Cleaner etiquette

[proseccoaficionado]

Hi everyone,

We've recently discussed with a cleaner and she'll do her first clean in a few days (wohoo!). We never had a cleaner before, but we decided we'll have ours over twice a month.

How am I supposed to prep the house for her? It will obviously be tidy, no objects randomly lying around, no dishes, etc. I wonder if she'll do the beds herself or if I need to change them before.

What else do we need to do? Any tips?

@DinkyDonkeyDooDoo you sound amazing! Can you please come live with us? We're gonna love you, feed you and cherish you😂

@WoollyFoolly to be fair it's a huge 2 bed (120 square meters). Houses are huge in this area

Inside beds?? Beds and inside windows.

@DinkyDonkeyDooDoo I did wonder.... so, are you packing yet?

proseccoaficionado My plan is to actuallylook for a live in job in about two years but there has to be at least one horse on site. My country lady is single and childless and has had a rotten couple of years health wise and she is considering snapping me up. I'm heading there now to make her breakfast and walk her dogs . I'm very lucky to be paid to do this and in the 8 months I have been going there she has really looked after me. She increased my hourly rate after just 3 months as she said she didn't want to lose me, little cash bonuses here and there, naice things from Waitrose (I'm a Lidler so very posh to me!).

I am very dedicated and efficient and realise how lucky I am because my clients appreciate me so much.

@DinkyDonkeyDooDoo fine, we'll buy a horse, then!😂

We have a cleaner/housekeeper come twice a week for 3 hours.

Large 5 bed house. 4 kids. She does laundry (washes, folds and puts away), cleans, changes bed linen, and empties dishwahers/tidies away breakfast things.

Basically I hire her to do the stuff I would do but cant get to and is getting in top of us.

I have a clear list for each room split by days I.e. linen gets changed on a Friday
.towels get changed twice weekly. Loo roll get stocked into bathroom cabinets each time too. Stairs vacuumed on wednesday, kitchen floor mopped both visits etc....

There’s no way even within a huge house that your list will take 4-5 hours!

It's really not easy to retuned how long things will take. So much depends on what state the house is in, how tidy it is and whether there will be people around.

I would ask for their suggestions at first, make any adjustments to suit you re priorities. Arrange to have a review after four visits to see how it is going.

We have a two person four bed two bath house, we have three hours twice a week, before and after the weekend. Two hours for regular jobs plus an extra hour for more occasional jobs. We are. Dry flexible about when she visits and try to be out.

She is the best thing ever and is very flexible in return.

Mine do it in 2 hours!! And they bring own products and hoover.

I still wouldn't expect even a big 2 bed to take that long. Having said that though, in our many years experience of having a cleaner, really good ones are so rare and precious I'd basically pay whatever they wanted if I found one!

I'm a cleaner in a sports club, I can do 13 toilets (and stalls, sinks etc), 2 bar rooms, a large function room, 2 changing rooms, and 2 other meeting rooms, and all the related tables, chairs, hallways, doors, plaques, carpets, etc, in 4-5 hours (when I do need to do the whole place top to bottom, for an event or whatever).

5 hours seems excessive for a 2 bedroom (I can do my own small 2 bedroom house in about 2 hours, if I don't faff).

Are the 5 hours a one off, to give her a good start, or every week?

4-5 hours does seem excessive - the bigger houses I clean usually take 3 hours maximum.
Also - I know you're probably already do this but please ensure you have enough rags/paper towels and cleaning products, nothing more annoying than arriving at a house with 3 rags to do 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. And make sure the key is useable/safe.

I have a cleaner once a week for 4 hrs. £12.50 an hour.

6 bedroom house. 4 bathroom and 4 floors

No way should it be taking that long, and no way would I be paying that much, even if it did.

@DinkyDonkeyDooDoo I’m tempted to buy you a horse and get you to my house! I need someone like you in my life. Desperately. I just don’t know how to find someone.

Basically it will be €70 for the first deep clean, then €50. I just re-read what we talked. Not sure if it always takes 4 hours, but if it does, and I'm happy, I wouldn't mind

Theres no way thatll take 4/5 hours. Her rates seem pretty steep too. I think I'd be shopping around

@Redglitter we re happy to pay €70 for first clean (includes windows) and then €50. Don't mind the time either as she doesn't charge hourly... if we're happy with the cleaning, then fine. And I really hope we will

You’d be better paying by the hour. What will happen after the first or second visit, she’ll be in and out in two hours and won’t do any ‘extras’ because she’ll say there was no time.

@DillyDilly hmmmm that's something to consider. Thank you

Make a list of everything you would like cleaning, ime some will clean something they see that you haven’t asked to be cleaned and some won’t.

Ask her to move everything as she cleans and not just dust/wipe round.

Make sure everywhere is tidy and that all the loos are free from unmentionables.

If you’re not happy about something tell her asap and if you are also tell her! Everyone loves to be praised.

@NoSauce do I have to tell her to move stuff not just to wipe around?

Do the windows need doing 2 weekly? I would ask for that monthly as it's a big job but not one I would do all the time. Its basically half a day 2 weekly otherwise which seems excessive for your house size.

Ignore everyone saying that's too long / too expensive. If you want it cleaned properly that takes time. If you want it cleaned well you pay for a better cleaner.
I would let her start and then see if she is getting it up to, and keeping it at, the standard you hoped for when you agreed the price.

IMO the windows alone could take 4-5 hrs if you've not been having a regular cleaner. And that's before she starts getting everything else up to scratch!