to think i am a cleaner, not a fucking housekeeper/general dogsbody!!

[superv1xen]

i have a small cleaning business, ok its basically just me, my mop and my hoover, and a gumtree ad :o i have got 3 clients and work 3 days a week.

one of my clients has the most cluttered house i have ever seen, it makes it really hard for me to clean at the best of times as i don't like to move stuff too much plus she always leaves stuff that looks like rubbish lying around but i darent chuck it in case its important (she works from home). she also expects me to change her beds and clean out her coffee machine, which is a right fiddly arse of a job. also i usually have to fill the dishwasher as theres usually a few pots and pans lying about in the kitchen. i think this is a bit above and beyond what i would ask of a cleaner, (my other clients wouldnt dream of asking me to do that) but i need the money work so i just accept it. but today they really took the piss IMO.

i got there and her and her DH were cooking a fry up (hmm) so i went and did the upstairs first to stay out of their way. and came down to find that there were greasy, filthy pots and pans ALL over the work surfaces, the cooker was swimming in grease and the sink was overflowing with dishes. in the sitting room the dining table was covered with dirty cups, plates etc, it looked like they had had some kind of dinner party last night. so i had no choice but to empty their (full) dishwasher and put everything away so i could put all their dirty pots in there and do a new load (to clear them out of the way more than anything) and there wasn't even enough space in there for everything so i had to handwash a load too. and it took me ages to rid the cooker top of its horrible black greasiness. there was also disgusting bits of food and stuff all over the worktops which i had to bin, i was nearly sick i swear.

AIBU or does that take the piss a bit? when i was growing up we had a cleaner when i lived at home and my mum used to make sure it was tidy-ish for when she came so she could do a decent job. as do my other clients!

I don't think I ever flick a duster round a clean house. Once a week I go to a lovely old cottage, the dust settles as soon as I've left the room, it's like that in old places. I can run a damp cloth over a skirting every week and it will come away grimy. I couldn't live with it myself (or their spiders).

This is just common sense really. If you vac and dust your house regularly then you will probably want your cleaner to do other jobs, so just set it up from the start. Don't be surprised if oven cleaning and ironing aren't automatically included in your prospective cleaner's list. Most household jobs can be done though.
But, treat the cleaner with a bit of respect, if you leave your kitchen or bathroom sickeningly minging then don't be surprised to find a note sacking you.

chuckle @ bonsoir :o

I've fired a couple of princesses cleaners in my time. They were far more interested in rearranging my wardrobe and dressing table than cleaning my loo.

I cant believe what I am reading, you surely dont expect them to clean before you arrive? how can you complaina bout having to clean a cooker or empty/stack a dishwasher. You sound lazy to me, you should be grateful to have the work and do it to hte best of your capabilities. If it means you dont have enough time to do everything then you need to speak to them and say what you expect to be a reasonable amount of time. I had a cleaner, I got rid of her in the end because I thought she was rubbish. I would leave the house tidy so she could do extra jobs, but she took this as an excuse to do hardly anything, in fact sometimes I came back and really questioned whether anything was done! I did expect her to stack and unstack dishwasher though..part of cleaning the kitchen!

Tidying up before cleaning does takes ages though. Each year when my student tenants vacate and I have to get the flats in a fit state for holiday lets, I spend about 2 days taking discarded items to the tip and clearing mess away before I can actually start cleaning. Then they wonder why they get money deducted from their deposits! So many people live in filth, and I have to say the holiday lets cause way more filth/damage than the students.

Although sometimes the students pay for "professional cleaners" to come in and clean the flat, and every single time, it has not been nearly clean enough and I have had to spend 3 days cleaning it aftewards. Things like window sills and skirting boards not dusted (its actually easier to repaint them than remove 9 months accumulated dirt), oven and hob not very clean (yes they do need to be cleaned for incoming tenants), mattresses not hoovered, corners not hoovered so dust accumulated in the corners of carpets, bits of dirt at the corners of the kitchen, kitchen drawers not cleaned, shower screens dirty and dirt around their edges, I could go on. Its just easier to do it myself. I'd be a bit wary of paying a cleaner to do it due to this.

I had a princess cleaner once .She read my ad which was very specific about the sort of housekeeping help I needed. 6 young children, some toilet training going on so LOADS of mess and dirt that comes with young kids etc etc. She said she was fine with all of it, had cleaning ocd even. At the end of her second week she complained that she had to clean some poo on the toilet seat and put dirty clothes in the washing machine, especially underwear. I pointed out all of this was discussed at interview and she said she was ok with it.
Turns out she was a bloody lazy mare. Why these people apply for jobs that are obviously completely unsuitable for them is beyond me.

I don't want any precious people faffing about in my house. I want what a have and that is a totally hands on practical person. Who is actually on my side and not taking me for a ride.

I stopped having a cleaner because a) I couldn't really afford it and b)I got sick of the stressful night before when we had to tidy up.

I did have one cleaning Lady who was an angel. She didn't mind washing dishes, was happy to clean up even if we hadn't tidied up and would happily do the laundry without being asked to. I'd come home to a beautiful clean house, and pretty tidy too.She was amazing, but sadly died quite young from a congenital heart defect (it wasn't from cleaning up my pig-sty). I never found anyone as good again, so gave up having a cleaner.

The thing is I paid her for a certain amount of time and she did what she could in that time. My understanding was that she did what she could, so if it wasn't finished, it was because we were too untidy, and I was happy with that.

I've not read the whole thread, but if you are paid to clean, does it matter what you are actually doing - isn't washing dishes part of cleaning? I guess if it isn't to your liking you could tell them?

3 days to clean a flat? In my student let (3 bedrooms) I allow a day, and of course that includes the corners, washing off paintwork etc. I don't do the oven and hob myself, when they are really bad I think it pays to get a professional in, the man who does mine has all sorts of gadgets and charges £50 to get it sparkling. If the mattress hadn't been used for long I might vac it, but normally after a year's let I chuck them and buy new.
Don't some posters realise that there is a difference between washing up some dishes and being faced with a kitchen that is so filthy and covered in grease that it made someone feel sick?

Glad you're not my cleaner, OP. Although I admit that we were very clear about tasks beforehand - she will clean, stack the dishwasher (probably the one thing I appreciate the most, actually), iron and mend/alter clothes and pretty much anything else too as required. I just leave a list and she does what she can in the time allotted.

No way would I employ a cleaner who would put dirty dishes back in a clean sink - that's just bonkers!

LOL - OP is TOO POSH TO WASH!

OK, that's enough chat about cleaning. I have to pack up my bucket and go out and do some.

Don't some posters realise that there is a difference between washing up some dishes and being faced with a kitchen that is so filthy and covered in grease that it made someone feel sick?

lucy - precisely :) thank you. you sound a fab cleaner btw, always nice to meet another one (even if only on mn), hope you had a good shift today!

My cleaner loads and empties the dishwasher and washing machine and also strips and makes my beds! This works for me! This has evolved over 8 years of me initially hoovering before she arrived and making the beds and giving the place a tidy! She is a walking Angel!

Lucyinthepie "3 days to clean a flat? In my student let (3 bedrooms) I allow a day, and of course that includes the corners, washing off paintwork etc. I don't do the oven and hob myself, when they are really bad I think it pays to get a professional in, the man who does mine has all sorts of gadgets and charges £50 to get it sparkling. If the mattress hadn't been used for long I might vac it, but normally after a year's let I chuck them and buy new."

One has 6 bedrooms, another 5. The 6 bedroom is 2400 square feet. So, yes 3 days to clean it properly! I include in this some minor repainting. I vac the mattresses but don't normally bin them as I use quite good quality ones.

YADNBU. FFS there is cleaning and then there is miracle working.

I am a cleaner and it is my experience that the dirtier and messier the house is the higher the standard the client expects.

If they want dishes washed up and a spring clean then they have to pay more. A cooker covered in grease along with a sink full of washing up is taking the piss.

I hate having to spend ages preparing an area by tidying and washing up before I can actually clean.

I ordered some of the cloths Lucy suggested and they arrived this morning.

They. Are. Awesome.

Seriously - I'm wondering whether I'll ever need another cloth, or cleaning product, again.

So long as you are paid by the hour, does it matter if they've not sorted out the washing up? More moolah for you if they want it spotless and the dishwasher sorted?

kaid100, I think that query has been answered several times. But I don't mind doing it again:
Don't some posters realise that there is a difference between washing up some dishes and being faced with a kitchen that is so filthy and covered in grease that it made someone feel sick?

I think most cleaners will happily wash up, we don't care if someone wants us to do the easy stuff rather than the heavier work. It's the totally minging, nasty stuff that turns stomachs that causes problems.

Calamitykate, glad to be of help! (They don't remove limescale).

When I was in my last job we had an office cleaner who came in a couple of times a week and who refused to clean anything that wasn't tidy.

He would do the washing up "within reason" meaning that we weren't to leave dirty cups for a week waiting for him to come and wash them but he wouldn't object to the cups we had used that day etc.

And mine was the only desk he ever dusted and polished because I was the only one who bothered to clear it at the end of the day before I left.

One day my boss asked him about this and he replied that he wasn't adverse to cleaning around the things that might be expected on a desk but he wasn't there to tidy up a "pile of crap" first. Amazingly, my boss accepted that as a reasonable answer but he still didn't tidy his desk.

If I had a cleaner, which I don't because I only work part time now so I'd find it hard to justify to myself, I would tidy up so s/he could clean.

I wouldn't expect her to spend time clearing up toys and dirty dishes so that she could hoover up and wipe surfaces. I would expect her to move ornaments to dust because those things are the sort of thing that "might be expected" to be on shelves or surfaces.

It also wouldn't kill someone to wipe up a spill from the cooker when they make it but I'd say it was okay to ask the cleaner to do the more in-depth clean.

I suppose really it comes down to making an agreement at the start and sticking to it. If you haven't made one with them they might think all is fine and be surprised to find out that you mind.

But leaving an entire dinner parties worth of dishes on the table for you to deal with is a bit off, agreement or not.

"Don't some posters realise that there is a difference between washing up some dishes and being faced with a kitchen that is so filthy and covered in grease that it made someone feel sick?"

Yes, of course, but that implies a kitchen that hasn't been cleaned in months. Presumably the kitchen has been regularly cleaned and maintained - after all the owners employ a cleaner! So I don't understand how it could become so filthy and nasty overnight that it would make anyone sick.

From what the OP has said, it seems to be a matter of debris from a dinner party the previous evening, and the same day's breakfast or brunch. Mess that was only a few hours old. Not stuff that had been left to rot and moulder for ages such as we have seen Kim & Aggie deal with on TV.

If the OP is paid by the hour, and that's what they wanted her to do and were paying for it, I cannot see what the issue is here. Cleaning the hob and dealing with some washing up is hardly heavy-duty stuff, greasy or not.

actually, the most important trait required in a cleaner is not the ability to clean, but to be discreet. Not gossiping about her or his employers is essential, even if it is on an anonymous online forum.

anyone can mop a floor or vacuum a room that has been tidied... only the super amazing can refrain from gossiping. the op does not belong to this category