Do you have a cleaner?

[PDR]

I am thinking of starting a domestic cleaning business as there is a real gap in the market here.

I would be really interested to know how many bedrooms/bathrooms/receptions you have and how many hours your cleaner comes for each week?

Also anything you love/hate about your cleaner/company and if you have stopped using a company in the past was there a specific reason?

We rent a very large house which has 2 reception rooms, a big kitchen diner, 3 bedrooms, big family bathroom, a utility room and a cloakroom.

Our cleaner comes once a fortnight for 2 hours and in that time she does the kitchen, the two receptions, bathroom, cloakroom and utility including hoovering and mopping all the floors.

She doesn't do the master bedroom or box room (aka the dumping ground) because they're usually a tip and I'm too embarrassed/worried for her safety so I've asked her not to bother but she will dust and mop the guest bedroom if we have someone coming to stay.

She does lots of little finishing touches like pairing up our shoes on the shoe rack in the porch (usually a scene of utter devastation) or writing anything we've run out of on our memo board so that I can add it to our next shopping list. Simple things that actually really help us out a lot.

I have to say our lovely cleaner is an absolute marvel and is the best £30 a month we could ever spend. If we could afford it we'd ask her to come every week. We just love her to bits!

I have a bit of an odd house - it's two old cottages knocked into one house. Only three bedrooms with two bathrooms and four rooms (including kitchen) downstairs. It's quite a bit house and is old and spider-y. My cleaning lady is marvellous. She comes once a week for about five hours. I pay her £40 per week but will be putting this up after Christmas as she's been cleaning for me for ages and hasn't had a rise in all that time (she says she doesn't need one). She does everything - she tidies up after DD(3) and me; sorts washing; sorts kitchen; hoovers; makes bed (if I haven't done it); cleans bathrooms; etc, etc. Sometimes I say she doesn't need to bother with certain rooms (if there's a lot to do elsewhere) but then she'll do something extra to make up for it.

She's a marvel and is more like a housekeeper than a cleaning lady!

Basically, I love that she's willing to do pretty much anything to help me and isn't phased by the utter chaos of my house.

4 bed, 3 reception, kitchen, utility, conservatory, downstairs loo, en-suite, main bathroom.

2 hours weekly, £10 per hour;

• sweep & wash kitchen, conservatory, utility & downstairs loo floors
• clean kitchen & utility sinks & work surfaces, conservatory surfaces & table
• vacuum lounge, playroom, hall, stairs, landing, 3 bedrooms & en-suite
• clean toilets & sinks x 3 (doesn't do the bath or my shower)
• damp wipe all surfaces in lounge, playroom & 3 bedrooms
• if any time left she will wipe skirting boards, dust cobwebs etc

(barely use 1 bedroom or dining room - so she only does them if I ask, and then doesn't do the boys rooms)

We have a three bed house, one bathroom, one downstairs toilet, two reception rooms and our cleaner does 3 hours a week. She does hoovering throughout, dusting throughout, cleans the kitchen and bathroom and that's about it. We pay her £8.50 an hour. I think I need to give her a bit more to do because she dawdles around drawing those 3 hours out. I do occasionally get her to change the beds.

I do like her, she's very sweet, very young from somewhere in Eastern Europe (terrible that I don't know where though isn't it?) and she's very sweet with the dcs. However sometimes the language barrier can be frustrating as she doesn't always understand what I'm asking her to do.

Ours comes for 5 hours ( £10 an hour )a week but does one hour ironing from that, we have 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. DC have to completely tidy their rooms and general junk before as I don't want to waste her time tidying after them...they can tidy their mess in their time not hers!

It is a joy to come home to.

We have a 4 bed, 3 bath house. My cleaners come every 4 weeks.(I clean inbetween)They do a mini spring clean- skiting boards, underfurniture,lights, doors and curtain poles etc. as well as hoover, mop and dust. I pay £70. I love it as its things I'd never get round to.

5 bed 3 bathrooms 3 receptions she does 4 hours a week. includes 1 hour of ironing. she's fab. she understands how i want my cleaning done - ie whats important and what can be left. she will also do a blitz - extra hours - if needed.

i had a cleaner for a short time who resigned - she obviously wasn't used to dirt! she just shifted dust around.

basically i want the house cleaned in a realistic timeperiod and ironing done. i think you need to understand what the priorities are in a house for that family.

she's ruined a couple of things - but was very apologetic - and is generally reliable

3 (big) bedrooms
2 bathrooms
lounge
huge dining kitchen
hall stairs and landing

Our clenaer is £10 an hour and does 2 hours a week

she dusts / polishes everywhere
hoovers / mops all the floors
cleans the bathrooms (including mirrors)
cleans the kitchen including sink / surfaces / hob
changes the bed sheets
empties all the bins

she is fantastic

Thank you everyone this is all very interesting!

Also if there was an option of:

A) using your own equipment/ products at £10/hr
Or
B) company bringing everything with then fir £12/hr

Which would you prefer?

Ours uses our stuff and let's us know when we are running low.

I like to use our stuff, then I can buy what I want.

When our Hoover died she did make strong recommendations about what to replace it with. Which we did!

think i would prefer to buy my own as i would need stuff anyway. Also £2x4 hours = quite a lot of cleaning material. i would expect her to use what i bought though - rather than her specify brands.

not sure where you are planning to do this but hopefully not SW as you are charging about £4 per hour over going rate

Am very of all of you paying £10 an hour, or less in several cases! It is more like £15 round here, and since buying our new house it is one luxury I've had to cut back on.

Our old house was a little cottage, three bedrooms, two receptions, one bathroom. We had a married couple who came for one hour a week (i.e. two "man-hours")and charged £24.

They were pretty good, but, as with any cleaner, there were usually a couple of bits they didn't do as well as I would have liked (never scrubbed the tea-stains out of the kitchen sink, for example) and some bits they did I wouldn't have bothered with (never had such clean chair-legs!). They always brought their own stuff.

Oh, I miss them!

I have a cleaner, she now comes 3 hours a week,
in that time she does
2 bathrooms
downstairs loo
kitchen
and either downstairs all rooms (3 reception rooms) or
upstairs all rooms (4 bedrooms)

She doesn't work quickly but what she does is perfect and I prefer it that way.
In each room she cleans the insides of the windows, skirting boards, hoovers through, damp dusts all surfaces, makes beds if I haven't and in the sittingroom, she lifts cushions from the sofa and hoovers underneath which with 2 small boys is ver much needed!!
She charges £9 per hour and I always give her a generous Christmas bonus.

I have had cleaners in the past but am not going to get another one until we've had a safe fitted. Accidental breakage I can handle, theft I cannot.

Have always preferred to use my own stuff. Might have just been my cleaners but they've always had a fanatical attachment to that nasty furniture polish spray. I shudder to think what it does to antiques and had quite a hard time convincing them that dusting was enough, I don't need my furniture coated in petrochemicals.

dreamingofsun - yes I am in the SW but I have called every local company and they are all charging £10-12/hr and they are all fully booked! My old cleaner charged £9/hr and she was the cheapest I have come across...

Thank you to everyone who has posted!

I love our cleaner. She comes once a fortnight and does a blitz of the whole house so it's manageable for us to do daily cleaning in between.

She is here for 3 hours, we pay her £11 p/h and she uses our own cleaning stuff.

Reasons I love her:

• Reliable - always on time, never sick
• Thorough - all jobs done to the highest standard, every time
• Thoughtful - if she finishes all her usual jobs and has time left over she will do something extra, like clean and sort the fridge, do a bit of ironing, hang the laundry etc
• Green - she prefers to use natural cleaning products (white vinegar, bicarb etc) and does such a great job I would never go back to using conventional cleaners or bleach
• Attention to detail - not a nook or cranny is missed, and she makes a real effort to make the house look lovely (plump cushions, nicely laid out towels etc)
• Respectful of our home - always puts on slippers to work in, doesn't disturb my work paperwork and is very very careful not to let out indoor cats out. That matters to me more than all the above.

She's pregnant and having her second child next year so will be stopping work in January, just before we have our second child! Am distraught at the thought!

i hope my cleaners not reading this or she will think i'm underpaying her! i pay her 6.50 p/h. having checked the notice boards and newspaper this seems very standard for here - even companies like banks pay that sort of rate. glad i don't live where some of you do

ahh now i see - pdr you are talking company, so that explains extra cost. i'm talking person who cleans.

I have the most wonderful woman ever. More than a cleaner, she also looks after the DDs and cooks for them, as well as doing general household cleaning, washing, ironing, going to the bottlle bank, etc.

I pay her £70 per week and she does around 4 hours on one day and 2 on another. I supply the materials.

We have a 4 bed/3 bath/2 receptions + large kitchen/diner.

Mine do 2 1/2 hours but because there are three of them it's done in 50mins - I REALLY like the fact that because there are three of them it is done very quickly, I don't want the awkwardness of a 2 1/2 slot in a day when I am either in and moving from room to room trying to stay out of the way or not being able to have people round.

They hoover, dust, clean bathrooms and kitchen (house is 4 beds, two reception, 1 big family room/kitchen).

They DON'T move anything which drives me mad, so my sofas have fluff balls/pens etc underneath (I have pets). They have also got into a routine which they do everytime and don't seem to see things which aren't part of the routine (like handmarks on doors). They are ok but not outstanding. They are however reliable and trustworthy which is why I'm not looking for anyone else at the moment.
Oh and they bring their own cleaning products, cloths etc. One of my friends hates that and wants them to use her stuff (in case cloths etc have been used in other houses). I don't mind although I have asked them not to use bleach as I don't like it or the smell it leaves.

Oh and mine charge £25 - actually maybe it's 2 1/4 hrs.

I have a great cleaner now. She worked for my neighbour who recommended her.

She came and agreed to clean for two hours a week. We have 4 beds, 2 baths, 3 receps and a big kitchen, so it's a lot to clean. Each week she asks what I want doing (always bathrooms and kitchen floor and living room but rarely the spare beds or dining room). She is very flexible and cleans properly. She likes to bring her own cloths, dusters etc but uses my cleaning materials.

She told me her hourly rate was £7, and as this is what my neighbour pays I felt I couldn't insist on more. We are in the SW. She is definitely worth more though (previous cleaner was rubbish in comparison). I intend to give her a decent Christmas present to compensate.

£8.00 per hour I pay even though she only wanted £7.50! Uses her own stuff too.

Cleans, dusts, washes up endless list!

3hrs is perfect to clean a very mad, busy bungalow.

I dont like the agencies as they claim £11ph and pay the cleaner £6.50.

I'd say shes not brilliant but more good. But its always a struggle to find a brilliant one in this area.

Over use of bleaches and chemicals is annoying. Ignorance of knowing what sprays not to use on say cheaper s/s where these have been stained now.