What would the perfect cleaner do ( or not do) ?

[Livedandlearned2]

If you could have or do already have a cleaner, what would you want them to do to make your life easier, or nicer?

And on the other side, what would you prefer they didn't do?

Not focus on doing one job for the whole time..so clean kitchen first then bathroom then any other areas you have time for. Nice if it smells good when l get in. Don't move stuff around eg plants. I had one cleaner who moved plants where she obviously thought they should be and l moved them back. This went on for weeks. And please don't cancel at the last minute as l will be looking forward to my lovely clean house. And if l am around don't talk much to me as l am thinking of all the cleaning that neeeds doing. I had one clwaner who was lovely but acted like l was her counsellor and l had to leave everytime or no work would be done.

A clean bathroom without me having to clean it would be awesome. Hate cleaning bathrooms. Ooh also a clean oven.

How much do cleaner's cost any way?

Kitchen- move everything that can be moved off the floor, vacume and wash. Move everything off surfaces and clean. Clean sink. Clean cooker and job. Clean in and out if fridge. Clean microwave. Clean skirting boards. Empty dishwasher and put it on a cleaning cycle. Wipe appliances. Wipe walls next to table where kids eat their meals...

Bathroom-move everything off floor, vacuum and mop. Clean toilet, on and out. Clean sink, bath and tiles. Wipe window sill, shower rail and skirting boards. I’d love it if they would take the shower curtains off and stick them in the machine as this is what I do but I would t really expect anyone else to do it.

Hallways- take everything off floor to vacume and mop. wipe skirting and doors. Wipe any walls that are dirty or marked. Clean mirrors and pictures. Dust surfaces. Again, I put the mats through the washing machine.

Bedrooms- move everything off floors to vacume and mop. Dust. Clean skirting boards. I’d love them to change sheets and put the
through the wash, and then the tumble and then fold and put away...

Living area- move stuff off floors to vacume Nd mop. Clean skirting. Dust surfaces and mirrors and pictures. Vacume sofa, under the cushions....vacume blinds.

I’d like them to come when I’m out, to do everything well, to not cancel. I’d pay them really well. I’d like them not to talk about me with anyone else. They would need to be trustworthy.

I don’t have a cleaner...

A minimum of £10 ph. I'd love someone to clean my oven too.

This morning my cleaner sent me a text checking it was OK to bin the dead flowers on the table and wash up the vase - absolutely, I’d been meaning to do it for days! She also always completely takes up the mat under the toddlers seat at the table and has a good wipe and vacuum. I appreciate things like this on top of the standard vacuum, dust, bathroom and kitchen clean. Stuff you would do in your own house. Oh and she’s happy to change the bed if we ask. Previous cleaners would make the bed but not strip them, which is fair enough - I still try to strip them for her before I leave for work too.
Most important thing is that you can trust them!

Wow Wardrobe that would be an all dayer!

It takes me four hours as long as everyone’s out of the house. One of the reasons I don’t have a cleaner is I do it better. I couldn’t expect anyone else to do that!

The reason I ask is a lot to do with DrWhy's response. I clean in a lot of different houses and each one is so different wrt to what I do there. It got me wondering whether it is overstepping the mark to empy old flowers out of a vase or whether someone would notice if I emptied the crumbs out of their toaster as I cleaned their kitchen?

I pay my cleaner £10ph but I believe the rate depends on where you live. She only comes in for 2 hours and we have quite a big house but we don't use all of it unless we have visitors. Cleans bathroom, dusts and vacuums my bedroom, hall, stairs and landing, small sitting room. Also a very quick kitchen wipe down including sweeping floor. I ask her to deep clean kitchen and bathroom about once every 6 weeks which means she doesn't have time for the rest that week. She's excellent and will do anything I ask her and stays longer (with pay) if I need her to. 2 hours isn't enough so I still do stuff myself - last week I completely turned out the big sitting room which took 2 hours.

PS she wouldn't throw out old flowers or empty dishwasher unless I asked her to.

I've found that if I empty the dishwasher voluntarily I'll probably end up doing it every week. Which might mean I run out of time for other jobs.

My lovely cleaner makes everything sparkle that should, and the whole house smells clean and fresh, she plumps cushions, even hoovers under beds and doesn't seem to have anything I can complain about. She charges £10 an hour and she's worth every penny. I've asked her in the past if she could help me making up guest rooms and she was brilliant ( big duvets much easier with two of us) and she's always smiling and happy !

I'd be lost without her ! She knows I appreciate her, as I tell her often enough ! We always have a cuppa and a chat together before she goes, or if it's in the evening, we'll have a G&T !!

When I went back to work after DC2 (so had a 3yo & a 9mo), I explained to my cleaner that I wanted to pay her for an extra 30mins over what she thought it would take to do the normal clean so she could do the extras. She was amazing! She stripped the beds as soon as she arrived and so had time to get them through the washing machine & hung up before she left, watered all of my house plants, dealt with dead flowers, emptied the dishwasher and learned where it went, did the ironing and put the DC's away in the right drawers and left and DH and mine in our room. She also properly cleaned. Moved the sofa, lifted up the rug and would then leave a little pile of the random items she found (jigsaw pieces, a bit of duplo etc). She was also willing to stop at the corner shop and pick up milk, bread or other emergency items if needed. She was amazing. She moved 4yrs ago and I still miss her. No other cleaner has ever come close.

You see I should have added “cleaning crumbs out of toaster” as it’s something I do once a week. If I had a cleaner I would notice if it wasn’t done, but I don’t think I’d expect them to do it.
I empty the bins when they need doing but I’d like a cleaner to empty and clean all the bins weekly anyway.

On the other hand, my dad preferred the subsequent cleaner who always folded the end sheet of the toilet roll into triangles like you get in posh hotels. I always thought that that was unnecessary although never mentioned it as it wasn't a big issue.

Liveandlearned2 when this cleaner started she came to the house while I was there and we had a chat about explicitly what I wanted done. We initially agreed 3 hours every 2 weeks but she’s so great I decided I’d like her to do more so we went to 3 hours every week and I made a list of things I’d like done every week and things I’d like done every 2 weeks or so and let her organise how to split her time. So beds for example are every other week and then the opposite week she does a quick wipe of toddler handprints on the windows! The kitchen and bathrooms get a quick wipe over and loo cleaner every week but she picks one each week to do a more thorough deep clean of. It felt a bit wierd writing a task list but it means we are both clear on what’s wanted and I asked her several times to tell me if it wasn’t achievable! On top of that she treats my house a bit like her own in that she wouldn’t want dead flowers hanging about so she checks with me or just does stuff, which I really like.

In terms of ‘don’t do’s’;
cancel at short notice (unless ill or an emergency), change the time and day you want to work and then give me the wrong start date, leave cleaning products out on the floor when you know there is a toddler in the house, complain that the vacuum is broken when you’ve taken the bag out of it then instead of replacing it or asking me to do so have continued to use it until the filters have totally clogged and it’s ruined, ignore the fact that there is mould growing on the bath sealant and I have provided mould and mildew remover, empty the bathroom bins into the recycling bin, fail to properly lock up the keysafe.
I think that’s all the reasons I have a new cleaner!

Thank you for that, your relationship with your cleaner seems to be very good and that must help. She cam text you if she needs to and you reply, I haven't always had that, but mostly do.

Treating your house as her own is a very good example, however a cleaner needs to feel comfortable in your home to really make that work. I have homes where I feel that, and some not so much.

It's so good to hear from a client's prospective. And I totally agree with your comments wrt to late notice cancellation, that has happened as a reverse to me also, and I've lost money because one family just didn't care enough to tell me they weren't even home.

My cleaner tidies up my throws and cushions etc and generally just has the place looking lovely for us every Friday.

Op what could a client do to ensure a happy cleaner (and continued reliability etc)?
I always remind mine to help herself to a cup of tea, have told her if her kids need to come with her for any reason then I don't mind and today left her extra for the kids Halloween. If my husband is going to be working from home I will send her a text to give her a heads up also.

Ours changes the bedding every week which I love because I bloody hate doing it.

She also irons which again I appreciate but sometimes she will put laundry on which I wish she wouldn’t do. I know she’s only trying to be helpful but she tends to just lob everything in the machine regardless of colour, if it’s delicate etc... I’ve gently hinted before that she isn’t expected to do it, but think I need to be more direct.

I wish she would clean inside the fridge, it’s always minging. I mean, if I asked her to do it she would, but I wish she would just two mins doing it each week rather than a proper deep clean every month or whatever.

Kaytee, my most favourite clients always pay me on time, offering a drink, as you say you do, they send a text now and then, if not weekly to say thank you. They never cancel on me last minute and they understand if my kids are ill and I can't clean, which to be fair is very rare. But they understand I have a family and if I can't get there I will always try to do their house a different day rather than completely.cancel.

Are any of you guys who clean/have cleaners in Northumberland? I would love to employ a cleaner but struggling to find someone!!

Empty dishwasher and bins
Clean the bins
Change the bed linen
Watered plants, threw out dead flowers.
My best cleaner just used her common sense. I bet she cleaned the toast crumbs too.

Another question, what should I give my cleaner for Christmas? Cash or a voucher for something?

Changing bedding is a bit too much I think.