AIBU to expect a cleaner to clean properly

[nameisnotimportant]

So recently I got sick and had to have an unexpected surgery. My husband has been trying to work, sort both kids out and look after me, so the cleaning has been starting to slide. He's doing the daily wiping down the kitchen and floors etc but the big stuff has got to the point where it needs a clean and I currently can't and my husband is exhausted.

So I thought right I'll just book a cleaner to come in and do the bathroom, en-suite and the kitchen. We rarely do this as it's not usually in our budget and I have quite high standards when it comes to cleaning. This is a very first world problem but the cleaner has just been and left and she has missed so many things that I expected her to clean. This has happened the few other times in my life where I have booked a cleaner and I always feel like it wasn't worth the money. She had great ratings and reviews on the app where I booked her. However, I don't know if I'm being unreasonable and my standards are too high.

For example in the shower would you expect the cleaner to move the shampoo bottles off the shower tray that's attached to the shower and clean the soap off? It just looks like she's wiped it down and not cleaned any of the grout properly. I clean the bathrooms weekly and they've only missed one clean, so they were pretty clean to begin with. The fronts of the kitchen cupboards weren't wiped down and I think this is important when you have kids running around. There was also a mug mark left on the kitchen counter. just feel bad complaining, especially given the current climate. Also Im still recovering from surgery so genuinely needed these things cleaned properly.

Hi, OP! I hope your recovery will be quick & painfree!

Are you planning to use her again? If so, discuss witb her. I'd say that all you asked would be common sense, not sure how she didn't think about jt, I wouldn't say these were specific things that needed to be discussed prior to the cleaning

@readingismycardio it won't be a regular thing as we can't afford it as a regular thing. The app that I booked on had a list of what was included in each room and so I didn't think I needed to discuss with her what needed doing before she started. My husband thinks I'm being fussy. I just don't know if I should complain or if I'm expecting too much 🤷🏼‍♀️

As above. Tell her what you were happy with but also specify the things that you need doing. rather than "clean the bathroom" say that you want the grout cleaned and the bottle shelf cleaned out, floors mopped, shower screen cleaned etc.

I'd complain, tbh.

Tell her. Seriously. She hasn't done what she agreed to do.

YANBU.....but good cleaners are like hens teeth. I’ve had cleaners for 20 years. Some are trainable and some are not. If you aren’t planning in keeping her then I wouldn’t waste your energy in trying to make her better. You can complain, but it’s unlikely to change her and you are unlikely to get money back. You could write a bad review.

Hi Op I think that the answer is to talk to the cleaner and give her written instructions about what you want done as you are paying for this service.
The cleaner is either going to get the message that you expect high standards or she will leave.

This has also been my problem in the past - I have tried several regular cleaners but to be honest I do a better job myself! I have found that you need to give a full and complete list of what you expect before they agree to the clean and list out everything you need on a room by room basis.

Doesn't sound like she did a great job :S She's supposed to clean off any muck/dirt in the area she is paid to clean … if your noticing dirt then she hasn't done a good job

I now have the best cleaners I ever had. They are really lovely. They do sometimes miss things tbh. Being human and having 2 hours each (4 hours).

You sound very particular. You are never going to get a clean to your standard. It would cost far too much by the sound of it. My cleaning is far more thorough than any cleaners I’ve ever had. That’s not with any disrespect to my current ladies. They just don’t have the time with the amount of hours I’ve agreed to pay them. It would take at least 8 hours to clean to my standard. I pay them for 4. But 4 hours is enough for a house basic clean and bed change.

I am disabled and don’t have the energy to clean. My advice would be to not sweat the small stuff, focus on getting better and clean any bits she’s missed when you can. I periodically deep clean the little bits missed in bathroom for example and at the moment I have a bit more energy and am deep cleaning the floors downstairs.

I ve found the same as you with cleaners. I don’t have a regular one but have on occasions booked on when I’ve been struggling but then always felt it’s not worth the money. Booked one last week, two ladies came for two hours and I asked them to specifically focus on on the bathrooms and clean the windows. Several windows had definitely not been done, I found dirt behind things on the shelf in the bathroom, similarly things like the washing basket hadn’t been moved when hoovering, corners missed when dusting and they just quickly mop all the floors paying no attention it seems to whether there are particular dirty corners so need more of a scrub. My house is very tidy and I didn’t set them a time limit so I don’t understand why it’s not possible to do a basic good job. I understand what others are saying about giving feedback/instructions and maybe it’s a different experience if you regularly have a cleaner you can ‘train’ but it feels patronising to say to them when they start ‘make sure you hoover into all the corners’ I wouldn’t expect someone to tell me how to do my job

Yanbu, my cleaner is amazing, she is thorough and reliable. So sorry you did not get the service you paid for.

Good cleaners are hard to come by and recommendations are better as you can go by other people’s experience. I would expect a cleaner to move everything to clean (mine certainly does) but we also make sure we clear everything so it’s relatively tidy and easy for the cleaner to clean.

Why does the grouting need a proper clean if it's only a week since you did it? How dirty does grouting get in one week?

Don't use that cleaner again as she/he obviously doesn't suit you

Next time you use a cleaner write a detailed list of everything you expect to be covered

If she was cleaning solidly and working hard for the whole time you paid her for, then surely she just ran out of time to do things like wiping down the fronts of your cupboards?

A mug ring can easily me overlooked by anyone.

The shower - id expect products removed and shower properly cleaned yes but a 'one off' clean is harder because things are dirtier than they'd usually be if she was coming weekly.

As above. Good cleaners are so hard to find and anyone who gets one treats them well and holds on to them for dear life!

I would expect them to not leave a mark on the counter or leave the shower tray dirty. Detailed grout cleaning probably not unless you had specified this and paid for enough hours to allow this to happen.

I wouldn’t expect a cleaner to be cleaning the grouting in the bathroom or the kitchen cupboard fronts.

If it was a regular cleaner then those types of jobs would be done on a rota system but not every week.

If you are particular then you would need to stipulate it’s a deep clean and give a list of requirements

I’d expect the Bath, sink, taps & loo to be cleaned along with the flooring and any show screen & tiles wiped down

Kitchen tops, sink, cooker & window sills flooring and tiles wiped down

I expect if you’re doing the grouting every week usually then it’s clean anyway

Trouble is everyone expects different things from a cleaner, and people never notice what you have done they only notice what you didn't. One offs are harder to do, as you will miss things whilst concentrating on something else. The cleaning firm I worked for would only do 1 offs as a spring clean or end of tenancy clean which was charged at a higher rate, and we would expect the house to be immaculately tidy so we could go in and blitz it from top to bottom, working around peoples crap is surprisingly time consuming.

I've had 3. 1 wasnt any good, 1 was ok and 1 was brilliant. The one that wasnt any good cleaned around things even when I was there! I dont have alot of things but you can pick up a candle surely? I do notice when a job is done well

Yes I’m finding flood cleaners are rare. Haven’t found a good one since the cash in hand one I used to use for years in London- she used to leave the house spotless it was such a joy to come home after she was done.

I knew my last cleaner was bad before she even started cleaning - when she arrived on her first day she looked around and told me that she doesn’t know why I need a cleaner, my house is clean already. The house was tidy but definitely not clean (I hadn’t mopped the floors in a month and I hadn’t cleaned the bathrooms in 10 days). When she left there were still muddy kids footprints on the laminate flooring in the hallway, Cheerios stuck on the dining table, and she hadn’t even touched any surfaces for dusting. I carried on using her for a few months until I decided not to throw money away anymore. I think she either had poor eyesight or took absolutely no pride in her work at all.

It’s a shame because it’s not nice to spend that money and not get to feel unburdened afterwards (which a good cleaner achieves).

*good not flood

Communication is key, if you employ someone to do a job you’ll need to tell them your expectations and give a list, otherwise let them clean

I used to have a cleaner, house was left tidy, she cleaned when we weren’t there usually. I came back one day to find all my glass wear on dinning room table and she was cleaning cabinets- I had no idea this was done on a rota system. Each week an area was deep cleaned. For me at the time it meant wft I didn’t have to bother with cleaning and was happy with cleanliness of my home

I wouldn’t expect a cleaner to wipe down the kitchen cupboards as standard. Do you really do this every time you clean?

As a general rule, you need to ask them to do specific things. But the soap tray thing should have been cleaned, yes.

I have a cleaner every week, I wouldn't be expecting her to do the grouting or kitchen presses every week. I think that's an unreasonably high expectation unless you were paying for a longer, deep clean.

I’d expect tiles to be cleaned but not grouting to be scrubbed in a one off clean like that, especially if it already looked clean.

I think the key is to be really specific in what you want them to focus on. The things that bug you in the house the most. If you were having them weekly it would be easier for them to understand your priorities.

I’m not a cleaner but did clean as part of my job as a care assistant and it was much easier when you knew exactly what they were wanting from your visit and feedback each time meant the task became less vague. Going into a house I’d have done floors and surfaces, vacuum, dust, bed change, etc but would never have done deeper jobs like skirtings, grout etc unless asked.