Is my cleaner overstepping?

I'd cut her time, and ask her not to rearrange your stuff.

My cleaners were spending time faffing around folding every item they found (including INSIDE A DIRTY LAUNDRY BASKET), so I cut their hours and instructed them to stick to cleaning. The extra faffery has stopped.

I actually have a friend who does this sort of thing when she visits. Except I don't have her to visit any more. (I actually lived with her at university, and she would just sigh that the house was messy and not do anything to contribute, so it was doubly annoying that she suddenly found her mojo for rearranging stuff in my own bloody house!).

That’s example of what OP’s cleaner does and you are defending her

Also you commented about clients that are resistant to change- it’s not your remit to change your client

YANBU but you need to tell her clearly not to do that rather than jokingly say it

This is such an unusual situation!

On one level, I think I'd be, yes ok get on with it - she's clearly going above and beyond. And even more things I don't need to think about.

Like others have said, good cleaners are hard to come by?

But on another I'd find it a bit freaky,.someone tampering with my 'life'.

I don't know tbh wish we had that problem I've kind of given up in the house after all these years.

A few years ago, a friend’s mum (FM) had a cleaner who came down to the kitchen carrying a bundle of wet towels and put them in the washing machine. Apparently, she’d tried to move the (freestanding) bath to clean behind it, and now there was water everywhere?!

FM asked her, “Do you normally ever move your own bath to clean?”

“No.”

“So why did you move mine?!”

She needs to be told

I havent defended the cleaner. I think you should read the whole thread

Yes.

Look at this from a business perspective. One of the main ways Cleaners and cleaning companies generate new clients is through word of mouth.

If you visit a friend's home, and you see their house is in chaos/unclean, would you be interested in hiring their cleaner?

Your client's homes are your portfolio of sorts.

This is insane. Why didn’t you just talk to her the first time 😂

100% not normal!!

That’s such a ridiculous way of overstepping, I am stunned 😂😂😂

I will be interested in whether the house is CLEAN (eg floors, skirting boards, etc). Whether the house is TIDY or whether aesthetically it matches my taste re location of lamps, furniture or photos on a mantelpiece is clearly not cleaner’s remit so CHAOS is irrelevant.

clean and tidy are 2 different things

however an actual house is not your portfolio and you are not entitled to treat it as such. you wouldn’t be allowed to invite people over to someone’s house to show off your work. Your portfolio is recommendations.

(and you definitely wouldn’t get one from me no matter how good your actual cleaning is)

She’s not a good cleaner if she’s doing things her employer doesn’t want her to do - she’s over stepping.

OP needs to tell her what she wants and doesn’t want and stop pussyfooting around her.

How can you clean a chronically untidy house? You have to tidy it first, right? To access the places you have to clean. So either, they tidy, or I do, which is fine. But I need paying. Some people don't have the budget for that but still the problem remains.

Now, I could walk away every time, but I don't. I could move the clutter and move it back but that is only a temporary solution because it is extra time and labour (going back the money point). So if I feel like this person wants a more organised life and they are open to suggestion, then I will initiate what needs doing.

That is what many people want because it alleviates the emotional labour behind housekeeping as well as the practical.

And yes, the houses you clean are your portfolio. They are your adverts. Nobody will want to hire you as a cleaner if they hear your name from their untidy friend. They'd assume you're ripping the friend off.

That's another thing. Imagine you go to an elderly relatives home who insist they sre paying a cleaner £30 a week or something and the place is filthy. You're going to assume the cleaner is exploiting them.

You have to have standards and boundaries as a good cleaner. Those who don't want to meet them will be easily replaced by those who are very keen to use your services.

have you tried asking her not to do the stuff that annoys you? A good cleaner should take on board feedback. If she continues despite a conversation, then you need to weigh up if she is worth keeping or not.

Does her name begin with E?

Our old cleaner did this. Contents of the kitchen cupboards, fridge, freezer etc would just be totally rearranged, despite never being asked to clean these areas. She eventually started rearranging our furniture. Requests to stop and just focus on her actual cleaning went straight over her head.

We let her go!

You are so ridiculous in your attitude that I just don’t want to engage with you any more 😂 there is clearly a lot more going on with you that cleaning being just a job or a service. A cleaner should first and foremost respect the boundaries of their clients. You are way too enmeshed.

and by the way I have a great cleaner who I pay £100 a week and she can rearrange some of my stuff and I even trust her to go into cupboards- but only because I specifically asked her, she respects my boundaries, doesn’t treat my house as her portfolio or whatever and doesn’t decide what’s best for me or what I need, in a patronising way.

Well it is. If people come in your house and see dirty surfaces and clutter, they'll definitely not be interested in your cleaner. You can try and be hostile and attempt to belittle me for being a decent cleaner, but my income and demand speaks for itself.

I think you have OCD issues and I’m glad for you that you found a career that scratches your itch 😂😂😂

most people come to other people’s houses to see their friends and family and interact with them as people, not judge their clutter or trying to suss out a cleaner. Generally marking the quality of work of someone’s cleaner is the bottom of the list for any sane person. It’s the backend.

literally never I have thought - oh they must have an amazing cleaner if I’ve been to a beautiful house. I’ve just thought to myself- what a beautiful house. How a hostess gets there I don’t care. And if it’s not a beautiful house, what does it matter too? It’s just a lived in house and I’m there to see people in it.

If you are seeking a cleaner, the first thing most people do is ask for recommendations from people they know.

Yes. IF and ASK are the key words there

people will ask for a recommendation instead of constantly inspecting their friend’s house as if it’s a cleaner’s portfolio

and only if and when they are looking for a cleaner which is not very regular occurrence

so your justification that you move things around where you think they should belong not because you were asked to do so, but because it’s naturally part of your job because some visitors will be constantly checking the overall state of the house as an outcome of your work, is just… a massive jump

This is not part of your job unless your client specifically made it part of your job

If Sharon tells you that her cleaner is good but you consider her house to be a tip, you aren't going to heed her recommendation.

You'll be glad to know that today, I purposely tidied up a regular client's home, including moving some stuff to better places and made things more orderly. They've already thanked me profusely for doing so.

I mean, I wouldn’t even ask her if the house is DIRTY. But if it’s just untidy that’s not a reflection on a cleaner

but if Sharon will tell me that her cleaner is rearranging her things and pestering her about where everything should be because she knows better I am not going to ask for a recommendation either. Even if the house looks like a show home

Good for you. I bet you feel validated