I am a self employed cleaner- AMA

[DonnaSummet]

I clean domestic homes and holiday homes..AMA

Snap!! So nothing to ask!!

What's the worst mess you've ever encountered?

Hope you've had a good day, August

Describe the poshest home you ever cleaned and what the owner/owners did for a living

What do you do if you go to a messy home?

I always tidied before the cleaner came but I imagine many don't.

Blood and shit smeared all over a toilet cubicle in a pub. Think the Trainspotting toilet scene and then some...

Snap! I have a team of cleaners as well.

I have questions 😁😁 what do you with repeated late payers? Do you have a cancellation policy?

Clean what I can access. I tidy a little as I clean, pile paper work and shoes up and stuff but i can't do a huge tidy and a clean as usually cleans are in timed slots so any tidying takes away from the cleaning time, its a lot easier to clean when the house is tidy ish.

How do you get new customers?
Word of mouth?
Advertising?

I used to do cleaning

Oh the tales I could tell

Am place marking !

What’s your annual salary and how many hours do you do? After expenses.

I need to employ a cleaner how many hours per week do I need for a 5 bedroom, 3 reception room, 3 bathrooms bearing in mind only my hubby and I are rattling around in it now. Then how much should I expect to pay per hour?

Dos it annoy you when customers are home and getting under your feet?

I would say get a one off deep clean first, this is to make sure you're happy with the cleaner and they are happy doing your home. Then there's no obligation on either side and if you start with a deep clean its easier for the cleaner to do a regular clean from there on in, for a house that size I would say it is a 2 cleaner job and should be 2 hours weekly but it is so hard to estimate a time without seeing the property. Going rate is £15-£20ph per cleaner so I would suggest £40ph for 2 cleaners max.

The ones who WFH and sit in their offices whilst I clean i don't mind at all...it is the clients who try and help as I go (pet hate!!!) , the ones who try and talk -usually while I am hoovering so I have to turn the hoover off and talk 😁 or the ones who lurk and watch your every move. I have ditched two clients who used to try and help as I cleaned and one who would stand in the doorway and watch me.

I've had a few (usually the one off jobs) I have had to chase up but every one has paid apart from one client from about 2 years ago who still owes me £60 which I've dropped now.
I had one regular client pre covid who was absolutely lovely but never, ever paid on time. Luckily when covid ramped up she squared up what she owed but I didnt go back to her after covid.
The rest of my regulars I am very lucky as they all pay on time.

I don't have a cancellation policy in place, but if someone books a one off clean I ask for a deposit. The piss takers don't pay and the ones who are serious do.
Its not often my regulars cancel and if they do its usually a genuine reason and vice versa for me, if I ever had to cancel due to illness its usually rare and genuine so I feel it works both ways.

There's 2 that come to mind and both quite different.
One was brand new in a gated community, absolutely huge all glass and very sparse with a gym underground and a swimming pool etc the kind of house you see on a James Bond film. And it was a nightmare to clean as I kept getting lost as each floor looked the same and led to different rooms which all looked the same, I spent about half the time up and down stairs walking around in circles 🤣
The owners of that house were very high up with the BBC.
The second was a 5 storey Victorian Terrace full of art and antiques and things from all over the world, lots of original features in the house but very steep stairs and lots of small rooms! The couple both worked in the legal system.

All word of mouth. I advertised at first but then found after the first few cleans it snowballed with people recommending me.

What do you do now?
I started cleaning as a stop gap when my little one was little but now I don't know what I would do apart from this but I do know I won't do this for ever

Do you have your own cleaning equipment that you bring and use, or does the customer provide the equipment?

Which vaccuum cleaner is the absolute best?

What's the wildest thing you've ever had to clean up? Not necessarily stuff they've left on purpose..For example finding bags of drugs, dildos etc?

Also which professions/job titles/social backgrounds have the messiest houses or venues?

Thanks very much!
Ps much respect. I know the job is hard and some people are disgusting. X

How clean/tidy is your own home? It must be hard to find the motivation to do your own after being at work all day!

We had a cleaner when the kids were little,she was great and it was a huge help. She can clean and tidy in a way that I just can’t!

Extendable feather duster?

If I were to hire you, what would I have to do to be a good client? Other than pay on time, obviously!
Basically, what can I do to make you job easier?