Why is it so impossible to find a cleaner?!

[rhino12345]

We've been searching for a cleaner now for about 4 months and it's honestly broken me 😂 For all the time I've spent looking for a cleaner, I could have deep cleaned a bloody hotel !!!!

Have asked on local Facebook group, but got 5 responses of which 3 were fully booked, 1 never replied to my message and another said she was coming and then never showed up on the day.

Asked some friends who have cleaners for recommendations, again one came for a couple of weeks and then never showed up again - can't get hold of her and neither can my friend??

Had another lady come that was highly recommended by an old colleague, she messaged and said "sorry, I can't come this week but my friend Vicky will be with you instead". When Vicky arrived, I asked how she knew the original cleaner (just making conversation more than anything) only to find she'd never met her and she was just a random woman off Facebook!!!!!! And she was sub-letting the cleaning job to her???!!!

Asked another friend who she uses, but she was very honest and said she wouldn't recommend them as they won't mop or hoover?!!!

I feel completely aghast. I've now tried three different agencies, inc a national one, thinking I'd have more luck there, but again one never replied, the other was fully booked and another local one said they only had time to do 'half' the house?!

I'm starting to wonder if I'm on some sort of cleaning blacklist 😂Our house is just a normal house, very tidy, no pets, non-smoker etc! And I'm a nice person, smiley and friendly and leave them to it.

SO AIBU? Is it impossible to find a cleaner, or is there some secret club I need to be a part of? 😅

I worked as a private cleaner 30 years ago, quite liked it, used to cycle to most of my clients.

I guess it’s because cleaners aren’t now seen as a luxury for the super rich. I have the same problem with gardeners!

I got one for the first time recently. She came and had a look and said it would take 2 hours to do upstairs and downstairs, it’s a really small house. Great stuff I thought. The first time she came she spent THREE HOURS cleaning half of downstairs. What the actual fuck. We have 4 windowsills downstairs and she managed two of them 🤣 and scratched my wood floor! Not sure how as the floor was still dirty and hadn’t been vacced or mopped. I transferred her the money, had a little cry at how disappointed I was and then text her and said not to come back next week. And she had the absolute cheek to be arsey with me 😂

I’ve posted on Facebook a few times trying to find one, I don’t have any issues in finding one but it’s finding one that Is actually good… I recently got rid of my cleaner who I’ve used for a few months now because the quality of cleaning just wasn’t there, surfaces with dust still on them, shower trap still dirty, toilets with marks still down them (can’t clean the toilet if there is no toilet brush… yet there is one in each toilet!), I had to hoover and mop the floors again after she had been. But hey she could fold a towel nicely!

I’m a self employed cleaner. I’m a bit shocked by these posts. No wonder I am fully booked, I turn up and actually clean!
Hope you managed to get sorted OP.

Until you get someone look at your time management. At night someone makes dinner/dishes and 1 household chore. The other deals with kids. Once a month deep clean one weekend. thats what we did for years.

We've had so many cleaners over the past 10 years and they goods ones always leave as they get another job.. One good one started working in an office and the other became a full time housekeeper to rich people with an enormous house.

The rest have either ghosted me, had insane demands (I want you to pay £80 for a load of specific cloths before I've cleaned anything) or just not really cleaned properly. Most fall into this last category - they kind of tidy but don't want to properly clean which is not what I need as my house is already extremely tidy and I make sure that there is absolutely nothing out on floor, surfaces etc before they come so they can clean it!

Just what I would call a "surface clean" so cleaning bathrooms (we have two), dusting, hoover and mop. No changing of beds, no need to take bins out, some rooms no need to even dust, just hoover the floor!

Yes that's what we're doing currently but there are always jobs that aren't at the top of the priority list which just won't get done 😩

My friend's mum is in her late 70s and needed someone just to come and do a bit of light weeding once a month, and maybe a bit of pruning here and there. Only a small garden so maybe an hour or two once a month - she was quoted £70 an hour!! And when he came he tore out a load of plants that weren't weeds!!!

That is INSANE.

Omg we are having the same nightmare. There are no cleaners and the ones available are charging extortionate prices but are so unreliable. I’ve booked with a company and the cleaners didn’t show up half the time, I then had one cleaner who came and said the bathroom wouldn’t be included even though the manager said it was a full clean of all rooms. Then she left the place after half her booking time with so much undone, she didn’t clean the fridge even though said she did, she didn’t clean the living room and said because I was sitting in there. wtf? I was wfh so yes I was sitting there but normally just move rooms for the cleaners when asked. We used to have a great cleaner but she moved. Had another booked today from another company, when there was no sign of her I messaged the owner who said so and so came knocked but had no answer. I checked the ring doorbell and she did not ring or knock, she stood there for about two minutes and walked away. So bloody odd.

Do you have a neighbourhood WhatsApp group? That’s how we found our current cleaner (who has her quirks, but is very nice and generally does a good job) — it works for her because all her clients are in the same area, and she’s not wasting time travelling between jobs.

Yes have asked in there but the highly recommended one has a waitlist as long as the M6 😂

bloody odd with bells on!

Same issue. Every cleaner I’ve had has been utterly unreliable and ended up just not turning up. I think I’m an easy customer - no high expectations, house is extremely tidy, just me and my husband and a cat live here - but I have osteoarthritis and need someone reliable. They don’t exist.

Just make sure she knows you’re interested if people move away or stop using her services.

Took me ages last year. I had people who didn’t turn up. Someone in my street offered to do a test. I was on holiday abroad and responded when I came back apologising for not responding sooner. Got ghosted.

one company came to deep clean. 6 cleaners turned up and used my house as hub. Didn’t really clean and my house smelled so perfumed. Also asked them to be careful with the front door so cat wouldn’t get out. They spend whole time with door open as lots of people just came and went. Plus they took my cleaning products. Said I didn’t want to book them and got an arsey text.

finally found a startup. They cleaned my house brilliantly. They expanded and I wanted to change days. Got a lovely lady, but not great at dusting. She is here for 2.5 hrs and the price is great. Trust her. But company got too many customers. They keep changing my days. They tried to change me last week to a clean after 4 days then the next 10 days later. Couldn’t see the issue of that’s not a weekly clean.

started looking about. But again people don’t respond or turn up. Think I might just stick with what I know

I have just found a seemingly good cleaner but she was the 6th I tried. 3 didn't reply, 1 was crazy prices - insisted I needed 3.5 hours a week at £35/hour and wouldnt do what i wanted. Well beyond my budget. One replied with some bizarre rudeness questioning who I was and how I'd got her number and said her clients wouldn't give out her number without asking her..Well they had.

I’d try and spare 15 minutes a day to do something. You’ll be amazed which you can achieve.

Nothing wrong with that list. Sounds like there's a bit of a weird gap in the market going on those thread.

Have you tried Bark? You post a job then people who are interested reply. That's where i found my first cleaner. She cut down her work due to ill health. Got my second on local Facebook page.

What are you trying to pay?

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Cleaners until quite recently were a luxury. SAHM were doing all the cleaning when kids were at school, and they would care and clean for elderly relatives.

Now both parents expected to work full time, and want to hire a cleaner to help out. People are living longer so more cleaners being hired to clean for the elderly to help them stay home.

Now demand outstripping availability. They can be a bit shit and people will still keep through desperation or they'll find another job quickly!