What can a cleaner do in 2 hours?

[Paintyourbox]

I used to have a cleaner who was recommended by a friend but she started not turning up for weeks on end so we have parted company.

I am now looking for someone to do 2 hours one week and 3 hours next week. We live in a 2 bed, 2 bathroom house.

In 2 hours I would like the kitchen and bathroom cleaned thoroughly, downstairs loo cleaned and house hoovered. Is this reasonable? The extra hour on alternate weeks would be for ironing.

I always do a tidy round the night before so nothing needs to be put away as such.

Is it cheeky for me to ask for the beds to be changed?

A good cleaner can do loads in 2 hours - am now converted as have ace and brilliant cleaner who is doing more in 2 hours than previous one did in 3.

Yes that seems reasonable in 2 hours provided your house isn't massive. I think the cleaner would struggle however to also change bedding in the two hour time slot.

Hmmmmmmm - ziisss is verrry interesting to me :)

I have just started a cleaning job, its commercial (vets practice, so can be minging and hair!)- so a bit different. In 1.5 hours i hoover two levels (three floors per level) clean sinks x 3, 1 x toilet. Clean tables (including legs - dogs piss up them!) clean surfaces. If washing in machine/tumble dryer i fold (blankets and towels) and reload etc. Mop using all floors, mop stairs. Clean cupboard doors etc, empty bins, reline bins. I do this easily and sometimes find other little bits to do (washing walls or skirtings, shelves etc). Its very clear when i get there so its more of a clean down.

I think what you describe sounds more than doable in two hours, depending on how much stuff you have on shelves etc. Do you want dusting done?

I'd not do the ironing though

I like my little job, despite havin a PhD im actually thinking of house cleaning but have been a bit about it as i don't really know what people would expect, id quite happily do your requests though (apart from the ironing, yuck, i hate it!).

It depends on what your house is like for the cleaner to clean IYSWIM. If your home is tidy then it would be doable. If not, well no.

Bed being changed? Doesn't seem an unreasonable request if the cleaner can fit it in.

Oh yes, im not sure about the bedding in two hours, its up there with ironing with the pet hates. I tend to get DP to help me with the duvets so wouldn't like having to struggle with a kingsize duvet on my own.

Does the cleaner offer ironing as a service?

If I were a cleaner, I wouldn't because I hate ironing and think it's a waste of time.

Thanks for the replies!

Bed changing would be on the 3 hour week as I think it would be a push in 2 hours.

It's a modern house, we keep it tidy. I wouldn't ask for the dusting to be done- don't mind doing it myself.

I have advertised for someone to do ironing but I would negotiate on it- I actually love ironing but just short of time to do it! If someone didn't want to do the ironing I would prob ask for dusting instead.

when you say clean the kitchen and bathroom thoroughly can you elaborate?

for some through could mean emptying the cupboards and cleaning them inside and out, cleaning the oven inside and out, all tiled surfaces, the counters and table, fridge, and floors.

My cleaner does our small 2 bed and 2 bathroom house. She does change the beds - I strip them and she remakes them.
She's amazing though.

May i ask what you guys pay your cleaners?

I am a cleaner, and yes what you are asling is doable. As you are not including dusting (and assuming you don't have a lot of clutter or masses of reflective surfaces in kitchen and bathrooms) you can also include windows being cleaned (inside) over a month/6 weeks, bins being emptied, vacuum emptied. Not too much trouble to change beds or iron, but as it is not usually part of most cleaning jobs some cleaners might be a bit slow. I would be a bit worried about ironing something at the wrong setting. (I almost spoilt my new winter dress that way yesterday.)

Usually cleaners don't open cupboards, or clean inside ovens. A 'deep clean' would involve cleaning every surface and object, polishing every shiny surface, dusting every ledge, skirting, washing doors, etc. That takes longer in a home than in a commercial setting as there are valuables to be careful of, and Noone wants things broken.

People pay the company I work for another £10 an hour, and I get 6.50 of that, and the kit, holiday pay and my bosses are really lovely.

Our cleaner does 3 hrs in a 2 bed flat. She hoovers and dusts the whole flat, cleans kitchen and bathroom (to a standard I could never achieve!!), mops floors, changes beds (I strip them first), and if she has time does a small pile of ironing. It is the best money I spend

New cleaner costs £12.50 an hour, v happy though with what she manages to do in 2 hours so happier to pay her that than pay someone not as good a bit less per hour for 3 hrs which costs me more than that overall.

She also loves ironing - thats how I got her details originally - so every couple of weeks will take away DH's shirts and bring them back nicely ironed which we pay for separately.

Lucyellen am v impressed with what you can do in 1.5 hrs !

theoriginal, it is a commercial setting though so i can whizz through it. I do work up a sweat though

what would a normal clean of a kitchen involve? i'm assuming not dishes? and if not dishes then not counters as they are done when you do dishes right? so would it just be tiles and floor?

It varies. Most customers do their own dishes, or there is just a few things. These get put in washing up bowl with hot suds to soak, sink cleaned and shined, all counters, tiles and stove top cleaned (shined if shiny). Also cupboard fronts, handles, plug hole...well best I don't get into too much detail about some places!
My boss says I can leave washing up (or customers stack more and more. She has known some to save up days worth!) But, it still all has to be moved and the surfaces underneath cleaned, so there's a lot of time wasted shifting it about, if there's a lot.

And also, cobwebs and high shelves dusted,vacuuming or sweeping, skirtings wiped or mopped. If oil bottles are left out, they get a wipe with a clean cloth and a shine too.

ah thanks happy for explaining. i was thinking about what there would be for a cleaner to do in my kitchen as to me, dishes and counters/table is all one job. i usually spray and wipe the tiles/microwave and windowsill aswell. so that would only leave the floor.

I'm disabled and have a PA/cleaner 2.5 hours twice a week. She does things I can't - sewing on badges for guides/scouts, filing in forms for school (my disability means I can't write), doing the big cleaning jobs I can't manage (basically hoovering and bathrooms). She changes beds for me once a fortnight.
I don't know what I'd do without her. It makes our lives manageable. I'm grateful for everything she can do for us.

You're welcome, boot. I tend to empty toasters too, and give them and kettles a shine, yes and microwaves, extractor units (need a step to reach) shelves and windowsills, and clean the bins and sticky fingermarks and paw prints on fridges or doors!

Happy, why don't you branch out on your own, you sound really thourough and concientious, you are worth more than £6.50 an hour while someone else creams off £3.50 for doing, well, nothing.

I consider thorough to be:

Kitchen- clean all surfaces, wipe microwave, sweep floor then mop. We always have dishwasher loaded and there isn't much clutter on the surfaces so doesn't take long to move and wipe. We do the oven ourselves as DP actually enjoys doing it weirdo

Bathroom- clean toilet, sink and bath. Mop floor.

That is very reasonable, I used to be a cleaner and in 4 hours I could:

Sweep and mop a shop (little on site spar)
Clean a large pub/diner area, this included picking up rubbish, hoovering, sweeping, mopping, cleaning tables and ash trays, shining brass, cleaning mirrors/glass, etc.

Clean 2 sets of toilets, ladies and men's, the front set and the back set, including toilets, floors, sinks etc.

A large area at the back including a big flight of stairs and a large room which needed hoovering/mopping/clearing due to people congregating there when the actual pub was closed.

I actually liked that job, it was very satisfying, not to mention the amount of money I would find plus we got £30 every time we cleaned up vomit, I was like vom army people vom lol.

The only time I admitted defeat was after a xmas party, I had to call in reinforcements on that occasion.

If you are in Hertfordshire, I will clean for you, I'm shit hot as long as it is not my house .

Oh and I pay £8 an hour.

I would quite like to be a cleaner actually, bedding is no trouble, but ironing would trip me up, I would be willing to do it, but I'm not really very good at it tbh, I can never get anything totally crease free .

When I go back to work I might investigate it actually, it's got to be better than being a HCA, or a minimum wage grunt, you can stick your ipod in and get on with it, no pressure, no horrible bosses.