Am I asking too much of cleaners?

[SlimBig]

I’ve had three bad experiences with cleaners. They’ve all been really lovely people but I’ve not been impressed with their work. The first one would just come to ask what she could do next and not use her initiative. In hindsight I should have given her a list to work with, but she was young, and I was young at the time too. The second was a mother/daughter team for a deep clean and it was not a great service at all. I fed this back and they were great about providing a small discount. The third was a lovely local lady, and after my previous bad experiences and having wondered whether I expected too much, I suggested she spend the hour on one room to give it a good going over, and then maybe do the downstairs floors if she had time. The first few weeks were fine but after a while she’d finish in about 45 mins and then leave. Whereas she could have washed down the windows or dusted the light fittings or the skirting boards or something in that hour? Which is what I meant when suggesting she give one room a full focus rather than trying to skim the whole house. But maybe that’s unreasonable?

I’d really like to give it another go but am worried I’ll have another bad experience. I also would appreciate being told that I’m expecting too much if that is the case!

Those of you with cleaners, what do you expect to get down in 2 hours?

Those of you who are cleaners, what do you think is reasonable to manage in 2 hours? And would it be unreasonable to ask someone to clean for 1.5 hours, twice a week?

An hour spent on on room? How big are your rooms?

You aren't really being clear in your post about what you actually want in a cleaner.

Stuff like Windows aren't standard, light fittings aren't an every clean thing and are you expecting them to be taken down or just a fluffy sister job. Skirting boards are.

Do you go over at the start with what you want or are you vague?

I think you need to be very clear about what you want doing and if it needs doing every time.

Lockdown without my cleaners has shown just how much mine do

In 2 hours all floors hoovered / mopped kitchen surfaces wiped down , dusting throughout bathroom cleaned , windows done not each week but she always does any with dog snot , she will make beds if I leave out bed linen too. She is really hard working , I miss her :(

My cleaner (pre corona) comes for four hours every week, and does the same thing every time. We covered and agreed what was expected the first time she came and have not had any problems. I think you need to stick to a fixed set of tasks, rather than any "if you have time" things.

I wrote a prioritised list of my expectations...I work in project management so naturally kind of applied MoSCoW prioritisation (Must have, Shoulds have, could have and would haves) so she knew what I absolutely wanted doing each time then what to work on In what order once she has ticked those off. She tends to get it all done in less than 2 hours (3 bed detached house) so i never mind if she leaves early cos it's all done. If there is something that really needs her attention i just drop her a text. Never had any issues.

I think it’s unclear what you actually want done.

Do you want one room deep cleaned plus all floors hoovered and mopped every week?

If so write a list with the rooms in order of priority.

Also- how big is your house? An hour could cover all the floors in a 3 bed semi but I’ve worked in houses where you’d need 3 hours for just the floors.

Personally I don’t do any jobs for less than 2 hours. It’s not worth it when you take into account the travel time and fuel.

What you can get done depends on the house.

I can do a large 5 bed, 2 bath detached in two hours because the house is very tidy and only adults live there with no pets.

Similarly one of my clients in a 3 bed semi and hairy dog takes longer because they are there when I arrive, I have to work round them, their breakfast stuff is all on the table, counters, etc toys and laundry everywhere, dog hair, generally lots of clutter and mess.

The cleaner I use keeps it really professional. Assessed what was required in each room with me, weekly and what would be needed say monthly. All the jobs they do and don’t do (make beds, take out rubbish). And we get a tick list of what was complete and what wasn’t - so they can pick it up next time. This is because I have ironing done ‘when needed’ so for half of that cleaning time on those days I ask for that, I understand other jobs won’t get done. And I know what they have had to leave.

I think you need to see it as a paid service too. Too often people seem to think it’s cheeky or rude to say if you are not satisfied. I think if you stick to a clear plan it is easy then to say when it’s not met expectations, like you would for any service, and not feel guilty or bad?

But I have really professional lovely cleaners now, and again like all jobs I suppose, some are just crap and you need to just get rid.

Thanks, maybe they too felt that I was unclear or vague as to what I wanted done.

We lived in a 3 bed semi at the time, and yes with the third cleaner, I asked her to deep clean one room a week and do floors if there was time. She only came for an hour a week.

Maybe it would be better to give a list each week (in priority order) for them to work down and stop when time runs out?

I asked her to deep clean one room a week and do floors if there was time. She only came for an hour a week.

Ok so I would reword that and say “can you do an hour deep cleaning the lounge and the second hour do the floors” that way it is clear you expect her to stay for 2 hours and what exactly is to be done in each of those hours.

An hour sound later like plenty for the floors in a 3 bed semi so I would specify “hoover and mop all floors and skirting board.” And I might ask her to spot clean grubby marks on door frames, handles and light switches. That should fill an hour. As long as the floors are all cleared of toys, rubbish, laundry etc before she comes.

I'm five cleans in with my new one. I wrote a word document of weekly, monthly & quarterly tasks describing each room, surfaces, specific furniture pieces & products if specialised. The weekly is every week d'oh, the monthly is one from the list tacked on to last 15 minutes of weekly (two hours/two bed house) the quarterly is extra time if she agrees and paid accordingly. Honestly the quarterly is stuff my husband should do (I'm disabled) but he'd rather pay than do IYSWIM.
She's very good and uses own initiative & cleans to standard I used to when able.

We have a lot of clutter and lockdown has made me realise how long it takes to tidy and clean this house!

Ours comes twice a week for 3 hours each time. In addition to cleaning she changes the bed and does the ironing ( not for the kids). I also get her to come when we are on holiday to do the not every week jobs like give the fridge a proper clean out. This makes a huge difference.

She’s pretty rubbish with skirting boards and doesn’t seem to look up so never cleans cobwebs. But she’s been with us along time and feels almost like family now.

She’s pretty rubbish with skirting boards and doesn’t seem to look up so never cleans cobwebs.

Just ask her when you notice them. Or when she comes in during the holidays.

I agree O.P. I’ve had bad experiences as well, I really don’t think cleaning to a reasonable standard is that hard (and I wouldn’t say I have high expectations) but I’ve been unable to find someone that actually just does a basic job. They always seem to leave 30 mins early as well when I’m paying by the hour, and there’s still loads of stuff left that could be cleaned.... doesn’t make sense to me. 🤷‍♀️

You should probably write out a list of what you would like doing. If you’re clear and they still do a crap job then you know it’s them at fault but giving them a loose idea of what to do then whinging when they don’t do exactly what you wanted isn’t really fair.

An hour a week is an unreasonable amount of time to employ a cleaner for - she probably spends at least half of that on a commute. Most cleaners have a minimum amount of time - 2 hours a week or so.

I’ve had a shockingly crap cleaner. 6 hours a week (split into 2), to clean a 2 bed 1 bath flat and do some ironing. She was just taking the piss - 90 mins to hoover etc im fairly sure she just sat on her arse when I wasn’t there as it’s impossible to clean 1000sq ft so slowly.

Now we are in a big house with the best cleaner of all time. Takes initiative, cleans generally and thoroughly depending on what is needed. I do think you need to be more specific, but unfortunately, as with every single profession, some people care about doing a good job and some people want to do as little as possible 🤷🏻‍♀️

6 hours a week (split into 2), to clean a 2 bed 1 bath flat and do some ironing.

Christ!

So general consensus is that 2hrs per week is better than 2 x 1.5, especially if they are travelling a few miles?

@crispysausagerolls the hour a week was with a lady who lived on the next street. She didn’t seem to mind. But I appreciate that once you get started am s almost time to finish with an hour, neither here nor there.

So general consensus is that 2hrs per week is better than 2 x 1.5, especially if they are travelling a few miles?

For me, yes but each cleaner has their own limits so just ask them which they prefer. They might be happy to do 2X 1.5 hours as it could fit in with their current client schedule.

@ChandlerIsTheBestFriend

My thinking was that as we had white floors and a dog/toddler, and some ironing, it was worth paying someone to keep it tidy.

It was unbelievable. I once left a chocolate stain on a lamp. Very obvious. She never even touched it! I mentioned to her how none of the furniture was ever moved to clean and skirting boards all dusty and she said she didn’t have enough time 😆 considering the place was always immaculate in terms of tidiness so no time wasted moving stuff, rhis was total nonsense.

I only realised how much she had taken the piss when new cleaner started and asked me what the fuck this woman had been doing before!

That’s awful! She must have just been coming and sticking her feet up for about 4 hours!

my cleaner does mop and clean surfaces in kitchen and bathroom every week then Hoover upstairs or Hoover and mop downstairs hall and living room rotating in an hour. it's a surface clean as I'm happy to do dusting etc. the floors are the thing I struggle to keep on top of.

I had four cleaners over time. All started off well but the went off the boil and kept cutting short and leaving early. Gave up in the end as not paying to find dust and muck not dealt with.

A friend of mine was working from home when her cleaner arrived with her daughter (not part of the deal, but she was 'training' her so she went occasionally). She overheard her tell her daughter 'if the room looks tidy just spray some air freshener around and that will do'. Needless to say she no longer cleans for my friend!
All the cleaners I've has have been good but all have their blind spots or peculiarities. One woman just loved organising cupboards - I told her not to but she organised my clothes too. She used to clean in a hotel and did a great job but was very unreliable.
My current one is thorough and is always moving but it takes her ages to do stuff - she can spend an hour doing a bathroom. She never finishes the whole house so I tell her which rooms I need doing that week. She also never throws out anything. For example an empty coke can will be on the side table. She will move it to clean the top but then put the can back on - weird.

Tbh if you give the cleaner the vague instruction "give one room a deep clean and do the floors" then YABU to expect them to be a mind reader and know exactly what you mean by that.

When I had a cleaner she had specific tasks - she came for 2 hours a week and the first hour would be general cleaning and the second hour would be weekly/monthly/quarterly jobs.

The general tasks were the same every week - sweep and mop the floors, wipe down surfaces, kitchen and bathroom - and I had a list of the other jobs and the cleaner worked through them every visit. When she finished the list she'd begin again so everything got done in a rotating cycle, there was always something for her to do and she didnt have to guess what I wanted her to do if there was extra time as she could always move to the next job on the list.

If you want a new cleaner then I suggest writing out a list of things you want doing as part of your "deep cleaning" for every room, in order of priority, then they will always know exactly what you want and can work through the list and tick off what they get done so you know what still needs doing.