What is acceptable to ask a cleaner to do?

[ZippyBlueViper]

Moved to a bigger house and first time I've ever needed to employ a cleaner.

Found a lovely lass, really like her, comes across polite with good work ethic.

Did a clean for me and some bits were fantastic, other things weren't done how i wanted them but think this is because I wasn't clear in what i asked for, so was my poor communication not due to a fault of the cleaner.

I asked for deep clean of bathrooms, hoover and dust everywhere else. Bathrooms were immaculate, hoovering was done. Dusting in my eyes would include taking things of shelves wiping shelf putting things back on, wiping fronts of wardrobes, tops of door frames etc. This wasn't done. But think I was too vague.

She said to me to let her know what i was pleased with and what i would like doing differently next time, if anything. Which i think is brilliant because sounds like we'll be able to communicate well together.

I text her saying bathrooms are amazing show home standard really impressed with her work, that next time i would like inside of windows doing (they didn't need doing this time so never mentioned it) and fronts of wardrobes shelves etc.

She text back saying great write me an exact list for next time and she'll crack through it.

So if i was cleaning at home in our smaller house then obviously i do daily maintenance cleaning but once a week i would do the weekly clean which was

Every room:
Take everything off shelves clean shelves, wipe items and put back
Clean any marks off walls
Clean any surfaces in rooms desks fronts of wardrobes etc
Clean inside of widows
Clean light switches door handles touch points
Clean top of skirting boards and round door frames
Hoover and or mop floor depending on flooring in that room.

Bathroom
Everything that i do in general rooms plus deep clean disinfect and polish everything

Kitchen
Everything that i do in a general room plus appliances, oven, fridge, freezer, de scale kettle, toaster etc.

In the property we've moved into i will still be doing my daily maintenance cleaning. I enjoy cleaning my home but the issue is because our new property is so much bigger i physically don't have time to do the weekly clean. The old house weekly clean only took 4 hours so wasn't too time consuming.

Do you think my above list is asking too much of a cleaner? Or do you think it's fine?

With never hiring one before i don't want to come across as a cheeky cow!

YABU You're asking way too much
YANBU that's a normal list

I think this is a good idea.

If you can do it within the time frame at a reasonable pace then it’s not u reasonable to expect it from your cleaner - but make sure it is doable.

What? Do you ever sleep?

Provide a list, ask what is standard, ask how much the extras would be and how long they would take. Simple .

Well, I don’t, and I suspect most people who have a cleaner don’t.

Ignore the comments from those who didn’t read properly (re 4 hours) or are just jealous of you. Ask her! You sound pretty generous about the hours since you said you’re willing to have her over the full day/however long she takes, with paid breaks. As a freelancer myself, she may be happy to get the business/those hours. I have clients who give me an insane amount of work (but they always ask first) but they pay very well and I’m pleased to get so much business. Or she may feel it’s all too tiring for a day, so ask her.

I made a list with columns for weekly, monthly, and ad hoc to share with one new cleaner and that worked fine. The lady I have now does wipe over the hob and clean the microwave inside and out and last week she did wipe inside the fridge. Some just do what needs doing and some need more direction.

Cleaners shouldn't be expected to clean appliances or windows. There are specialist cleaners for those. If you'd given me a list like that I wouldn't come back. Your standards are batshit.

This is all fine, OP. You are allowed whatever standards you want as long as you are willing to pay for her time and have a realistic view of what's doable in the hours she has available.

My cleaner does all of this but not every week- lots of things on your list would be fortnightly or monthly jobs. As you go along, you may find it makes more sense to allow her to use her own judgement- no point eg cleaning the door frames if they're spotless already and her time would be better spent on something else. But obviously this means that there will be times when she makes different judgements to those you would have made.

^ this. I find cleaning relaxing but your list is v v time consuming

I stopped having a cleaner as felt I was paying them to clean what wasn’t dirty! You may start to feel the same …

I think it is a little too much .
Are you paying her well ?

My first reaction was to laugh, now I’m a bit concerned. More to try and pass this off as hers “tired mum of three”, I mean do any of her friends actually comment to say this isn’t your home? Sorry, I think I’d be collecting my keys and finding a new cleaner, just a little weird.

Oven cleaning? That's not what a cleaner normally does, book an oven cleaning company your talking of £50 just for oven cleaning. It sounds like you want a deep clean every day not a normal hoover, polish, tidy up. Descale kettle not what a cleaner would do for you normally. I think you want a servant to keep your home like a showhome
Not a normal cleaner.

Why? As long as the cleaner is paid for her time, then anything is reasonable. The only exception I would say would be a deep clean of an oven as that is more specialised.

Yes, exactly this.
You are expecting A LOT for 4 hours
Try doing this (and timing) yourself and see what is a reasonable amount of cleaning within a specified time frame

Wow....she covers A LOT in 3hrs. I'd be giving her a big Christmas bonus

Well if her husband can see it he can also clean it!🤣