Should cleaners tidy too?

[Em90876]

Wasn’t sure where to post this so I hope here is okay.
I am a professional cleaner, mainly for end of tenancy cleans/offices and events. My company offered me some private house cleans which I accepted, but there is one in particular that is making me very stressed.
The family consist of 2 parents and 6 children, it’s a very large house with 16 rooms to clean overall. The parents are very relaxed about hygiene and tidiness so there are toys on every floor and surface, washing on the floor (even in the bath), food from the meal the night before scattered across every kitchen surface and floor, and don’t get me started on the condition of the 5 toilets.
I spend roughly one hour tidying the mess before I can actually clean which means a deep clean is impossible and things like skirting boards, doors, tiles etc get missed so I can focus on the bathroom and kitchen surfaces and floors which is all I have time for. The parents have spoken about it before and that it is a priority to them that I tidy their children’s bedrooms, and they will have a giggle that their children are so messy and lazy
I cleaned for them today and as I was so annoyed that it was worse than the previous week I put every toy, item of clothing and other mess onto beds, tables and sofas instead of putting them in their proper places. The parents raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as the house got a decent deep clean instead, but I’m expecting a complaint tomorrow.

I’m in two minds whether to speak to them directly and refuse to do this anymore or if I should give up the clean and inform the company why. Sorry it’s so long I needed to rant just as much as ask for advice!

relaxed about hygiene

I live in the north west. Good cleaners are like gold dust. And people don't give them up. They charge £15 - £20ph.

Get onto FB or one of the neighbourhood sites and advertise. Then you can set your own rules, work your own hours and sack off anyone who disrespects you.

The OP is not complaining in the original post about the limited time she has for such a big and messy property though. She is complaining they she does not feel she should be tidying and only focus cleaning.

“The parents have spoken about it before and that it is a priority to them that I tidy their children’s bedrooms,”

“Should cleaners be tidying too?”
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Well you asked them and they want you to tidy! It’s fine if you don’t want to do this.

I think YANBU but my cleaners do tidy a bit.

I got a cleaner because I don't have time to do it myself and I don't always have time to tidy up everything for them either so I do expect them to work around mess to some extent.

My cleaner saw a fair preview of what it's normally like when she accepted the job. The cleaners don't put things in the correct place (and I accept that if I leave the kids rooms a mess I will spend the rest of forever searching for missing toys that are piled into the nearest available container in no particular order).

One time I asked her to skip DS room as it was OTT messy.

She asked me to make a bit more effort with the kitchen one time and I have since done so.

It's a business arrangement at the end of the day. Don't do it if you don't want to, and if you are willing to then agree some parameters and price the service to include everything you are doing.

P.s. Fwiw our house is about the same size and we have a team of 3 cleaners for 4 hours so I think their expectations are a tad unreasonable!

It's ridiculous to expect you to deep (or even normally) clean a house that size in 3 hours. It takes our cleaner 2 hours to clean our 4 bed semi and that's not even a deep clean. Also I would never expect someone who was cleaning my house to also tidy, it's a waste of their time, and how are they supposed to know where things go anyway. You did the right thing by piling the mess on the beds.

It’s unreasonable to expect you to tidy up - you’re there to clean. We have a cleaner for a few hours a week and right from the start I drew up a list of things I wanted her to attend to, and she pretty much sticks to that. I don’t expect her to tidy or wash up and she would definitely tell me if she thought I was taking the piss!

I had this conversation with my cleaner only today! 😀

Definitely tidy house before cleaner comes - what lazy buggers. They want a tidier not a cleaner .

We tidy before the cleaners come. It's the only way I get my teens to sort out their rooms every week!

I think if they are spending their time tidying then the cleaning won't be done properly.

I always make sure my house is perfectly tidy before our cleaners come. It's not their job to tidy.
Personally I'd give up this particular house.

I normally tidy before our cleaner comes but I ask bedsheets changed, washed and dried and folded and laundry to put away which is what I struggle with. I live in a two bedroom flat. My house is never messy, it's just needs cleaning and laundry sorted. There may be the odd bowl of porridge or coffee cup in the kitchen sink but I allocate 4 hours and I ask her to do this stuff and 4 hours is generous given the amount of work which is required and as a bonus, she wipes down my sofas as well if she notices my little ones sticky finger prints from food! She wipes, cleans and puts things in better order as well which I don't ask. She says "I found a solution for these". We have worked with her for 5 years and never had any issues. If I ask her to do something extra, she will do it and if she's over 4 hours, I pay her that.

My cleaner tidies for me. I don't leave the place a tip but she makes it immaculate.

Sorry Pressed send too soon!
However she is allocated enough time to tidy up, if it's a large house like the one you're describing, you will need at least another 30-45 minutes to tidy up.

Try and look on Myjobquote. You can choose your jobs

NO, it is a question of respect. I always explained to my children that respect meant that they had to pick up their mess the night before cleaner came. That it was not her job to put their dirty knickers, etc, in the washing basket, or to pick up sweet wrappers, any food, toys, etc. When he was 5, my son said 'what's the point of having a cleaner, if I have to tidy up myself'? He got the answer loud and clear! Children should be taught respect for all.

Our cleaner always said it was a joy to come to our house, as she could clean everything thoroughly because she could concentrate on that. And because she felt respected.