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Original poster

Things that have shocked me as a cleaner

263 replies

CleaningDiscoveries · 25/04/2019 19:54

I have 15 clients a week

95% use ‘disposable ‘ wipes

90% don’t recycle (I root through their bins & recycle but it’s obviously only 1 day a week)

OP posts:
SihtricsHorseWitnere · 26/04/2019 14:11

Some people don't give a shit, some do.

And some people apparently shit in the shower, too Grin

Who is wearing out all these clothes? Have never had any get to that state - uniforms from supermarkets don't tend to wear so well, but they're all polyester shit so I donate faded ones back to the school and give away outgrown clothes still in good condition.

Haven't had babies in a long time so no vests to cut up.

Dyrne · 26/04/2019 14:38

@Catchingbentcoppers No? Chucking a wipe in a bin means it goes to my local incinerator to be burnt to turn into energy. No plastic ends up in the water...

Clarabella8 · 26/04/2019 15:17

A lot of people just simply don’t care enough, Wipes are terrible and it is everyone’s responsibility to recycle.
At the hospital I work at the cleaning staff use microfibre cloths and water for most of their cleaning, no chemicals are needed as the cloths do the work at picking up dirt and bacteria.
It’s so worrying the amount of waste, I’ve just been thinking about this as I’ve put my shopping away earlier and realised that everything is overly packaged and wrapped, and I am very selective and will simply not buy products that are going to create unnecessary waste.
They are burning waste and burying waste and recycling such a small amount really. It can’t go on like this surely?

SihtricsHorseWitnere · 26/04/2019 15:38

And the microplastics just leech out into the water when they wash the cloths, and they use hot water and detergent to do that.

SihtricsHorseWitnere · 26/04/2019 15:39

It's also really concerning that hospitals are being supposedly cleaned with just water. Hmm

Prequelle · 26/04/2019 16:05

Same, there are very very strict policies on what our domestics clean with here, and it's usually ChlorClean everywhere, Milton for some things. Disposable cloths are used because they need to be changed so often during the clean. We did win awards for cleanest trust though.

Microfibre and water doesn't seem enough Confused or am I underestimating microfiber

Clarabella8 · 26/04/2019 16:08

Chemicals are used in certain areas and circumstances of course, but general areas microfibre and water is used and is effective in removing dirt and bacteria.
I agree with the fact though that these cloths do cause pollution when washed in the form of micro plastics.

Dyrne · 26/04/2019 16:13

Jesus Christ, Clarabella8; no wonder there are MRSA and norovirus outbreaks every 5 seconds in hospitals:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19108933/

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/17055112/?i=2&from=/19108933/related

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 26/04/2019 16:26

How is water and a cloth effective?! You don't need bleach or harsh chemicals but surely you need something like diluted vinegar ?

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 26/04/2019 16:27

Do American hospitals have the same outbreaks as we do?

Drogosnextwife · 26/04/2019 16:33

I was a cleaner a few years ago, one of the houses I cleaned was a beautiful house, and never very dirty but, quite often they would leave used condoms and used sanitary towels (unwrapped) in their open basket bin at the side of their bed. Made me feel quite sick.

SaveOurSausages · 26/04/2019 17:45

Research shows that wet wipes actually make up more than 90% of the material that causes fatbergs and other sewer blockages.

Yeah that's if they are flushed down the toilet...which they are not because you are finding them in the bin? I'm not sure why you are shocked at people using wet wipes and putting them in the bin...wipes aren't great for the environment but I wouldn't class it as shocking.

Wills · 26/04/2019 17:54

@cleaningDiscoveries - I have two cleaners, I don't use disposable wipes, BUT, they don't recycle despite me having special bins. I have to make sure I go around the house first so I can put stuff in the recycle bins. HOWEVER if they do find rubbish/dirt - its completely random as to which bin it will go into!

ruthboros · 26/04/2019 18:11

I work really long hours - my choice, not moaning - so I don't have time to clean, which is why I have a cleaner. I'm more interested in my career than in being a domestic goddess and I am not prepared to come home at 8 o clock at night after a 12 hour day and clean up in between the cleaner's visits! The junk room is often a mess and there are usually piles of (clean) laundry waiting for me to iron at the weekend - I do my own ironing - but it is untidy, not dirty. Big difference in my mind anyway! Of course we would not leave poo, human or animal, in the loo or bath or fail to dispose of used sanitary protection - that is rank. Perhaps slightly off topic but I just read that the average woman over a lifetime does 7 year unpaid work more than a man, such as cleaning, in which time you could do a degree and a phd - or just put your feet up.

Prequelle · 26/04/2019 18:14

If I could afford it I would defo have a weekly cleaner. Doing 60 hour weeks on top of training and being preg is a killer, even if I was a SAHM if I could afford it I would still have one! I settle with a deep clean every 2-3 months.

Tunnocks34 · 26/04/2019 18:33

I use disposable wipes for the toilet only. Don’t flush them though.

I also recycle but if you looked in my house you’d probably assume I dont recycle, because I put food in the food caddy, and then everything else in the one bin. OH then organised it correctly when he takes it outside.

TooBusyHavingFun · 26/04/2019 18:44

NRTHT

Wipes are only a problem if you flush them down the loo, it's fine to put them in the bin.

ferrier · 26/04/2019 18:48

Except that for every 100 wipes you use you only need one cloth ... or fewer. So no .... putting them in the bin doesn't suddenly make them environmentally friendly.

Romax · 26/04/2019 19:20

We have mixed waste in our room bins and sort it when we empty them.

Wtf

Why? Why would you do this instead of separating before disposing thus avoiding picking through rubbish!

bibbitybobbityyhat · 26/04/2019 19:23

@TooBusyHavingFun

Are you being serious? wipes are made of plastic. Putting them in the bin doesn't make them disappear! They are just adding, in a massive way, to the plastic pollution on this dying planet.

Romax · 26/04/2019 19:26

@Wills

I’m confused. Your cleaner doesn’t recycle? I can’t see what she would recycle

My cleaner comes to my home and cleans. She empties the bins. Rubbish in bins. I have already put my recycling in the recycling bins.

Unless you’re expecting your cleaner to sort through your rubbish to extract recycling....?

Fowles94 · 26/04/2019 19:30

Why would wipes be in the sewer? Do people not bin them? I'm still stuck on that part 🙈

cafesociety · 26/04/2019 19:30

What shocked me as a cleaner when I cleaned for private homes once was a house where there was a boy living there who was about 10 years old.

He would pick his nose and wipe his findings on his wall by his bed. There was quite a display of green lumps smeared on the wallpaper so god knows how long he'd been doing it [and not sure if his parents knew or cared]. It used to make me heave.

No way was I cleaning that, I would vacuum the carpet and shut the door on it. I've never forgotten it.

misper · 26/04/2019 19:36

If you read the OP's post, the wipes she is talking about are bum wipes that get chucked down the toilet.