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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect my cleaner to...

40 replies

MrFibble · 02/12/2009 08:26

AIBU to expect my cleaner to extrapolate that she should not wash DD's clothes in with the cleaning rags that have the nasty floor cleaning products on etcetera if I have asked her to ensure that DD's clothes are washed only with soapnuts or with the hypo-allergenic soap powder because of her eczma?

I know that mentioning a cleaner in AIBU could lead to flaming but I am curious to know if I am being unreasonable or not in being irritated by this!

OP posts:
Bonsoir · 02/12/2009 08:28

IMVHO it is very dangerous to allow your cleaner anywhere near your washing machine! Let her do other stuff, but not laundry. It always ends in disaster (unless you really don't care about your clothes).

Lauriefairyonthetreeeatscake · 02/12/2009 08:29

forget your reason, I don't understand why anyone would wash the yicky rags along with clothes - I wash once a week all the t-towels and cloths I've used in a slightly hotter wash.

I would say that i wanted all cleaning cloths and t-towels washed separately and I don't think you're being precious or difficult.

Original poster
MrFibble · 02/12/2009 08:35

Thank you.

I will just have to be a bit more forceful and make sure all the washing is done before she comes and that there is a separate bucket for all the cleaning stuff.

OP posts:
ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 02/12/2009 08:51

Well YANBU in wanting DD's clothes washed seperately in special soap. But YABU to be having your cleaner wash your clothes. Laundry isn't cleaning! Do you have her change your sheets too? Cleaning houses is yuck enough (crusty toilets anyone?) without adding other people's dirty laundry to the workload. Honestly, just do your own laundry and let her do actual cleaning.

ErnestTheBavarian · 02/12/2009 08:53

Never heard of a cleaner doing laundry?

Never thought about it either tbh, just bung all my cloths in normal wash. SHould I not?

loobylu3 · 02/12/2009 10:05

If she is a cleaner, I don't understand why she is laudering your daughter's clothes. If she is a housekeeper or nanny too, just explain to her how you would like things done!

Bonsoir · 02/12/2009 10:16

Lots of cleaners do laundry - there is nothing at all strange about laundry being within the remit of a cleaner.

However, they are IME always pretty unreliable about clothes care.

MitchyInge · 02/12/2009 10:22

our cleaners take the laundry away and bring it back clean and ironed, it's just an extension of general household help isn't it?

maybe your daughter should have her own laundry basket if she doesn't already and you take sole charge of it?

MissAnneElk · 02/12/2009 10:35

I don't think it is unreasonable provided you separate the laundry.

Merrylegs · 02/12/2009 10:37

Oh god. Lazy journalists are going to LOVE this thread.

bibbitybobbityhat · 02/12/2009 10:40

Oh I absolutely couldn't bear anyone else to do my laundry for me. Never never never. Are you seriously telling me op that your cleaner goes through your laundry baskets sorting out washing for you? I can't begin to describe how twitchy that makes me feel .

BlingLoving · 02/12/2009 10:44

Obviously I'm just a spoilt cow - if I could get someone to do all my laundry for me, I would have no problem whatsoever with them going through it and sorting it out.

Sadly, my cleaner, like the OP's, is of the school of thought that says, "Just bung it all in the machine and hope for the best" so she just does towels and bedding now. [which admittedly, is a huge help and means we just have to do clothes].

BlingLoving · 02/12/2009 10:45

The thing about cleaners and washing that I never understand is surely she does her own washing? It can't be that much of a difference to how she'd do her own? I can never understand why she would throw the whites in with the darks when I assume she doesn't do that for herself at home?

Bonsoir · 02/12/2009 10:47

Bling - take a good look around the streets at what people are wearing. Laundry sorting is a minority activity, IME

rey · 02/12/2009 10:48

Sounds to me like her only form of letting you know she doesn't like doing it.

ReneRusso · 02/12/2009 11:05

YAB a bit U. I think if she is a cleaner and not a housekeeper then maybe you are expecting too much. My cleaner is fantastic... but I try to make sure I get the washing machine on before she arrives, as she shoves any old thing in together and I'm a bit more fussy.

aweaninamanger · 02/12/2009 11:08

i havnt been on mumsnet for ages nice to see nothing changes and that cleaners are still regarded as a thick seperate species

BlingLoving · 02/12/2009 11:12

Um, aweani, I think you'll find that it's because we assume they're NOT thick that we're surprised when this happens. I generally work on the assumption that my cleaner is broadly similar to me - she's a woman in her late 20s, early 30s, making a living, having a social life, etc etc etc. Hence it surprises me when the washing thing becomes a problem.

Bonsoir might have hit on it though - perhaps what seems normal to me is not normal to other people!?

ReneRusso · 02/12/2009 11:19

It's not to do with intelligence. It's just that the way you do your laundry is down to individual preference. I wouldn't like my Mum doing my laundry, or DH, or anyone else really.

santaschristmascakeywakey · 02/12/2009 11:29

'However, they are IME always pretty unreliable about clothes care.' Lovely mass generalisation there. You just can't get the staff

BlingLoving · 02/12/2009 11:42

I don't know why this always turns into an issue. I employ people in my office and in my home. I expect them to do the job they're paid to do, and to do it correctly. I am happy with my cleaner and with the way the work is done, but I don't think I would be unreasonable at all if I wnated her to do the washing and then, expected it to be done properly.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 02/12/2009 11:45

I don't sort my laundry. The only thing I sort is one of DH's Tees that leaks red dye and gets washed only along with the red bedset I have. Everything else gets bunged in all together and it seems to be fine.

santaschristmascakeywakey · 02/12/2009 11:46

I agree that people should do their job properly, and be gently corrected if they're not doing it right. I just don't like the underlying put-downs that sometimes come out in these threads.

My Mum was a cleaner for years, a bloody good one too, and she took great pride in her job and doing it well - she would not appreciate hearing that cleaners are 'pretty unreliable about clothes care'.

LastTrainToNowhere · 02/12/2009 11:48

It's just a clash of different opinions. My mum thinks it's yucky to wash cleaning rags in the machine at all - she soaks it in antiseptic solution and rinses in the sink. But I think that's OTT. Meat for one is poison for another etc etc etc etc.

My cleaner is a lovely lovely woman, but she thinks it's perfectly normal to clean stubborn tea stains in our mugs with diluted bleach. She says everyone she knows does it that way, but I find it horrifying (I clean my mugs with baking soda paste). She knows I can't understand it, so she doesn't clean my mug-stains any more - easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Metatron · 02/12/2009 12:04

(i clean tea stained mugs with bleach)

Wouldn't wash clothes with cleaning cloths.

I do have sensitive skin and recommend soap nuts or ecover liquid. Ecover powder just irritates me.

Do sort laundry. DH tends to kill at least one item every three loads or so - which is a huge improvement since we met. but then I know people who only use one program on the machine for everything.

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