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?

I clean a few houses. I do a two bed in two hours but don’t do the oven (other than to wipe over the top) or the fridge and I don’t touch the bedding at all!! Most weeks it’s very tight time wise sometimes I do 15 mins more, sometimes a bit less.

You need to tell them! I have a little conversation my cleaner every week about what I want her to do. If she doesn't think she has enough time to do it all she says so.

I wouldn't assume the inside of the oven or fridge would be done. Kitchen surfaces yes, that should be standard.

@Obsessedwithbluey

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

Sorry, are you asking is one hour enough to do all that? I live in a three bed bungalow - 2 bedrooms not used. For example, in one hour my cleaner can hoover throughout ( not two bedrooms) and dust all skirting boards, sweep kitchen floor. Or clean en suite, hoover, and mop kitchen floor. They don't have time to do unit tops, or dust throughout and clean bathroom. They have never gone and cleaned out the fridge or done the oven. I could not clean a 3 bedroom house in 4 hours, top to bottom so I wouldn't expect a cleaner to do it either.

My cleaner does 4 hours- 4 bath 6 bed house.
She does all surfaces- kitchen, drawers, sideboards, tv cabinet, tables etc, while cleaning in each room- there's no way you can clean a room and miss wiping off surfaces!

Cleaning inside the fridge is a seperate request but properly cleaning the sides and loo should be expected.

Mixed responses here.

Yes, I think it’s because the surfaces weren’t even wiped clean or anything moved?

Then the downstairs toilet doesn’t seem any different. Yes our toilet was clean, as in it’s obviously cleaned everyday and bleach, but when I’d do a proper clean, I’d spray and wipe everywhere and it’s a different sort of clean, thorough and sparkling

I find it pretty weird that they didn’t think to quickly clean the kitchen, unless they ran out of time

YABU, you're expecting too much in the time allocated, your expectations if wgat a person could do downstairs in one hour are very unrealistic.

You also need to communicate with the cleaners about what you want them to prioritise, and get real about how long it takes to clean inside a fridge, especially not your own fridge so you have to pay attention to what goes where.

No matter how clean the bathrooms are to start off with if the cleaners are doing all surfaces it takes time.

Putting on bed covers and especially sofa covers is also time consuming.

Make a list if you are having them back.

Part of my job is cleaning. I would.never leave a surface like that.
Mind you ,bedding can sometimes take a while if you dont.know.how to do it quickly.
I would leave a list in order of priority.
To give you some idea .. in 1.5 hours I clean a one bed appt. Time. Can depend on state its in .
This is what I do.
Spray all kitchen and bathroom.
Strip bed.
Replace bedding.
Clean bath/ shower. Loo. Mirror.repalce towel.polish taps.
Kitchen.clean
Fridge. Oven . Tiles. Tops. Doors. Polish taps.
Hoover the appt. Mop.
Empty bins. Wash bins.replace liner.

I would just expect cleaners to do what it reasonable within the time you are paying them for. It's not rocket surgery.

Oven cleaning in a general household clean? No way.

I would expect kitchen worktops to be wiped but not inside of fridge and oven.

Absolutely not enough time for what you expected to be done.

Gosh, @Westnsouthnabout, that's a lot in 1½ hours. You don't happen to work in Lancashire by any chance, do you? 🤗

@Westnsouthnabout

Part of my job is cleaning. I would.never leave a surface like that. Mind you ,bedding can sometimes take a while if you dont.know.how to do it quickly. I would leave a list in order of priority. To give you some idea .. in 1.5 hours I clean a one bed appt. Time. Can depend on state its in . This is what I do. Spray all kitchen and bathroom. Strip bed. Replace bedding. Clean bath/ shower. Loo. Mirror.repalce towel.polish taps. Kitchen.clean Fridge. Oven . Tiles. Tops. Doors. Polish taps. Hoover the appt. Mop. Empty bins. Wash bins.replace liner.

I feel very inadequate 🤣

That's very impressive, and i'm also wondering where you're located.

I'd expect kitchens and bathrooms cleaner as the priority and then other stuff after.

(Not sure my cleaner has ever done inside oven or fridge, just the doors and oven hob top)

[quote Obsessedwithbluey]@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[/quote]
I wouldn't expect them to that in a 4 hour clean. Unless on a rotation.

Not lancs. Dont forget its an appartment not a house. All one level . Either one big room incoporating the kitchen and a bathroom or 3 small rooms.
I treat it like a workout to be honest. I listen to story tapes which helps focus. It also helps that i know each apartment like the back of my hand it really helps!.
My employer also pays me well.£15 p h .
This is similar to my degree level.profesional job was. Its an incentive to do it well alongside my natural wish to do so !

Thanks for the feedback all,

When she messages to ask how it was, shall I mention the kitchen and see if it’s possible to do oven and fridge (normally there isn’t sofa covers and bedding etc to do. Or should I just leave it?

Id recognise they are new to the house amd be really spefic about yr priorities . Eg kitchen .. to include.bathroom to include.. eg full loo clean. ( as u said it was left) if they dont have time for all tasks. Then consider some on rotation
Eg.cooker one week ,fridge another in addition to clear essential weekly jobs.
I remember I had a cleaner when dc little . U asked for hoovering she ignored and did other stuff. I never forget how tired I was and how much I needed the help i needed and i cried!. Now i clean i make it an absolute priority to
LISTEN
To.what my client needs , so make sure that you have someone who shows ,thro action that they have heard what you are asking for .

Definitely not fridge or oven, but yes to toilet cleaned and all bathroom, and sides wiped down

Just tell her what you want op. I used to leave a list for mine in order of priority. But generally I do oven/fridge type jobs myself. I also change beds myself. Cleaner will fold some clothes as I ask her to do this. I'd prefer her time was spent doing floors, cleaning bathrooms, wiping and dusting surfaces.

Ps I'm sure you already know this but make sure there's no clutter lying about. We do a "blitz", go about picking up all shoes, toys night before cleaner comes

I don't have a cleaner anymore but DH and I clean our 4 bed 2 bathroom plus downstairs toilet in 90 minutes maximum.
All surfaces dusted including skirting
Carpets vacuumed
All kitchen cupboards and surfaces cleaned
All toilets and bathrooms cleaned to sparkling
Hard floors mopped
Windows are cleaned separately
Oven and fridge wiped as needed
Beds changed separately
I think 4 hours by professionals is more than enough time

Do you tidy up before they come? Or in the 4 hours do they have to also tidy and move things around?

You need to decide what you want done and make a list, then ask them to estimate how long it will take. They're not going to just guess - most cleaners wouldn't clean the oven/fridge as a standard clean so they probably wouldn't have even opened it to half clean it like you say you'd expect.

@Sunflowers095 Nothing needs to be tidied up, just cleaned around

We have 4 hours for our 4 bed. They do everything except the kids playroom in that time. However, the don’t do inside of fridges/oven/microwave etc in that time. If they do miss anything significant they always let me know they ran out of time to do eg hob or kitchen floor