that if you have a cleaner

[VelvetSpoon]

You still do some cleaning yourself?

Having this discussion with bf. I've recently got a cleaner who comes once a week for 3 hours (5 bed house). Not entirely sure how good a job she's doing but am going to give her another couple of weeks.

Anyway over the weekend bf saw me sweeping the kitchen floor and asked why, and doesn't the cleaner do it? His view is that cleaner should do it all once a week (except day to day washing up) because otherwise what's the point in having her?

Whereas I feel I still have to do some jobs daily/ weekly...so who is right?

So if the cleaner comes on Tuesday and you get crumbs on the floor on Wednesday you are supposed to leave it - for almost a week? (with 2 kids and a dog, we hoover every day!)

My kitchen floor would be minging by day 6 if i just left it. My floors get done everyday.

If i had a cleaner i'd get her to do the things which are more like once a week jobs - proper hoover under furniture, mop over skirting boards, wipe out fridge ect.

Every day stuff is everyday stuff, therefore you have to do it yourself unless you have a cleaner every day.

I will add that it does of course depend on the household.

When i was younger i used to clean for an aunt. High powered job, beautiful house, (white carpet throughout) no pets no partner. During the week she was only in the place for 8 hours a day and that was while she was asleep. Once a week sweep/hoover of the floors ect was enough.

Yes - I clean all the bloody time! My DP constantly asks why we have to clean so much when we have a cleaner once a week. We have twin toddlers that's why! They demolish the living room daily, the kitchen is in constant use, there are endless piles of washing to put away.

Before I had kids and I worked full time I had a cleaner come once a week but as I was out of the house for most of it I'd just have to tidy up my own clothes and do 2 loads of washing a week. The good ok days!!

Yanbu. For us, kitchen gets swept daily, kitchen sink wiped down each night, tables and counters wiped down after every meal, floor swept and wiped under baby's high chair after every meal and snack (she's a little tornado) hoovering maybe once a week in between cleaner coming, & toilets and bathroom sink cleaned twice besides when cleaner does it.

Oh yeah and washing. So much washing.

I couldn't leave my floors for a week, 3 kids, DP has a job which means he's often mucky or dusty when he gets home, and a dog with a skin condition.

Obviously depends how often the cleaner comes and for how long, but there can't be many people who don't have to do at least some themselves.

Five bedrooms. You have a big house. If she is expected to do the lot in three hours then you cannot expect deep cleaning to take place on every visit. My daughter has a cleaner. For the first few visits it was decided which rooms to really concentrate on so that lighter all over cleaning can take place later.

Anyone who thinks a 5 bedroom house with children can be kept clean on no more than 3 hours a week is clearly massively underestimating the work involved.

Ours comes twice a week.

And yes, of course we do some of the cleaning.

Especially because DD (unfortunately...) loves flinging her food.

In fairness I should clarify that I have 2 teens so no toddlers to make mess. That said they live on toast, sandwiches and cereal and can't make any of them without leaving trails of crumbs over the worktops and on the floor!

And to be fair of the 5 beds, one is a guest room so not used most of time, and the other I'm decorating at present so she doesn't clean in there.

Yeah, the 3 hours once a week of a five bed room house would mean a surface clean all over - dust all rooms, hoover or sweep all rooms, mop hard floors, wipe over bathrooms, wipe over kitchen, wipe windowsills, empty bins.

No time for much else. It's all the nitty gritty 'much else' stuff i hate doing and would want a cleaner to do.

I've worked for people who literally leave everything for the cleaner to do once a week! Your BF obviously has no concept that things don't clean themselves. Does he leave the saucepans for the fairies?

Well, the minimum is (imo...)

the dishes, the counters and sweeping the kitchen floor. Also doing things like the sink after shaving (if you're a man) or removing the hair in the shower...

And cleaning up DD's messes.

But yes, that's all we do...

Umm yeah, your BF is deluded. Big 5 bed house here too, spread over 4 floors. It's an old house, and it has its own dust microsystem. DD2 and her DBF both keep on top of the dust and dirt inbetween the cleaner coming, but I will probably be upping her to twice a week fairly soon.

I guess I should explain; I am in charge of the dishwasher, keeping worktops and the kitchen table clean and clear, the laundry, and the ironing. DD2 and her BF hoover and steam clean floors daily, and the cleaner damp dusts and does the bathrooms and floors really thoroughly.

There's a difference between keeping the house in a reasonably clean but tidy condition which is what you are doing and sterilising the place before the cleaner comes.

What does he think happens to the clothes, and crumbs/ spills in between visits?

I still vacuum and clean the loo and countertops. The cleaner comes to do the heavy duty stuff I don't want to do to enable me to just keep on top of things for the rest of the week.

How come the floor gets so bad? I only sweep the floor in between cleaner visits if I drop something. I don't habitually drop food and other bits of crap on the floor.

Not entirely sure what cleaner does. She seems to vacuum, not sure if this includes under furniture as she does seem to have done under the beds but not under the kitchen table. I don't think she dusts, and she certainly doesn't clean windows or sills. She does empty bins and do a reasonable job in the bathrooms but I'm still spending a good 3 hours during the week doing 'stuff'.

I would be very wary of moving in with anyone (not saying you're going to!) who thought that three hours of cleaning once a week should be enough for a 5-bedroom house or indeed any house with 3 residents.

It was enough for my teeny flat when I was at work most of the time.

Now I have a bigger place with a partner and two children and the place needs cleaning again (as in maintenance clean) two days after the cleaner has been. I'm not going to leave dirt on the carpet or crumbs on the floor for a week!

I don't habitually drop food and other bits of crap on the floor

Me neither, but unfortunately I can't say the same for the other residents

Velvet I have a super efficient cleaner, and even she would struggle to start doing things like windows or sills in three hours with 5 beds. Even if you knock two of the bedrooms out, that's still 3 beds and all of downstairs. I would expect all floors hoovered and mopped.

Your best bet is to list what you want doing in that three hours, I have 'essential' jobs and then extra jobs for if there is any spare time or I want to pay extra- that would be clean the oven or fridge, wash windows, do bedding (which my cleaner is happy to do).

If you have a big house, then perhaps it does take more than 3 hours a week to clean it!!!

Your bf is being ridiculous, of course floors need cleaning more than once a week, as you say crumbs/cooking mess is daily, I'd clean one more time myself, but don't mop, so having the cleaner do everything very thoroughly once means I don't have to do it quite that thoroughly again, but it would still have to be done- same with bathrooms if they get dirty, I give them a quick swish, knowing the big clean is coming.

One one off clean of 3 hours in a 5 bed house (presumably more than one bathroom) isn't enough, either you have her 2x a week or you do an extra couple of hours yourself, you are still halving your cleaning time!