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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU - cleaner not cleaning

24 replies

Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:15

Hi
For various reasons we’ve hired a cleaner to clean a our small three bedroom house for x2 hours a week. This does not include the three bedrooms as we wanted to other rooms to be prioritised.

She’s been with us for three weeks now. First two weeks were ok - not the best but just about ok but this week the toilets and bath and tiled floor are still dirty. I can see she has ‘cleaned’ them as they are slightly better than this morning but not clean!

Am I being mean cancelling her now? I could give more chances and talk about it with her but to be honest I just wanted someone to help make life a bit easier for us at the moment and this is actually causing more stress! I’m struggling to know how to word me letting her go

OP posts:
Iamblossom · 01/04/2021 15:17

"Unfortunately this arrangement isn't working out for me, so I won't be needing you going forward."

If she asks why you can say that her cleaning isn't up to the standard that you expect or are willing to pay her for.

If you bought something that didn't work you would return it.

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:29

You are right. I would. However, she is a friend of a friend and i don’t want to upset her! But you are spot on. Thanks

OP posts:
thatwasme22 · 01/04/2021 15:35

''However, she is a friend of a friend and i don’t want to upset her!''

probably why it's better not to hire people you know/are connected to in some way as the fall out can be sticky if things don't work out.

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:40

Yes I realise that now but hindsight is a wonderful thing

OP posts:
thatwasme22 · 01/04/2021 15:44

I'd probably tell her she is no longer needed for financial reasons/cutbacks and then hire again. I know how you feel though,I hired cleaners before and they were absolute rubbish, place didn't look any different and it's especially frustrating when you do it to make life easier and the cruel irony is that it just leaves you more stressed. I think if you hire a cleaner the 1st time is to do it with him/her and show them your standards.

QuizzlyBear · 01/04/2021 15:45

This should be your honeymoon period! I find cleaners usually get progressively more slap dash after a few months, not two visits.

I'd personally just say that your circumstances have changed and you've decided to delay having a cleaner. But I'm a bit confrontation averse...

Movinghouseatlast · 01/04/2021 15:46

2 hours isn't very long. I clean my own holiday let and it takes 4 hours to do a one bedroom house. A bathroom takes me 45 minutes for example.

If she is trying to do the whole downstairs of your jouse plus bathrooms in 2 hours then it isn't possible to cover it all to a high standard.

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:47

Ha I am SO confrontation averse! I hate things like this! In fact it was after having to be confrontational in a work situation that started me finding it all quite hard in life that led me to thinking a cleaner would ease the pressure a bit and now it’s just added more stress! I’ve had a couple of great ones before - you could tell as soon as you opened the front door that they’d been but I had to have a good look around this time before I could even notice she’d been at all!
I will be assertive and nicely sack her tonight 🤦🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
Overdueanamechange · 01/04/2021 15:48

I don't think I would expect a lot for 2 hours, if you just mean 2 hours per week. If I were you I would leave a list each week of what you need doing and what you would like her to do if she has time.

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:49

I offer to pay more for her to stay longer - as long as it takes but she insisted 2 hours was plenty and the house was in such a clean state to begin with. I really wouldn’t expect it to be perfect but better than what I can do in an hour

OP posts:
Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:50

I would expect there to not be mud left on the only tiled floor they had to mop

OP posts:
roses2 · 01/04/2021 15:50

I'd give her one more chance. Next time go around each room and tell her how you want it cleaned. I give my cleaner a check list for every room as all cleaners clean differently.

Eg for the bathroom:

  • clean toilet bowl
  • spray toilet seat and wipe
  • clean mirror
  • clean sink
  • clean bath
  • hoover floor then mop

Then if it is still crap let her know you don't need a cleaner for the next few weeks and find someone else.

Loubilou09 · 01/04/2021 15:52

There are so many "cleaners" who are absolutely rubbish and so many people are taking up cleaning because they are out of work with absolutely no idea how to actually clean.

I have had a cleaner who was constantly on the phone..she was booked for 3 hours a week and would first come in and eat her lunch for 15 minutes and make a cup of tea. Once her lunch was finished she would start but was constantly checking her phone, texting and messaging her children. I walked in one day to find her laid out across my kitchen counter "just reading the news". If I dared make eye contact with her I couldn't then stop her chatting to me so I used to hide away from her in my office, but every time I did pop out or cross her path she would hurriedly put her phone back in it's pocket. I once mentioned wanting some particular flooring in my house (which I was perfectly able to source myself) and I heard her constantly asking siri to help her find such flooring and about an hour later she came down and showed me what she had managed to source on FB market place. The final straw was when she took a phonecall with her son's school for about 30 minutes and sat on the electric arm of my sofa whilst she conducted the call, leaving me to hoover the downstairs of the house and start on the dusting for her!

Get rid now before you get into the situation I found myself in....it only gets worse!

Mugginyouleftrightandcentre · 01/04/2021 15:53

This shit is why I gave up on a cleaner and spend a lot of my bloody weekends doing it myself now!

Rukaya · 01/04/2021 15:55

clean my own holiday let and it takes 4 hours to do a one bedroom house. A bathroom takes me 45 minutes for example

That's really really slow though. I cleaned hotels for a while amongst other things and if you took more than a tenth of that to clean a bathroom you would be fired.
45 mins for a bathroom is insane unless its a once a year deepest clean using a toothbrush to restain the grout or something.

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:58

I’ve had some brilliant ones in the past - about 10 years go. But the last two I’ve tried have made my life harder not easier! I would be less stressed living in an unclean house than I am after getting home today. She doesn’t have to do any tidying as I spend 1-2 hours the evening before making sure every single thing is tidied away to make her life easier. I also frequently hoover throughout the week so it’s not a dirty messy house by any means. I just wanted to use the time it takes me to clean at the weekend to recover from the stressful week at work instead!

OP posts:
Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 15:59

@Rukaya

clean my own holiday let and it takes 4 hours to do a one bedroom house. A bathroom takes me 45 minutes for example

That's really really slow though. I cleaned hotels for a while amongst other things and if you took more than a tenth of that to clean a bathroom you would be fired.
45 mins for a bathroom is insane unless its a once a year deepest clean using a toothbrush to restain the grout or something.

😂 I did think 45 mins for one bathroom was a bit extreme!!!!!
OP posts:
SplendidSuns1000 · 01/04/2021 16:05

I've had a similar issue of a cleaner thinking they can do it all within their own allotted time frame.

As others have said, give her a check list. You could ask to have a chat with her via text next time she comes around and say 'We're really glad you've been doing such a good job but I thought having a check list would make things easier for you so you don't feel you need to do any unnecessary cleaning'

I can't do confrontation either so I always go for the softer route! Give her a couple of weeks trialling a list and if she's still not doing enough say your circumstances have changed and you're no longer in need of her services. You could always do that by text and just say there's some family problems or something if you're a real chicken like me!

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 16:09

I’ve used the family problems a couple of times before. This time there really are - hence getting a cleaner to help lighten the load. I have gone through a tour of the house and what needs doing and leave a list each time. The things not done today are just so basic like mopping the floor but still leaving muddy footprints in one section. I’d rather the floor not done at all and time spent elsewhere as I’ve now got to clean it anyway. Also no bleach or cleaning products used in toilet and not properly clean - just half done. I think these are pretty basic

OP posts:
DreamingofGinoclock · 01/04/2021 16:25

@Helpmyhair2019

I offer to pay more for her to stay longer - as long as it takes but she insisted 2 hours was plenty and the house was in such a clean state to begin with. I really wouldn’t expect it to be perfect but better than what I can do in an hour
I'm confused what she does for 2hrs In a small 3 bedroom house , where the bedrooms aren't being cleaned .... We also have a 3 bedroom house and a cleaner that comes for 2hrs ...she cleans kitchen, 1.5 bathrooms, Hoover's every where (including bedrooms), mops hard floors , dusts and on occasion has time to do odd extras like clean a window etc (she just picks what she thinks needs doing if she has time left and I'm perfectly happy for her to do this!) ...all to a great standard!
SplendidSuns1000 · 01/04/2021 16:31

If she's leaving things in that state I wouldn't even give her a second chance. Is she a professional cleaner or is this new to her?

Original poster
Helpmyhair2019 · 01/04/2021 17:09

Well I stupidly presumed someone answering the ad would be a professional but turns out she hasn’t done this before

OP posts:
SplendidSuns1000 · 01/04/2021 17:56

Ah that's a bit shit! I wonder how clean her house is though if she leaves yours like that Hmm

Maybe start leaving weird things around like a fake bloody handprint on the wall and a book called 'How to hide a body' nearby... Grin

ValerieMorghulis · 01/04/2021 18:02

I used to have a cleaner for the same hours in a three bedroom house, and she used to do the upstairs one week, and the downstairs the next. That seemed about right for the two hours - in between we would wipe the kitchen and bathroom, and maybe hoover the living room and stairs, but not much else. She was thorough in the areas she covered and very cheap

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