cleaning with cloths or kitchen roll?

[youretoastmildred]

OK first off I admit that I am not the world's most enthusiastic cleaner and I don't think I have ever been taught to do it as such.
I clean with cloths or rags (lots), lots of changes of hot water with cleaning fluids, gloves on, throw all the cloths in the washing machine at the end.

Exceptions: windows (ha!) need newspaper or chamois; sometimes I do a lazy wipe around the bathroom with a wipe from a packet (between proper cleans)

HOWEVER

I am lucky enough to have a weekly cleaner and we seem to be down about 2 (a bit more) rolls of kitchen roll every time she comes. Surely she must be cleaning everything with kitchen roll? Is this normal? AIBU to ask her not to, and ask her what re-useable cloths or other products I can buy her instead? (I already have) (we do actually have cloths already I am just wondering whether they are somehow wrong)

Or... is this what people do nowadays and it is like expecting her to move back to 1971? (where I am from)

thanks!

I only keep kitchen roll for instant spill-mopping and cleaning DS because porridge is not hair gel. Microfibre cloths or dishcloths which can be thrown in the washing machine the rest of the time.

Possibly worth offering to buy her choice of cloths and have somewhere she can leave them for you to wash when she leaves. I presume she just uses kitchen roll because its cheap and some clients would object to her leaving used cloths behind.

Kitchen roll is for spills and emergencies in our house. Have you provided her with cloths and asked her not to use kitchen towel (is she actually using your kitchen roll? That'd be a month's supply in our house!).

I had an American house mate who dried the pots with kitchen roll.

Why do use hot water for?

Certain things I will use kitchen roll for - instant mop ups (coffee spills or similar), cleaning the bin, fridge and microwave. Think it's because I store food in the fridge so want to ensure it's really clean, same for the microwave as I reheat in it. Why the bin though I don't know!

Same way as I use cloths for the sink, bath and shower and then a flash wipe for the toilet.

yup 2 months supply in our house too! It's annoying, but I have to check I am not being like my mum, who kept a cup of used matches by the cooker and would only use a new match each time she lit the cooker for the first time, and after that would light second and further gas rings by using a used match as a spill. that used to drive me nuts but now I suspect myself of having thrifty ways that seem bizarre and unreasonable to the youth of today. (waiting to get home before you phone people up, for instance)

I'm a cleaner and I use kitchen roll at work and at home. Microfibre cloths are good but just for a finishing off buff, as soon as the microfibre cloth gets wet from the glass spray/dirty it's no longer effective for cleaning to a streak free finish. I like cleaning wipes for cleaning toilet seats then I'll buff dry with kitchen roll rather than leave it wet and streaky. I use kitchen roll to remove residue of cream cleaner in baths with bad drainage, give it a good scrub with the cream cleaner and rinse thoroughly then buff dry with bathroom spray and kitchen roll.
I won't bore you with my many uses of kitchen roll but if your perfectly happy with the standard of cleanliness that your cleaner provides I wouldn't bother querying her kitchen roll usage. Aldi and Lidl sell 4 rolls for £1.69 and are of superior quality for cleaning purposes as opposed to expensive leading brands.

Ok so I am being like my mum then. I was afraid it might be a bit like that.

I don't actually care about streak free finishes in bathrooms, or things being buffed dry. She cleans in the day when no one is there, by the time we get home the bath will be both clean and dry. I can see now you explain it why a really thorough gleaming effect for immediately would require buffing.

But I am sour and grumpy. I don't go to Lidl because I don't have time to floss my teeth. In theory there are certain things I get there, but in practice I keep having other things to do at the weekends and sticking them on the online shop. If I had time to go to Lidl I would have time to clean my own bath. Maybe you coudl argue that it is jsut part of the cost, if you can afford a cleaner you can afford throwaway materials for the cleaner to use. but... the planet... and I can't think myself into that throwaway mindset.

I wouldn't be happy with this, it's terrible for the environment. If she needs to dry something, eg baths as mentioned above, then why not use a dry washable cloth? I'd have a polite word!

I use kitchen roll for shine or when there's sickness in the house.

However if shine doesn't bother you and you don't mind a streaky finish then let your cleaner know.

I use lots of kitchen roll, hot water and bleach.

I quite my house smelling of bleach

We use a new sponge every day for washing up (we don't have a dishwasher ) we wash up two or three times a day and wipe the surfaces. After tea DH washes up, then I wipe down the cupboard fronts, wash the cats and dogs dishes then throw the sponge away.

Why on earth would you throw a sponge away after one days use!

Just stop buying kitchen roll. Or stash it somewhere out of the way the days she comes.

We never have kitchen roll in the house. Sometimes it would be handy, but we have plenty of cloths, tea towels, and some of those super-absorbent microfibre towels to cover all emergencies. We do use flash wipes (or rather, supermarket own brand) for cleaning bins and toilets, and any disgusting mishaps.

Mildred, I might be your Mum: I do keep some used matches. They are in a matchbox, not in full view though as I am a little ashamed of that habit.

I am not much of a cleaner but I will use reusable sponges, washable cloths and old socks or torn clothes for dusting. The latter two types get binned post-dusting.

I don't dry things to a buff but I don't live in a hard water area.

I only use kitchen roll to soak up excess oil on chips, dry meat and fish before grilling, clean the fridge and bin. I think one kitchen roll lasts me at least three months.

I use old newspaper to wipe the grease of pans and dishes rather than kitchen roll.

I think using two rolls per cleaning session is wasteful but I suppose people do things their own ways and it might be tricky to impose your own to your cleaner.

milkysmum because, as much as I love my cats and dogs, I just cant get my head round cleaning my dinner plates with the sponge I last used to clean their dishes.

Gemma, I'd keep one of the sponges and use it for the pets' dishes then. Then you could keep two sponges for longer rather than replace one every day.

I agree with Rattitude, just keep a drier are cloth for the pets, a new sponge every day for washing up is really wasteful

Oh and thinking about it, do people generally wash their dogs bowls every day? I think ours gets done about once a month!!

I had a cleaner who insisted on kitchen roll. She said it was the most hygienic way to clean the house.
I shudder to think of the environmental impact though :(

I don't actually know, in environmental terms, whether (manufacturing + hot washing bought fabric cloths) > (using and throwing away kitchen roll with eco stuff printed on the packet). It looks to me like a no-brainer that the disposable choice is the bad choice. but that might be a knee-jerk falsehood. I would improve the sitch myself by using cut up cotton things as rags (I always used to): but if I can't get the cleaner to use bought cloths, I doubt she will go for that.

Your I don't wash them separately (or on a hot wash). 1-3 cloths easily fit in with a normal clothes wash at 40. They take up next to no room...

Mines, that is what I do, but I feel that is likely to be considered wrong or not enough. I am at the cheap / low impact end of the spectrum, where at the other end are spray and smell-happy connoisseurs of proprietary wipes, extra smells in the wash, plug in thingies, terrifying women who are always bustling about making things smell and making you feel uncomfortable and wrong footed.

I have experienced poor cleaners, average cleaners and excellent cleaners, all the excellent cleaners who leave things gleaming use kitchen roll. Try the kitchen roll from Lidyl.

Sorry just realised you don't have time to go to Lidyl. Just buy kitchen roll when it's on offer.

I had a cleaner who used to use all my kitchen roll too. I found it annoying. I did speak to her about it and she said that was her preference. I did buy her microfiber cloths but she kept using the roll.

"Oh and thinking about it, do people generally wash their dogs bowls every day? I think ours gets done about once a month!!"

we have stainless steel dog bowls and yes, they get washed every day. we rinse them well in the sink and then put them in the dishwasher.

op - I use cloths. I have huge supply of cloths - all varieties - and tea towels. cloths get used for one job and then put in the wash. tea towels changed every day, we get through two or three a day. kitchen roll used for spills mainly. all cloths and tea towels washed on 60.