to want a cleaner who sees what needs doing and does it?

[Council]

Because that's what I'd like. Someone who cleans it as if it was her own home. Oh, the kitchen window's a bit smeared I'll do that this week. Those door handles haven't been polished for a while I'll put them top of the list next week, there's a hand print on that wall, I'll wipe it off.

My cleaner is very reliable, turns up regularly and does a decent enough job of the basic hoovering and dusting but doesn't do any of those extras that I'd see as part of the regular cleaning, unless I specifically ask.

i.e. shes happy and has time to clean the inside of a couple of windows each week but will only do it if I leave a note explaining which ones need doing.

Is it unreasonable to want a cleaner who knows how to clean and does it (assuming I pay her enough hours) rather than needing specific instructions for every little thing? i.e. someone who takes a bit of pride/responsibility for keeping thing nice even though she doesn't live here.

We're not dirty or untidy people, we're not here much during the week and we don't do clutter/ornaments. It's not a hard house to clean and I'm seriously thinking of taking it back myself if I've got to do all the thinking for her anyway.

You just can't get the staff nowadays e

Someone who cleans it as if it was her own home

Maybe that IS what's she's doing!

Anyway, just write a list of things you wanted attended to.

She should have a cleaning rota with a few tasks to do on top of the basics each visit. That's what most cleaners have.

Eg -

Hoover & dust
Bathrooms
Windows

Hoover & dust
Bathrooms
Deep clean skirting

Hoover & dust
Bathrooms
Clean cupboard doors & shelves

That's the thing with cleaning other people's houses; they only see what you haven't done. Low paid and thankless to boot.

It doesn’t work like that. Handprints on the wall fine that’s an as you go type of thing but I wouldn’t have done windows even if asked. Or blinds!

You have to lay out what you expect of your cleaner and it’s up to them whether to agree.

I'm in exactly the same situation and it's really annoying. Be prepared for all the outrage and "do it yourself then" comments. However, I completely agree with you. I outsource the cleaning so that I can do other things, including my own job, to a higher standard and I wish my cleaner would notice the dust and smears. After all, she is paid to do it.

It would BU not to give your cleaner specific instructions about what you want to be done. Staff aren't psychic. Most of them probably become cleaners because they need the dosh, not to give them an outlet for their OCD!

Depends if the cleaner would have time to do this on top of the basic things they are expected to do. They may notice, but think if they do that then the hoovering won’t get done etc

I think you are looking for the holy grail of cleaners.

Mine does a reasonable job but always misses the same few spots - and I feel really petty for mentioning it
So, I do them myself.
I also do a thorough clean of the kitchen and bathroom halfway through the week which catches the other bits she has missed.

She does do certain things when I ask her but only when I ask her - eg the inside of the glass doors in the kitchen.

I like the fact my house has a once over during the week when I am busy but I don't expect it to be enough that I don't need to do some cleaning too.

Yes, I did say assuming I give her enough time.

She doesn't need to read minds, just have a plan to make sure everything is covered and notice what needs doing.

Oh... you mean a wife.

Don't you have one?

What needs doing is very subjective though. My cleaner spots stuff. She soaps down doors. I have never in my life soaped a door. If I don't ask her specifically, I can blame her for prioritising what she thinks is important.

In my days of doing crap temp jobs (including one cleaning a shop) my pet peeve was bosses who would leave me alone to get on with it without telling me what it was I was supposed to be getting on with. ('Just use your initiative!' etc.) They would then return after a couple of hours and howl in indignation that I hadn't done some highly specific thing that they never told me to do. I usually just gritted my teeth and did my best until the end of the holidays when it was time to leave, but the feeling of being set up to fail would probably have made me bin the job immediately had I been there permanently. Ironically, the job would probably have become easier with time as the boss' foibles had become more familiar, but the reality is that most people CBA to stick around working for a difficult person if they have any kind of alternative options.

tl;dr: Be prepared to get through quite a lot of cleaners!

How about asking her to do 30mins extra a week to do any extra jobs like that that she notices need doing? Give examples.

Op I think you need to employ a professional, rather than a housekeeper. As she obviously isn't doing the right work for you.

I'd expect any cleaner to have a checklist for actual cleaning rather than just go in and tidy up. I can tidy up myself. If I was paying someone to clean then they should be actually cleaning. And obviously paid accordingly.

My Aunt pays hers between £40-80 a day depending how long she is there for and what is being done. Normally works out at £15-20 per hr so whoever is saying it's poorly paid needs to find better employers or maybe do a better job of it

My cleaner used to do this. Never had to ask her to do a damn thing; she came in & got on with it. She'd say to me afterwards 'i did the windows in x room today hope that's okay' - if there was something specific I wanted then she'd do that too obviously. She would even take the sofa cushions off & attack it with the hoover every week!!

I miss that feeling of rolling in & the place looking amazing 😭

"Generalising" I don't think huge amounts of cleaners, domestic or commercial earn £15-20 ph

We have a cleaner but if I notice a handprint on the glass or tacky door handles/light switch, I swipe it clean when I see it rather than leaving it for her weekly visit and hoping she'll notice it and getting cross if she doesn't.

What's that saying? If it's going to take you less than 1 minute to do, do it there and then rather than procrastinating.

I ask my cleaner to do specific things in the last half hour of her allotted time slot - I reckon it is MY job to know what needs doing in MY house, not something I should outsource to a cleaner who might be afraid of interfering or not prioritising the right things.

Most here are asking for £15p/hr

I will happily clean your abode for 20.00 per hour

my cleaner often does bits I don't notice and misses bits I do, I don't really care as long as the house gets a going over once a week. She gets there eventually or I do!

If it bothers you could you slap post its on the bits you want her to look at if you aren't there?

So make her a rota

Cleaners here are £10 p/h.... Which is actually more than I earn.

Cleaners aren't underpaid at all.

Also, north east , deprived area.....so I imagine it can cost more in other areas.