To expect cleaner to do more?

[Mum2onefabson]

Hi
I am new here so please be gentle. I would appreciate some opinions so I can decide what to do.
We have recently hired a cleaner (5 weeks ago) and i am some what dissapointed with what she manages to do within the the two hours we pay her for.
She charges £10 an hour and comes for two hours each week.
We live in a typical 30's three bed house with two reception rooms, a downstairs loo and a conservatory. The house is very tidy and I move all clutter so she can clean and not tidy.
Today she has hoovered the lounge, dining room, hsl and one bedroom. Wiped kitchen surfaces/cleaned sink, mopped floor and cleaned the bathroom. No furniture/kitchen appliances have been moved and the hoovering is a rough job ie. not done round the edges. The bathroom tiles have not been touched although the sink and bath have been cleaned. The conservatory has not been done at all.
She does not enter two of the bedrooms at my request, one is my Son's and way too messy the other is a small box room which we hardly ever use so I don't see the point of cleaning it on a weekly basis. She also doesn't go in the downstairs loo, not sure why?
We have really stretched ourselves to be able to afford this and it is a real luxury so I wanted to feel really pleased with the end result but afer today I am so dissapointed and wonder if my expectations are too high?

Get oak doors on your kitchen units - mine haven't been cleaned in 10 years but still look great!

I get very annoyed with my cleaner collecting her £40 a week cash for skimming around our OCD-tidy newly refitted house (just DH & I, DC are grown & gone, even the cats live mainly outside!). Oak floors, new kitchens & bathrooms. On a Saturday I really see the dusty corners etc. and get annoyed. Agree with Hecate that a list is essential, but I've now let a year go by and haven't written one. We can do a thorough clean, including outside sweeping & window cleaning, and fridge & cooker, washing & ironing within 4 hours. She confines herself to dusting & vacuuming + cleaning the one bathroom we actually use. I don't begrudge her coffee breaks or the reading of Private Eye which I know she indulges in. She was great at the start, but it's been downhill all the way since about week 5. We're planning to do it ourselves in the New Year as what she actually does can be done within 2 hours. If she hadn't taken the p*ss we would have kept her on, but it's just not worth it. A list is the only way. Good luck :)

I made that mistake and asked the cleaner to do what she thougth the first week. Second week I left a list with the most important jobs at the top. Lots more done but she still didn't manage to do do everything. It was better though.

Our cleaner does pretty much exactly what Maxybrown says.
Ours is a 'lived in' house, cleaner comes for 2 hours every 2 weeks - are you our cleaner Maxy :o

Kitty - my friend lives in the SE, in an OK but not upmarket area and she cleans (quite ironic as her place is always a tip!! ), she has lovely, lovely clients who think the world of her (she's built her business up over about 8 years) and she gets £12.50 an hour and more work than she can take on. HTH.

at hiring your own mum to do your cleaning and then getting rid of her because of maternity leave.
Life's hard but should it be that hard?

kittyfane i charge £10 an hour, could charge more but decided on that rate as was easy for clients.

I work 16ish hours a week over 3 days and I was full booked within 10 days of starting. If you're good you will end up turning down work. It is hard physical work & down side is no sick pay/days I work whatever.

But great freedom & I have lovely clients, Pm me and I'll send a link to my website

Im shocked at the 4 hour clean and lack of cleaning!! 4 hours I can do a spring clean (a house that isnt cleaned weekly) 3 bathrooms, 4 beds, 4 receptions

I can do my whole 3 bed house in an hour and its sparkling Id say she does not do enough. Is she doing the stairs?

[impressed] you can do your whole 3 bed in an hour? I am in awe!

It takes me an hour just to polish everything in the living room, clean the skirting boards and the doors, put all the kids stuff away, dust the blinds and hoover! let alone the rest of the house - washing floors, polishing, tidying, doors and skirters, scrubbing bathrooms and worksurfaces, tidying toys, making beds...

And I've only got a two bed! You can do all that in a three bed in an hour! You're bloody amazing! How do you manage to do it?

Thanks to everyone who has replied.
In response, the stairs are hoovered but banister etc not touched.
I don't expect sofa to moved every week but it was done at week one and not since (now week 5). Same with small kitcgen appliances.
Windows have never been done and even window ledges only got cleaned when i requested it.
What should be expected within two hours, i don't want to be unreasonable but feel that each week less and less has been done. Surely more should be done as she becomes more familiar with our house. My hubby is totally fed up and wants to stop her coming but i would like to sort it out if poss.

OP you definitely need to address this with your cleaner. I have lived with this situation before and ended up very resentful and having no alternative but to end contract.

I find the best approach to cleaning is to allow yourself 15 minutes per room. It doesn't sound anywhere near enough but it works to keep you focussed and you get the whole house done in no time. I also find that I can get two rooms done in that time (eg downstairs loo and the study). We have a 4 bed, 3 bath, 2 reception room house and I can clean top to bottom in 2 hours max. And I am mega fussy too!

Thanks
I think we will end contract i am will have a go at doing it myself. Tbh i feel like she has taken advantage and i am really dissapointed.

I used to clean my house including tidying in 2 hours on a Saturday morning . That included hoovering through, cleaning windows inside, bathroom, mirrors, dusting, making beds, wiping all surfaces like windowsills and banister rail/spindles etc. I also cleaned the kitchen

Have you asked your cleaner exactly what you want doing?

If she has done the stairs but not the bannister, moved the sofa on week one, but not since, moved small kitchen appliances on week one but not since, I wonder if you have let her know it is expected every week?

From what I have read here, it appears to be a communication problem...she may not know exactly what you want her to do, and you haven't made it clear.

If you have asked your cleaner to clean the conservatory, clean the tiles around the bath, move the smaller kitchen appliances and clean behind them, clean the downstairs loo...then you return to find she hasn't done those things, you would be understandably upset and I'd be wanting to know exactly what she is doing in her time?

If OTOH, you have said..'Please clean my house.' and been rather vague about it, she may not properly understand what you want doing.

Some things are more important than others to different people. I used to clean and one lady was upset that I hadn't dried her basin with a soft cloth after cleaning, then buffed her basin to a shine and polished the taps, yet she had never made it clear that was what she expected IYSWIM.

Different people are happy with different things..so I'm just wondering how clear you have made it when you have told her what you expect??

Thanks
Yes you are right i haven't been very clear but on one visit i asked for her to focus on windows and then anything else like hoovering if there was time. When i returned four windows had been cleaned! I then realised that it may be best just to let her get on with general stuff and i can do the more nitty gritty things. Maybe i should try and discuss it with her but i find that very difficult and i told her that when she first started.

IME the absolute worst thing when having a cleaner is to start with the wishy washy "just do what you think". I think it is a typically British approach, borne out of embarassment of having "staff" and means that you always treat your cleaner like she is doing you an enormous favour rather than it is an economic transaction.

Starting firm and relaxing as you continue works best but the fact you haven't doesn't mean you have to terminate the contract. Be proactive: make your own list of what you want doing and make it clear what the priorities are, rather than waiting for her check list.

Make it clear what you think she should be able to achieve in that time, presumably at times you have cleaned your own house so you must have a good idea of what realistically can be completed in the allocated time.

OP - you need to give a cleaner very clear instructions about (a) what you want her to do (b) the standards to which you wish her to do it. Eg if you want her to vacuum, you need to say that she needs to vacuum every square centimetre of each room you wish her to vacuum. If you want her to clean the bathrooms and loos, you need to tell her that you wish her to clean the wall tiles, the floor tiles and the furniture, and with what product.

Oh - and don't ask cleaners to clean windows. Get a professional window cleaner in to do them - they do a far better job!

Hmmm, having 22nd and 23rd December off to be spick and span for Christmas visitors. Beginning to feel excited about what might be behind/under sofas, etc..

Oh how I would love a cleaner. It's actually one of my ambitions....:)

As a cleaner myself I can assure you I would not be working for someone patronizing enough to instruct me to vac every centimeter of a given carpet, at least not for long! Being a cleaner does not make you thick!
Op, your cleaner is clearly not great at her job, of is surprising how many people assume anyone can be a cleaner, they can't! However there are lots of very good cleaners out there who are more than worth the money. Personally I would end the contract with this one, do your own house for a bit so you have a clear list of what you want doing and how often then meet a few, ask what they think of your list, how they would improve it. Ask for suggestions and finally a time and cost estimate. There will be a cleaner out there who will blow you away!

My cleaner cleaned all of downstairs today but when she got to the top of the stairs I asked her put her Hoover back in the car and gave her instructions to drive to the farm shop so we could have a yummy lunch

She works too hard making my house look fantastic week after week and it was wonderful to have a chat away from the dusters

I am very grateful, shes on in a million

My cleaner is brilliant. She clearly has a rota in her head setting out what needs cleaning each week. I notice something is dirty and the next week it is clean.

I pay my cleaner for 3 hours to do my 3 bed, 1 bathroom 30s house, without a conservatory. Sometimes she does 4 hours if I have my mum guests coming. I wouldn't expect her to do it in less, I certainly couldn't and I always tidy up before she comes. Perhaps you are expecting too much in 2 hours?

However, you are paying her and if you don't like her, ditch her.

time yourself when doing what you expect a cleaner to do be strict, no dawdling -do the cleaning in the specified time and see what you have done.
you may be surprised how long some jobs take, especially windows which i dont do because they take so long. i could spend an entire morning cleaning the windows at the houses i clean.i have worked for some lovely people and do my very best, i really do but can only do so much in the time. every month or so i work an extra 2 hours per house to have an extra fettle, when i clean out the fridge, etc.
sorry no caps computer says no

I clean for two hours a house that seems the same size as yours.

Bathroom and downstairs loo, including mirrors and floors = 45 or 50 minutes

Dust everywhere, hoover well everywhere (moving things out of the way to get to corners) = 45 or 50 minutes

Time for one other small thing (e.g. clean some windows, do kitchen, hoover the cobwebs in the ceiling corners, get fingerprints off doors)

It always takes me a week or two to get used to a new house to clean, and work out a system to get the most done in the time available. Maybe your new cleaner will become more efficient in the next couple of weeks?