How tidy is your house before your cleaner comes?

[Knitwit99]

Our cleaner regularly leaves messages telling me she couldn't clean something because it was too untidy. The stress of tidying up for the cleaner is starting to outweigh the benefit of having her in the first place. How tidy is your house on cleaner day?

This is how messy our house is today, an average day I would think. Should this be ok for the cleaner?

In the kitchen there is one clean bowl sitting on top of the cooker, 3 clean mugs on the draining board and one clean empty milk bottle waiting to be put out tonight for the milkman.

On the kitchen table there is a box with a cake in it and a book sitting on top of it's cardboard delivery envelope. And my husband's travel coffee mug he's forgotten to take to work.
The cooker is needing cleaned and there are 4 cheerios someone has dropped on the floor

Is this too messy to leave for a cleaner? Be honest. Should I clean the cooker and sweep the floor before I go to work? Would you expect the cleaner to move the mugs and clean the sink and draining board or should she not clean that area because of the mugs? Am I being a CF to expect the cleaner to clean a bit of spilt porridge off the cooker, or is cleaning a dirty cooker part of her job as a cleaner?

A towel is lying in the bathroom floor, one of the kids will have made a half hearted attempt to hang it on the radiator and it has fallen off. One empty toilet roll tube sitting out. The sink has a bit of toothpaste on it but the toilet is clean. I always clean the toilet. Should she hang up the towel or clean round it?

3 teddies lying in the living room carpet and a blanket half on the chair, half fallen off onto the floor. I would expect the cleaner to fold up the blanket, throw the teddies on a chair and clean the room. Am I expecting too much?

The sideboard in the hall is covered with papers and letters so if this had been cleaning day I would have left her a note telling her to leave it and just do the hall floor.

How unreasonable an I really? Be honest, am I taking advantage or is she just not the right cleaner for us?

Mine is tidy / clear / things put away, but I certainly wouldn't clean before the cleaner comes.
I'm generally quite tidy but I make sure the dogs toys aren't lying all over, that any paperwork/magazines etc is put away or in a single pile, nag the kids to make sure their floor and desks are clear to be cleaned, ensure the kitchen surfaces are clear and everything is put away or in the dishwasher.

I do vacuum / sweep downstairs because of the dog during the week, but not the day before the cleaner comes.

I wipe the kitchen surfaces, sink and hob after using them but wouldn't do them on cleaner day. I would wipe off a singificant spillage though so it didn't dry on. The cleaner cleans them along with wiping down the cabinet doors. I haven't asked her to clean inside the oven.

I also don't clean the bathrooms, vacuum upstairs, dust/wipe living area and bedroom surfaces at all, they get done weekly by the cleaner.

I'd certainly expect then to clean the things you mention, pick up the blanket, hang up the towel etc rather than clean round them.

Once she didn't clean the entire sink and draining board because of 2 clean bowls and spoons sitting on the drying rack. We don't have a dishwasher, usually we leave the breakfast dishes and do them with the dinner dishes at night. But on cleaner day I always wash them, and try to dry them and put them away if I have time.

Her note that day said "I couldn't clean the sink area because of the dirty dishes."

Is it really too much to ask her to lift the draining rack off, clean the sink then put it back?

I honestly don't think that's asking too much but she's making me doubt myself.

We are immaculately tidy for the cleaner (although I don’t sweep the floor). All surfaces clear, sinks and draining boards clear, beds made. My kids might be older than yours though, everyone pitches in and helps the night before.

She's taking the piss, OP.

We try and load everything in the dishwasher before our cleaner comes but if something is out, she washes it and puts it away.

We often have bits lying around too. She either tidies them away or works round them.

I don't see clean but draining (but dry by the time she gets there?) as an issue - particularly if on a drying rack. As you say no problem in moving it cleaning and moving it back.
I'd be pretty annoyed by that.

I tidy before my cleaner comes but don't clean. Otherwise what would they do? They don't usually go into the kids rooms and they know that. I move things I don't want the cleaner to put somewhere I can't find them, correspondence etc, and I don't leave dirty crockery etc out because I don't want them to over stack the dishwasher. I'd be pretty annoyed if the didn't do the stove.

Or the sink.

She's taking the piss, OP. Find a new cleaner

As a cleaner myself I wish all the houses were as tidy as yours sounds before I arrived !!! I regularly tidy as I go but understand that people have very busy lives which is why they have a need to employ me , it doesn't bother me at all I just see it as part of the job ,and gives me a real sense of achievement when I leave a lovely tidy clean house .

Your house sounds fine. I'd try a different cleaner.

Hi. This would be acceptable to me and expected with a family. I find couples who I clean for have tidied round before I arrive so I can crack on with cleaning. Families struggle a bit to clear everything up so I tidy up a bit first, in a three bed semi with two kids that would take 20 minutes. If there was a desk full of papers etc I'd just leave it. If there were a few things on a table I'd straighten them up and polish the table. I don't clean inside ovens but always clean the hob. A cleaner is employed to clean not tidy up but as a cleaner I would only not do something if it were a real mess.

That’s a bit odd. I’m pretty good at making everything clear before she comes but she will lift things to clean under them. The only thing I don’t expect her to do is to move all the toys in the playroom and sitting room to clean under them as she’d be there for ages! I put them in the corner they live in though / put things on the windowsill or whatever to clear some surfaces.

Yours sounds fine. A lot better than mine and my cleaner has never complained. We pay for 3 hours a week but they way the company works 3 people come for 1 hour and take an area each. I overheard them saying to each other that our house is a really easy house to clean. And it is far far more clutter than yours. I do pit bleach down toilets night before ensure all toys are away and no dirty laundry is anywhere. I empty bins and take out rubbish before they come but nothing else. Often they have to work round by washing that's drying or washing that's waiting to be put away. Think your cleaner is being unreasonable. Mine said if u cant tidy it just mean we clean less because we spend time tidying but we will do what we can in the time allocated.

Clear surfaces & I do the toilets and sinks so no signs of anything then cleaner deep cleans- disinfects toilets etc

She doesn't empty bins, do dishes in any form, deal with any sort of laundry.

She doesn't lift things off shelves to dust or clean under sofa cushions, these things are 'deep cleaning' and not 'routine cleaning'.

She is taking the piss, isn't she? I don't know why I am doubting myself.

I am a cleaner and regularly tidy things away/Load the dishwasher and put on/put away...It is all part of the job as far as I am concerned and I quite enjoy it!! Everywhere always looks so much better when I have finished..
I do go to other houses and do not have to tidy or move a thing and this is easier and it does leave more time for extra jobs..overall though I prefer the messier houses-just not too messy!!!!!( piles of washing up ect)

What is the point of paying for a cleaner when you clean before the come?!! Refusing to clean the sink because of a couple of bowls is ridiculous!!!

I am in the process of hiring a cleaner and to be honest if this is how they behave I will just forget about it.

I would never expect someone to do my dishes, laundry or tidying. But houses are lived in. Clean mugs on the draining board are normal in most houses surely. And the odd towel can be picked up and folded?

Your house does not sound messy - there are some very high standards here😊

Really depends what you agreed she would do when you employed her , but I would say that emptying bins and lifting things to dust are definitely routine weekly clean stuff . Deep clean would be things like moving wardrobes and other big furniture to hoover/mop behind or oven cleaning etc . It sounds like the stress it's causing you of the jobs she doesn't do kind of defeats the object of having a cleaner , so might be a time to look around for someone else.

Doing the bins is not deep cleaning! I think you need a change of cleaner. She's sound a bit bonkers and not cut out to be a cleaner.

I've been both a professional cleaner and employed many cleaners over the years.

Be interested to know what they do do.

I remember working somewhere that had a deep clean. That included shampooing the carpets and washing down the (painted) walls.

Omg what does she actually do. I'd honestly say you don't require her services anymore, as you are going to hire a cleaner!

If that’s messy I’m not sure what people would think of a normal family home (based on both mine or numerous friends homes).
I found the same stress OP and ditched the cleaner. I do think there is a massive untaped business in housekeeper by the hour- where they’ll tidy (within reason), clean and do little jobs.

It sounds really stressful OP. I have never had a cleaner and hope I never have to.

Get a robot vacuum cleaner and robot mop. They clean perfectly well, and don't leave passive-aggressive notes!

She's taking the piss, get a new cleaner.

We usually clear away all dirty washing but if we don't my (wonderful) cleaners just puts it in the dishwasher. I do no cleaning for her (why???) but we do tidy up but only to the state I'd have the house at if I didn't have children. So coats and shoes in the cloakroom rather than on the floor/bannister etc, clothes picked off the floor in the DC bedrooms (cleaner changes the sheets and washes them so I make the kids shift books and soft toys off the beds), toys off the floor in the playroom. Thinking about it the cleaners must dust round all the lego models in the playroom because there's not piles of dust there.

I did discover at Christmas that I'm quite generous with their christmas bonus though, don't know if I'm generous because they are good or if they are good because I'm generous.