Getting a cleaner

[jaggynettle]

I've decided to be less of a martyr this year and get a cleaner. Am sick of spending my spare time cleaning the house - as much as DH will do things as asked his shift pattern is unreliable and we both work full time. The house is by no means squalid, I just need an extra pair of hands to keep on top of it.

My question is, what is reasonable to ask the cleaner to do? For example I'd like;

Kitchen surfaces wiped down
Hoover all carpeted rooms (3 in total)
Bathroom tidy and wipe down surfaces inc floor
Internal glass (windows, mirrors every other week)
Clean washing hung up

Am thinking it'd take 1.5/2h a week. Have been quoted £14.50ph which I find reasonable.

I'd be interested to see what other folk ask of cleaning companies and hear of any tips/suggestions/things I could ask to the list.

Also, will she use her own products or mine?
Should I give her a key?

Am a newbie at this!

I was in this situation last year. We have a three bedroomed house with a large bathroom, small kitchen, utility room and downstairs loo.

We asked for all that you list except putting away laundry. However, we did have beds stripped and remade: our bed one week and the other two beds the following. Also, the bathroom was thoroughly cleaned, including the walk in shower that takes me ages.

Three hours a week. We started off paying £15 to an agency whose cleaners brought all their own stuff. Very happy to start with and then the regular cleaner was replaced with someone who didn't do such a good job.

Found someone highly recommended on Facebook who used a mix of her stuff and ours and charged £10 an hour. She was fab.

You aren't asking for much at all. How big is your house. They could clean a 3 bed in 2 hours and possibly fit in an extra job.

So kitchen clean would be surfaces, cooker hob, floor and cupboard fronts, sink and tap and extractor hood. Clean inside microwave.

Full clean of bathroom incl mirrors and floor

Hoover and dust throughout.

They could probably do one bed change and the inside one window on rotation.

Or you could swap some of the above for something else.

They are MUCH faster than we are!

I'll tell you honestly - I do not like cleaning. And that's why I try to optimize the cleaning as much as possible and make it easier and faster. I try to do the cleaning from top to bottom. I never use rags or gauze as dust rags. I try to keep all the necessary cleaning products on hand. If I wash my windows, then I put everything in the pockets of my apron. And I want to tell you that a leather apron is a great thing (by the way, I bought aprons with pockets on olpr.com/collections/aprons). His pockets are spacious and a huge plus - I do not get dirty!