The cleaner takes my products....

[abeeabeeisafterme]

This is for my mum and grandmother. They share a lovely cleaner, who they really like and is friendly and reliable. Except she takes some of mums best cleaning products. The best cloths, the best supermarket bags (to carry products) and granny's Cif. Now, of course they can afford to replace these things, but it's the principle that after her weekly 3 hr visit, something might go missing. Expensive stuff and jewellery is untouched, so no concerns there, it's just the annoyance of having to regularly replace things. What would you do? Assertive approach or clumsy, "I keep losing my cloths, any idea?" They want to keep her on, and she works for friends of theirs too.
Thanks.

Our cleaners used their own products and cloths but would sometimes take ours (I’m sure by accident) if they were the same brand. On the other hand they would also leave cloths and cleaning sprays as well- I think they didn’t do an inventory of their stuff before they left each house! I wouldn’t describe this as theft at all, just oversight.

I had a cleaner like that. One time a large packet of good cloths went missing, so I texted her asking where they are as I couldn’t find them. Next time she came am inferior packet of cloths turned up.
i let her go, it is stealing, and means I couldn’t trust her anymore.

It's stealing.
Never mind "oh it's just a mix up" etc. She has also taken the best bags to carry the products in. There is absolutely no reason for her to take bags or cloths or anything else.
I think your mother and grandmother have to say something about this or you do. Are you worried she will be offended and quit?
"Can you please make sure you return all cleaning supplies and cloths to the cupboard (or wherever it is they are stored) once you have finished as we also need to use them during the week? Oh and can you please use your own bags as we need the supermarket bags for shopping. Thanks"
Then she'll know you have noticed.

I'm not sure I would keep her on if she is stealing things. If you do, then I would create a cleaning caddy. Contains 1 bottle of bleach 1 bottle of cif etc. Advise her to leave out any bottles that are running low on the kitchen counter and you will replace them by the following week. That way it will be clear that things can't disappear - at the end of the clean they need to be back in the caddy or on the counter.

More fool you then! She’s untrustworthy at best.

Do your mum and nan live together or is she stealing from them both separately?

I wouldn't work with her anymore. Who cares if their friends do.

That's because most cleaners aren't thieves, same as most doctors aren't or solicitors or truck drivers. I would get rid of a cleaner who took anything at all. You have to trust your cleaner implicitly. They have full access to every part of your home. She's taking the absolute piss

A friend is a cleaner and part of being self-employed is having to take her own products, in the same way a gardener takes his own tools.

Is she bringing some of her own stuff and using some of yours? I take it she is if she’s taking bags to carry them. She might just be disorganised and mixing up the products/cloths? It can be a real rush gathering stuff together and leaving a house…she’ll be exhausted and dirty and just want to go.

That said, if she’s always taking your stuff and never leaving any of her own then that’s not good but I’m not sure I’d lose any sleep over a bottle of Cif! Just get the supermarket value version.

I think I’d find a new cleaner unless it’s a single incident. It sounds like petty theft from an elderly employer and if that’s the case she needs to go.

I had a baby sitter once who'd do that - if there was two bottles of washing up liquid, then one would go, if she took the kids out and bought snacks, there'd be a couple of tins of catfood included too etc. Petty stuff, but constant.

I assume she was also taking change out of the change pot, because she once tried to tell me the cleaner was doing that when I commented that I was sure there'd been a couple of quid in there earlier (kids had some school thing so I needed the coins), but I knew the cleaner wasn't because she always stacked up the change/notes she found in my bedroom on my desk, so had no reason to take it from the jar.

It sours the relationship, even if you can afford it. Makes you wonder what else they might take if they decided you didn't need it.

Is she a cleaner who provides her own products (and therefore potentially mixing up her own products and your mum’s/granny’s) or one who uses products provided by the client? Because if it’s the latter she’s definitely stealing, if it’s the former I can see there might be an explanation for it happening once or maybe twice. But not repeatedly.

I’ll tell you something OP, a few years ago we had a tradesman doing some work on our house and a couple of my husband’s tools went missing. A large spirit level worth about £30 and something else. He said he’d mistaken it for his own and would return it (he didn’t).

Anyway, he ended up stealing £3,000 from us. I can’t tell you how much we wish we’d given him the boot when the spirit level went missing.

Thanks everyone, much as I was thinking. She is trusted to be in every aspect of their lives, and so should have integrity. She has lost that.
To clarify- she works alone, for herself. They like her and are often around when she's there. Mum & granny live separately- they both noticed items go missing. It was mentioned to me as mum was annoyed she'd forgotten to hide one her new cloths, and sure enough, it was gone. They are about £5 each, and previously a cheap cloth had been left in its place. They tip well for Christmas etc too. The bags were nothing special, but reusable ones bought from a favourite place abroad. So obviously mums, and happened at least twice- I mean, why!?

Mum will speak to her next time she's in. Thanks again.

She will try and say it’s a mistake, but how could it be? Your poor mum having to deal with it. I detest that kind of conversation. Never mind, better than leaving it and it getting worse.