Cleaner related questions!

[BecauseICan22]

How much 'tidying' do you do before your cleaner arrives? What I mean is the general day to day clutter in each room which has to be put away for an actual clean to take place.

Also, what do you do while your cleaner cleans? As in does it feel awkward at all that you're either working, relaxing - whatever it is you'd be doing, while someone cleans your house.

I'd also love to hear from cleaner's as to what makes for a good employer in terms of helping them to do their job.

I have a cleaner who comes twice a week for 3 hours each time. Before she gets here I get my children to tidy away all their clutter beforehand and I do mine and DH does his. I find this makes hers and her teams job more efficient where they can spend their time cleaning as opposed to clearing.

I also take myself off into my office, I work full-time and those 2 days I work from home. I have made it so the cleaners are comfortable making drinks etc if they need it and I generally stay out of their way. My friend thinks we shouldn't be doing any of the above and that we definitely shouldn't be making it so they can help themselves to drinks.

For clarity, my cleaners are wonderful, always efficient, very trustworthy and absolutely brilliant at what they do. I think they're worth their weight in gold.

Your friend sounds awful!

I do think her views are pretty negative but she's had a bad experience with a cleaner where she had things stolen from her home and they ended up not actually working their paid hours, (she'd paid them a months worth of hours) so I definitely think she's letting her own experience colour her view.

My cleaners are so professional and nice, I'd never feel I couldn't trust them, I also think it's basic decency to treat people with kindness and offer a drink. I've even packed them off with a batch of homemade Samosa's before because as usual we made too many!

Your friend is horrendous

Your house is their workplace, of course they should have access to drinks and the loo.

I do try and tidy. Don’t always succeed, which obviously means they spend time tidying rather than cleaning. Obviously the place shouldn’t be a pigsty but if it’s been a mad week and tidying is what you need done, then that’s how it is.

Hi 👋 yes 👍 and my brothers died

Wrong thread maybe?

I do what you do. I definitely tidy up - I want the cleaner to clean, not waste time making piles of stuff.
I also then go out or go to my office - even if it just means reading Mumsnet! I would feel weird sitting down reading a magazine while someone is working (cleaner, decorator, builder - doesn't matter). I actually prefer to not be there at all (she has keys).
I also tell her to help herself to a cup of tea (or offer her one of making one for myself). She has never accepted.
What I do not like is someone who stops and chats - it's one thing to have a chat while they are just starting/gathering the cleaning stuff, but had one who would have a ten minute chat while just standing around.

It depends on what agreement you have with your cleaner. There is nothing wrong with a cleaner doing everything if that's what's agreed and what they are paid to do.

I've lived overseas and our maid there would do everything. Including arranging all my laundry by colour. I said she definitely didn't need to do that but she said she liked doing it. She even did my knickers 😅 I made the kids do chores and made sure they didn't ever do nothing that would seem disrespectful or entitled.

My house in the UK is generally pretty tidy but I'd typically put away any mess before our cleaner comes. However I wouldn't stress if I didn't. I can comfortably ask her to help me with whatever chore I want. She is very easy to deal with. It a mutual agreement. We quite often tackle a big project such as cleaning the blinds together. I've had my latest cleaner for 15 years so presume I'm doing something right. She makes her own drinks. I pay per hour and she does ten hours a week for me.

I strip the beds, children tidy their rooms and I make sure all the clothes etc are away. We basically tidy before they clean. It means they have more time to actually clean.

I keep out of the way, they are more than welcome to drinks.

The two women who do my house are brilliant, and they definitely have more people requesting them than hours in the day.

You get better cleaning if they don’t have to clear everything because they have more time to actually clean. so don’t see the issue

and your friend is wrong about drinks- can you imagine working somewhere for 3 hours and not even being allowed a glass of water? I can’t see many work places that would enforce that!