Cleaners - what PPE is essential

[Realitea]

I’m due to start work again next week. I’m feeling quite nervous as I’ll be cleaning a large house which has holiday bookings from large groups every week now until autumn.
I’ve been sent masks, hand gel, disinfectant wipes/spray and gloves by the owner.
Is a mask really needed as I’ll be on my own and don’t they just protect others?
I’m especially worried about changing bedding and towels.
If anyone has any advice I’d be very grateful.
I tried to find a cleaning forum but I can’t find any.
What can I do to make sure I’m as safe as possible?

Hi, we have a large house and my kids are back to school/ nursery/ holiday sports clubs over the summer. My husband is back in the office and I’m generally more out and about (although no where near as before) but still. Our cleaner knows all this. I also know she uses the bus and visits other people’s homes. So it is for all of our safety and reassurance. She wears a face mask for the full time that she’s here. She washes hands when she arrives and puts on clean gloves. I make sure all windows are open before she arrives. Patio door is left wide open when she’s doing the kitchen. She comes when everyone is out of the house. If I’m in I go to another floor and we stay away when chatting before she leaves. She washes hands before she leaves. Shoes are left outside. If any of us had symptoms she wouldn’t come in and I would still pay her.

Also I meant to add- she also washes bedding and changes 3/4 beds each time. She wears a face mask during that too. I wash all towels before she comes. She changes her gloves a few times for new ones but that’s about it. It’s been 3 weeks now and all ok so far :)

exactly what @london said, especially about keeping mask on even if alone, except I strip the beds and wash them, remake them

Is a mask really needed as I’ll be on my own and don’t they just protect others?

I would say the mask is one of the more important things tbh. It stops anything spreading from your mouth to their surfaces. Aside from that so long as you wash your hands before and after changing the bedding I wouldn't really be too worried.

Our cleaner came back recently. She washes her hands on arrival and changes her mask every 3 hours. She opens windows in any room she's in for more than a couple of minutes. She takes the mask off only to iron in a room with windows open, because ironing would just be too unpleasant and we're never using anything ironed until at least the next day anyway, often it could be a week or more, so we've agreed it's very low risk either side and is more comfortable for her. You'll want windows open and wear the mask to do bedding as you can't help but shake it, plus people may sleep in the bed that night. Likewise cleaning surfaces you don't want to leave any droplets on metal surfaces.

Forgot to say, she wears gloves too.

Thanks everyone. I will keep a mask on in that case but will change it when I’m halfway through. It usually takes about six hours to clean this house. It’ll be empty as guests will have checked out. If there’s a gap between bookings I’ll leave it a few days before going in but then I’ll have a huge backlog of washing! I’ll also open all the windows as soon as I go in. I’ve got lots of anti viral/bacterial spray and have figured out how to make disposable aprons with bin liners

Thanks for your efforts @tea getting England’s tourism economy going and facilitating our holidays !!!

Our agency is now asking guests to strip beds and bagging the linen. Ask the owner if they could do the same.

Thanks @fortmums that’s made me feel happy

I did ask the owner to ask guests if they can strip beds but I didn’t get a reply. Hopefully the guests will do this. If they text me for any reason during their stay I’ll ask them myself!