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Original poster

Any cleaners out there? Intrigued

42 replies

Shadow1986 · 08/12/2018 20:17

Following on from another thread about tipping your cleaner at Christmas, and someone asking about whether they clean off skid marks in toilet I am genuinely intrigued at how houses are left when you are expected to clean them?

My cleaners come once a week. Prior to them arriving I tidy every where. Empty bins, make sure the toilets are flushed and clean from the kids etc! I usually change bed sheets but they make my beds (tuck in nicely), so essentially the have a very tidy house and they just do dusting, hoovering, clean bathrooms, mop etc - it takes me a good couple hours (with a toddler) to get the house straight for them before they arrive. Does anyone else bother? If you clean yourself, what do you come across?

OP posts:
rabbitmat · 08/12/2018 21:17

norfolkandchanceyou I need tidyuppers too!

I actually like cleaning. The only reason I have cleaners is because it makes me tidy up once a week. It takes me a couple of hours to tidy the house. I'd be too embarrassed to leave it in a mess. The kids even tidy up their rooms to some extent. We all hate the night before 'cleaner day'.

BoswellandForshort · 08/12/2018 21:21

My Grandma was very house proud but after a fall, she could no longer keep the house clean and hired a cleaner. She used to ask me to give the house a quick hoover before the cleaner came round, bless her.

StarlightIntheNight · 08/12/2018 22:28

We have a cleaner come 3 times a week and I am embarrassed to say, each time she comes our house is a disaster. We have two dc and a puppy. We try to tidy what we can, but the house just becomes such a mess so fast. I must be the messiest person in the world. I do spend an hour or more every day trying to tidy. I throw things out regular etc. But for some reason, we can not keep the house tidy longer then one day. We have the cleaner come 3-4 hours 3 times a week.

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underneaththeash · 08/12/2018 22:38

I tidy everything and empty my bathroom bin. When my cleaner first quoted she asked if it was usually this tidy and quoted accordingly. I leave them extra cash if I'm away one week and DH is around.

VictoryOrValhalla · 08/12/2018 22:42

But for some reason, we can not keep the house tidy longer then one day.

You’re not alone! My own house is the same. Despite me being a cleaner. I am constantly tidying and picking up after my DC even though I try and instill the habits in them too. I don’t know why but there just always seems to be a room in good need of a tidy.

Original poster
Shadow1986 · 08/12/2018 23:00

My house is the same! Clothes chucked everywhere. Toothpaste all over sink etc! It gets trashed very quickly but I do have 3 kids and a pretty useless DH in terms of housework. I also hate the night before they come, it’s a mission to get the house straight!

OP posts:
elephantoverthehill · 08/12/2018 23:18

I have a cleaner who comes in once a week for 2 hours. She is brilliant. However my instance of my Dcs bedrooms being tidy the night before is probably the better life skill for my Dcs and I. I think somewhere in my eulogy, as a parent and as a teacher I will have it explained. TIDYING IS PUTTING AWAY. THIS ALLOWS CLEANING TO TAKE PLACE.

KickBishopBrennanUpTheArse · 08/12/2018 23:25

I do similar to you OP except I don't empty the bins. I try to remember to empty the bathroom bin if it has dds sanitary towels but my menstruating days are behind me so I don't always remember Blush

If it's been a busy (messy) week I do sometimes dump all the clean laundry on my bed without putting it away. And she did once find my dirty cereal bowl where I'd hidden it in the microwave Wink

Mainly I pay her to make me tidy up and to do the stuff I'd never get around to e.g. windows, dusting bookshelves etc.

Bloodybridget · 09/12/2018 04:02

Our house is always fairly tidy, but we make sure it's very tidy when our cleaner is due. Don't empty bins though, as she doesn't have to do anything with them.

LondonLassInTheNorthPole · 09/12/2018 04:14

Our cleaner asks us what we want her to do before she starts every week...

4 hours a week, once a week.

The house is fairly tidy , and some weeks, im not sure shes really needed... But hay hum...

Hoover Dust and a quick once over in kitchen and the 3 bathrooms does help keep on top of things

LondonLassInTheNorthPole · 09/12/2018 04:18

She empties kitchen bin only i must ask her why one day... As there are atleast 2 other bins in the house...

Doesn't do beds although we have never asked her....
We have a dish washer so there is never plates, cutlery etc on the side

Doesnt do washing, although again havent asked....

She offered to help me wrap the 100 Christmas presents i have to wrap bless her.
She's sweet, shes early 20's, always make her tea on her arrival and another T once or twice while shes here. We normally chat for about half hour, which obviously i pay her for....

Bluntness100 · 09/12/2018 08:34

The house is pretty much always tidy and the cleaner empties the bins and changes the beds, so I don't do anything other than leave the bed linen I want using out.

MyKingdomforaNameChange · 09/12/2018 09:16

I was a cleaner. One house was always immaculate and there really was no point me being there!

Another, they freely admitted they did nothing between my weekly cleans, although the house was always tidy. I loved doing this house as it always looked so much better when I'd finished!

One was always tidy, and pretty clean. Although the bathroom used by the teenage girls often had a bin brimming with used sanpro - unwrapped, just in the bin. It didn't get emptied unless I did it. I'm not at all squeamish, but honestly it stank. Just disgusting!

Lucisky · 09/12/2018 10:23

I was self employed as a cleaner for years. Some people are really tidy, others are just pigs. I actually got so fed up with ones dirty habits I just snapped one day and said I wasn't coming anymore. Said habits included peeing/pooing and not flushing. This perhaps is not so bad if it has only just happened, but this was a huge house with four bathrooms and a single occupant who would randomly use the en suites , so the contents could have been stewing there for a week.
I always used to empty every bin. Why wouldn't you? I would do anything people wanted me to do cleaning wise, except go up ladders, for which I wasn't insured.

SockQueen · 09/12/2018 11:23

I tidy up so that the floor/worktops are clear for cleaning. Get rid of skids in the toilet (I do this anyway, but DH still doesn't seem to bother Angry ). Don't do the bins because it's not bin day - we still have weekly collections with bin bags rather than wheely bins so it doesn't make sense to.

Newyearwhoohoo · 09/12/2018 11:36

I am a private cleaner for five elderly people. The toilets are always clean. I have never, in 7 years, had to deal with anything unpleasant apart from the toilet brush holder which I empty down the loo and disinfect.

There are no big challenges other than clutter which adds to the time it takes. So I clear to one side, clean and put back as neatly as possible. I don't empty bins or do laundry or house keeping jobs such as making beds as they want me to just clean. One person gives me ironing which I take away and deliver back.

Redgreencoverplant · 09/12/2018 12:16

I make sure the place is tidy, deal with any skid marks and mess made by pets and empty the bathroom bins.

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