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!

@Iwantafuckingbreak
Our Auntie was cleaner to a well known Russian Dancer- now departed this life.
He wanted her to run his baths for him! plus make him tea.
She said ''I am not your servant!''.... I think she was one of the few to stand up to him.

She said he peeled off his tights and left them all over the house..
Mum's friend, suitably impressed said ''Run his baths?..I'd scrub his b@lls if asked'' 😂

@Whatsnewpussyhat hes training in a different role now but he does the odd job for me when he has time.

I have fibromyalgia and I am beat for a day or two after spending several hours cleaning. I don't know if that is normal to feel like that.

I had cleaners on and off for a few years and things kept going wrong.

I had one cleaner who broke 10 glasses over the space of two visits when she unloaded the dishwasher. I think she needed glasses and couldn't see what she was doing.

I had another cleaner who physically cornered me in my own laundry room and verbally abused me when I politely asked her to use separate cloths for the bathroom vs. the kitchen. When I asked her to leave my home she ranted and raved all the way to her car.

And I've had 3 other cleaners who repeatedly failed to show up when they were due to show, or kept coming late. It stressed me out. More often than not I ended up doing it anyway.

And I am one of those people who tidies and cleans before they arrive , don't have unfair expectations, pays fairly, gives tips at birthdays and Christmases.

Just find cleaners a massive hassle.By the time I've dealt with all the nonsense, I could have done the cleaning myself.

That's why, if you're a good cleaner who shows up on time and does a good job, you're gold dust as far as I'm concerned. You can afford to ditch the bad clients and stick to the good ones.

It’s tough work.

Good cleaners are hard to find and are in such demand that as you grow your business you might find it easier to put something in writing. Easier to be firmer that way.

It’s what my cleaner did anyway, a written summary of expectations and what she would and would not do. I found it helped as also made things clearer for me.

It is knackering and kills my back and my dodgy knee.

I bloody hate it and would love a cleaner, but can't afford it.

YANBU - it’s hard work and I’d be dead if I did it.

Yanbu, I’m a self employed cleaner and work my arse off, I’ve never been fitter. It’s hard on days where I’m feeling under the weather but I like working alone and having the finished result of a nice clean house.

[quote Iwantafuckingbreak]@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 [/quote]
Are you 'sure' it is beard??

That is bloody gross.

People ought to have respect for other people.

Fitbit says I burn a lot of calories on days I do a lot of cleaning.

I'm glad to hear you're going to be firmer with potential clients in future, OP. I think cleaning is undervalued because it's considered women's work.

Of course it's hard work, particularly when it's done properly. Unfortunately, many cleaners don't do it properly. I've had a number of cleaners who really just do the bare minimum - e.g. Not moving things to clean, a quick wipe of the floor etc. I currently have an amazing cleaner who I will bend over backwards to keep. I always tidy before she gets here, empty bins etc. Any specific products she wants, I get etc. I also round up payment to the next hour if she stays a bit late, don't mind if she finishes a bit early etc.

@whenwillthemadnessend - 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

That is so disgusting. How could anyone have so little self-respect/respect for you that they would do that?

That's why, if you're a good cleaner who shows up on time and does a good job, you're gold dust as far as I'm concerned. You can afford to ditch the bad clients and stick to the good ones.

This.
Our Auntie could pick and choose whom she worked for, scrupulously honest, punctual, cleaned to perfection..
What made me weep was that when she died {She was Dad's much older sister} her Wedding ring was given to dad... worn to a thin foil from decades of cleaning...When some b@stard broke in to parents place and took her ring, amongst other things.

It’s hard work for sure. I managed 3 months.
I worked in a retirement complex, we got one hour per flat,
Most clients were lovely.

I’m constantly impressed by our cleaners. They work so much harder than I do at my job. I’m very grateful because I’m not physically capable of doing the work myself. They are worth every penny.

Yanbu

YANBU

It is an incredibly hard job, I know only too well what it is like. It’s physically draining but also managing customers expectations is half the battle.
As you say you need to be firm at the beginning, if you have another like that demanding woman say at the beginning what is possible in the time. If they don’t agree to that walk away before you start. If she used to do her own cleaning at one time (if she was physically able) I bet she wouldn’t have been able to manage that amount of cleaning in that time. Many people have very unrealistic expectations when they are paying for a cleaner.

With the people who did no cleaning during lockdown I hope you only stayed for the amount of time you were being paid for. It would take several weeks to get a house back up together in that kind of state.

I hope you charge well for your time, you offer a valuable service and you should give yourself credit for that. Make sure you only work for people who appreciate you. I wish you well.

[quote Iwantafuckingbreak]@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 [/quote]
What a CF - nevermind the house, it would have taken a whole hour to polish her brass neck Loads of CFkers chance their arm with anyone self employed - mainly women. 'Cos you know, if a woman can do it, it's because it's easy and thus not of value

I'm on loads of craft groups, it's a common theme. CFkers who think they can get a 3 tier handmade, intricately decorated cake for £10' cos Asda sells them for that much, or want a complicated hand-knitted blanket for less than the bleddy cost of the yarn!

Good cleaners are highly sought after, appreciate your value 💪

YANBU, at all. Good cleaners are hard to find, so I say ditch any clients who take the piss!

I also ponder the mens work/ women's work thing - my window cleaner charges £17 to clean 10 windows and 3 doors, he has one of those water fed poles which works off a tank in his van and it takes him definitely less than 10 minutes. My cleaner charges £20 to clean my 3 bed house, which takes her two hours. Now granted the window cleaner uses all his own kit and the cleaner uses my Hoover and cleaning stuff, but still, once the window cleaner has made the initial outlay he's still doing pretty well at that rate. And my cleaner is much more thorough than the window cleaner.

I agree, OP, and cleaning isn’t “only cleaning” it’s an essential job that really helps people maintain their living standards. I used to have cleaners who came every two weeks and I always tidied up before they came- and if one of the kids’ rooms was a mess I’ll tell them to skip it! I always gave them a good tip as well, because they worked for an agency and wouldn’t get the rate I was paying.

No longer have cleaners and it’s miserable. My teen/tween help out with chores but they haven’t achieved the same standard...yet!

@LadyH846 you've had alot of bad luck with cleaners! I grew up with an OCD mother with ridiculously high standards and It kind of rubbed off on me. I get a lot of new clients from word of mouth so I like to consider myself a very good cleaner!

@OchonAgusOchonO I move whatever I can physically move myself. Was moving all the sofas today and feel a bit like the hulk

@oakleaffy yes I'm sure it's his beard because his pubes are left in the shower I can kind of look past it as I cleaned the toilets at the local uni for a while

I bet it is. You should get a good price per house.

If it was as easy as some people make out, they wouldn’t be hiring cleaners they’d be doing it themselves wouldn’t they!

@nothingcomestonothing

YANBU, at all. Good cleaners are hard to find, so I say ditch any clients who take the piss!

I also ponder the mens work/ women's work thing - my window cleaner charges £17 to clean 10 windows and 3 doors, he has one of those water fed poles which works off a tank in his van and it takes him definitely less than 10 minutes. My cleaner charges £20 to clean my 3 bed house, which takes her two hours. Now granted the window cleaner uses all his own kit and the cleaner uses my Hoover and cleaning stuff, but still, once the window cleaner has made the initial outlay he's still doing pretty well at that rate. And my cleaner is much more thorough than the window cleaner.

£20 is very low. Not sure if it’s because I’m used to London prices.

I was thinking the same, Marsha. Can’t remember what I paid for 2-21/2hours, but it was a lot more than that. £60ish, I think.

YANBU.

I used to clean and it is hard work - mostly commercial but some domestic. And yes, clients can be bloody unreasonable about what is achievable in the time. They want champagne results on buckfast money.