What should a cleaner do?

[Dysgu]

I am returning to work full-time next month so really think it is time we organised a cleaner. I have never done anything like this before but we are unlikely to keep on top of everything once I am teaching every day.

We have a 3 storey town house - small living room, kitchen/diner, 3 double bedrooms (1 is a playroom), study, family bathroom and downstairs cloakroom. Downstairs room are hard floors, hallways, stairs and bedrooms are carpeted.

Both DP and I, and 2DDs, are out of the house in the week between 7.30am and 5pm. Surely we shouldn't be spending our 'family' time cleaning!?

But how often should be be looking at a cleaner coming in? What could/should they do in that time? I imagine I can just give them a key and they will get on with it (maybe be here the first time?)? Where do I find a cleaner?

Any other thoughts and suggestions gratefully accepted.

Thanks

I would advise you to get a cleaner in everyday to just do things that a SAHM would normally do, ie, make beds, wash pots, general tidying up so when you all come home, it's done.
However, I would ask them, once a week to do extra stuff, ie clean toilets, dust, vaccuum upstairs.
Basically, ask them to do what you would do if at home.

You could put ad in your local gumtree.

Monday and Friday are popular to keep house in shape :)

ask your cleaner to come on saturday to show how to do things your way, explain everything etc

you could communicate through written notes

do yo uwant any ironing done too?

beds changed - how often?

generally it is - kitchen tops with moving all items, moping floor, bathrooms + toilets, dust + hoover

agree what he/she needs to do re tidying up (maybe put everything on the chair etc)

send hubby out with kids and set yourself with no distraction to do that in one go it will give you some idea how long should that take you

are any pets in the house?

mine does the following once a week

• clean kitchen & utility (worktops, sinks, hob surface)
• brush & mop kitchen, conservatory, utility & downstairs loo floors
• vacuum lounge, playroom, hall, stairs, landing, 3 bedrooms
• clean en-suite toilet & sink, bathroom toilet & sink, downstairs loo toilet & sink
• wipe down surfaces & windowsills in all of above rooms.

takes her 2 hours

is more that I used to do myself before.

A cleaner will do whatever you ask them to, and they should be able to tell you how long it will take.

We have a new one starting next week, and she'll be coming in for 3 hours (note that most have a minimum time they will come for, so you can't have someone popping in for an hour a day, three times a week). We've agreed that every week she will - clean kitchen (floor, worktops, cooker), mop downstairs floors, wipe sofas, clean cloakroom, hoover stairs and upstairs carpets, clean bathroom and ensuite and generally tidy. Then on a rotating basis she'll dust, clean mirrors, insides of windows, polish tables etc depending on time left.

New cleaner had a card up in the post office, previous one I found through Freecycle network, ones before that (different area) were a small company.

mine does this every other week:

• clean kitchen surfaces, hob, microwave, bins (just the lid and outside)
• dust the living room and clean the (glass) tables
• vaccuum and mop all floor surfaces (lino throughout, except for the occasional rug)
• clean bathroom sinks, bathtub, showers

tiny 2bed 2bath flat.
she needs 2 hours for all that. sometimes we asks for extra cleaning, like cleaning the oven, service wash washing mashine, door frames.

I asked her not to do the toilets, as she didn*t do them my way iyswim, I do them myself every few days.
in between I get the vaccuum cleaner out as needed.

we make sure that the flat is tidy so that she can go on cleaning without having to tidy first.

sorry no lino anywhere in my flat, it*s all laminate.

Ours does six hours a week in two three hour stints and this seems to work.

Four bed house.

She does everything except ironing which I'm picky about.

my cleaner comes once a week

she:
changes the bed linen
empties all bins
hoovers everywhere
dusts everywhere
cleans both batrooms thoroughly
cleans kitchen surfaces / hob
sweeps hoovers and washes kitchen floor

and tidies away our phone chargers plumps up the cushions, folds the toilet paper end and makes the house look immaculate

Thank you to everyone for suggestions - lists are especially easy to help me think this through.

At the moment DP does more housework than I tend to - I currently work 4 days a week and he does 5 but he 'cares' more about the state of the house!

The main thing we need to do first, I think, is to have a big tidy up! That is my argument for having a cleaner that has swayed DP - if we have a cleaner then we should keep the house tidier so that the cleaner can CLEAN - and DP LOVES that idea!

I have been given the contact number for a friend of a friend who is looking for a bit of cleaning work. I am not sure if this sounds like a good idea... any thoughts?

You must have some idea as to what you mean by cleaning. Do you pick up after yourselves, put waste in the bin, flush the toilet, tidy up etc..families vary enormously. If you do the basics yourself then having a cleaner once a week for 2/3 hours or more depending on the size of the home would be fine. Do beds need to be changed every week? - big questions seriously. What about changing the pillow cases every week instead? Do not set your self impossibly high standards! If you have pets then hoovering is more necessary. imo get a retired person/housewife that does not depend on the money and with life experience and a sense of humour. You will build up a team work so that you bring out the best in each other (and find your toilet paper folded nicely)

Hiya, not sure where u live, but I'm a stay at home mum in the wokingham area. I have this year just started my own cleaning business. I always meet with clients in their homes first to fully understand their needs first. We are all different and all have different priorities. However as a guide line, I can clean on a fortnightly basis a 4 bed house with 2 bathrooms, lounge, dining room, large kitchen breakfast room and cloakroom in 3 hours. That includes decobwebbing, dusting all surfaces and all ornamants, hoovering, sweeping wooden floors, deep cleaning all bathrooms. As I go around I would look at paintwork and wipe where necessary, if time allowed I'd do the odd internal window.
The thing that slows me down the most in all houses is the number if ornaments, the more u have the slower the cleaning takes. Also many houses that I clean for choose that they look after their kitchen surfaces, because as a mum we tend to spend a fair bit of time their, so that's possibly one of the easiest rooms to keep under control, and the one that takes the most to clean if you don't. Happy to help...or clean if u r in the wokingham area :)