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Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

who cleans your aupairs room..your cleaner (if you have) or your aupair?

40 replies

golfpro60 · 05/07/2012 14:42

My cleaner cleans the whole house and changes all the sheets weekly except since we have got an aupair she will not clean her room and says it is for her to clean it herself?! I think that as she is employed to clean my house she should and obviously she does a better and more thorough job and i want the room kept clean. The aupair says it's fine and she will do it herself but she doesn't do it often enough. Am i wrong to expect my cleaner to clean!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
golfpro60 · 05/07/2012 15:57

thanks PostBellumBugsy will do. She has it very easy here tbh so think i just need to man up. not very good at managing people i think.

OP posts:
Rubirosa · 05/07/2012 16:05

It's your house and you are paying both these people. If maintaining a particular level of cleanliness throughout the house is important to you (and it does seem to be!) I would tell the au pair that the floor and surfaces need to be clear, and she needs to be out of her room, at 9am on a Thursday (or whatever day it is).

Tell the cleaner you want the au pair's room cleaned and bed changed.

I think your other option is to just stay out of the au pairs room so you don't notice the mess.

AmberLeaf · 05/07/2012 16:17

Au pair should probably keep her room in a better state.

Cleaner needs to get over herself.

Personally I'd tell the cleaner I expect all rooms to be cleaned and if she has a problem she can leave. You could easily find someone who is prepared to clean all rooms.

*disclaimer- I have neither a cleaner or an au pair!

andagain · 05/07/2012 16:22

I have to say I find it very odd that your cleaner feels she can choose whether to clean the room depending on who is using it! So if you had guests staying there she would clean it but not when the au pair is there? I understand that you don't want to be harsh as she has been with your for a long time but as Rubirosa has said you really need to tell your cleaning lady that she is employed to clean your house and that does not depend on the pecking order (as she views it) of the person occupying it.

I have to say our current au pair is really messy, our previous one was a complete opposite. I would prefer her to keep her room in a better state but it is her room and I feel it is up to her. That is precisely why the cleaning lady has to do her job in there too. Then I know that the room is never in a terrible state.

AndWhenYouGetThere · 05/07/2012 16:55

It seems like your aupair thinks she keeps the room clean enough herself? It is "her" space, and she's not a visitor, but a paid family member, so she should have some control of the space...
Perhaps you can tell your aupair what standard you expect her room, and she can choose whether to do it herself, or allow the cleaner do it? The aupair needs to be awake, and the room vaguely tidy ish, when the cleaner comes... but the cleaner should not be able to decide where she will clean.

Bonsoir · 05/07/2012 18:38

The fact that it is "her" space is immaterial when it comes to hygiene.

thebody · 05/07/2012 21:47

Gosh, I don't have a cleaner but if I did I would dam well expect her to clean the whole house to my direction or bugger off and I find another.

The au pair sounds like my older kids and I dam well insist they clean their rooms once a week to MY standard as its MY HOUSE!! Their hovels at uni I care not a jot but my house my rules!!

golfpro60 · 06/07/2012 07:35

yes the body exactly! Will just go over with the aupair what needs to be done. She's great with the kids but forgets a lot to do the other stuf like tidy toys, wipe surfaces and do dishwasher etc so will just have to go over everything again!

OP posts:
golfpro60 · 06/07/2012 07:37

as for the cleaner will just have to stay out of her way as she winds me up!

OP posts:
Julesnobrain · 06/07/2012 10:56

Mmm tricky one. We have now instructed our cleaner that she MUST give the AP room and bathroom a basic clean at least once every other week even if that means turfing the AP out if her bed. we pre warn the Ap's that on Wed am their room must be ready for cleaning.

I take note of the posts re privacy however as lovely as the AP's are we find that 6 or 9 months of non hoovered carpet is not only disgusting but extremly hard to clean and as much as we requested, asked and nagged them to clean their own rooms they do not.

At the end of the day when the AP leaves, the new AP expects and has every right to expect a pristine fresh bedroom and bathroom. I can't maintain that standard if I can't keep it basically clean and repaired.

OP I would insist the cleaner clean the room and if she refuses then replace her

Tanith · 06/07/2012 11:49

My mum used to clean the rooms at a hall of residence and felt very awkward cleaning a room if the occupant was still in bed. She was also told by the warden that she was there to clean, not to pick up after students, and if their rooms were a tip, to let him know and leave that room until it was tidier.

Perhaps that might have some bearing on your cleaner's reluctance?

elastamum · 06/07/2012 15:22

I expect my au pairs to clean their own rooms once a week and I set aside time in their hours for them to do it. It is on their list of jobs. I only occasionally check up and but necessary I will tell them to clean up and change their sheets etc.

TBH they dont do a very good job, but I disagree on principle with me or my cleaner cleaning up after my au pair. IME if you start cleaning up after them you will rapidly find them 'leaving' jobs for you to do when you get in

StillSquiffy · 07/07/2012 08:05

Get. Rid. Of. Your. Cleaner.

She's interfering, judgemental and thinks she's 'better' than both your Au Pair and you. Who the hell does she think she is telling you how to run your house.

Can you imagine what stories she is telling others about you?

Seriously, you do not need that kind of person in your life. Get rid. Being good at her job does not entitle her to treat you like this. And make no mistake, it is you she is being aggressive towards, not your AP.

Then, next task is to haul AP over the coals. Tell her if she doesn't start getting her act together in general cleanliness (tidyness less of an issue) then she needs to go home.

TBH if cleaner had said she didn't want to clean the room because it was too dirty, or felt she was uncomfortable invading the privacy of someone she didn't know, I'd have had some sympathy.

StillSquiffy · 07/07/2012 08:06

FWIW I also tell AP cleaning room her own responsibility and not that of the cleaner, but that's beside the point.

ElizabethDarcy · 10/07/2012 08:11

Get a new cleaner... what a nasty and high n mighty attitude.

Yes... the room needs to be cleaned by cleaner if the aupair is not cleaning properly... it's your property plus a hygiene risk... not only in her room, but could spread elsewhere. Best if aupair does it (lazy sod!!!), but if she's not doing it.. then you have every right to ask the cleaner to clean. Dust mites... asthma due to dust et al... far too risky to leave.

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