To say that it’s really hard to find a good cleaner

[EalingLucy]

I have tried a few times incluidng a new one today but they don’t ever seem to know what they’re doing.

me and DH have splashed out today on a deep clean of the kitchen but she had to be told to clean the skirting boards, the kitchen cupboard, the fridge and instead was polishing my kettle for about 15 mins? Also she was using viakal on the oven - it’s for bloody limescale. I had to show her how to use the oven cleaner. She’s also really bloody slow.

the last one used oven cleaner on my wooden countertops, scratched my wooden floor and the fireplace surround by trying to hoover them with a hoover I had asked her not use downstairs.

they just seem to not actually know how to clean, which products to use etc. Why is this so hard?

I have a cleaner but I don't need one. I could do it myself but I don't want to. I'd rather do something else. I also have manicures and pedicures that I could do myself but I pay someone else instead. I could do my own hair but I pay a hairdresser. I could go to the supermarket but I pay to have it delivered.

It's called choosing what to spend your own money on.

What on earth is wrong with you - you don’t want a cleaner and want to do it yourself then super duper for you, the OP and many of us for many, many varying reasons do not. I’ve read some rubbish on mumsnet in my time but seriously….

in answer to you OP - it is very difficult to get good cleaners - I have had 2 out of about 10 in my time of using cleaners who I have thought were genuinely good. It is actually a real skill to be able to prioritise and use time wisely when you have a set number of hours. Training is so rarely provided and agencies will hire anyone who wants a few hours work and then by and large pay the cleaner very little of what we are paying the agency. I try and do it direct and not via and agency but good cleaners do not often have gaps!

I bet you wouldn’t say this to a businessman.
Why shouldn’t anyone pay for a cleaner.
Ridiculous.

Yes, this. We have a cleaner 2 hours a week which means all the basic stuff - hoovering, mopping, bath cleaning, bed changing - is done, so we can do the fiddly bits that there would never be time for otherwise. For a 'deep clean' I'd probably look for a specialist company (though I've never actually done this).

Exactly. Time isn’t infinite @chitofftheshovel, what is wrong with paying someone to do a task I dont have time for? Is it that you are jealous you have to do your own cleaning? You seem very bitter. Maybe a good toilet scrub would help get some of that tension out!

I’m personally glad you be providing work to someone in today’s economy.

More than willing to take that bet on. Your call on the rules.

I agree about gardeners.
Most self proclaimed gardeners are really labourers who just want to chop things down or smother grass in Astro turf.

Exactly this. Cleaning is a skill. People should be trained to do it properly. Particularly when you are approaching a professional agency and paying a lot more than you would direct. Miss SnipeyMcSnipe @chitofftheshovel says ‘anyone can do it’ but from the number of people saying they’ve had up to 10 clueless ones it’s clearly not the case!

Yes. And people who say they can deal with trees often don’t have a clue. The difference between that and a tree surgeon is night and day (and the same price it turns out).

Time consuming, bit I suggest writing a list of tasks and how often they should be done. Also employing a cleaner directly who will get to know your house over time and you can establish a good working relationship.

I was a gardener before I retired. I did my training with the RHS and worked for the National Trust before starting my own business.

You're right about a lot of 'gardeners' @GreekDogRescue . You can spot these types because they often advertise a range of things like jet washing, shed roof fixing, flat pack building alongside the gardening.

Good, experienced, trained and qualified, reliable gardeners just garden. They're too busy gardening to jet wash your garage door.

The sign of a good gardener is that once they are established they never have to advertise.....they're always fully booked by regular clients. They probably charge accordingly.

I used to be a cleaner in my early 20’s and have done my share of cleaning strangers’ loos etc.
I’m in my 60’s now and would prefer to pass that baton on!
in the past 3 years I’ve tried about 16 who where all varying shades of hopeless, even when earning £20 an hour.
Your cleaner spending 15 minutes polishing a kettle rings very true 🤣
I’ve got a good cleaner now but she is off sick quite a bit; I now know more about the inner workings of her malfunctioning digestive tract than I would care to - but when she does come she’s pretty good.

Never had a cleaner but I’d assume like anything there’s people who aren’t maybe as natural at it and you’re probably better going off word of mouth. My mum (on two canes) has someone come every two weeks and I’m just in awe of what they do, her house is impeccable.

I have a cleaning company, specialise in deep cleaning, professional oven cleaning and carpet cleaning. I charge £40-50 per hour. An oven alone takes 1-2 hours depending on size (range takes 3). Expectation management is key especially if limited to 3 hours. Hopefully you can find somebody who ticks all your boxes

I agree OP, so hard to find a good cleaner. I’ve tried 2 recently and been disappointed. The first started messing me around with days and times to fit in other deep cleans, surely you put your regular weekly customers
first when they have the same slot each week?? The second was dreadful. So slow and then decided to stop turning up all together. So now I’m back to struggling to do it all myself and considering dropping some hours at work to make life easier.

Where are you getting the cleaners from? Recommendation? Agency?
Agencies tend to use self employed workers so the standards will vary between the cleaners they have.

You could look for a company who employs staff and trains them to their way of working.
Alternatively try to get recommendations for an individual.

I noticed on the thread somewhere that you mentioned a timeframe of 3hrs. I am a cleaner. I don’t work hourly, I charge a flat rate for the job but I would always allocate more than 3hrs/half a day for a deep clean so that all the fiddly areas can be taken of.
Be sure to get someone who comes out to view and quite beforehand. Lots of businesses don’t do this and it does cause bother - they don’t know what they’re coming into and clients expectations can’t be managed well unless there’s a face to face quote initially.

There is definitely a market for cleaners who 'just' vacuum, dust the obvious bits, do a surface bathroom clean etc. Same as gardeners who 'just' mow lawns, trim hedges etc. I'd use them. I'd want to pay a little less for them than the ones who do trickier tasks and I still wouldn't want them to spend 15 minutes polishing the kettle!

Sometimes people don’t have time, sometimes people physically cannot, sometimes people just don’t bloody want to. And if it’s not difficult, why is it so hard to find someone to do it for £20 an hour?

for the same reason we pay people to do anything for us I guess, lack of time, lack of inclination. It’s got nothing to do with difficulty, I wouldn’t think.

Interesting thread.
Out of interest do cleaners need to have insurance?

This is such a weird response, especially when on any thread where a mum posts about lack of time, the first response will be ‘Can you afford a cleaner?’

I have a cleaner. She’s very good. I also have a disabled husband, some disabilities myself but I’m mobile so do the majority, we both have ADHD, two messy children and a job that often requires well over 40h a week which I do on flexible hours from home (so home gets messier) so often catch up in the evening in order to do stuff with the children in the day. I did do it all myself for a long time, but it’s a huge relief to have a cleaner to help out and I get time to spend with the children where we aren’t doing cleaning. There are plenty of reasons someone might need a cleaner. When both parents work full time, it’s not surprising they would choose a cleaner should they be able. Equally, if someone has just had an op or has a chronic illness it makes perfect sense to enlist help. Who wants to use spoons doing the hoovering instead of a yoga class with a friend, or make recovery take longer because they were crawling around scrubbing cupboards if it’s possible to avoid?

My cleaner isn’t through an agency, but a local business - maybe that’s the way to go, @EalingLucy? I’ve found they tend to perfect their skills and often come recommended.

I recently tried out a cleaner from a well used local company. I’d read lots of MN posts about what to expect in two hours and told her I wanted the kitchen (small with only four lower units and wall shelves) and two small bathrooms done.

I sat working in the office, waiting for her to move on so I could show her upstairs, but 1hr 40 in and she was still in the kitchen. I popped my head round just to nudge her on the time, but she still spent the remaining time in the kitchen. I thought that if she’s done a good job, I was happy with that for the first clean, but no. She hadn’t cleaned the tiles, shelves, appliances, floor, windows or doors. Didn’t vacuum, didn’t mop. She’d basically spent two whole hours wiping the surfaces, of which there are four bottom units worth. 🤔

She was very apologetic for not getting much done, saying she didn’t know where the time went. She took the unused vacuum, mop and bucket back out to her car and I spent the next two hours anger-cleaning all that she should have got done in the same amount of time!

Not sure I can bear trying another company!

I agree. Most of the cleaners I have found have not been very good. My current one can't speak English and we have to communicate using google translate on our phones. She spends a lot of time hoovering than actually cleaning. She can also be unreliable and cancel on the day. But out of everyone I've had she is the best so far

£30 per hour? For a job that requires basically zero education and qualifications? FFS.

I am a cleaner.
There is no legal requirement to be insured.
I am insured.
As well as the obvious like breaking something, it covers things like flooding, changing the locks if keys get lost, burglary if I didn’t secure the house properly.
Many are not insured. And many clients
don’t enquire.