For those of you who have cleaners ...

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

... can you tell me how long the visit is, what they do, what they charge? I know it might be a bit "how long is a piece of string".

I've returned and found windowsills not cleaned, cat fur behind furniture and it really annoys me.

I've had one fortnightly for a few years and the original one left and the replacement is not as good. I'm thinking of getting rid of the cleaner, as she allegedly stays for two hours and as I WFH one day a week I can use the commuting time to do it to a higher standard. But I feel a bit mean ...

3 hrs, once a week. We're in Ireland so prices might differ but we give her €50.
She does 2x bedrooms, living room, kitchen, 1 bathroom. She tidies (big task, I have 2 poorly trained young kids) cleans all surfaces, vacuum & mop floors, any dishes loads/unloads dishwasher, washes/folds/ puts away clothes as needed, gives my dog a few hugs and leaves.

3 hours, once a week. I pay £45. We are in London. Three bedroomed house.

She washes all the hard floors (bathrooms, kitchen, hall), cleans the cooker and kitchen, cleans the bathrooms, vacuums everywhere, tidies up. She is a really nice person and very hardworking. She will change bed linen if I leave the clean stuff out for her and hang washing out etc but I usually do it myself. Sometimes she unstacks the dishwasher if I haven't had time to do it myself.

I'm in the house while she is here, wfh, and she is pretty busy for the full three hours. I would not expect her to pull out sofas and vacuum behind them as she would not have time on a regular basis. She will do that sort of thing and clean the fridge when we are away on holiday as there's less for her to do in terms of cleaning the bathrooms and cooker etc.

I'd say fortnightly for two hours is not long enough to have time for the tasks you are suggesting unless you are in a tiny flat or something.

@RaoulDufysCat

3 hours, once a week. I pay £45. We are in London. Three bedroomed house.

She washes all the hard floors (bathrooms, kitchen, hall), cleans the cooker and kitchen, cleans the bathrooms, vacuums everywhere, tidies up. She is a really nice person and very hardworking. She will change bed linen if I leave the clean stuff out for her and hang washing out etc but I usually do it myself. Sometimes she unstacks the dishwasher if I haven't had time to do it myself.

I'm in the house while she is here, wfh, and she is pretty busy for the full three hours. I would not expect her to pull out sofas and vacuum behind them as she would not have time on a regular basis. She will do that sort of thing and clean the fridge when we are away on holiday as there's less for her to do in terms of cleaning the bathrooms and cooker etc.

I'd say fortnightly for two hours is not long enough to have time for the tasks you are suggesting unless you are in a tiny flat or something.

I live in a mid-terrace and pay £95 a month which works out 2 hours every other Tuesday. I'm in North Yorkshire. Seems a bit steep to me!

2 bed flat. Birmingham. 2 hours fortnightly. £30. Does an ok job. Not amazing.
But I hate cleaning, so I’d rather pay for a mediocre job than do it myself!

£95 for 4 hours seems very expensive.

Don’t feel mean, cleaners are on demand so she will be likely pick up other clients easily

I rarely find a good cleaner so now I’m WFH I do it myself

I’d suggest you start earlier/finish later on your WFH day to just blitz through in 1 go if you can: the advantage of doing your own house is you focus on what’s important to you

I have decided after loads of cleaners that it is quite complicated! I think they never do as good a job as you would do but part of that is because we would spend hours doing it all whereas they focus just on what needs to be done.

For example, if I do my living room floors I pull the sofas out and wash under them etc whereas the cleaner doesnt really have time for that.

We pay £30 for 2 hours (Edinburgh) and we get our wooden floors washed, 1 bathroom and the kitchen done. No dusting or anything and she just goes round things. I am always thinking I could do better but the reality is I dont. What I would really like is 3 hours!

@DespairingHomeowner

Don’t feel mean, cleaners are on demand so she will be likely pick up other clients easily

I rarely find a good cleaner so now I’m WFH I do it myself

I’d suggest you start earlier/finish later on your WFH day to just blitz through in 1 go if you can: the advantage of doing your own house is you focus on what’s important to you

Exactly yes this is what I am planning to do.

Two hours isn’t a lot of time to clean a whole house op, Inc behind the furniture.

Ireland, 4 hours once a week, 4 bedrooms (one used as a study, not cleaned every week as I am often working in it), 3 bathrooms, kitchen, sitting room. €15 an hour. She does a brilliant job.

I'd struggle to find time to clean cat fur from behind the furniture in my own home if only cleaning two hours per fortnight to be honest.
Maybe give it a go yourself and see how much you can do In that time, then set out realistic expectations for the cleaner, and give them a chance to achieve those before you fire them.

@Orchidsonthetable

Two hours isn’t a lot of time to clean a whole house op, Inc behind the furniture.

That’s true. I’d do some ‘discrete’ tasks on other days (eg bathrooms, changing sheets/towels), wiping down kitchen sides/appliances/sink & hob

Then use the 2 hour chunk to do all the dusting, hoovering/mopping in 1 go which I find the most time consuming task

You need to give her an explicit list. I give mine a written list that is really specific:

• move sofa and clean behind
• use crevice tool to hoover bedroom drawer fronts

She's not a mind reader - tell her.

My brother's in laws arrived at his in the middle of the day... The cleaner was asleep in his bed 🤣🤣🤣 they also used to notice wine missing from a bottle in the fridge 🤔 I just don't think I'd trust anybody now.

She can’t be expected to clean cat fur from behind furniture in two hours though? Unless your house is tiny

I would blitz it myself and then go online and buy myself something with the money!

Two hours weekly, £30 a week. She’s only ok but utterly trustworthy and lovely which is a big plus. I miss the brawny young man we had for a couple of years who would lift the furniture with one arm and hoover under it with the other!

10 hours a week - cleans kitchen and cloakroom 3x (ie mop floors, wipe surfaces, clean hob etc), cleans each other room (4 beds 2 baths, utility, 3 receptions) 1x . Also does laundry, changes beds, irons etc - if DC are away so less bedding etc to deal with then will do an extra job - eg wash all woodwork, clear out and clean fridge etc.

@londonmummy1966

10 hours a week - cleans kitchen and cloakroom 3x (ie mop floors, wipe surfaces, clean hob etc), cleans each other room (4 beds 2 baths, utility, 3 receptions) 1x . Also does laundry, changes beds, irons etc - if DC are away so less bedding etc to deal with then will do an extra job - eg wash all woodwork, clear out and clean fridge etc.

How much does that cost you?

I'm a cleaner. I do 2 hour or 3 hour cleans.

For a 2 hour clean it tends to be very much surface cleaning because if I'm pulling furniture out and cleaning underneath that takes time.

For my 3 hour cleans I do a general clean throughout and focus on one specific area each visit. So one week I'll do the house but then in the kitchen I'll also empty the fridge and clean that. Or I'll give the skirting boards a good going over (instead of a quick dust as I'm passing). One house I clean has loads of tall windows and glass fronted wardrobes. It would take more than 3 hours just to clean the glass, let alone the house. So I do a rolling clean, a different group of windows get cleaned each week over a 4 week period.

Just be really specific and if it helps write a list.

I always try and instill in my customers that they must tell me if they're not happy with my work, otherwise I'll be carrying on doing what I think is a good job and they'll be getting fed up. It's rare that my clients do complain, because I'm very good (and subsequently very in demand through word of mouth :polishes badge: )

@JuliaSways

I'm a cleaner. I do 2 hour or 3 hour cleans.

For a 2 hour clean it tends to be very much surface cleaning because if I'm pulling furniture out and cleaning underneath that takes time.

For my 3 hour cleans I do a general clean throughout and focus on one specific area each visit. So one week I'll do the house but then in the kitchen I'll also empty the fridge and clean that. Or I'll give the skirting boards a good going over (instead of a quick dust as I'm passing). One house I clean has loads of tall windows and glass fronted wardrobes. It would take more than 3 hours just to clean the glass, let alone the house. So I do a rolling clean, a different group of windows get cleaned each week over a 4 week period.

Just be really specific and if it helps write a list.

I always try and instill in my customers that they must tell me if they're not happy with my work, otherwise I'll be carrying on doing what I think is a good job and they'll be getting fed up. It's rare that my clients do complain, because I'm very good (and subsequently very in demand through word of mouth :polishes badge: )

That's massively helpful @JuliaSways thanks a lot. My cleaner isn't bad, what she does is great, but I think now I have been expecting too much in the time allowance.

OP £95 for four hours seems very very high.

@ImJustMadAboutSaffron that's £22/hour?!!!

The hourly rate you’re paying is crazy. But two hours a fortnight is hardly anything.

Get a new cleaner and double the hours for more or less the same money would be my recommendation

We pay our cleaner £35 which is a flat rate to clean the house. No hourly requirement. It’s a three bed one bathroom terrace. In reality it means she rushes round and misses things but in theory it’s the whole house cleaned, dusted, vacuumed and mopped. I’d expect at least 2 hours cleaning but she was disappearing after 1-1.5 hours. We tidy beforehand, and I usually change the sheets the day before myself, and it’s not a clutter filled house.

She recently took on some additional cleaners and the new lady that does our place is so much better! I want to say to her that I only want this new lady now but am worried about offending her. I’d have gotten rid of her ages ago but couldn’t bring myself to do it as she’s too nice.