Cleaning before the cleaner arrives

[mirandaspanda]

DH and I have a a long running difference of opinion. It's definitely one with no "right" answer.
DH understands that we need to tidy up the house before the cleaner arrives - beds made, things off the floor, work surfaces clear, toilets clean, cat litter trays changed etc.
I always use the night before to do a mini sort out - items returned to their homes etc.
We have a reasonable size house and despite my repeated and constant attempt to declutter, I never manage to go far enough/am too sentimental, and we have too much stuff to have the house looking photo worthy. Having said that most things have a home but there are some problem areas!
Back on subject, I can't help but clean before the cleaner arrives. The cleaners do the kitchen surfaces, hoover, clean both bathrooms and loos and mop the hard surfaces. This means I do the dusting and any deep cleaning.
However, I like to clean the baths and basins first and the loos are always freshly bleached. I also polish the kitchen surfaces, sweep the hard floors and sometimes hoover. It means that the cleaners in effect are making sure everything is really clean and with the dog a double hoover is required!
DH thinks the cleaner is a luxury and doesn't understand why they need to come when I leave the house near perfect for them! DH also sees it as an issue as I am very busy and stay up late to get things up to standard when I'm really tired. I admit he has a point.
I'd be really interested in what other people do before their cleaner arrives.

I don't have cleaner anymore but when I did I used to tidy everything off of the surfaces and floor and make sure the toilet was clean. The level of cleaning you are doing seems like a waste to me.

Tidy.

I never clean except to throw bleach down the loo. I' m paying for them to clean so they can do it.

Just tidy. What is the point if you do the cleaning before hand. Waste of money.

You're doing too much before the cleaner comes.

The place should be tidy as in beds made and clothes off the floor, ideally put away. Pots in dishwasher, lounge free from clutter, toilets flushed, coats and shoes away.

Let them do their job that you're paying for them to do.

OP, sorry but I think I agree with your husband. I definitely agree with tidying and putting things away so that the cleaners can actually clean.

That seem daft. We used to have a cleaner got rid after she never dusted the surface I wrote my name in the dust. I would tidy up before and make sure bathrooms were presentable she came but not hoover or dust, that's what I was paying her to do.

I'm mid a whole house declutter at the moment. Going through one room at a time.

I do exactly what others are saying: make beds, clear floors and clean the loo. Anything more and you're negating their visit really.

Tidy up, empty the litter tray and kitchen bin (DH) and sometimes throw some bleach down the toilet, nothing more. No point paying for a clean and staying up late to do it yourself

Don’t take this the wrong way but were you brought up in a working/lower middle class household?
I do all the things you do. My posh friends think it’s hilarious. Outwardly I’m a confident professional woman but inwardly I can hear my family asking why I can’t clean my own house.

No point paying for a clean and staying up late to do it yourself Well, there may be some point if it's the only way you can get yourself motivated for a clean. And you can always get the cleaner to do the fiddly things you never get round to.

I tidy up and only clean the things they don't do such as hoover the dogs bed. Honestly you are doing too much and negating the benefit of having a cleaner.

Tidy up and clean anything I would be embarrassed to leave for anyone else to do.

I do a general tidy up so that they are able to clean properly. I wouldn't pay a cleaner if I had the time to do it myself, and wouldn't see the point in paying a cleaner if I was going to clean the house first - that is quite literally what I am paying them to do.

I tidy but that’s it. Staying up late at night to clean is the exact situation I hired a cleaner to avoid!

I'm with your husband on this. All I do before the cleaner comes is clear up any clutter. Sometimes I don't even manage to finish the washing up. I don't make the bed or empty the bin specially.

Tidy. Make sure surfaces and floors are clear. Toilets are left respectable (I have small boys) and that’s it. Dusting and wiping is their job

So your cleaner is re-cleaning an already clean house?

Bizarre.

I tidy as much as I can but the cleaner also changes the beds and I certainly don't clean anything.

If I had the time or inclination to do that I wouldn't be paying someone else to do it properly.

I'm with your husband OP. I tidy, but I don't clean anything!

I leave surfaces clear and clutter free, I empty bins. cat litter tray gets done if required.
I make beds anyway as a matter of course and put any clothes or washing away.
We have 3 cats and don't do any cleaning in between the cleaners weekly visits! Apart from the loo or a quick wipe down if we have guests.

Marylou2 me too!

In some ways I feel a bit of a failure of the offspring of proud northern working class women.

We tidy and make sure no skid marks in loos. Pick up any big mess (food dropped on floor by kids etc). But the rest is for the cleaner! I'm not forking out €50 a week and still cleaning!

Of course you need to tidy up but do not clean. Why don't they dust? Also, I choose one room to be deep cleaned by them at a time.

It sounds as though you're actually doing the cleaners job for them. Certainly agree that the place needs to be tidy and I wouldn't leave a 'dirty' house for a cleaner (eg: no stains in the loo, dirty dishes, pots and pans just left there etc) but if you're doing pretty much everything the day before then there's really nothing for the cleaner to actually clean. She's just going to be cleaning a clean bathroom and hoovering clean floors. It's a bit pointless to be honest. I'm with your DH on this one.

Now there are also people who go the OTHER extreme. A friend of DH's used to have a cleaner come once a week and I felt so sorry for the poor lady because said friend left the house in an absolute dirty mess for the poor cleaner to sort out. A weeks worth of dishes just dumped in the sink, filthy toilet and bathroom, clothes crumpled up in a ball in the dryer making them impossible to iron, and her attitude was "She's the cleaner, that's what she's paid for" She's paid to clean, not to have to wipe your bloody body hair out of the bath and shit out of the toilet because you won't do it yourself,

I always TIDY before the cleaner comes but I never clean.
What's the point of a cleaner if I clean myself?
Your DH is right.

OK I have been told

The cleaner doesn't dust because they are here for a set time and hoovering the whole house and doing the kitchen and bathrooms takes 2 hours - though recently they have been dusting.....as the bathrooms haven't been taking long

I think I either need to lay off the cleaning or ask them to do different tasks - like a deep clean on one room per week. They do have amazingly high show home standards and I suppose it worried me!

I'm with your DH on this one. If I was paying a cleaner I wouldn't want to be doing the stuff which they are there to do.

Could you use that time more productively to declutter? I am a recent convert to decluttering having read Marie Kondo and a couple of other books. It can be very time-consuming especially if you are sentimental as you suggest, but that would seem a better use of time and make the cleaner's job easier in the end.