How filthy are we?

[lekkerkroketje]

We've just had this email from our landlady:

'She (the cleaner our landlady uses) is anticipating to end her contract with me and stop cleaning my house. She experiences rather a big mess in every room of the house as you don’t seem to tidy or clean up much yourselves.
Hardly possible anymore to clean the bathroom (droplets/limescale on the shower door), filthy kitchen etc due to the lack of your own efforts.'

How dirty would you expect our house to have to be to receive this email? I'm trying to work out if we're genuinely out of order!

We both work long hours, so that the rent included a cleaner was a major attraction when we moved in. The house is furnished with a large number of ornaments, books, LPs, heavy furniture etc, so it would be almost impossible for us to clean it all ourselves.

I'm not sure how bad we are: the obvious offences I can think of are shoes on the floor; kitchen not spotless, but not bad; clean clothes left out a little long; stacks of paper on one side table; the recycling basket overflows; limescale. We're certainly not mouldy plates/dirty knickers bad! Are all these other things hanging offences? Do we really need a kick up the arse?!

Possibly your cleaner is right.

Cleaners should clean, not tidy.

Cleaners don't tidy, they clean. That said, it is highly unusual to have a rental with a cleaner so I'd definitely like that perk :) Perhaps the landlady is trying to cut her costs/increase profit?
You could suggest employing a cleaner direct and deducting it from the rent?

You're adults.
Clean up after yourself, If the cleaning lady is considering losing employment because she cannot hack cleaning your house anymore, yes you are that bad

It's really hard to say -everyone's opinions on cleanliness seem to be different. I do tend to get rid of limescale and I wouldn't expect a cleaner to tidy away my shoes, clothes and stuff like that -more hoovering, dusting and wiping down which I can imagine might be difficult if the rooms are cluttered, overflowing or messy.

Ok, we needed a kick up the backside

She couldn't have rented it without a cleaner. If you imagine great aunty Mildred's house with soooo many knick-knacks. It's like living in an antique shop. We daren't move for breaking something. That's part of the problem, all the storage is full of her things, so we've nowhere suitable for ours. It's cheap though!

House must be tidy in order for the cleaner to clean.

So yeah YABU in that regard.

Our cleaner comes on a Thursday so we are tidying like mad on Wednesday night!

My house is dirty by the time the cleaner comes, but it's always very tidy because otherwise she can't do her job.
Could this be the problem?
Dp always thinks I'm mad because he says I clean for the cleaner coming. I don't but I do tidy there's a big difference.

Can you negotiate some storage for the knivk knacks?

You mean her stuff is in the house? In that case the landlady needs to pack it up and get it out of the house.

A cleaner should be helping things along, not replacing your own endeavours. From what you've said your house sounds quite chaotic and probably dirty because it's hard to clean round a lot of stuff. There isn't really an excuse to have overflowing recycling or clean clothes out; it takes 5 mins to put stuff away.
DH and I are out from 7am to 8pm but keep on top of the house completely; you just need to get into good habits and stick to them.

*The house is furnished with a large number of ornaments, books, LPs, heavy furniture etc, so it would be almost impossible for us to clean it all ourselves.

It seems odd to have so much stuff in the house you are renting? Is that why the cleaner is included - so the landlady knows her stuff gets cleaned?

IME it depends on the cleaner - our last cleaner was brilliant and was happy to tidy before cleaning, we just agreed with her to pay for a longer session so she could do the tidying as well. I know a lot of cleaners don't want to tidy and we actually got chucked by one cleaner for being too messy, but its no use to me having a cleaner if I need to make an appointment every week to tidy the night before. But you're in an awkward situation as the cleaner is included in the rent. I would do what the PP said and ask if you can have a reduction in rent and either get a more flexible cleaner or do without.

It feels like our landlady really wanted a paying house-sitter so she could go on an extended trip and we were desperate and agreed to too much.

The cleaner is unreliable, moving the days around and cancelling at the last minute, so we've never got into a good routine, but that's no excuse. I also wonder if she doesn't like working for us because we don't speak her language well (we're not in the UK), so it must be pretty boring for her without a chat.

Time to regress ten years and make a student-style chores rota to go on the fridge

Does your landlady live in the house with you? (So you would actually be lodgers, not tenants?) Otherwise I can't understand why the house is full of her ornaments, LPs, etc, etc?

I would expect a cleaner to clean and not tidy.

Why are her ornaments in the house?

If the landlady's possessions are getting in the way of you being tidy (you mentioned storage was full etc) then can you say anything to her about that? I would be quite indignant at having to be tidy around someone else's stuff if it was inhabiting the shelves, cupboards etc I'd want to put my things in.

why did you take on a house that was full of the owner's 'stuff'?

This is not 'normal' and you could /should have negotiated some storage for her stuff before moving in.

What does the cleaner do?

If she cannot vacuum because of your stuff then that is an issue.
If you leave dirty dishes in the sink that is an issue if she needs the sink.
If you never empty the rubbish bins that is an issue.

Maybe tell us how much cleaning you do and what is left for her?

You should also suggest she comes at the same time every week. Is she also some kind of spy for the owner and keeping tabs on you?