Smoking housecleaner

[PorridgeLove]

We pay a house cleaner to clean our terraced house once a month. I have no issue with her cleaning or her prices. However, she smokes and we have 2 DC (2.5 yo and 2 mo). She always goes outside to smoke, but the smell lingers. AIBU to consider looking for another cleaner?

How looking is she at the house for?

Long, not looking!

What exactly is your concern? Is she smoking in your house or caring for your children? Sounds like not.
And what has the 'terraced' status of your house got to do with anything?

I would speak to her about it if you're happy with everything else.

How many hours does she work and how many cigarettes does she smoke in that time?

I wouldn’t want a smoker around my small children regularly. It’s not a nice habit, although she is of course entitled to do it. I would hire another cleaner.

shit the OP said she was unhappy with the lingering smell.
Terraced houses round my way, only have small back yards, so OP may have been trying to illustrate lack of outdoor space.

Are you sure she is going outside to smoke? It seems odd that the smell would linger outside.

The smoke absolutely will cling to her even if she smiles outside.

That would be a deal breaker for me and I would let her go. Surely she can manage a few hours cleaning without a break?

Unless she’s the best cleaner ever, find a new one.

Is she the first cleaner you've used? I've had cleaners in the past and some do a good job whilst others don't, if you're happy with her work I'd be reluctant to change just in case the next one wasn't as good.

I would find someone else for the job.

How long does the smell linger? If it's just once a month I'd be tempted to just air the house out and put up with it.

No children here but I would not want someone who smells of smoke in my house, never mind cleaning it.

The best moment of having a cleaner is opening the front door and smelling the wonderful clean smell she leaves.

If I didn't have that, I wouldn't bother paying for it. I prefer old cooking smells and cat hair to rank cigarette smoke!

I think the smell comes from her jacket. She goes on the street to smoke. Our house is not huge, so when she leaves her jacket downstairs, the smell travels upstairs. Same with cooking, even if we run the hood vent. (Hence why I mentioned the type of house we live in).

She is a good cleaner and my house looks great when she's done. The smell goes away if I air out the house for a couple of hours.

I will talk to the neighbours and see if their cleaner has a spot for us.

Yanbu. Mil smokes outside but it drags the smell through our house when she comes back in. It’s disgusting.

YANBU my parents came over Christmas time after having been smoking in their car in the way over.
They reeked, they weren’t stopping long as they were doing the rounds. It was vile and there smell lingered for ages after.

I’ve since banned anyone coming to my house smelling of fags 😷

So you’d rather sack a good cleaner than ask her not to smoke when she cleans for you. Bizarre