Cleaner while we are away

[buildingmycorestrength]

Hullo - I'm quite unwell and have a cleaner to do most of the grunt work in the week - hoovering, dusting, bathrooms, kitchen floor. She normally comes for three hours.

We are on holiday for two weeks in the summer and I'm wondering whether to get her to come in and do some extra bits instead of the normal clean. What would you ask for?

Windows?
Shampoo carpets with our Vax?
Change bedsheets?
Skirting boards?
Ceilings?

There are so many bits that only I can do but I never quite get caught up. It seems like there must be some things I can ask her to do.

Does anyone else have this? What do you do?

My cleaner does a normal clean, but we are only ever away a week. With a 'spare' week, I'd go for cleaning kitchen cupboards, inside of windows, and skirting boards

never feel you have to justify having a cleaner... your health status and employment of other people who need the work are not related. Enjoy it.

I'd suggest inside of fridge, oven, cooker hood. Skirting boards / sheets are pretty regular, and I'm not sure I'd trust ours with a Vax - though this is largely because I speak no Polish and therefore wouldn't be able to explain its workings to her.

Yes, I usually get the other hard floors mopped (other than the kitchen), skirting boards dusted etc. Although I'm not completely convinced about how much of what I ask to be done actually gets done and I just chalk it up to another cost of the holiday.

My cleaner does a full spring clean of the kitchen while I'm away - everything out of cupboards, clean out cupboards, steam clean (not just mop) the floor etc.

I LOVE coming back, but really resent having to cook dinner that night and mess up the kitchen...

I sort of know I don't have to justify having a cleaner but thanks for being direct...it is no one's business but mine, is it! Good reminder.

Thank you all for these tips. Some very good ideas.

Our cleaner got her handy husband in while we were away, and between them they shampood all carpets and did some simple decorating - probably the other way round, but it worked very well and we were all pleased.

I would second any big jobs that aren't usually done, especially kitchen-wise like Tangled says. Depending on if they need it, of course, but things like a proper oven clean, fridge clean, defrost freezer if it's not frost free, clean inside cupboards (even multitask and bin out of date tins/bottles?), service wash on washing machine/dishwasher if you have them.

Whatever are the bigger things that you can't normally do but would like done, really. So if you normally change the bedsheets anyway, for example, then I wouldn't opt for that only because you could get something else done you really wouldn't be doing.