Advice about getting a cleaner please

[liquoriceshakes]

I have decided to get a cleaner but not sure where to start- seen lots advertised but what happens if they break something or spill bleach (which incidentally is what I did hence my decision to get one!)

Best way is recommendation - do you know anyone who has one or uses a company.

Local newsagents boards may have them advertised and you could ask them for references. If you meet them face to face you'd be able to tell if they were suitable for your needs.

I dont know any lone cleaners who have got accident insurance so maybe you could ask or try out the larger companies.

Good idea- I didn't think about going through a company before. TBH I'm too embarrassed to ask anyone for a recommendation as I don't think anyone I know that lives near me uses one...

Try Daily Poppins - they use their own cleaning products and have insurance etc etc. They can't commit to an EXACT time but if you're ok with that, they're quite good. Expect to pay quite a bit more than just a lone bod working for themselves though

Maid2Clean have been great with me

There are some smaller (ie. one woman & daughter/son) companies and they have insurance. You will have to pay more per hour though. I decided not to go for a company because I wanted to have a bit more flexibility with someone and I didn't want to pay more than £10 ph. I haven't really given breakages much though tbh. I think most cleaners are mortified if they break something and you come to an agreement. If you have household insurance, surely you can just say you did it, not the cleaner? I know our insurance has an accidental breakages cover.

Recommendation is best, but I found my last cleaner on GumTree, and she came for 2 years (then lots of my friends also used her). She became a bit unreliable, so I have just found another woman, again through GumTree, which I'm amazed about as there are so few listings in my area, and she is great so far. Ask for the phone numbers of people she currently cleans for, so you can chat to them.

I would just do what I did if I had broken something/spilt bleach: pay for a replacement or claim on my insurance for something expensive.

I put a small ad in the local paper. I interviewed a few and chose someone nice.

I work on the premise that if I am more generous than I need to be (ie paid holidays, better rates, make amount of work manageable etc), hopefully my cleaner will treat me well in return.