To say cleaning is hard work?

[Iwantafuckingbreak]

I'm a cleaner, I work for myself and I've just finished for the day. I only worked 8-3.30 today but I am dead! I didnt have time for a break and only about 10 minutes of that was travel time. Lugging around hetty, up and down stairs and cleaning houses with a million bathrooms. My knee is buggered, my back hurts like hell and I'm just knackered. But I still get people make comments about how it's only cleaning or get clients with ridiculously unrealistic expectations.

I had one lady who only had me once because I said it was impossible to clean her 4 bed house top to bottom in 1 hour a week. I only agreed to go for 1 hour because she said she only wanted her floors doing because she had a bad back, my normal minimum is 2. When I got there she gave me a massive list to complete in 1 hour and then got arsey when I couldnt do it all.

Luckily the majority of my clients are lovely and I understand if they did their own cleaning I would have no work! But some people only have me 2 hours a fortnight or something like that and dont lift a finger between visits. Sometimes this is ok but one lady didnt even hoover.. or anything for that matter in 4 months during lockdown. It took me pretty much 4 hours just to Hoover her house when I came back! (It is a big house to be fair) but come on!

Obviously it goes without saying I am grateful for the work ... especially since my partner was made redundant. I also hope to grow my business in the long run but right now I'm slogging my guts out everyday and the "but it's only cleaning" comments piss me off! Along with clients who have no idea how long it takes to clean things properly!

I agree, cleaning is super hard work. Good cleaners are hard to find. If people have unreasonable demands, ditch them and find new clients. If you're having to put up with these people because you don't have enough work, you need to market yourself better.

YANBU

@LadyH846 to be fair I have too much work at the moment and I hope to be able to hire someone to help me out soon. But I do have a problem with saying no! It's a massive problem which I do need to work on!

Yes its really hard physical work.

[quote Iwantafuckingbreak]@LadyH846 to be fair I have too much work at the moment and I hope to be able to hire someone to help me out soon. But I do have a problem with saying no! It's a massive problem which I do need to work on![/quote]
I have my own business too (different industry) and get cheeky fuckers asking to have something for nothing all the time. It comes with the territory. Some people are just demanding and entitled. I think as women we're conditioned to be too amenable and say yes.

YANBU. It is hard work and a good job takes time and effort.

I think the ones who say “it’s only cleaning” probably don’t do it properly themselves!!! I’ve spent most of my day off today hoovering, doing laundry, straightening up and I’m knackered!!!

It’s proper physical work and takes time to do to a high standard. If you have too much work maybe start to ditch the unreasonable/ungrateful ones

It is such hard work that I actually can't do it all myself. I have CFS and get absolutely exhausted by too much cleaning (or cooking, come to that). I am very glad to be able to pay for help and I make sure to treat my brilliant cleaner well! So , OP, you are providing a valuable service.

i agree with you im a cleaner in a huge restaurant and by the time we have swept and mopped the back kitchen floors the dish area the restaurant, then polished all the woodwork and glass sprayed and cleaned all the tables cleaned the toilets from ceiling to floor and the staff room we are both knackered, then on top some days we have extra jobs like all the seating washed or table legs, lampshades, bar stools which are chrome bases its blooming hard work to get done in three hours and thats two of us

It’s like many other physical jobs.

But don’t be a wet blanket - in your position, before you take on a client, I’d have an initial meeting to assess the house and how much time you need for what etc Going round for 1 or 2h sounds like a waste of your time.

@JoJoSM2 I'm such a wet blanket. I always have an initial meeting and my minimum is 2 hours as most of my clients are all really close together. But this particular lady had health issues and supposedly only wanted her floors hovered and mopped. It was only the first clean when she changed her tune and expected the whole house to be done including the inside of fridge and microwave! I do need to learn to be more firm and assertive and not be a wet lettuce. I'm working on it

It's very hard physical work

That's why my house is minging

Very hard work - 100%. It's physical manual work.

@LaurieFairyCake mine isnt great. By the time o get home I cant stand the sight of hetty I need my own cleaner... which is definitely something I'm working towards

I hear you! It was my first day back today and I only did 4 1/2 hours.

My back and hips hurt sooo much!

One of the hardest jobs.YANBU

This is why I have 2 plugin-in hoovers and a cordless. The plugins get proper suction and I have one for upstairs and one for downstairs because I was tired of lugging them up and down the stairs. The cordless is for a quick whizz-round during the week.

YANBU. Anything where you need to put the elbow grease in really tires me out. Like a previous poster, I also have CFS, and I'm also extremely neat and tidy. The difference in the effort I have to put in to get a surface clean if it's left for a day or two is too much for me, as an example.

My cleaner is coming back next week! I am so happy. She is a good cleaner and is hugely efficient.
We've been keeping up with it ourselves in the meantime and the house has definitely needed more cleaning with us home more.
DD valiantly hoovers the house once a week and is properly out of puff by the end.
YANBU it's hard work.

Agree. I quit after my lady let her daughters leave their skiddy Knick's on floor and soiled san towels in the bin for me to empty Sod that. I left her a note and never went back.

She never did anything it seems before I got there to prepare.

If it wasn't hard work and time consuming, people wouldn't be hiring someone to do it for them!

Could your DP not work for you if they aren't working? Would at least keep the income in your household.

I completely agree. And it's surprisingly dangerous too! It should be better paid.

@Iwantafuckingbreak
I timed how long it took me to give my bathroom a really good clean and it was 1 hr 10 mins.
Including washing the windows outside and in -
No WAY could you clean a house in an hour!

Cleaning is quite physical... Don't take any shit!.

@whenwillthemadnessend I have one who likes to trim his beard over the sink and leaves it 🤢 I've even had one client want me to babysit while cleaning