Working as a housecleaner.

[joeythenutter]

Can someone tell me if what i state below is enough work in 3 hours. I started 2 weeks ago cleaning a 3 bed house, 3 hours once a week. Today, my 3rd week i find a note saying I am now only needed once every 3 weeks!! Owner is in the house every time I clean, but does not acknowledge me when i come in or while im there. I have asked is there any problems or anything that I can do differently but have got no communication.

In the 3 hours I was: dishes, lots, all kitchen surfaces, emptying bins, oven and hob, microwave, clearing kitchen table, all windowsills, dusting, brushing and washing all floors, all rooms hoovered or carpets brushed, stairs brushed, main bathroom full clean, additional bathroom cleaned, all skirting dusted and washed, all bedrooms floors cleaned, beds made, all rubbish and litter in all rooms picked up, whole house tidied, all toys arranged, washing put on or in drier, dirty marks removed from walls and doors.

Out of all the work in the house the tidying and picking up rubbish/clutter takes the longest as its in every room. Does this sound enough work for 3 hours??

I really need some advice as I feel a little deflated at the moment, thinking I am not working hard enough. I don't stop from the moment I enter the house till I leave. I have cleaned houses in the past with no problems and excellent feedback from the owners.

Would appreciate any thoughts.

Joey, perhaps the people from today just wanted a one-off clean for a special occasion and have deliberately misled you? I'm really sorry if that is the case.

If you have a client who is happy with your work, maybe ask them if they have any local friends who are looking for a cleaner? I have found that lots of contacts/work is made this way. Your clients' friends can be confident in you (because their friend recommends you) and you can hope that decent, reliable clients will have similar friends.

Could you get some cheap cards made up (Vistaprint??) and ask your good clients to mention you to friends. Maybe on Facebook?

Try and keep to people you know/vaguely know.

Good luck with it all.

Joey, would you consider moving to Australia? Please?

Would love to move to Australia, but hate the heat. Might have better luck with cleaning over there!!

Well i got the lamest reason today why I was not needed anymore to clean. I used the wrong end on the hoover, in her opinion, to do the hoovering.

I used the fine nozzle end to hoover as i feel it gets right into the corners and does a better job. No one has ever complained before when ive done this.

I know its her house but jeez, the floors were spotless.

joey these excuses are not true, of course not!

It is all about money, they had their house cleaned up for cheap and then they let you go.

If you raise your prices and set out your terms and conditions I can assure you these problems will be things of the past. People do not value what they can get for cheap, it's a fact!

I want you to do well so I advise you to set a more realistic value on your service and you will attract different clients, not everyone who wants to hire you is one of 'your clients' if you understand me. Value yourself and your business and your clients will find you, not the other way around!

Solo cleaners can command premium rates, they just need to believe in their worth and ask for what they are worth, that way you weed out the 'price-shoppers' and gain the most lovely clients who really value a clean home and will pay for it plus lavish you with praise for providing this.

Not everyone is your client, be prepared to let them go if they say no to a decent price when you quote them. See things gradually change from that stance. I am here for you if you need support in this.

I think getting a decent client base takes time. If I were you I would charge a round tenner an hour, set a minimum of two hours cleaning and do a really good job. When you first meet a new client, tell them you like honest feedback and just to leave a note if they are not happy with something or want you to use a certain cloth or whatever. Also say you will leave a note if they need to buy a new bottle of bleach or whatever. You will get people who only do a few weeks etc. Don't take it personally, building a business takes time and maintenance, hence why you need to charge more to make it pay. Do ask your favourite clients to recommend you and pass on your number. Tell them you have slots free on X day. Offer them a half price week if they get you a new client.

oh how I wish you lived near me! I have just hired yet another cleaner and am hopeful she will do half as much as you in 3 hours!(although I have hired her for 3 hours twice a week as that is the only way my house stands any chance of staying even half way clean!)
In fact I actually advertised my job as a housekeeper/cleaner because I wanted someone to help with laundry and do some tidying/toy putting away etc and thought this was really above and beyond usual cleaning role so I think you are definitely doing more than would normally be expected of a cleaner!

Round here I would be amazed to see (and rather suspicious about) a private cleaner at less than £10 an hour.

And YY with those posters saying people value expensive stuff more. We deliberately decided to go expensive about a year ago with the dog walking/petsitting business. The end result is slightly fewer enquiries, but really not that many fewer, but those who do enquire are after a premium service, and frankly don't seem to care how much they spend so long as their precious pets are cared for. We'd always prided ourselves on a very high standard of service - most of our clients actually come through personal recommendation - so the amount of effort we put in per dog hasn't changed, but the pay rate is 50% better.

Well tbh I do believe I was no longer required for the reason given. I was met at the door the last time I cleaned at the house by the owner. She asked me straight out how I was doing the hoovering. I told her I felt the finer nozzle did a more precise job and she said, no no no you can't do like that, let me show you how it has to be done. When I tried what she suggested, it was like pushing a car in gear, it went nowhere, and I explained what i thought. She walked off. I have no problems with someone suggesting other ways of doing things, but when those suggestions make the job tougher and longer and no cleaner then i will suggest other ways. The same owner left an a4 page each time on 'how to wash my floors'. She also made a comment on my weight. Every other house I clean just lets me get on with it.

Well that in itself is not normal!

I have cleaned or been involved with the cleaning industry for 19 years now and I have never had a client instruct me how to do things, they have always respected and understood that as a professional cleaner I knew how to get the results to be the best they could be.

I have had clients who have needed me to manage their expectations, given the condition of the house and how they think it could look after cleaning but all have realised that as a self-employed person I was not under their instruction and they could either like what I provided or take their money elsewhere, in fact to this day and with staff to consider, I still find it very hard to get the most basic of negative feedback, we get lots of lovely feedback but people are so reluctant to complain in any way, even though we strongly encourage this, what we do not encourage is clients interfering with our methods, as quality and higher standards are what we need to achieve and this level of service is not possible without training out our own methods, clients are not cleaners and cannot possibly know how we need to operate with their best interests at heart or how to achieve the most detailed work possible within the scope of the service we can provide within the price we quoted.

My point is that your client was not typical, it is her issue and I know you can move on and move forwards without this hinderance. You will find yourself in more demand than you knew existed if you trust my words and stay confident in the fact that you have what people want, just let them know where to find you.