Do you think my cleaner should be doing more for her money

[Pennina]

We have a large four bed house and my family comprises of my husband and two teenage DCs. I have a newish cleaner who I pay £10 an hour and she comes twice a week. She is fairly new (she's been cleaning for me for about six weeks) and so far although she cleans to a very good standard she is in my opinion rather slow.

Today I was out working and left her a note asking her to spend one hour ironing, 30 minutes in the kitchen to empty dishwasher put a small load of washing on the line, wipe down surfaces and sweep the floor. The kitchen was not dirty so there was no mopping or scrubbing or anything like that needed. I also told her to spend another 30 minutes sweeping the wooden floor in the hall and lounge diner and hoovering the stairs, landing and three bedrooms that we use. The cleaning part was done fine but when I went to the spare room which we use for ironing I was disappointed to see that in one hour she had only ironed about a quarter of the basket comprising of half a dozen pillow slips two T-shirts a polo shirt and one shirt. Left in the basket was three more shirts and four duvet covers. I quite like ironing and although I'm not brilliant at it, I would've got that whole basket done in less than an hour.

So aibu to be a little disheartened about this? I'm half hoping that you will tell me that Iabu as it's so hard to find cleaners! However I can't help but feel ripped off by having to pay £10 for only quarter of a basket of ironing.

I stand braced for your views!

Janistion and Hiding: wise words. Funnily enough dh jtstvsaid similar Janiston. I quite like doing my own ironing so will do it myself in future and if I am too busy I will send it out. That's all sorted out now. Time for a glass of wine (before I finish the rest of the ironing!)

£10 isn't a lot and like pp have said ironing can take an age, especially as she's new, she might want to do all the ironing 'perfectly'. It's not tons of things you're expecting her do but at the same time some of the jobs can eat into the 2 hours big time. Give her a few weeks to settle in properly and then review it.

Just for reference, I was being paid £14 an hour as a cleaner in yorkshire (I mention yorkshire as it's lower paid here than other places) 7 years ago.

I employ a cleaner. She also advertises ironing and has started ironing for us. We used to have a separate ironing service and she offered to take it on. She's faster than the ironing service and would have done your tasks in the time. I also pay her £10/ hour. YANBU

Meanwhile...in Syria....

In Syria access to the internet is very limited so it's unlikely you'd be on AIBU if you lived there, ArchibaldsDaddy.

No wonder you couldn't find a decent cleaner if you go around calling people idiots.

Paying someones wages doesn't mean you get to take the piss out of them and they should do anything you ask.

If my employer asked me to do too much or a job not in my job description I'd kick off or refuse to do it.

YABU to expect three bedrooms, hall stairs and landing as well as dining room to be cleaned in 30 mins.

Which is probably why your ironing wasn't finished .

Archibaldsdaddy If you want to discuss the situation in Syria, clicking on a thread with the title 'Do you think my cleaner should be doing more for her money?' is probably the last place you are going to get what you are looking for.

Although I did click on the thread about whether doctors should address patients' parents as 'Mummy' that devolved quickly into a discussion on the prickliness of cat penises so stranger things have happened.

Chasing: I have not at any time called her or anyone else on this thread an idiot

Izzy: four hours not 30 minutes!

My cleaner irons, does kids polo shirts, a few work blouses, one man shirt and a couple of bedding sets in an hour (not sheets) so yes I think your cleaner is taking longer than expected.

"Cleaners don't iron" what rot. Can we all only do one thing? If it was discussed and agreed then it doesn't matter what the job title is.

I was replying to Janiston.

YABU. Ironing duvets is the most pointless thing in the world to spend a tenner on.

However in seriousness I think a PP had it right when they said to prioritise what you want done - dishwasher, light spruce of kitchen, deep clean bathroom, vacuum hall, if you have time in the 2 hours there's a bag of ironing I'd love you to get started on.

(But ironing is a tool of the patriarchy and should be made illegal)

Don't think I could work for anyone that uptight they iron duvet covers.

@VeryButchyRestingFace

I am a cleaner in central Scotland and I do all those tasks for my customers

I am a cleaner in central Scotland and I do all those tasks for my customers

😍😍😍

I've been in my job for 18 years. I do the job I'm paid to do. I wouldn't work for someone who thought that they could take the piss just because they pay my wages.

I hate ironing and once or twice a month I get it done £ 15 for 30 items. Seems such a bargain. I'd much rather do cleaning than ironing so if I was a cleaner I wouldn't offer ironing as part of my service

I also told her to spend another 30 minutes sweeping the wooden floor in the hall and lounge diner and hoovering the stairs, landing and three bedrooms that we use.

I would struggle to do all of that in 30 minutes.

The other thing, is does she tidy as well as clean? I always tidy up for the cleaners as I would prefer them to spend the time cleaning, rather than picking things off the floor.

You say she does 4 hours per week, over 2 sessions. 1 hour is spent on ironing, so that leaves 2 hours in one session, and 1 hour the other to clean the entire house. How much of the jobs are repeat jobs? i.e. is she hoovering the stairs each time?

In terms of the ironing, you have listed 10 items that she did - if she spent an hour ironing, that would be 6 minutes per item, which doesn't seem unreasonable.

I must say I think the micro-managing of time is a bit excessive.

You're taking advantage of her and underpaying her. I would pay your cleaner to clean and pay separately for the ironing.

Wow archibald, you sound quite bitter and projecting your own feelings perchance.
Maybe mn is not for you. This thread is extremely tame in comparison to some you see