3 hours cleaning

[BaconsLaw]

I'm in the market for a cleaner (aren't we all!) and I've asked for the main bathroom, en-suite, downstairs toilet, kitchen and floors in kitchen, hallway and living room to be done.

Without seeing my house, the company I've contacted has suggested it'll take 3-4 hours. AIBU to think there's no way it'll take that long?

How much can your cleaner do in 3 hours?

I pay £13 an hour for a 3 hour clean, or a 1.5 hour clean with 2 cleaners attending. I'm in a large 3 story 6 bed victorian end terraced. The house is hoovered throughout, hard floors are mopped, the bathrooms and kitchen are cleaned and skirting boards, dado rails and door handles are polished.

I'd write a list of what you like doing, and then see how long it takes you to clean it to the standard you'd like, that would give you a realistic idea of what is achievable in how many hours.

I know I can clean our place to my satisfaction in 2 hours, so if I was looking to hire a cleaner I'd expect the same.

From your list I'd guess:

• Main bathroom, en-suite and downstairs toilet: 45 minutes max in total.

Kitchen and floors in kitchen: another 45 minutes max in total. Hallway and living room: 30 minutes max (if literally just cleaning as in dusting and hoovering rather than tidying). So 2 hours in total. Obviously depends on how big your place is and if it needs a a bit of TLC.

I pay £13.50 per hour for living room, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and kitchen diner. Takes 45 mins..... but get charged hour and a half as my cleaner works as a pair

I know that I live in a small, 2 up 2 down, old miners cottage. I do a ‘mid’ clean of each room every week, so all surfaces, including light switches, skirting boards, bannisters in the living room etc and each room will take 45 minutes if I’m motoring. Even our bathroom, which is tiny! You say yours is small, but how much of it is tiled, etc. Ours is ceiling to floor tiles and it takes a surprisingly long time to clean the walls!

I wouldn’t mind someone doing 3 hours. 2 hours and rushing is much less preferable than 3 hours with a bit of time to spare to get right in the nooks and crannies!

Definitely pay for 3. You get a much better job done.

I think expecting someone to come to you for less than 3 hours work at that rate of pay is taking the piss.

How do you work that out ?
If someone is self employed, then it is up to them what they feel they need to charge, and then up to the potential employer to decide if it is worth it or not.

I don't agree with @Ihatemyseleffordoingthis either. You could time yourself doing it, and see if you want to prove it. Obviously, if that is what that company have worked out as their rates, then you probably won't change that, but OP is asking if that sounds reasonable, and most people are saying that the minimal number of rooms she wants doing shouldn't take that long. So it is worth asking about.

I do agree with @daisychain01 that we all have different 'standards' and different expectations of what needs doing in a room. I am pretty stunned at some of the housekeeping threads on MN sometimes

@BaconsLaw You should definitely do it. It is the loveliest feeling walking in to my newly cleaned house each week. I literally find myself breaking into a big cheesy grin. It is definitely money well spent.

Don't get in a company. In my experience you will get different cleaners and they will be getting paid minimum wage. Far better to build up a relationship with 1 cleaner who you can trust.

It takes me 3 hours every week to do three bathrooms, one downstairs cloakroom, very large kitchen and utility. It involves some glass doors, mirrors, floors. I am a former cleaner and do a really thorough job. It depends how hard they work and how thoroughly.

Much better to find a single recommended cleaner, than using an agency. Their quality and speed is much better.

The hallway is just wooden flooring that's I'd liked cleaned. No surfaces to be dusted apart from a tiny windowsill which I do most days. The living room is the same flooring, also just to be cleaned. I tidy everything away every day and we vacuum daily as we have an elderly cat (who is a messy bugger), a dog and a four year old so we have to. I'm including it so it's done at the same time to ensure the "everything is done" feeling.

Since LD we have realise we don't need a cleaner and so do our own cleaning now. Yesterday we did the whole house in about and hour and a half between the 2 of us.

We do a good job and so yes we can do more in 4 hours!

Well as there is no polishing and no tidying I would say around the 2 hours and my hourly rate is £12 . Most large houses ie 4 bedrooms , 1 main bathroom , en suite and cloak takes around 3 hours And that’s with polishing , mirrors, vac , mopping and tidying etc etc . Four hours is way to long but maybe they quote that as a first clean

@hotdog44

Well as there is no polishing and no tidying I would say around the 2 hours and my hourly rate is £12 . Most large houses ie 4 bedrooms , 1 main bathroom , en suite and cloak takes around 3 hours And that’s with polishing , mirrors, vac , mopping and tidying etc etc . Four hours is way to long but maybe they quote that as a first clean

Are you in the south west? Can I hire you? 😂

The problem is how to find a cleaner in the first place. It’s really hard to find someone good who you can trust.

3 hours here for a 4 bed/1 bathroom house. That gets the kitchen and bathroom given a deep clean, clutter moved into piles, everywhere hoovered, beds changed and "dressed". Dishwasher is emptied, hob taken apart for proper clean, kettle shone etc.

I have really missed my cleaner over lockdown and am a bit sad that she won't do the room I'm working/working in on my return (she will only clean with me in the house if I stay in one room with door closed to ensure SD)

Time taken to 'clean' a room is irrelevant it is about what tasks in the room take that time. I can clean. The sitting room in say 10 minutes if I don't move any furniture, just flick a duster over surfaces or if I want to do it properly moving furniture, clearing surfaces to dust/polish properly, vacuuming and maybe washing/polishing oak floor it can take an hour.

Focus should be on what is done during the time and how thoroughly rather than just the time allowed.

Definitely agree with 1 trusted cleaner.

I've had a few nightmares in my time, like the time I found 3 cleaners around the house, 2 of which were just random 'mates' I'd never been even introduced to, who my cleaner arbitrarily decided to bring along so they'd all do 1 hour each, to get things done quicker. And couldn't understand why that would piss me off! Especially as one of them dropped a cup into the sink and cracked it, but denied it.

Trust is hugely important when you have someone in your home. 'Expect the unexpected' isn't a bad thing if it makes you more cautious in who you choose - get references if possible. My cleaner came recommended by my friend.

Current cleaner is a different one to the other nightmare one by the way!

My friend cleans in private houses and gets £20 per hour, which I think is quite generous.

@daisychain01 yes, we've had that before too, we took on our cleaner because she was good, then she decided to bring a friend and halve the time time (and the friend was not so good), then she brought in a cousin too (also not very thorough) so they could get it all done in an hour - no consultation, suddenly we have a bunch of strangers in our home that we didn't ask for, and things aren't getting properly cleaned!

She probably won't be staying much longer.

If it were me quoting for that I would recommend 2-3 hours, or an hour/hour and a half with 2 cleaners. Any less and it wouldn't get done properly. Most clients on my books are 4 bed homes that want 3-4 hours cleaning but top to bottom and it does mean jobs have to be alternated, I.e. one week skirting boards and all cupboards, another windows ect.

I have a cleaner come 5 times a week who also looks after the children when I'm at work when they come in from school and live in a big 3 bed apartment with 2 bathrooms. On a Sunday after two days off she will be here for around 5/6 hrs giving the rooms a good clean and changing the beds. During the week she does a lighter clean in every room, does the laundry and irons and she's here about 4.5/ 5hrs. I've told her that only the kitchens and bathrooms need a good clean every day but she enjoys doing it so I let her get on with it 😂
Not in the UK btw

and I think that is the point, that @user1497787065 and @tashac89 have made.

For me, I want someone who will get done what I need doing weekly. In all the decades years I've lived without a cleaner, I've never cleaned skirting boards or windows weekly or even monthly .. To me, that is on the list of jobs to be done during the school holidays, so that doesn't cross my radar when thinking about what I want my cleaner to do. For others, it is. So a list of tasks is what is really needed to compare.

Mine comes 2 x week for 3 hours each time
4 bed 3 bathroom house

Hoovers ,cleans,tidies up

On one of the days she does a 'big ' job eg changes beds,cleans oven

So worth the money

Kitchen, 3 bathrooms, WC, living room, 3 bedrooms, incl changing all the beds. She also does all my glass and skirting boards. I pay 12.50 PH