Am I expecting too much from a cleaner?

[poppet31]

Why is it so hard to find a good cleaner? After returning to work after adoption leave, we decided to hire a cleaner as we just didn't have the time anymore and wanted to spend the weekends with our son rather than cleaning the house. Our house is pretty minimalist, not much clutter at all and we have good storage so all toys put away under the stairs cupboard etc. I do a tidy each evening while husband is bathing our son and we always wipe kitchen units and table after use so they don't need to tidy up or do dishes etc.

We have tried two lots of cleaners - the first ones started good but progressively went downhill and they brought on someone who smoked so the house was stinking after they left. They were also taking small things away with them and not returning - parts for the hoover, bottles of cleaning spray etc. We let them go and did it ourselves for a while and have recently tried a new company. On the face of it, things look clean when they leave but I have noticed they are missing basic things like dusting and wiping down surfaces. We told them how important dusting was as my husband has a dust allergy but they just don't seem to listen. I asked them last week if they could focus on a few areas they had missed the week before and they seemed really offended.

We don't have a big house - big standard 3 bed new build and they're not doing one of the bedrooms as we're working in it, but they can't seem to get even the basics done. We are paying for 3 hours (2 people for an hour and a half) but they quite often leave after an hour and 10 minutes. I am quite picky and know I could do a better job myself but it's just finding the time. Am I expecting too much or is it just bloody hard to find someone decent?

Bog standard I meant, not big!

Yes I found this too. Starts off ok then goes down hill rapidly.

I personally have found that a) independent cleaners are preferable and b) finding the right ‘fit’ is the most important.

I’d post on Nextdoor.co.uk and ask for recommendations and say that you have high standards and exactly what you need.

When you have 2 people over 90 mins I think things get missed as neither of them is methodically working through the house.

In 3 hours mine does an excellent job and my house sounds like yours. Except we’re maximalists 😬

I also would say your problem.is using these companies / agencies. You'd be much better off, if you can, getting a recommendation from a friend about a local cleaner. People seem to have more trouble with agencies than independent cleaners.

If you don't know anyone you can ask, local Facebook pages are quite good for this.

I found my cleaner through recommendations on a local Facebook page and she’s really good. Maybe try that way as I’ve always found other peoples recommendations have worked out well

I agree the problem is using agencies. My cleaner cleans for me and a couple of other people and that's it. She's very. very good.

I've given up on cleaners now (moreso because we can't justify one at the moment).

Years ago we had a great lady who just got on and done it. She seemed to have common sense, she didn't need a list and for years we couldn't find a speck of dust after she left.

We then had an agency and like you said they'd leave early once they had 'done everything'.

Then our last cleaner was lovely (spent way too much time nattering to us and her phone). She'd do everything to an OK level and had her own routine so essentially did the same things everyweek - I asked her if she could dust above the curtain rail and apparently that's only if I get a 'deep clean'. But she'd do weird things like take laundry out of the tumble drier and fold it - including my underwear which was the final straw.

Recently my friend has a gap in her schedule and I was thinking of taking her on. But then I heard her bitching about clients who asked her to change the bedding - I think everything outside of hoovering/dusting comes under house keeping in her remit which she is not.

Finding a decent cleaner is having to kiss some frogs I think.

You're not expecting too much in the least. And your experience is exactly why I gave up on cleaners years ago. I got sick of the fag-ash smell in my house (I've had this with several cleaners). I got tired of paying for 4 hours of shoddy cleaning. Never mopped the kitchen floor... and 'hoovering the rug' seemed to mean going outside and beating it by hand in my garden, no matter how many times I implied, "It's IKEA, not a 16th century Persian rug lifted from the Villa Necchi. Go nuts with the hoover... I am begging you! And PLEASE mop the floor, just once!" I think one of those hours must have been spent whatsapping. The fag breaks were relentless. And then it would all end weirdly and abruptly. I gave my baby cot to one cleaner and they never returned. No notice. Nothing. They got the cot and that was that. Another one asked me to be a guarantor on a flat. I said no, very nicely. Never returned. Another one seemed to think I was a trained therapist/agony aunt and she stopped coming when I made it clear that I had to do my job while she did her job.
I found cleaners so needy, exhausting, and inept. I gave up. That was my solution, which is probably not what you want to hear.

Yes! Avoid agencies. We always used agencies because we couldn't find local ones. It was always a nightmare. Always.

Another vote for not using an agency.
You pay the agency £15+ per hour, the cleaners are on minimum wage.
Much better employing someone direct & them earning £15ph, they will do a better job

Independent cleaners are probably often better but you still may need to give feedback. Leave a list of extra stuff to do if they have the time so they don’t go early. If they don’t wipe down something one week say that you noticed it and ask them to make sure it’s down every week. If they still don’t get it, bin them.

I found this too, tried about 3 and eventually I've found my current cleaner. She's an angel. Even does the washing up and changes the kitty litter if it needs doing. I have 3 young dc, one with additional needs, and have a chronic back problem myself so little things like that make a huge difference to us.

I agree with PP that independent cleaners with a recommendation are the way to go. That way they're not on minimum wage and actually have a vested interest in keeping clients happy. My cleaner is really great and has become a family friend too. She goes above and beyond for her clients (she has some elderly clients who struggle to get to the shops etc) and is just really efficient and good at her job.

They really shouldn't be smoking in client's houses or is this the norm these days, I've never had a cleaner so don't know, but I wouldn't accept this in my house

I agree with the idea of independent cleaners. They tend to do a better job.
I know it sounds odd, but the most important skill for a cleaner to have, imo, has nothing to do with cleaning ability. Its about their character as a human being. Someone who gossips, or 'Knicks' stuff, isn't someone I want coming into my home, no matter how good they are at dusting or mopping. When my kids were younger, I also appreciated people who were good with kids.
Like any job, employees will try to get away with doing less. If a polite and professional reminder doesn't work, its time to rethink the employee.

I'm in the process of cancelling our cleaner, just didn't have the heart to do it before Christmas so I'm going to tell her in January.

Tbh she's crap. She hoovers and mops around everything, doesn't get in any corners, mops around the door mat and bin. If I get a cloth and wipe the floor after she's gone it's still brown. She's also broken several things.

I've raised this with her a few times and asked her to be more thorough, and each time she seems to take it in, but she's still crap.

I have an amazing cleaner (not agency) - where are you?

go with independent people, word of mouth is great, always ask for references, my cleaner was leaving and she found me her replacement. They both have pluses and minuses, my previouse celaner worked in a hotel and used to leave the bed made up like a hotel. My new cleaner does something amazing with the bathrooms i have never seen them so clean. Both would have hoovered properly and mopped the floor, i dont need to give her a list of instructions. She is a great help to me, and wouldnt be without her. I would keep trying and make them aware that they are on trail befoe you agree to something long term

They start off all meticulous and hard-working, give a couple of months and standards slide down-hill.
I had one who told me - me, the employer - that she moves things around to create the impression that she has cleaned the area.
Mind boggles.....

I’ve recently let my agency cleaners go after 4 years as standards really slipped.

They did vac & mop the floors but never moved anything (not even the dogs bed!). I just fed up of having to go round after them & do it myself.

The final straw was after the first lockdown, they were suddenly able to clean the house in half the time they were doing before, but still charging me the same!

Then I met a lady on a dog walk. She’s an in dependant cleaner who usually charges less than the £15 an hour I was paying the old cleaners.

I employed her for the same rate, & I’ve never looked back.
She is amazing, & I’m so annoyed I let the company rip me off for so long.

Agree to look for an independent, self employed person.

That said, DHs friend's wife is a house cleaner. She cleaned as a one off for us, doing a deep clean while we were on honeymoon. We paid over her asking price. We do have a dog and a cat, both were off with other friends while we were away.

I heard from several friends who were also her clients that she bitched to them about the state of our house - literally named us to them - and how disgusting we were. The house was tidy, she was being paid to pull furniture out etc to do a spring clean and we'd discussed it all on advance (she came to see the scale of the job to quote as well).

Never used her again, I was furious and she hadn't don't that great a job tbh. Interestingly, I've heard through the grapevine that several clients have also sacked her for the same thing. Being indiscreet is one thing, slagging off your clients in a small town is another.

I'm struggling with my cleaner.

She turned up early on Friday without warning, but it was unfortunately during the half an hour I had an emergency (son hurt at school) so I was out. She didn't let me know she'd been round. I messaged her in the afternoon to see where she was and then she'd told me came but I was out. Rearranged for Monday. Cancelled. Came yesterday instead.

Didn't vacuum any of the bedrooms and only mopped the hallway in front of the door, not the whole thing.

And left 15 mins early (as two people equates to half an hour).

It's hard to find a good cleaner!

Mine's a local lady & she's like family now. I'm a single mum with an insane job so my lady is a tidier, sorter, organiser as well as cleaner. I tried agencies before but they were too impersonal & hire too many people who aren't any good at cleaning. It's a skilled job IMO & a professionally cleaned house should look like it's been professionally cleaned. Afraid you just need to keep trying different people & when you find a good one, pay & treat them well because they're worth their weight in gold.

Cleaning agencies tend to treat their staff badly, so there's no motivation for the workers to do a good job, and they tend to have a fairly high staff turnover. If you find a self-employed person who works for themselves, they're more likely to do a good job.