What should I expect from my cleaner?

[0asisGal]

I pay £60 for a cleaner to clean my house. It’s 5 bed, 2 reception rooms, play room and the usual. Cleaner didn’t quote me per hour but how long it would take to clean my house.

They used to clean for a longer period 2 hours in total (1 hour with two people) which didn’t seem like very long at all given the house isn’t small and it’s now reduced to 45 minutes (1.5 hours). Now, I’d have no real issue if the house was left spotless but it’s not.

Am I being unreasonable to expect as follows:

• things are moved to antibacterial/ polish e.g. bread bin, toaster, tea and coffee, stuff on window sill in kitchen
• Hoovering under free standing bed
• moving Rugs to hoover and mop
• remove dust from skirting boards

cleaner cancelled this week so I cleaned and I was really surprised at how grotty things were when I moved things (not furniture, things on surfaces).

also, £60 seems like a lot for the time being spent. AIBU, what should I expect?

Some of what you are asking might fall under Deep Cleaning, like moving rugs to mop underneath. 1.5 cleaning hrs for a 5 bed will never get it clean. They are taking the piss if they think this is adequate.

Similarly, £60 is probably 3 hours work, which for a 5 bed probably is not enough if weekly.

If they attend twice a week, for £60 per visit, maybe they can keep on top of it, but if it is weekly or fortnightly, it probably isn't enough time or payment.

£60 is a cheap clean for a house of that size. But it’s obviously pointless if not being done properly. So why don’t you suggest that they stay for longer?
Sorry, maybe I’m missing something here?!

I’m more than happy to pay more, I have indicated that previously to them but they’ve said they can get it done in that time frame but it’s just not very clean and I’d expect it to be gleaming if I’m honest as they are professional cleaners.

I am going to suggest an extra hour, more than happy to pay more money, I just want it clean and need them to move objects on surfaces else etc. as that to me seems fairly basic. I obviously don’t expect them to move furniture as I know that would be a deep clean.

I would look for someone else, as their standards are obviously very low. You sound perfectly reasonable, you just need to find someone who takes a bit of pride in their work.

If you want a proper clean then 1.5 is what you’re getting. I have 1 room less than you and my cleaner takes 5 hours. She has time to deep clean along the way. Some weeks she focuses on under the beds and skirtings, the next in the kitchen and all appliances and fridge, the next week bedding changes/ move some furniture around, the next week thorough sort out of all the kids toys, etc.
if you want a proper cleaned home then you need to pay your cleaner for a reasonable set of hours , not 2 hours and expect magic

please RTFT, I am perfectly happy to pay extra and have already spoken to my cleaner about this. I’m not trying to short change my cleaner.

1.5 hours is never going to be a good clean for a house your size. Mine is similar but 4 bed and my cleaner does 3 hours and even with that it’s not a deep clean (under rugs, windows, behind sofa) because there isn’t the time. She does do the kitchens and bathrooms to a high standard but every few months I pay her extra for a deep clean which takes a few more hours

Cleaned a five bed three bathroom house , takes 5 hours at £17 an hour

I wonder if we have the same cleaner. Last one did 3 hours at £20 per hour. This one is £63 for the clean however long it takes. She was finishing in 2 hours but that reduced to 1.5. She then didn’t come one week so I cleaned and realised she’d not been doing the edges when vacuuming and wasn’t dusting window sills. I think those are standard. I have given notice but said I was happy for her to continue for a 4 week notice period and she agreed (I didn’t say I wasn’t happy just that circumstances have changed - hate confrontation) and all seemed fine but she’s not been back since. Now I’m trying to get my house key back.

Dh now realises why I was very generous with Christmas bonus for our previous amazing cleaner. Good cleaners are like gold dust.

I have read the thread and can’t understand why knowing the expectation you had and size of your house, let HER tell you what the hours and terms were.

I guess that as a doctor I didn’t feel as qualified as a professional cleaner, call me crazy.

Our cleaner spends 2.5h on our 3 bed semi and could easily spend another 30-45 min, so 1.5-2h seems crazy to me for a 5 bed!
They are also taking the mic with the cost, agencies are really expensive in the first place, so £60 isn't surprising for the size of your house, but it's very very expensive for 1.5-2h.

We pay £35 for 2.5h with an independent cleaner I the SW, and I think we get what we pay for. So not everything is perfect, and she doesn't go under the furniture etc. but 2.5h isn't that much and she also has to do some tidying most of the time.

I would absolutely change if I were you.

1.5 hours for £60 is outrageous if you ask me!

There are two cleaners.

From the OP, it seems be two cleaners at 15ph

I'm not entirely sure what is reasonable to expect. When it comes to moving things, is your place really cluttered? For instance, I can think of my friend's kitchen counters and she has so many trinkets and appliances and all of that, it would take a long time just to move it all and there is nowhere else to put it.

There is no way you can properly clean a 5 bed home in 2hrs and I really hope there aren't children having a cleaner come in and do their bedrooms. I'd maybe say to do the communal areas and leave the bedrooms for the people who own them. That way they can focus on those rooms and deep clean them and the children get to learn valuable life skills and everyone takes a bit of responsibility for their personal space.

Cleaners are about £20 an hour, so one cleaner for three hours or two cleaners for 1.5 hours. I don't think you're being over charged, but it does sound like you need a longer clean/a more thorough job. It's odd that they turned down your offer of extra hours. Maybe they just have low standards in which case I'd look for new cleaners.

Maybe they have enough work and don't think it is worthwhile to spend more time at this job.

That's definitely a possibility. I don't suppose the reason matters much really.

Don't suggest paying more money! They're not doing a good job as it is.

You need to find yourself a different cleaner who works by the hour and give them a list of jobs in order of importance to you. Ask them to work down it and to do as many jobs from the bottom of the list as they have time for at the end of the clean. That also protects against someone getting sloppy and starting to leave half an hour early each time.

Pay a reasonable amount per hour and treat them decently, and there should be no problem on either side.

I’d find another company. This one doesn’t offer the type of cleaning you need.
We have an opposite type of company where cleaning is very thorough. Similar size house to yours and only the stairs hall kitchen utility and one reception room OR bathroom are cleaned in 3 hours to a perfect standard. We do the other rooms ourselves.

We have a similar sized house and our cleaner is here for 3 hours. What she can achieve in 3 hours is insane but she says she’s happy. I am sure if I ever have to replace her we will need someone to do 4 hours! Yours definitely aren’t giving themselves long enough for the size of property.

It’s like anything else: work out how long it takes you to do a basic weekly clean (to your standard). Write down what you do in each room. Then add an hour so every week there is time for some deep cleaning tasks. Then look for another cleaner and explain what you want. Be specific about the number of hours and provide a list of deeper cleaning tasks. Do not accept a “we’ll do it for X regardless of time” approach. I have just let a cleaner go who was skimping on hours. Agree with PP who said from what you describe 5 hours would be about right. 6 hours if you go every other week.

Ours does 4 hrs and puts on washing, folds laundry etc

They are there for 45 mins, so 1.5hrs total work between two, not 3 hrs.