Help me itemize what are reasonable tasks for a cleaner to achieve in four hours.
Our cleaner is very efficient but we agreed over a year ago she would come twice a week for 4 hours at a time as she needed that much work and we could always do with spare hands.
In the first few months she was great and achieved loads, leaving a bit early sometimes but the house was sparkling.
She then moved far away and I said that I would understand if this didn’t work for her due to travel time and costs. She insisted she wanted to keep coming to us as she finds our house relaxing (we speak the same native language).
She is now regularly leaving after 2.5 hours even when we are there so I think she thinks it’s OK. She did have a condition earlier for about three months which meant she was off sick a lot so we wanted her to slowly ease back into it without pressure and we paid her for 4 hours even when she left early.
In 2.5 hours, she wizzes around our house - 2,300 square foot Victorian townhouse, 4 bedrooms plus study.
She vacuums all floors and stairs, cleans the main bathroom thoroughly, gives the upstairs a once over. Mops kitchen floor and I think bathrooms. We also have 3 toilets which she cleans. She cleans the kitchen, puts away any dishes from dishwasher. Today she changed one lot of bedding and remade the other beds more neatly. She will fold clothes on chairs and wipe down bedside tables. She straightened up the playroom.
She moves quickly BUT what else should I get her to do to fill at least one more hour?
Things that are not done regularly:
Emptying all bins
Dusting on top of cupboards with tall duster
Dusting lampshades
Moving things on mantelpieces or surfaces to clean under them
Cleaning all light switches
Cleaning under leather sofa and moving seat cushions to pick up all the debris
Cleaning skirting boards
Not all rooms look hoovered but maybe the bag needs changing
Wiping down front hall way mirror
There is ALWAYS a way to fill the time in our rather messy house!
Are the above tasks (bar the rubbish emptying) considered deep cleaning or part of their regular work? Do any professional cleaners out there also charge by the job rather than by the hour? I suspect she thinks that if she does the basic clean then she is good to leave as soon as she is done.
We pay £55 for 4 hours - is that too little?