if you had a cleaner for 3.5 hours...

[4littleones]

what would you want her to do? in a 3 bed house?

We have had one for a few weeks but not sure we are getting maximum benefit.

Hoover everywhere/mop floors
Dust
Make beds/possibly change sheets as and when
Clean bathroom
Wipe over everything in kitchen
Clean inside of windows

I can't think of anything else at the moment!

Empty bins. Put some washing on.

If you have a three bed house you shouldn't need that long and if you feel you do then you should feel like you're stepping into a brand new house each time she's been.

I used to run my own cleaning business and I did 3 beds in two hours. One were scumbags and I got it spotless in two hours. Only house I had four hours in was 7 bedrooms and 5 baths...

Wow, I have been a bit at my cleaner failing to do more than 1 bathroom and a shower room and a quick Hoover in 4 hours....

For that long you should go back to a show home. I have a big 4 bed and it takes 2 hours to do up and downstairs. Add another hour on for deep cleans of kitchen.

I think your cleaner is taking the piss Cahu

Our 3 bed takes our cleaner 2 hours to do all floors, Hoover and mop, bathroom, downstairs loo and kitchen surfaces. Sometimes she will spend a bit more time on eg the windows or soft furnishings or fridge. 3.5 hours of expect a very very clean house!

We have a 3-bed. She usually goes through the whole house and will deep-clean the fridge/cupboards out if she has time left over. She quite often gets ironing left. When she has done that - if she has time - she will give the heavily used areas a clean (bathroom, toilet, kitchen).

We have her for 3hrs. We don't ask her to do stuff anymore...she kind of has her own rhythm week to week.

I think the cleaner I hired ripped me off. 4 hrs in an empty. Yes totally empty sml 3 bed house, she did kitchen and the cupboards (not the oven) skirts mop hovered the stairs and clean the bathroom. I had to go in and Hoover the bedrooms.

Me too, Gamerchick! Not easy to find a good one though...after reading this thread I am going to do it myself until I can get a recommendation. €40 for a clean bathroom and a crumb free rug!

I strip the beds and leave out the clean sheets - my lovely cleaner makes the beds, my most-hated job :)

I think we need a better cleaner. We have only had her a few weeks though so maybe she just needs to get used to it. She left my bath dirty this week and that's the job I really struggle with as I have a bad back. TBH the bath is one of the main things that made me get a cleaner.
It literally had visible dirt.

She also has damaged a couple of things in the house by using inappropriate cleaning products. luckily it's not been things I'm bothered about but it worries me what else she may do.

I feel bad though as she is young and clearly just learning as she goes. She is lovely and I would feel awful replacing her with somebody else.

Is she there when you are? Perhaps have a quick chat about what you expect or leave a note. If no improvement then change her

yeah I'm there when she is. But I'm rubbish at this sort of thing and I don't want to make things akward.

If you do it nicely it'll be fine. Des she have a key?

It'll be less awkward than the feeling you get when you've sacked her to avoid that talk

yeah she has a key. which is annoying as we don't actually have a set arrangement and do it more on and "as and when" basis. so if she didn't have a key then it would just be a matter of not booking again.

Ha! Change all the locks and never call her again

On a serious note, you can change the barrel only for £8 with new set of keys.

In two hours I dust all horizontal surfaces in a 4 bed house, clean bathroom, ensuite and wc, including mirrors, plump up sofa cushions, Hoover, mop floors, clean worktops, table and hob in kitchen.

In an extra 1.5-2 hours I also cobweb, clean cupboard fronts in kitchen, wash up, clean windows inside, wipe down grubby doors and make sure everything else is done super thoroughly.

If it's too awkward to sack her for doing it badly, just say that you've looked at finances and can't afford her, please can she drop your key in.

I pay my lovely cleaner for 4 hours, but she probably does less than 3.5 which is fine as she does a good job. We have a 4 bedroomed house. She

• cleans the kitchen thoroughly, including cooker doors if necessary

-cleans the bathroom thoroughly

• hoovers throughout the house (including the DC's rooms!!!) and makes the rooms (other than the DC's!) look tidy. Admittedly it's not usually too bad
• empties all bins
• dusts on a rotational basis (not too dusty in our house despite it being Victorian!)
• cleans windows on a rotational basis.

Changes at least one bed a week, often 2

Ours does 4.5 hours - he
-hoovers everywhere (including down backs and under sofas, blinds etc)- mops hardwood and tiled floors

• wipes down all doors, banisters, skirting boards
• dusts everwhere (including lights, photos, mirrors etc)
• cleans all bathrooms thoroughly
• empties and cleans out bins
• cleans kitchen (including oven, hob, sink)
• cleans inside of windows
• cleans all bedrooms (don't get him to change bedding as we deal with that)

Our is a 4 bed house with lots of surfaces

Foreskin hyena, I need you in my life