Am I justified to ask my cleaner to do these things ?

[DeleteIt]

Cleaner has a long journey on public transport plus we are the last call of the day twice a week.
I have asked her to take shoes off in the house, please wash hands on arrival and to not hoover the doormat first as then she is hoovering round the rest of the house with the hoover head having been all over outside bacteria ? I’ve been rolling up the mat after she arrives as she kept doing it despite me asking !

I offered to provide some indoor shoes if she wanted but she declined. Am I being over the top?

You're going to raise a neurotic child by constantly worrying about germs.

What are you going to do when they play in a sandpit and chew sand, lick a toy or jump in puddles?

In nursery they’ll drop a biscuit pick it up and eat it. You cannot be there all the time.

Just relax a bit or set up a robot vac to run in the one room overnight so it’s clean in the morning.

What could he possibly pick up from crawling on the same surface that a plastic hoover head has been on ? I think you have some anxiety around germs that needs investigating and I say this as someone that has been diagnosed with OCD and managing very well with medication for it.

@DeleteIt OP I don't think this is over the top at all, but I live in Japan where even paramedics take their shoes off before entering someone's home; and it is normal practice to both wash hands and gargle when you come from public transport to a private home.

So she'll hoover the carpet where the mat would have been which she has walked over and has all those evil outside germs on it??

Washing hands abs removing shoes not too unreasonable but the doormat is OTT.

I know I can’t avoid all germs but I think basic hygiene measures in the home are important

That’s not basic hygiene, it’s batshit.

I say all the time on here, I have seen sick people for several decades. NO illness has ever been caused by people wearing shoes, sitting on a bed in clothes, vacuuming in different orders, nit washing hands after coming in, not washing towels/sheets as often as people on here seem to do. It’s all rubbish. People that actually get sick due to hygiene issues are homeless or vulnerable people being abused who are made to sit in their waste and are not showered etc. There is the odd idiot that gets sick due to silly food hygiene such as using chopping boards for raw chicken then making a salad directly after on the same board etc but that’s about it. A lot of people here just like to make a lot of work for themselves and then get hysterical to defend that.

I'm pretty sure you don't get a bug from someone not flushing the toilet. Not unless you're licking the bowl or something.

I think these are basic requests tbh. We are a strictly no shoe household. And I wash my hands as soon as I arrive at someone’s house. Especially after being on public transport. It’s basic hygiene.

I would always wash my hands when coming in from using public transport. I would also always wash my hands before emptying the dishwasher or preparing food.
If your cleaner doesn't do these things automatically then she is probably doing other things that would horrify you because she just doesn't think like that.
You need a different cleaner.

This.

You’re not crazy OP. I’ve asked my cleaner to do the same because for me, they’re basic hygiene. The door mat can carry all sorts. When I mentioned it to my cleaner, who is very honest and would tell me if she thought something was weird, she said it makes sense and was happy to adopt.

I used to disinfect the hoover head too, but by luck, we now have two heads, so there’s one for the mats.

I would find another cleaner because it’s not worth the anxiety. People on here are entitled to say you’re being OTT, but it’s your home and you’re paying for a service.

Generally, people seem to have an issue with washing hands, so i’m not surprised people on here think this is an odd request. Unsurprising that we had to have a national campaign to encourage us to wash our hands during covid…

You mean you use hand sanitiser before you come in?

Another yes

People can live whatever way they want but you have to realise all the germ phobia is targeted advertising and of benefit to nobody but the sellers of hygiene products. And actually people immune systems are fucked from all the under exposure. Including post covid noticeable differences with people getting sicker with other things from overly hygienic environments and children with weak immune systems due to lack of exposure. It’s basic science but that’s nothing in the face of humans vulnerability to anxiety and suggestion.

YANBU. Your house, your choice of hoovering order. I always wash my hands as soon as I get in and, obviously, remove my shoes. I would ask anyone working in my home to do the same. It’s basic hygiene.

Neither have I. And I don’t intend to start.

Don't faint from shock and horror, but we don’t take shoes off as soon as we come in the house, either. And we don’t make the pets wash their paws before they come in.

What's more, we sometimes share towels and only wash them weekly.

And we, our children (one is a doctor) and grandchildren are no more unhealthy than people who worry excessively about clean houses.

(I do appreciate that OP has had all the anxiety of a very premature baby and only wants to keep him healthy, but I think she needs to ease up now.)

well good luck with that!

I would actually put money on the non-disinfecters being healthier and less sick than the disinfecters.

I would deffo get a new cleaner, OP, she doesn’t sound very good

Not unreasonable at all. Your house, your rules and you've offered indoor shoes for the cleaner.

Surely if she hoovers the doormat last, the first thing she hoovers on her next visit will get bacteria all over it anyway. By the way, bacteria are on most things.

People are giving your a hard time OP. I think if you would ask this in on a preemie forum EVERYbody would totally understand and agree with you. People seem to think they know everything, while preemie mums know that there is a big, big difference in immune system and in coping with illnesses.

For everyone saying OP is overreacting, please do your research. When babies are preemie their immune systems are underdeveloped. They have more risk of being very unwell from things that in normal babies just boosts their immune system.

In the NICU you have to sanitize everything constantly, you can't even hang your coats in the same space (bacteria, second hand smoke even if you don't smoke yourself) constant hand sanitizing. I can still recall the smell of the hand sanitizer they use there, almost 11 years later.

OP it's traumatizing and this will definitely play into your perception of cleanliness but you are not being unreasonable, and even if you were, this is your house and your baby so you decide what works for you. If your child is past the crawling stage and you still feel the need to sanitize everything then yes, it could be time to address this. But for now don't let everyone on here who had fully grown babies tell you you are being unreasonable!
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YANBU at all, if you have to keep reminding your cleaner & she keeps ignoring it then it’s probably time to get another that respects your wishes.

What method do you use?

Wow, this is seriously OTT. What else are you doing on this level? If you are spending a lot of time on extra deep cleaning tasks you would be better off dropping them and moving to a standard clean you do yourself; that is perfectly adequate. I presume your baby has a play mat you can bung in the wash? If he has been crawling elsewhere give his hands and face a wash before eating. But exploring the world with their mouth is a normal part of infant development and, not withstanding his difficult start, you are going to make yourself ill with anxiety if you carry on like this.