Please help me with reasonable requirements of a cleaner

[Merryoldgoat]

I’ve posted a few times about my cleaner and I think I’ve reached the end of the road with her. She’s a lovely person, I like her a lot and she has many great qualities, but she’s getting worse. I’ve tried to resolve it but after a very frank message last week asking her to up her game (obviously not said like that) there was no improvement.

So I will be looking for a new one. I’m relatively inexperienced with cleaners (had this one for 5 years) so would appreciate some help in understanding if what I want is reasonable (usual cleaning implied)

Bathrooms:

limescale removed from chrome taps and glass shower screen

tile walls wiped down

No trace of soap scum after cleaning around sink

clean glass shelves

Living room:

Dust shelves
pull out moveable things like toy boxes and footstool to hoover / sweep behind

Bedrooms

Hoover alone corner of skirtings
dust electronics (alarm clock etc)

General:

clean in crevices

My house just never feels clean after she’s been.

I have a busy life with two SEN children and a pretty full on job.

The cleaner is supposed to free up time I can spend on family and she’s not.

But am I bring unreasonable? These things feel like the basics - I don’t expect deep cleaning and organising etc.

How much time do you ask her to do it in?

None of these are unreasonable requests provided there’s time

4 hours for 3 bed house - she comes weekly.

She’s been leaving early which I don’t have an issue with IF the work is done.

Defo time to move on and get another.
My colleague/friend has a young student male cleaner who really values his little job. Her place is gleaming after he’s been.

4 hours is more than plenty for all that.

Mine does my 4 bed house with 3 bathrooms, 3 receptions and a kitchen diner with downstairs loo and utility room (3 storey s) in 2.5 hours!

We have a big old terrace. Cleaner comes 2 hours one week and 4 following week.
On a 2 hours week she cleans the main bathroom/toilet, kids bathroom, hall & stairs and the main living/kitchen/dining room. She will dust, sweep/hoover/mop floors, clean kitchen sink and do a really thorough clean of the bathroom including the shower trap & getting into all the corners. On a 4 hour week she also does 3 bedrooms, downstairs loo, front living room and she’ll take some extra time in one or two rooms to do things like windows, skirtings etc or will spend extra time cleaning grout in one of the bathrooms or things like microwave/fridge. She’s brilliant and while it’s not always 100% perfect she gets a lot done relative to the time she’s here.

Mine comes for 2 hours each week and does the following:
2 of the 3 beds
1 lounge
1 lounge/diner
Kitchen
Hall/ stairs/ landing
Bathroom

She hoovers, dusts and cleans everything. The only thing she doesn't do is mop the lvt flooring after she has hoovered it, as I do that myself.

Thank you all. It’s confirming that she’s just not very good. It’s really disappointing as I know she will be very upset but I’m getting tired of having to send messages that are so prescriptive and then nothing getting better.

Also I’m not tight - I’ll buy any products or equipment if she needs it. I have loads of stuff for every job.

4 hours for a 3 bed is absolutely adequate in terms of time to carry out your requirements. As an ex professional cleaner, everything you listed would have beenthe bare minimum which I would have expected to do. I would never have left the bathroom anything other than sparkling, I would never have hoovered without pulling things out to get behind, lifting rugs etc and always hoovered along skirtings etc. I always cleaned in the corners of the kitchen/bathroom/hall floor by hand before mopping the main floor and I always hoovered the couch (after removing the cushions). Carpet spot cleans, deep cleans on one area (mould on 8nside of window/splashes on kitchen cabinets etc) if I had time, tidying and sorting in rooms, removing cobwebs, were all things I would have done as standard especially with that amount of time. I'm afraid your cleaner does seem to have been taking advantage and you are not being even remotely unreasonable. Good luck with your search for a new cleaner.

We have two cleaners who come for an hour every four weeks. It is a two bedroomed flat.
I tidy up before they arrive. I strip off the bedding and leave a clean sheet etc for them to make the bed.
I really don't care exactly what they do as long as they leave the place looking nice and clean which they do.

As others have said, what you are asking for is the bare minimum. Sounds like this cleaner is taking the mick given the number of hours you pay her for, and that she leaves early to boot!!!!

I’ve also just let a cleaner go because she wasn’t that great. It’s not a pleasant thing to do, especially if you are likely to bump into them locally (which I am).

But you’re paying for a service she is not providing. Mine kept letting me down by not turning up, so she made it easier. Still felt rubbish about it, but now I just feel relief!

Thank you everyone. It sounds to trivial but it feels like I’m going loopy.

I specifically asked her to please clean and dust everything in the bathroom including shelves and windowsill and ornaments even if it looks clean please clean it and it’s still sticky with soap scum.

It’s really weird to just ignore it isn’t it?

It might be better to go through an agency next time as they'll have their own checks and they check the work is done to their standards as well

@Shoxfordian that’s a good idea - thank you.