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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to my new cleaner

51 replies

Holdmysandwichplease · 03/01/2021 21:33

Hired a new cleaner last month, for context our house is 5 beds, 2 bathrooms and a shower room. However 2 of the bedrooms and 1 bathroom are used for guests only and therefore haven't been used for a good 6 months 😔 so basically they just need a hoover and dust every now and then but certainly I don't expect them to have a full clean every week. Anyway to my point! Cleaner comes every week for 2 hours and I mainly ask her to focus on a general kitchen clean (small kitchen maybe would take me an hour if I really went for it!) and our family bathroom. The shower room i tend to clean myself as its attached to our bedroom and I never ask her to clean that. I like to clean my own room. Other than that she sometimes runs the hoover round or does random bits of cleaning after the kitchen and bathroom.

Recently my husband has pointed out she doesn't always do a thorough job, for example, the shower glass always is left with marks, the shower itself isn't cleaned (as in the actual shower head) and last week my son had got quite muddy so had a bath and I've just noticed the bath tiles have mud on them so she clearly hasn't cleaned them properly. She also hasn't cleaned the microwave the last 3 visits.

Aibu to think she needs to be a bit more thorough? Or aibu and 2 hours isn't feasible to clean the bathroom and kitchen?

I don't want to stop her coming, especially in the current situation when I know times are hard for everyone (including us as dh has lost a lot of business!) but now I can't help but notice what she hasn't done. I don't want to nit pick either so please tell me if I'm being ur! Thanks !

OP posts:
Jimdandy · 03/01/2021 22:22

Every cleaner I’ve had has been rubbish. I’ve got a three bed town house and asked them to only deep clean the bathroom and kitchen I. The 3 hours they had every week and so far none of them have done a through job.

It’s the attention to detail that’s lacking. Still grubby around the light switches, not moving anything in the kitchen and just mopping around d it, not wiping around the cupboard doors etc.

ireallyamthewalrus · 03/01/2021 22:23

I have a pre printed list of jobs and I highlight what I’d like done each week. No point cleaning the microwave if you’ve only used it for peas.

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 03/01/2021 22:25

We have a 4/5 bedroom house and our cleaners take 4 to 5 hours. There are 2 of them so really they're here for 2 to 2 1/2 hours each week. They do a lot more than just kitchen and bathrooms though.

movingonup20 · 03/01/2021 22:26

2 hours isn't enough for a thorough clean, it's only enough for a vacuum plus basic kitchen and bathroom clean, we switched to 3 hours fortnightly and it was better (I cleaned in between)

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 03/01/2021 22:26

I missed that @Holdmysandwichplease you hoover twice a day? Wow, I'm impressed!

NotMyWay · 03/01/2021 22:29

YABVU

A house your size would take 3 to 4 hours minimum to clean properly. My house is a similar size to yours and my cleaner comes for five hours three times a week. It's no wonder stuff is being missed when you expect so much from your cleaner in so little time.

The fault 100% lies with you and not with your cleaner. Either pay someone to work an appropriate number of hours, leave her to do what she can in the two hours you're willing to pay her or clean your own house.

movingonup20 · 03/01/2021 22:29

By the way I've had 7 cleaners over the years and only two I didn't sack, it's hard to find a good one (one quit due to marital break up and moving away, the other broke her back falling off her motorbike) I don't currently have a cleaner

Alexandernevermind · 03/01/2021 22:31

My "friend who cleans for me" really goes for it and treats it as part of her exercise regime! She covers downstairs rooms, stairs and bathroom only in 3 hours. I would either give yours more time or have a little chalk board for her specifying what you want doing that day.

Viviennemary · 03/01/2021 22:31

Sounds like slave labour to me. All that in 2 hours. Five would be realistic.

MessAllOver · 03/01/2021 22:35

Our cleaner comes for 4 hours a fortnight. She does a reasonably thorough job on a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house (living room and large kitchen downstairs).

You need to book her for longer.

Original poster
Holdmysandwichplease · 03/01/2021 22:37

I feel like people are confused here, I literally only want her to clean my kitchen and my family bathroom. If she finished doing those and had time to spare then great, if not then that's fine too! The size of my house isn't really relevant as I only want those two rooms done really, but I see that I've caused confusion by mentioning the other rooms.

I think I'll have a chat with her about just sticking to the bathroom and kitchen, up her hours to 3 and then make a note if I want the micro or something done :-) thanks all!

OP posts:
Original poster
Holdmysandwichplease · 03/01/2021 22:38

@Viviennemary all what in two hours? I hardly think its slave labour ! But as above I will discuss changing her hours with her :-)

OP posts:
doodleygirl · 03/01/2021 22:45

If your cleaner can't clean what I assume is already a relatively clean kitchen and bathroom (as they are done every week) in 2 hours you need a new cleaner. I also think it should include the microwave and wipe down the fridge, as again, if these are wiped down every week they never get dirty enough for a deep clean.

Ideasplease322 · 03/01/2021 22:47

When my cleaner came (before lockdown - she never shame back despite me paying her through lock down🥺) she cleaned my small three bedroom house in two hours,

It’s only me, so only one bedroom used.

The job was okay, house looked clean but it wasn’t thorough, I would find dust and cobwebs etc. After lockdown when I get a new cleaner I think it will need three hours a week.

Pythonesque · 03/01/2021 22:53

I'd agree with you that 2 hours should be plenty for a thorough clean of kitchen and one bathroom. (not that it would do ours; neglected is sadly a good description of my house currently. Got a recommendation from a friend for a sympathetic cleaner who I'm hoping to ask to do a mixture of routine cleaning + helping me sort things out little by little. But still procrastinating over actually contacting her ...)

imnottoofussed · 03/01/2021 22:54

Op it looks like most people have completely misunderstood all of your posts Confused unless your kitchen and bathroom are palatial then I would expect them to be thoroughly cleaned in the space of two hours

ZenNudist · 03/01/2021 22:56

I think 2 hours for 2 rooms is long enough but otherwise depending on house size you need longer if she is hoovering some rooms.

Sounds like even if you up her time she is going to do a bad job. Tbh all cleaners are substandard compared to what you do yourself. It's a very superficial clean. In the last decade or so I have had only 2 good cleaners, out of many. One left to look after her mum, one was a bit horrible and arrived early and left late plus let us down constantly. When she put her prices up I declined and replaced her.

My latest cleaner is lovely, hard working, friendly but the house doesn't get properly cleaned. I think I have her until retirement and she is reliable and not terrible cleaner.

The difference is you do it yourself you do a good job but you are exhausted and it takes too much time you haven't got, so the house might not all get cleaned at once.

We say 2.5hrs for 4 bed 1 bath 1 downstairs toilet big kitchen big hallway small rooms. Fwiw.

I think tell her what you want (you really do need to remind all the time about the microwave and the bread bin and the fridge. It's like a cleaner blind spot!) I even have to "request" hob hood or hob parts. Or you say "can you make sure you wipe the skirting boards here today" "the bathroom is especially muddy so can you use x product" and so on. It's tiresome but otherwise you have to accept that if you dont mention things that need doing they will just give a very cursory clean. And if something is really grubby do it yourself first / afterwards as they won't get it properly clean!!

DenisetheMenace · 03/01/2021 22:59

Yes.
2 hours to clean a 5 bed, notwithstanding leaving out the rooms you mention, in not sufficient time. You need to pay for more hours, you’re expecting a thorough job on the cheap.

MyNameForToday1980 · 03/01/2021 23:01

We gave our cleaner 2 hours on our two bed flat (one bathroom, two beds, one living room, long hall, large kitchen). And sometimes topped it up to three hours if we needed an extra going-over (e.g. doors cleaned).

If you give someone 2 hours to do a 4 hour job there will be things they miss. Always. So you either need to be very clear what is in/out of scope, or you give her longer to do a better job.

Scbchl · 03/01/2021 23:03

I'm not a cleaner and could defo clean a kitchen and bathroom in 2 hours fully, yanbu.

MyNameForToday1980 · 03/01/2021 23:03

Just re-read your post at 11:37 - I see. Two rooms. Two hours.

Fair enough. I could clean two rooms in two hours and leave them sparkling, and I'm not a cleaner. Maybe she's being distracted by the other rooms, and feels like she can't leave without at least whipping the hoover around.

GlamGloria · 03/01/2021 23:07

I have a similar sized house and my cleaner comes twice a week. 2 hours and 3/4 hours. She changes the beds and does the ironing too. There is no way she could do the whole house in 2 hours

bloodyhairy · 03/01/2021 23:09

Sorry, but YABU. 2 hours is too short.

grandmasterstitch · 03/01/2021 23:12

One hour in the kitchen and one hour in the bathroom is more than enough time. We had a cleaner pre lockdown and she would do kitchen and bathroom plus hoover end mop the other rooms (small 2 bed cottage but the principal is the same)

Cherrysoup · 03/01/2021 23:12

When I worked in Paris, my boss would leave instructions for what she wanted cleaned eg ground floor only today, concentrate on windows. She sacked the illiterate lady because she couldn’t leave notes and employed her aunt instead. Have you actually specified what you want to do?