To clean my house for fear of what the cleaner will think when she shows up.

[Emmon]

I have a cleaner starting Monday but am really worried about her coming to the house in case she judges me because it is a tip. I am not talking a bit untidy I mean a pigsty.

I have paid her for 3 hours so she can do a blitz clean.

I was fine with the cleaning before I started a business and husband is too disabled to do it well (but he does try)

Do you think I should clean the house before she gets here or is that missing the point of hiring her?

I think you need to tidy as she will not know where to put things, but I wouldn't worry about cleaning

Sort of missing the point tbh but I do know where you are coming from.

I was off work yesterday (usually in on Fridays) and my cleaner came. I did loads of tidying whilst she was there as I felt guilty but tbh some of it needed doing and could only be done by me eg moving coats from the hallway onto new hangers and into a cupboard upstairs, putting away washing etc. She did the usual cleaning and tidying iyswim.

Tidy rather than clean. Remove things from the floor or put stuff back in cupboards etc. With everything out of the way your cleaner will be able to clean properly rather than just go around stuff.

I tidy every week the night before my cleaner comes so that she doesn't have to waste time moving things in order to clean.

Tidy so that she can clean non stop for 3 hours.

Agree with all the above. Tidy up, but leave the grime!

yy but tidy and leave the grime. Be up front with her, just tell her what you told us. It's important!

Tidy tidy tidy!! So you get your money's worth of cleaning! Don't clean - if she's worth her salt she'll relish getting stuck in. I hate it if people are too clean. I like being able to see a big difference when I've finished. I've been known to roam a house afterwards, admiring my handiwork!

Yeah, but don't tidy yourself into a housework-burn-out IYSWIM.

If it's really bad concentrate on getting the the most important rooms cleanable first: kitchen and bathroom, then DC's room(s), sitting room, your room and so on. Doesn't matter if she can't start in all the rooms the first week.

I always tidy and clean the loo before my cleaner comes

She's coming to clean, she will have seen worse :)

When mine started I said "Don't judge me, I have a small baby and a ft job" :)

Don't feel bad! I pick up all the crap so the ladies can do their thing without having worry about sucking up Lego and whatnot and clean the loo ( they do too but I don't want them to get too up close and personal with it, if you see what I mean! ) and generally give the place a quick once over to weed out the really skanky bits ...

However when it comes right down to it they're professionals! I bet they've seen it all before and without lazers like me and over-worked bods like you they'd have nothing to do