Got rid of cleaner - it's all gone to pot!

[WhatToDo99]

I had a cleaner for 2 hours a week. Due to a mixture of needing to save money and anxiety about having someone in the house, we stopped her. I thought I could easily add on just 2 hours a week housework to pick up the slack.

It's been a disaster. I'm doing way more than 2 hours housework extra a week, and the house is descending into chaos.

What am I doing wrong? How can I get my house ticking back over nicely again? I'm loathe to get a cleaner in again, I want to do it myself. It must be possible!

We are a cleaning company and you are not doing wrong, it's just because a professional cleaner has routines and systems in place so can clean any home much faster than a person who does not do this for a living.

You are doing nothing wrong, it's just that she will have got her systems of work down and be more productive.

If you want to do it yourself just decide where you want your routine to start (say the kitchen for example) and then work around the house room to room finish with vacuuming all of the floors and then mopping any hard floors.

It's hard work to do it quickly, I am slower these days but regular cleaners are fit for it and used to their routines as they usually do a few homes a day. You might not be a cleaner but you can do it if you can figure out a routine for yourself and do a bit of research into the chemicals and equipment you are using so you can choose ones for best results and easiest to use quickly without too much wear and tear on your body.

The more often you go through the routines the easier it is to keep the build up at bay, ie weekly rather than fortnightly is easier on you. Monthly frequency is more of a deep clean and blooming hard work.

Little and often is easier to keep on top of the workload, which is why cleaners usually charge less for weekly bookings as opposed to fortnightly.

Professionals cleaners have those two advantages, a good routine and they bring the equipment and supplies they need so have everything to hand for a good clean. Both those things make the world of difference to the results of a clean that needs to be performed within a time-frame.

I hope you can get back on top. Good luck.

Hi Whattodo

I split my house cleaning in zones and days of the week that way I aim to do half and hour of cleaning everyday including the laundry. I will clean as follows:

Monday:
Kitchen including unloading dishwasher, microwave, bar stools, high chair & kitchen doors if required.
Laundry Laundry including bleaching cloths & steriliser
Playroom & Grocery shopping

Tuesday:
Porch, Lounge, WC, Understairs & Sweep & mop downstairs

Wednesday:
Wash clothes, dry, iron & put away. Sort out clothes in wardrobes or anything that needs sorting upstairs

Thursday:
Clean bathroom when bathing Keiyan this evening. Clean & tidy landing & bedrooms & do polishing.

Friday:
Vacuum & mop entire house.
Clean windows/door handles if required

Saturday:
Sort out baby/children's bags
Sort out things in garage/black baskets.
Filing away
Record Income and Expenses

Sunday:
Wash clothes, dry & put away.
Meal Planning, Prepping & Shopping list.
Anything not done in the week or spot cleaning.

I try and do half an hour and aim to do it before 9 am. But obviously I am awake at 6 because of the kids.

I also keep cleaning products in the bathroom and wc so after use I will give the wc a quick clean or the bathroom. I have a cleaning caddy under the sink with all the products required which I take to other rooms of the house and clean. By having the products to hand I find I am not going from room to room getting stuff and I don't get distracted that way

Sometimes I haven't got the motivation so I will stick on my stopwatch on my watch and see how fast I can clean which makes me do it very quickly to see if can beat my last time lol

I just skimp around during the week and do a deep clean over the weekend, I clean for a living and find It easier cleaning other peoples places than my own but the trick is to have a routine, know where you are starting and where you are finishing. Eg: today I am doing kitchen and living room and giving everywhere else a quick tidy up.