If you are a cleaner how do you view yourself/your clients

[BlingLoving]

Based on current Twitter wars etc, I'm wondering about cleaners.

My view ha always been that they are professionals, treated accordingly etc.

However, many people think they are being exploited, routinely treated badly for little pay etc. On one thread, cleaner after cleaner came on to talk about how badly they were treated - people leaving vomit and animal faeces for days to be cleaned up, being forced to do more hours than being paid for, being spoken to badly, being followed around in case they're dishonest (or blamed for everything that goes missing/breaks), not being provided sufficient/appropriate cleaning materials etc.

So I'm interested in trying to understand the truth.

YABU = I clean because I have to/I hate it/my employers are all scumbags

YANBU = I clean because it's a job, I do it well and I am generally treated with professionalism and respect.

[please - if you aren't a cleaner, don't vote - everyone seems to think they treat their cleaner well and certainly those who don't won't be jumping on here to tell about the hilarious time they left the remains of a drunken party for their cleaner to clean up a week later. )

You are asking people not to vote - but there's no way to see not people are voting unless they vote - so good luck with that!

I'm asking cleaners to vote.

I'm asking employers of cleaners not to vote.

Yes, but people might want to see how the voting is going, and in order to do that they need to vote.

I’m a cleaner. I’m self employed now. Set my own rates and pick who I work for and when I work. I’m very happy, I’m not poorly paid. If I was I’d up my rates. Most of my clients are very pleasant and respectful. Some give me a Christmas present or a bit extra in my pay. None of it is expected. Always lovely. Many express how much they miss me when I’m off (like now! ) so I think value what I do.

When I first started out I worked for an agency and hated it. Poorly paid- Often late or short. Given jobs that just weren’t possible to complete in the time. Agency manager didn’t give a shit.

So glad I went out on my own.

Yes, but people might want to see how the voting is going, and in order to do that they need to vote.

Didn't know that. Will provide updates!

Ex cleaner here. It's a mixed bag. The majority of my clients were lovely, some became friends. Some were snooty, suspicious of me, and filthy. The filthiest ones always argued my rates as if they were too good to clean their own muck but got to dictate how much it was worth to actually do it.

As an aside, I am continually surprised on here that MN seems to pay their cleaners if they themselves cancel, and throughout coronavirus. I never got offered this (pre CV, ever!) And the generous Christmas bonuses! Very occasionally an extra fiver or some cake, but it really was the exception

I'm not a cleaner now but I have been.
IME you get a couple of households who really value the service and treat you well and the rest (they do tend to be wealthier) just leave bloodied knickers on the floor, skid marks in the toilet and are generally just filthy fuckers.

I haven't voted because not all my clients are wankers.

When I cleaned for an agency, I had no choice in my customers.Some wrote very long and unrealistic lists then complained that i should have done everything within the time limit. Some who worked from home were not very friendly, quite standoffish but that didnt bother me so much. I've had a couple who were absolute gems, one i still have.

When I clean my current customers home I feel very welcomed, respected and she always tell me how grateful she is for my help. We are both mid 20's so we are kind of on the same wavelength. She is by far my favourite and I like to do more than what's expected just to make her happy.

I dont like the job in general. I do it for money and I'd rather use my other skills for a living but things havent worked out the way I've hoped career wise at the moment and I need to support my family first and foremost. When people ask me (my socialist neighbours mostly) what I do for a living, I'm just so embarrassed when I tell them because they're all a bunch of fucking snobs who expect an Eastern European to do what I do for a living, not a British person.

I have to admit my MIL is notorious for being a terrible employer of cleaners - she's a real task master and will make them do things twice because of her own paranoia (eg they'll mop and then she'll get them to mop again because she worries about germs).

On plus side, she knows she's crazy and massively over pays as a result.

I've had a really nasty client at one point when I was working in a bnb style accommodation place. I cleaned their kitchen counters with the same cloth I used to clean the toilet seat. They fucking deserved it.

(On MN there seems to be absolutely no middle ground between treating cleaners like shit and fawning over them for doing the job they're being paid to do.)

I'd love to have a cleaner but can't really justify the expense and I also make my 10 year DS hoover, polish, clean the bathroom etc as i feel it is important that he learns that people, especially women, are not put on this earth to clean up after them. I suspect those dirty fuckers mentioned above have always had someone running around after them.

However, as an employer I know how difficult it is to get a decent cleaner. After many, many months of struggling via a cleaning company, they have finally found us one that a) can understand what they need to do and b) turned up c) done a cracking job. I don't think some realise that actually good cleaners are quite hard to find and need to be looked after and respected.