Cleaners

[fedddyup]

I’ve never had a cleaner before but I’m having someone come around in a few days to clean my home. Can I just ask what you get your cleaner to actually do? She’s charging £15 an hour too - is that reasonable? My home is relatively tidy so I’m wondering will there even be anything for her to do for the 3 hours! Also how often would you call your cleaner? Once a week for £45 seems very expensive to me. I haven’t discussed frequency with her yet. I did suggest she come for 2 hours I totally but she said that’s too little time and would need to come for 3.

£15 is fairly standard.

My cleaner cleans the whole house- all the dusting, floors, skirting etc. Full clean of kitchen and bathrooms. Changes bedding and puts a wash on. She also tidies a bit although that's not standard.

Mine charges £18 per hour; she comes every week for three hours and gets lots done as she works really hard, but it’s a big house and there’s plenty to keep her occupied!

She did try to persuade me to pay for four hours and I can to be really clear that I couldn’t afford that every week - so it would be four hours every fortnight or three each week. I’m happy with three a week

I live on my own and am pretty tidy so my cleaner really only has to clean - although she does put on clean bedding in my spare bedrooms after visitors. She does two hours every fortnight, at £15 an hour.

Each visit she cleans kitchen, bathroom, my bedroom, hall and lounge. On one visit she will also do the dining area ( I rarely use it to eat in but do use my lap top in there and it’s a walk way to the garden) and my craft room then at her next visit she does the two spare bedrooms and a small en-suite instead ( again rarely used so really only a quick dust and vac)

If I had a partner and children then I’d want all these area done every visit which would probably take her 3 hours. I’m not sure if I’d also want her every week, I guess it depends how dirty we are! At the moment I do give the toilet and bathroom sink a wipe round in the week she does not come and I clean my kitchen ( bar the floor) most days.

What size house do you have?

I pay mine £15 an hour. I tidy before she comes so cleaning is easier.

She hasn't been able to come for a while due to an injury and I hugged her when she came back yesterday!

Thank you everyone. It’s a 4 bed and 2 bathrooms

Mine charged £15 an hour and it's a minimum of 3 hours a fortnight. It's not worth her time coming for 2 hours when she factors in travel, the ability to get other bigger jobs etc.

I have a 3 bed, 2 bath. My cleaner is £15ph and she does 2 hours a week. I tidy before she comes so it's just cleaning. Does all bathrooms, floors and cleans the kitchen inc hob. She sort of rotates everything else so one week she'll strip all the cushions off the sofa and hoover it all out and clean the microwave, another week she'll clean the oven. I just leave her to it, it's worth £30 a week to not have to hoover the bloody stairs and clean the bath to be honest.

I’m just thinking if there will actually be enough for her to do! I’ve never had a cleaner so maybe my house is dirtier than I think and she’ll find something to do. I deep clean once a week. I’m actually cleaning now just taking a break whilst I type this. I’m also worried as a school mum friend has recommended her so she might say my house is dirty!

Sorry another question - what do you do with valuables? I don’t have much but my wedding and engagement ring which I don’t really wear everyday just special occasions. I also have a few pieces my grandma gave me - probably not worth hell of a lot but sentimental. Is it worth putting everyday away?

Yes but the point is that you won't have to do all the cleaning now. It's supposed to lower your workload.

My house is pretty clean anyway but my cleaner is just much better at it than me. She gets the bathroom absolutely sparkling and streak free. The house is always tidy for her coming so she can focus on just cleaning.

She dusts, hoovers, cleans windows, mops floors, kitchen surfaces, shines the sink, hob, kettle etc. The place smells amazing when she is finished.

She does not change beds or empty bins. Oven and fridge cleaning is charged at extra.

If you are worried about valuables then maybe having a cleaner is not for you because you do need to have a bit of trust, having someone in your home. It's usually not worth their income and reputation to steal from you!

I pay £15 an hour.

I understand, from the point of view of someone having to travel, maybe wait for buses etc., it makes sense to have a minimum number of hours, but once she is up and running, that is a long time for a regular clean of an ordinary sized house.

But that is part of the conversation you have with her when she comes round.
What jobs are you happy to do ?
Once you have got used to the house, what would you expect to be able to get done in that time ?

Some cleaners (as per this thread) do things like changing bedding. Some iron. Some might clean insides of windows. Some might be happy moving furniture, others might not. Some might do some washing up. Some might wash woodwork - eg the front door or porch door. Some hang a wash out. However, some people have set jobs they will do and do not wish to take on others.

What will be a thing is that the first time or maybe two visits will be a lot slower, and then they will speed up once they are used to your house.
You need to have a think if you want them to do 'this list of jobs', or if you want them to 'be in your house 180mins'. There are regularly threads on MN complaining their cleaner left 15mins early or whatever. Have a conversation about that.

OP it doesn't sound as if you want a cleaner?

Mine was going to come once a month to do a deep clean - windows, paintwork, mirrors etc, but I realised that if someone offered her a regular weekly job in those hours she’d take it - who wouldn’t? We talked about it and she agreed it would be hard to refuse, so she now comes weekly for as long as it takes.

Sometimes it’s just an hour and a half, last time it was three and a half hours, as she also did the bathroom and spare rooms ahead of visitors at the weekend. Mostly it’s just my husband and me in the house so there’s less to do. We’re both happy with that as she has a regular income, I get the basics done every week (she mops the hard floors, hoovers the stairs and sitting room, cleans the loos and dusts) and roughly once a month she does the bedrooms (4) and the heavier stuff. She charges £15 an hour.

No cleaner worth their salt would steal your stuff, or tell others your house is dirty

Presumably you’ll stop deep cleaning once a week once you get a cleaner? If you’re planning to carry on, you don’t need a cleaner.

I paid £17.50 an hour (Surrey), recently gone up from £15. It’s my friends business and I now have her once a fortnight. She does all the hoovering, cleans kitchen surfaces, dusts, cleans both bathrooms and mops the floors. For me it’s worth it, I have a health condition and find hoovering tough

I am a cleaner.

I always meet the clients first to see what is needed. We agree a list of tasks that will be completed each time and I email these to the client so we’re both clear.

Most are a general clean of all
rooms. Plus, I always take out the shower and basin traps and scrub those too, descale
fittings, empty the toaster crumbs, dust light bulbs - little things that maybe the homeowner doesn’t notice but will keep the home cleaner and brighter between cleans (showers and sinks drain faster if the traps are clear so they stay cleaner longer), and wash and sanitise stair rail, light switches, door handles.

For a weekly/fortnightly clean, I rotate things like pulling out smaller furniture items to clean behind.
I also do monthly cleans which are a full day deeper clean.

Re your valuables. Some clients leave valuables out - jewellery/money - I hope this is just because they don’t feel they need to move it but I would hate to think it’s ever done as a trap.
I sometimes find things in stupid places - items hidden under sofa cushions, things behind curtains, a coin placed centrally under a rug. These items can only be placed there intentionally and it’s irritating. Having a cleaner involves trust all round. I need the client to trust me to do my job, otherwise the relationship doesn’t work. It’s my job and my income. I’m not going to risk that by stealing and I don’t need to steal. I’m not cash in hand, here today gone tomorrow.

I have a 4-bed 2 bathroom house. She'll hoover, dust, clean both bathrooms and the kitchen, mop floors, and that pretty much takes 3 hours. I'll ask her to do the odd ad hoc job that doesn't need doing every week. I will do a deep clean occasionally - if I was doing a deep clean every week I really wouldn't pay for a cleaner. Having a cleaner keeps me focussed on keeping the house tidy, we always make sure everything is clear and tidy for her coming.

I'm going to be honest here and I hope this doesn't offend you too much OP. I'm afraid, as an ex professional cleaner, I wouldn't work for you. You seem to be putting up objections to paying for this service before it even starts (I would be charging £15 per hour if I was still working at it). The fact that you are repeatedly saying that 'there isn't enough to do' and "maybe my house is dirtier than I think and she’ll find something to do", asking if the amount you're paying is too much, questioning the amount of time required, insinuating that the person you are employing is not trustworthy and will steal from you or tell everyone about your house. These are all red flags for me and in my experience, clients who start out the relationship this way are too difficult to work for and it always ends badly for one or both parties. My advice is to cancel for now and have another look at your reasons for hiring a cleaner and what you actually want to achieve each week. I used to offer 1hr cleans where I'd agree with the client to do two bathrooms and a downstairs toilet or a kitchen clean (no insides of cupboards/fridges/ovens) or maybe hoover/mop the whole house. I hate to say it, but, if the person you are hiring was standing in front of me, I'd tell them to refuse the job. Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but I genuinely don't think you're ready for a cleaner.

The cleaner was coming round at the end of January.
It might be a bit late to cancel now.

Ah, I didn't see the posting date. I wonder how they got on?

£15 per hour here, 2 hours per week.

She does the bathroom in full, plus the kitchen, hall, and living room floors (hoovered and mopped).