows 😂

I wanted a cleaner just to vacuum round everywhere & mop the bathroom floors and if time, to clean the main bathroom - the other bathroom was only used if we had visitors so it took me about 10 mins a week to run a cloth over it to remove dust. I can't vac as I have an injury so floor cleaning was all I needed help with.

Unfortunately the cleaner spent the 2 hours the first week cleaning the windows, which I didn't want doing, hadn't asked to be done, as I'd done them myself 3 days before. So we had to part ways.

I still haven't found someone!

I have a cleaner twice a week for 2 hours each time. On Monday she cleans the top of the cooker, cleans kitchen worktops, vacuums hall, stairs and landing, vacuums 2-3 bedrooms, dusts and polishes in lounge including moving things on units and coffee table, dusts and polishes in dining room including unit and table. She cleans 3 bath rooms and steam mops bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, sitting room and hall wooden floors. On Thursday she cleans kitchen worktops, wipes over unit fronts in kitchen and utility room, changes bedding in 3 or 4 bedrooms, vacuums 2 bedrooms and rest of house, steam mops all bathroom and wooden floors. Now and then about every 6 weeks she does a couple of additional hours to do jobs only carried out occasionally like clean skirtings in every room, wipe over window sills, wipe over front and back doors inside and outside, she sorted out the airing cupoard will take stuff out of cupboards wipe inside of cupboards then replace items. She works hard and cleans far far quicker than I could and I am very pleased with her. She cleans for my adult DS each week too.