Is this too much for a cleaner to do in 3 hours?

[christmastreewithhairyfairy]

We've had a cleaner for a while - I gave her some vague instructions at the beginning but she tends to do her own thing and makes some odd decisions. Our house is - a 3/4 bed officially but on 3 floors, so I am aware it isn't possible to clean the whole house in 3 hours.

I was thinking of giving her a set list to do, and wanted advice on whether the below is about right:

Clean toilets x 3 (just toilets themselves, not basins etc)
Quick wipe kitchen sides & sink
Mop ground floor (kitchen, dining room, guest loo & laundry room)
Empty bathroom bins & wastepaper baskets into main kitchen bins
Change main bed
Change all towels and bath mats
Hoover stairs x 2, hallway and landing
Deep clean 1 large or 2 small rooms

By deep clean I mean thorough dust, hoover including under furniture, wipe window ledges/skirting boards/cupboard fronts, polish any wooden furniture, clean mirrors etc. I would let her know which deep clean room or rooms to do, on a rotating basis, flylady style.

Thoughts? TIA

That sounds manageable to me.

Are you having her mop floors without hoovering them first? And why only toilets and not basins/baths etc? And just a quick wipe of counters? So not properly wiped?

Womanequals - I assume she would sweep the floors before mopping (tiles so sweep rather than hoover). Yes just quick wipe, i.e. around rather than under things like toasters, and not basins (except on kitchen/bathroom deep clean weeks).
I wipe the kitchen sides and basins too sometimes so they get wiped more than once a month probably
I would love her to do the whole kitchen and bathrooms each week but she seems to imply that is too much and she wouldn't have time for the rest! Do you think more is possible?

In 3 hours my cleaner:
Makes the beds (we strip them) so 2 x single, 1 x double and 1 x super king

Vacuums every room and steam mops
Damp dusts every room

Cleans kitchen

This is a 3 storey town house, 4 bedrooms. She doesn't clean bathroom sanitary ware.

I’m a cleaner. My own house is a 4 bed 3 toilet house and I can do it all top to bottom in 2.5-3 hours. I also do quite a few 4 bedroom client homes in the same time so I don’t see that you’re asking too much for a proper clean of kitchen (under all moveable appliances etc) and bathrooms. FWIW a normal clean, when I do it, is very much what you have described as your deep clean. So when I go to a clients house they are getting your version of a deep clean every week in every room.

Thanks Bishop. Your house sounds similar to mine. Similar size list I think? Except swapping toilets for whole kitchen

WomanEquals please will you clean my house
From my experience you are unique - every cleaner I've had has said the whole house is too much for 3 hours (do you change beds and towels?), but I'd be (very) happy to be corrected!
I will ask for proper wipe of kitchen sides though and perhaps a hoover in every room not just stairs. Dusting seems like a stretch too far though...

I do change beds but most people don’t want that and those that do don’t want it every week and not all beds each time. So I usually allow an extra 5ish minutes per bed as long as everything is on hand to put on. I hate having to go looking for matching covers and cases and sheets etc.

I used to clean a 3 bed house in 2 hours when I worked for a cleaning company. It was meant to be 4 hours but I was a lot fitter at the time and could whiz through it in no time. The home owner was pleased and recommended me to neighbours so it was done properly, so I would say yes it is possible to clean the whole house in 3 hours.

TBH that’s what I expect done but my cleaners have all said needs 4hrs. Hopefully she can do it, I’ve been through so many cleaners myself so if your can do all that, then great.