How much do you/would you expect cleaners to clean in your house?

[Obsessedwithbluey]

Live abroad, work full time and some weekends too, juggled with Dp, we have a toddler daughter and I find it impossible to keep things to the standard I had before.
I hired two cleaners for two hours, so four hours cleaning total.
We have a two bed, 3 bathroom house.
I basically just expect them to clean everything/everywhere as I would when cleaning.
Came back today, hoovering and mopped, polished everywhere well, but kitchen surfaces not touched, they obviously weren’t dirty but I expect to be cleaned? Still crumbs around toaster etc. Oven not cleaned or fridge inside or on top. Toilet downstairs the same as I left it, obviously clean as it always is but not a full clean as I’d do, if that makes sense?
They did put my washed sheets on the bed that I left out and the washed covers on my sofa back on.

Aibu to expect everything to be cleaned? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Maybe I’ve been spoilt by my amazing previous cleaner, she did every surface, oven, fridge etc

Am I being too fussy?

Just to add, we don’t have tons of money, so the money we do pay makes a difference to our budget.
Aibu to just expect what I’m paying for or do cleaners not do every part of the house?

Ours doesn't do oven or fridge but I'd certainly expect all surfaces and toilets done.

@Cloudyzebra Is there a reason for not inside the oven and fridge?
It’s just if I was cleaning everywhere, I’d clean those areas

Did they clean the 3 bathrooms as i would expect these take a while.
I couldnt get around my 3 bed house in 4 hours but im not a professional cleaner i would expect a professional to be able to though

Is one hour the whole of downstairs not enough time for one person?
It’s polishing, one toilet, kitchen, windows/patio doors then hoover & mop
Perhaps more time is needed

I wouldn't expect the inside of the fridge or oven to be cleaned. I would specifically request it if I needed it done.
All the other things you said should definitely have been cleaned though. I wouldn't employ a cleaner who is too slow or lazy to clean the kitchen surfaces!

I have honestly given up with cleaners.
I cant find one that does any more than half heartedly drag a duster about.

Oven and fridge i would not expect as standard. Thos are once every 3 - 6 month jobs.
I would give the cleaners a list of instructions next time and see how they get on.

@Brighteyedtriangle Downstairs loo looks the same to me, other two upstairs are done, but one is spare one and never used and completely clean already so wouldn’t take much.
Other bedroom has nothing really in it (decorating for Dd shortly) so is a basic hoover of tiles and mop.
Even our bedroom is only to polish to side tables and mirror and main dressing table
Our house is very tidy, nothing to actually tidy, just clean around basically

I would expect everywhere to be cleaned. In my house they do the oven one week and the fridge the next, but for a 2 bedroom house I would expect them to fit everything in 4 hours.

@Cloudyzebra

Ours doesn't do oven or fridge but I'd certainly expect all surfaces and toilets done.

I agree with this. 4 hours isn't really that long when you have 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen, living room and possibly other areas too. I think expecting them to clean the oven and fridge is a bit much ontop of everything else.

That’s nowhere near enough time. You’ve massively underestimated.

Changing beds and covers would def be optional for me. And oven/fridge could easily take a good hour on their own.

Ours doesn’t do the inside of the oven or fridge but does move everything (kettle/toaster) to do the surfaces.

I would allow longer for the kitchen than an hour if you want the oven cleaned(assuming you mean inside though and out) and the fridge cleaned (assuming inside too which means emptying it and putting things back in) as both these jobs take me a good forty minutes to do both without any other jobs. But I would be cleaning the shelves ect. I would definitely expect surfaces cleaned though as standard, and the bathroom should only really take 10 minutes. I guess it depends too on your surfaces if they are clear or a bit cluttered as that adds some time on. But really four hours a week should be plenty of time to have the place clean to a high standard!

I think it’s plenty of time for 2 of them

My cleaner does 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen, one living room and 2 short hallways in 3 hrs. She's never done fridge or oven, I'd think that would be too much inthe time. Just agree a list that they can do in the time.

You need to:

(A) give clear directions about what you want done;
(B) be there to supervise.

At least until the cleaners have settled in and everything is running smoothly.

I specify exactly what I want done. I’ve had several cleaners and some are amazing, work hard and intuitive and others barely touch the place and expect you to be impressed.

Yabu for expecting the fridge and oven to be done as standard
I had my own cleaning company and would never have done these unless specifically asked, and I couldn't have factored that in as well as the other jobs you mentioned in the time specified . It would have been extra
Yes absolutely to the other jobs , those should have been done in the standard clean

I think it's up to you to be more specific, especially at the beginning of this new relationship. Think about what you want done, how you want it to be done and how frequently, then make that clear.

Can I just clarify, I don’t mean a thorough clean of the oven, it’s clean aside from going over and crumbs removed etc, it really doesn’t take me long, same with the fridge, it’s pretty clean but I still give it a going over.

Just been for a closer look. Upstairs is perfect, all very clean, not missed anything, swept outside terrace too.

It’s downstairs that isn’t great. Downstairs loo and sink doesn’t look any different really and definitely none of the kitchen done aside from hoovered and mopped.

I’m wondering if they split it between them, the downstairs cleaner definitely didn’t do a great job, compared to upstairs 🤷🏻‍♀️

They’re a husband and wife team.

It’s a hard one, as lots has been cleaned well, just a shame those relatively quick jobs couldn’t have been covered too.

Perhaps next time I email them I could say they do a great job but is it possible they could do the kitchen (quick go of oven and fridge) and make sure downstairs loo done-they may not come back though 🙈

@HaveANiceFuckingDay (username 🤣)

But a quick spray and wipe of the oven and fridge? I’d say it’s 20 mins total. We have a teeny kitchen, so it’s basically around the sink to be cleaned and two small surfaces

@HaveANiceFuckingDay What do you think the reason is for no kitchen surface clean? Nothing has even been moved to clean underneath etc. I mean it wasn’t dirty but I can still tell it hasn’t been gone over?

We have our cleaner for 4 hours too and similar sized house.

Ours
Washes up (only every a few bits and bobs eg a breakfast bowl and cup)
Puts away anything on draining board
Cleans microwave
Cleans kitchen surfaces, dining room surfaces and bedroom surfaces but we don’t really have much furniture that needs polishing
Hoovers all floors and stairs
Mops kitchen and bathroom (x2) floors
Spray mops laminate floors throughout
Cleans 2xbathrooms (1 is small but has shower, other bigger and has bath)
If there is laundry on the sofa she folds it all and then plumps up covers
Empties bins
Waters and prunes pit plants
I often find her standing on kitchen surfaces to do windows but I don’t expect her to do all windows every time.
She straightens our bed covers up and once when I left some sheets next to a bed she changed them but I wouldn’t expect that.
She does tidy eg bottles of perfume/deodorant/make up on my dressing table she will make into little piles but I try to have the house pretty tidy so she can concentrate on the cleaning.

She will do fridge and oven for extra if booked in advance.

This is all what we agreed in advance though - I did a tour of the house with someone from the agency and discussed what needed doing/how long/price. If you’re not happy you probably just need to check in with them. The big thing for me is the smell. I want to walk in and the house smell fresh. If not I wouldn’t want to pay someone to clean for me!

[quote Obsessedwithbluey]@HaveANiceFuckingDay (username 🤣)

But a quick spray and wipe of the oven and fridge? I’d say it’s 20 mins total. We have a teeny kitchen, so it’s basically around the sink to be cleaned and two small surfaces[/quote]
But as others have said, you can't spray the inside of fridge without removing the contents. That's more than a 10 - 20 minute job.

YABU to expect someone to guess that you want a clean toilet to be cleaned.

YABU about the fridge and the oven.

YABU as well about what you expect in 4h.