Is my cleaner CF

[nc2710]

We have a 3 room flat- not 3 bedroom, 3 actual rooms. It has a tiny hallway, a bathroom with shower/bath combo, one bedroom and a living room that we converted to a studio bedroom (I.e. the bed bit is behind a panel) This room also has a sofa and a small kitchen area behind an island. But like I say, it’s a 3 room flat on one level. I keep it tidy, minimal clutter as it’s small, I hoover myself at least once a week and clean the surfaces between cooking/showering etc. In other words it’s not a very untidy or dirty little flat. However I recently took on more at work and we have been using a friend’s cleaning lady.

She comes once a week midweek and does the following: changes 1 double and 1 single bed, hoovers, mops the floors, cleans the toilet, cleans the shower/bath, puts away odd bits of washing up, dusts. If she does anything else it’s not very evident. I have been wondering for a while if I should have set the hours instead of asking her how long it would take (she lets herself out so I don’t know how long she’s there.)

I have asked her if she can just do 2 hours tomorrow because I need to work from home and she came back saying she would not have time to change the 2 beds, dust or do surfaces in 2 hours.

Does this sound right? Has she been a CF all along with saying it takes 3 hours?

Just to add we have one dd age 4 who has the bedroom, but the cleaner does not do anything in that room except floors and dust the skirting boards and windowsill.

Oh and change the single bed in that room.

I worked has a cleaner a few years back, 2 hours is plenty of time to do as you stated. I used to clean 3 bed houses in that time, admittedly they weren't really dirty, but, 2 hours is plenty of time.

That does sound like a lot of time, for very little cleaning. I have a 7 room house, and my cleaner struggles to fill 2 hours vacuuming all floors, hand washing all hard floors (she prefers this to using the mop), dusting all surfaces, skirting, ceiling etc.., polishing tables, units, fireplaces, kitchen, bathroom, shower, downstairs utility etc.. she doesn't make beds, but will do some ironing if I have any. She'll do my Venetian blinds every couple of weeks, too. We have a good chat, and she's still done in 1.5 / 1.75 hours.

Finding a good cleaner is so difficult! The one we currently just had did the bare minimum then when we complained refused to return our house keys. So I feel your pain 🙈🙈

3 hours seems like a lot of time. I parted ways with my cleaner after they started claiming they needed 4 hours to do a 2 bedroom flat that is kept very tidy, robot vacuum runs daily and with no extras like bed changing. Now we have an agency and we pay them for the complete job rather than the time, they also send 2 ladies so it’s done in max an hour and a half. My only regret is not changing sooner.

My cleaner does my kitchen, downstairs loo, bathroom, hall stairs and landing, thoroughly does my bedroom (including changing bedding) and does a quick vacuum and flick round the other two rooms, in two hours.

Three hours for your place is CFery

BinkySodPlop Can I have the number for yoru cleaner please!!

She's taking the piss OP. If you've got the fresh linen to hand, then a complete bed strip and change is a 10 min job. So x 2 beds is 20 mins, that's what it takes me for big super kings. That leaves 1hr 40mins for dusting, mirrors, sanitary wares, floor mop and vaccum. Providing you are not leaving a shed load of dirty dishes or general tidying to do it's feasible. If the place actually is a dump and she can't get to the floors then it might not be. Tidiness is very subjective!

I clean a flat similar to your's but larger, with a separate kitchen, all surfaces, dust, hoover, clean hard floors, change bedding - done in an hour and a quarter. I also do a three storey, four bedroom house with bathroom, en-suite and downstairs toilet, large kitchen, in two hours. 2 hours for your flat would be too much, 3 hours sounds ridiculous.

I think that amount of cleaning would only take about 1 hour. 3 is definitely pushing it.

My cleaner cleaned my 5 bedroom (13 roomed) house in 3 hours . I think she is taking the piss.

I’m a cleaner. And yes I can do that in two hours. But. It depends on the cleaner.

How good is she? Is she detailed. I am very detailed when I clean. So I do everything. Cobweb check , skirting boards , hoover edges of all the carpets , door handles, doors etc. If she does all of that extra details then yes I can see it being three hours or maybe just less. If she is a skirt round the middle cleaned then she is being a cf

Our cleaner does 5 bed, 2 bath kitchen, dining lounge hall 2 sets of stairs in 1.5hrs no bed changes tho.

So she doesn't touch the bathroom sink or do the kitchen surfaces, splashback, kettle/toaster, windows/mirrors? That's a bit odd. I wonder if she is spending time cleaning things that you're assuming she is leaving, because they are already clean.

Even if she does all that though, 3 hours sounds a lot. I'd be tempted to overlap with her for that hour just to see what she's doing.

Blimey! I was a cleaner....I'd have loved your house to clean. I didn't have a place as small as yours, but for example, in one house I cleaned, I changed one double bed, Polished and dusted a living room, dining room, and two bedrooms, plus a hall way and stairs Cleaned two bathrooms and a separate loo. Cleaned the kitchen, Cleaned a covered side passage, a conservatory and a porch. I washed the floors in the kitchen bathrooms and loo, and the side passage. Obviously I hoovered all the carpets as well, moving furniture in the living room and dining room and conservatory to do so. The house belonged to an elderly lady, and she was clean and tidy, but she had lots of ornaments and pictures to dust. When I first went there she dusted her hall and dining room, but as she got more infirm I took over those jobs. It took me about 2 hours, sometimes a little more, and I charged her for two hours. She had had several cleaners before me, and obviously appreciated what I did for her. When she died, her daughter sent me £200 with a note, telling me her Mum had asked her to give it to me as a thank you for my work.

i live in set up like yours in a tenement building.
Only my bedroom is a recess in the kitchen

It takes 1 hour to hoover, mop, dust, change bed linen, wipe down surfaces etc.
She's been taking you for a mug.
When i worked as a cleaner in my local convenience store i cleaned the whole front and back of store in 2 hours - cos obviously that was a larger space.

Our cleaner does our 4-bed 3-bath house in three hours.

She probably can do it in 2 hours rather than 3 but it depends what you usually pay her for 3 hours. If it ends up working out as less than minimum wage over the hours worked she might only take on jobs that are a certain length.

Absolutely taking the proverbial piss.. I have had a new cleaner start today. I told her I thought I need 3 hours a week but she is to tell me if she thinks she needs more. I'll happily go along with whatever they need as long as they do a good job. I have a 3 bedroom detached house, 2 bathrooms and basically its 8 rooms. She did all of it no problem, changed a bed and ironed 5 shirts. Unless there's something you're not telling us (like she is washing up a weeks worth of dirty dishes and clearing up a mountain of take away boxes etc) then this is easily doable in about an hour I think.

Is she making the beds up with the same sheets, taking them off, washing on quick wash, tumble dry and then back on? That would take a few hours.

That's very slow working.

I have 2 hours cleaning for my house which is porch, hallway, stairs and landing, loo, large kitchen /conservatory, study, living room, dining room, bathroom & 3 x bedrooms. No bed changes tho sadly. It's not done perfectly but I get a decent level of cleaning done in the 2 hours.

My cleaner does impeccable job and I have a 4 bed, 3 bathroom house with two small kids. She comes 2 hours once a week and house is immaculate top to bottom. Pristine!

We have a 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, plus downstairs cloakroom. Town house on 3 floors, children have left home, we are pretty tidy. Cleaner does 2 hours, changes at least 1 bed, sometimes 2 if we've had guests, cleans bathrooms, hoovers, cleans kitchen, washes floor, kitchen and hall floors. She was doing 3 hours when one of our kids was here for a few days a week, however, she's very honest and told us 2 hours were sufficient to do what we required of her.