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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Have you ever thought about how you treat your cleaner?

77 replies

Looobyloo · 07/02/2016 10:33

Just reading a book about a woman who has everything, big house, loads of money then loses it all & takes up cleaning to make ends meet. She reflects on how she's treated her past cleaners as some of her clients aren't very nice.
I'm a self employed cleaner & have had many clients over the years & most have been great. Though I've had a few strange ones. Including a couple who made a drink In front of me & didn't offer me one on boiling hot day & I was there for 3 hours. Another client would never make me a drink but would offer any other visitor, handyman, computer guy, plumber etc one straight away. One husband could barely look at me, his wife was so lovely though.
I have one at the moment who is driving me mad. She's in & out of the room I'm cleaning, tidying up, saying little comments telling me what to do, when I go in another room she'll come in & ask if I'm alright! I feel she's trying to undermine me although I'm a bloody cleaner for goodness sake. Anyway she's getting my notice this week!

So all you with cleaner how do you view, treat them. Be honest.

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 07/02/2016 11:49

No, because I've never had a cleaner.

EssentialHummus · 07/02/2016 11:54

Our cleaner is ace! I think she was short of clients when she started with us (she's pretty shy / lacking confidence and worries about her English), and I've advertised on a popular local blog for her to get more clients, which she seems really grateful for - she gave us a huge box of chocolates at Christmas as a gift Grin.

I wfh but try to stay in one room while she's here. Don't really offer drinks as it didn't occur to me, but she tends to bring along a Lucozade anyway.

I'm really aware that cleaning jobs can be difficult and thankless, so I try to avoid making things harder for her.

Longislandicetee · 07/02/2016 12:00

I don't think I have ever made my cleaner a drink. She's here 3 days a week and knows where everything is, she just helps herself, including to the decaf coffee that I buy just for her. She gets a weeks extra pay at Christmas and I pay her even if she doesn't work (holidays or sick). Given she's been with me for 6 years and lavishes lovely gifts on my kids for their birthday, Christmas and Easter, I think she's fine with me not getting her a drink.Grin

Fugghetaboutit · 07/02/2016 12:02

I love mine :)

We've had her for years and my mum uses her too. She's an excellent cleaner who does extras like changes bed covers etc

She loves my dcs and they love her - lots of cuddles and chat when she comes in. She buys them Xmas presents and we do too. She's Bulgarian and hardly speaks a word of English but we get by.

She only comes once a month for a deep clean and is coming on Tuesday, can't wait for her to meet my new baby, she's so maternal, lovely woman.

IguanaTail · 07/02/2016 12:03

My cleaner is fabulous. I leave her a fiver bonus every now and again, she can help herself to drinks and sometimes has a slice of toast. She often buys me flowers - when I get back from work it's lovely. At Christmas I give her double pay and a small gift. She always leaves a big present all wrapped with ribbons etc. She also does minor repairs on clothes because she used to be a dressmaker.

IguanaTail · 07/02/2016 12:04

I text her every week to thank her as well.

ggirl · 07/02/2016 12:24

I treat them like any other person who comes into the house to do a job..chat ..offer a drink..let them get on with it.

I did get rid of one cleaner (about 15 yrs ago) who smoked in the house while she was doing the ironing

joeythenutter · 07/02/2016 12:29

I cleaned for someone who would often make herself something to eat and drink, then stand and eat it in front of me while watching me work, leave everything that she just brought out like milk butter all left open on the counter that I had already cleaned, eat, then lift her handbag and head off. She also used to tell her young kids, "don't talk to ........., she's here to work", while I was working beside them. Her attitude to me at times was terrible.

Nydj · 07/02/2016 12:39

museumum I work from home when our home is being cleaned and I think it works really well. It stops me from wandering around the house instead of working because I don't want to get in her way and as soon as I leave the room I work in to make myself a drink she pounces, ninjalike, and quickly dusts and vacuums that room Grin.

To answer the OP, yes, I do think about how I treat anyone who comes into our home and I hope I make them feel comfortable and welcome. If they have come to work in our home than we always say thank you when they finish and leave and hope that they realise how much they appreciate what they have done to help us.

60sname · 07/02/2016 12:53

I don't have a cleaner (though we are planning to get one) but I would be polite (this obviously includes offering a drink), friendly and leave them to get on with it, like anyone else coming to do some work in the house.

I would not fawn over them for deigning to clean the house in exchange for money. Some people seem embarrassed to have a cleaner - I think this is incredibly patronising

OolonColluphid · 07/02/2016 13:11

7 out of 8 of mine offer me a drink, a couple of them insist on a biscuit, and two will sometimes include me in lunch, one gives me very random snacks (cooking apple sprinkled with sea salt) and one sometimes has a lunch break so we can have a catch up and lunch when I finish - I have been working for most of them for 5 years or more.

Original poster
Looobyloo · 07/02/2016 13:33

Sorry it was a few months back & I can't remember. I'll have a look to see if I can find it & get back to you.

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 07/02/2016 13:39

Growing up we had a lovely cleaner, she used to come to ours on the bus on a Friday morning. Mum would always pop to the nice bakers on the high Street to get her a cake for her tea break. But them mum made tea & coffee for everyone - including the builders next door as they didn't have any supplies or water (empty house)

I think she was treated well, mum never bothered her, always paid, gave her drinks and cake and Xmas present, Easter egg for her granddaughter etc.

RudeElf · 07/02/2016 13:46

Im a cleaner. Most of my clients have been lovely. A few in the past have been quite inconsiderate; locking the house so when i arrive to work i cant get in (these are the ones who werent happy to give me a key or leave one out) or not having the money there on the day. Some cancelling me at the last minute. One lady let her children torture me by pulling my cleaning stuff out of my caddy, running off with my mop, dancing across the floor i'm trying to clean. Another man i think was quite lonely and seemed to just want me to have a cup of tea and chat with him. One client doesnt want her husband to know she has a cleaner so there have been times i've had to leave early or arrive later to avoid being 'caught' by him. On the whole most clients are nice and just leave me to it though.

LastOneDancing · 07/02/2016 13:48

I hope I treat our cleaner with respect and gratitude for the good job she does.

I have offered a drink if I'm here and gave her a small bonus and a bottle of wine for Christmas. I try and leave the house tidy so she can just clean, not wade past our junk. I text to let her know I've paid and say thank you.

But I will tell her if there's something we're not happy with. At the end of the day it's a working relationship.

Original poster
Looobyloo · 07/02/2016 13:48

That last post was for toocold sorry I'm new on here so still getting used to it. I just thought making a drink for herself & her husband & not offering me one was very rude! In my home every one who comes is offered a drink & a biscuit or cake. But she gets out of my way, pays me when she's on holiday so I wasn't too bothered. Moggie I drink & work.

OP posts:
JaneAustinAllegro · 07/02/2016 13:53

I've just started working from home and THIS is why I had no lunch last Thursday.... I find it cripplingly awful to get myself my own lunch in my own house when the cleaner is over because it seems too bloody rude to be eating while she's working but what am I meant to do? cook her lunch and lay a place and pay her to eat the lunch i've made and chat while I'm also meant to be working? Easier just not to have lunch.

Original poster
Looobyloo · 07/02/2016 13:54

Joey I wouldn't have lasted two minutes with her I'm afraid! Rudelf I had one where the nanny would tell the children to be careful not to slip when walking across my nice newly mopped floor 😂 then the ten yr old daughter of a client left me a note telling me where to hang her dressing gown I nearly wrote back 'hang it up yourself you obnoxious little shit!'

OP posts:
Original poster
Looobyloo · 07/02/2016 13:57

Jane I think nothing when my client make them selfs lunch. I'm there to work & would find it very awkward if the offered me luck or breakfast.

OP posts:
EssentialHummus · 07/02/2016 13:58

I've just started working from home and THIS is why I had no lunch last Thursday.... I find it cripplingly awful to get myself my own lunch in my own house when the cleaner is over because it seems too bloody rude to be eating while she's working but what am I meant to do?

I'm the same Jane. I now time Monday lunch to coincide with a drive to Waitrose (or McDonald's frankly, if I'm in the mood). Otherwise she'll have to clean twice, and I don't want to eat and not offer / get in her way.

allegretto · 07/02/2016 14:03

I think I treat her well and always make her tea! Plus she gets paid if off sick even without a certificate - better than me!

hopelesslydevotedtoGu · 07/02/2016 14:16

When my cleaner started I offered her a tea/ coffee the first few weeks, and she looked utterly shocked and said "no!" very quickly and looked embarrassed, as though I'd offered her a nap in my bed Blush It actually felt really uncomfortable, so i said she was welcome to make herself a drink anytime and left it at that.

Once I tried to take out a bag of rubbish on my way out, as I thought it would be too many for her to take in one go and it seemed cheeky (and slovenly) to have a bag of rubbish sitting there when she arrived, and again she was shocked and told me firmly to leave it for her!

hopelesslydevotedtoGu · 07/02/2016 14:23

Actually one thing that does make me think some people treat their cleaners thoughtlessly, is that occasionally when she arrives I'll tell her there is no ironing today, or not to clean one of the bedrooms as someone is ill and sleeping, and she always assumes that means that she'll be paid less today. It wouldn't occur to me to cut her hours without telling her in advance. She is always surprised when I say to work the same hours and just clean more elsewhere e.g. do the kitchen cupboards.

Toocold · 07/02/2016 14:43

Thanks Looby!

SecretWitch · 07/02/2016 14:52

We have had our cleaner for seven years. She did once describe our house (in Spanish) to another cleaner as a pig stye..but it is true so we certainly can't hold that against her! She takes a great interest in my youngest dd and always does something lovely in her room. She is welcome to help herself to any snacks or beverages in our home. We pay her a nice Christmas and birthday bonus. We hope she will want to stay with us for many more years.

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