Baffled by cleaners!

[Clio82]

Hi all,

I’d love some opinions, please on the cleaning agency I’m using. It’s been about three months. I booked 2 hours a week for a small 3 bed terrace (just me and my son).

First cleaner; nice older lady, a bit ditsy. Did a lovely job of tidying, hoovering and straightening up bedroom but only “cleaned around” things in bathroom and kitchen and frequently missed obvious dirt and rogue hairs. Got back from hols the day she’d been and she’d left dust, dead insects and cobwebs as well as food stuck to surfaces. Didn’t seem to be able to see it. Broke my hoover and used to chuck water all over the floor with a cup and then apologise for it being wet. Asked me to be honest with her so I would gently point out the bits she’d missed. I never moaned at her about the hoover cos she was so upset about breaking it. Even brought her husband over to fix it and he couldn’t. Changed her day nearly every week, which drove me mad.

If I wasn’t in, the job could be very poor. One week it looked like she had done nothing. I asked her about it and she said “yeah, I had a migraine, it will be better next time.”

Eventually kicked off at me after I asked her if she left a cup of what looked like cleaning fluid on the counter. (Someone did and my 4 year old grabbed it and took a swig before spitting it out, which was dangerous. Turned out to be diluted washing up liquid). Told me I’m obvs not happy with her work and it’s not her job to pick up toys. Added a couple of digs like “I bet you’ve had a lot of cleaners” and “your house is what is dangerous.” Quit.

I sent the agency photos of her poor work and her reason for quitting and they never acknowledged; just sent me a new cleaner (Cleaner 2), who was ill the first week and then couldn’t work the second week cos I hadn’t been able to give her the keys when arranged (cos she was ill and didn’t contact me when arranged).

Temp cleaner; amazing! But not available weekly.

Cleaner 2: does an excellent job of whole house and leaves it looking like a hotel. Says it’s a lovely house and a great job for her. But keeps telling me things are “deep clean” so not her job. This includes kids’ finger marks on stair rail and dusting skirtings. I told her the agency very clearly includes dusting skirtings as standard and she agreed and said “oh ok, must be my other agency that doesn’t.” This time she turned up with a young woman who she said she brought to him her. The job was good but not as good as normal.

She also pulled me aside and said the house needs to be tidier. My kid was off sick from school and I was working from home, so we were dishevelled, but nothing unreasonable. (I got up at 06.30 to straighten it up for her). One of them dumped a huge pile of dirty sheets and cloths on my dining table and left it there (which I had left in a corner near the washing machine as my next washing load. She knows I leave stuff there as I have told her.)

Is this normal? It’s becoming so stressful managing these people that I think it’s taking more of my time than cleaning!

@Clio82 A word of mouth independent is probably your best bet.

Our wonderful Aunt used to clean for 'well known' people, and was unimpeachable.

She cleansed the tops of doors, picture rails, bannisters {Those large Victorian/Edwardian detached places around Richmond/East Sheen}

She was scrupulously honest and when she died, her gold wedding ring had been worn so thin from years of work.
It was so poignant.

Cleaning well is hard, physical graft. She had more offers of work than she could ever manage, so could pick and choose.

Dusting skirting boards and spindles on staircases is basic cleaning, surely.

Pic of two of the houses she used to clean {Screenshot} to get a feel for the size of the houses one woman cleansed on her own.

Word of mouth is best- but people often don't want to share their good cleaner!

If she's leaving bits of food behind, why are there bits of food to be cleaned up in the first place? I can't imagine a cleaner ever agreeing to clean up that sort of mess. It's minging. Do you not clear up in the kitchen as you go along. There are never, ever bits of food left in our house for a cleaner to clear up.

Also, we pay our cleaner £15ph and she doesn't do more than six hours in a day with travelling between jobs. No paid holiday, no sick pay, no pension contributions, etc. Although to be fair, we have paid them when they've been ill and with us for a few years.

Sorry are you kidding?!

Do you have any children? And if so do they not leave a few crumbs after their breakfast or knock a bit of grated cheese on the floor that you might have missed?

I wipe the kitchen surfaces a couple of times a day but if there is something left from breakfast I expect it to be wiped off, yes.

If I had the time to make sure there was “never, ever” any food left around, why on earth would I have a cleaner?

Agreed- Bits of food ? That isn't going to be pleasant for anyone to clear up- Assuming kitchen work surfaces here.

As kids, Mum had a cleaner, and it was always ''Tidy your rooms before M gets here!''
Cleaning isn't tidying.

Cluttered surfaces with lots of nick nacks are a cleaner's nightmare!

Our Aunt did give notice on one famous person I won't name because he wanted her to run his baths and make him tea.

She said ''I am not your servant!'' {She did the tea, but the bath- she said ''Oakleaffy, he was taking liberties''}

Right, so toilets are fair game but no food?

To be fair I make sure the toilet bowl has no marks inside as a matter of pride, but I think a cleaner can deal with a bit of food, especially aa I provide gloves.

I’m getting genuinely confused now.

Toilets are different.. {But as you say, most people out of pride leave their lavatories in a decent state before a Cleaner comes}

I think skirtings, picture rails, bannisters, definitely are normal part of cleaning.

Food scraps - I'd not expect a cleaner to clean a hob top for example, or messy kitchen surfaces {that is probably what is called a ''Deep clean?''}

Shower plug 'traps' are another thing -Would cleaners automatically do these?

Pulling out the 'trap' and cleaning hair out - that is GRIM.

{Only done that on my own family shower though}.

If one reads Mrs Beeton, it's shocking how filthy houses got in Victorian {and previous} years-

Fumes from Gas lamps, dust from open fires, smuts from outdoors in cities - we actually are lucky these days to have 'labour saving devices'.

Rooms in the 19th C would actually be turned out relatively regularly, every item of furniture taken out and the floor scrubbed and carpets beaten. {No wall to wall carpeting then}- it was hard graft.

OP I wouldn't worry about it. Threads about cleaners on here seem to bring the worst out in some people, who are probably the same ones who strip hotel beds and bring cleaning wipes to spruce up the bathroom.

No to skid marks for the cleaner, but I would assume cleaning a work surface with crumbs or whatever is what you're paying for. Also if the place is really messy, I would assume the cleaner would let you know that they will do what they can in their time, point out it might be more efficient for them if it's tidier, but leave that choice to you.

This is exactly what I want! Do what they can from the priority list in the time they have.

ie no polishing and window cleaning, no kids room if toys have been chucked everywhere (and no having a go at me, haha)

I think @Clio82 you’re approaching this from slightly the wrong angle. I can see you’re annoyed that the cleaners don’t prioritise what you’ve asked because they weirdly prefer to do something else, and you’re frustrated that it seems that expressing anything about this appears to invoke resentment and criticism of you and your house (on here, as well as from the cleaners!) I think you’re trying to get a sense that you’re being reasonable so you can feel like you have “permission” to continue to push for the service you want, and are paying for. I think you’re reasonable enough but I don’t think being reasonable is going to get you what you want. I think sacking your cleaners, again and again, and trying new indies till you find the right one will get you what you want, eventually, if you’re lucky.
I have been in this situation - changing days and times is really disruptive and it’s so annoying to have things damaged and the work you’ve asked for ignored because they prefer to do something random like spray polish about. When you get this weird resentful counter attack, there is nowhere to go but end it and try someone else. It’s hard to find a good cleaner.
I lost my good cleaner because I couldn’t afford her any more. I tried to get her to do the job fortnightly but that wasn’t fair as it’s a harder job that way - a good cleaner benefits from their own hard work over time on a weekly clean but fortnightly everything is just that bit harder work so regretfully I said goodbye. I was thinking I’d pay for a half term my deep clean instead but I just can’t be araws to go through this process.

Thank you. This is helpful and addresses my actual concerns! And yes, you’re absolutely right, I feel miffed that what I see as reasonable is up for constant debate.

I have considered that my annoyance with the first cleaner and the nonchalance of the agency might be clouding my judgement of the second cleaner. In that I haven’t approached her with a clean slate cos I’m already annoyed with the whole thing!

I need to call the agency tomorrow to check if the extra person she brought this time is agency staff. I suspect she is not cos they were both wearing T shirts with another logo on it so I think there is some outsourcing going on. So I might ask a few questions about tasks too and whether they think I’m booking the right hours/frequency.

I've been cleaning for 14 years and at the moment have nine clients a week, most of these I've been with for years.

Sometimes I'm so bored! The repetitive of it and keeping an eye on the clock so I finish right on time. I also have never been late once and was only ill with covid for a few days in all these years.
My elderly clients love me and I'm kind of stuck,even if I say I having a week off at Christmas, they feel thrown so I'll keep going.
I've never gone by a list . They all say to me you know what needs doing and just do what I need. Perfect!
Most of my homes are farm houses so quite messy and I'm more than happy to tidy and declutter and arrange their clothes on the floor in the bedroom.
I'll keep going as I'm good and it works for me. But I will say try and get the first slot of the day as after a three hour clean,the next house im not quite as sprightly..and the end of the day I ache!

Great tip! Trying to get first slot. I will try this if I get a different cleaner.

The two I’ve had never come at a set time; just a set day, if I am lucky! Second one always comes on the right day but can be any time between 10 and 1 and I won’t know til she arrives.

The first one would tell me when she was coming then be late or ask change it.

Do you give them a list and say "do this list only"? And remind them part way through if they deviate and start cleaning windows.

Don't rely on the agency passing on the requirements.

I text them what needs doing and sometimes they still do windows instead of dusting!

I was firm with the second cleaner and she was quite argumentative about it. She did do a better job of dusting last time, to be fair to her, but moaned about other things.

Independent cleaner here, I charge £60 for a 3 bed clean. It takes 3 hours, no way would I be able to do it in 2. I do Windows and skirting boards etc in that time. Kitchens always take the longest. Advertise for a cleaner not through an agency and pay them more.

Yes, I do have children albeit grown up now. And no, we didn't leave crumbs and food mess behind after breakfast - it took a quick wipe as the dc were getting their coats on. Once they were 6 they didn't drop food on the floor.

I don't necessarily think you have had good service, but also I'm not sure your expectations chime with the usual duties of a cleaner. I don't believe we have ever left piles of laundry on the floor. It goes from linen basket to washing machine, washing machine to airer, airer to ironing basket. Never have I left crumbs or smears of food (Yoghurt, butter, sauce, etc) on worktops, not least because we have always lived in old houses and doing so encourages mice, however perfect a home may be.

Our daily lives are tidied so the cleaner is able to clean. I really value my cleaners - my life would not tick without them and they are much faster than me. It is hard, physical graft.

Thank you for explaining! You sound like a dream client, especially living in a large house. I’m sorry to say I would not have time to be this vigilant and my house is only 914 square foot.

I hear you on the old house thing. Mine is 1930s and while mainly refurbished it’s still a bit gappy in places. I don’t get mice, thank goodness, but I don’t knowingly leave food around cos I had ants last time I did that!

But I’m not talking a huge mess; I’m talking crumbs by a toaster and no effort to move the toaster. Or a rogue pea or bit of macaroni.

My son stashed a piece of cucumber under the sofa, which I apologised for and picked up myself. The cleaner laughed about that.

You know what, it has just occurred to me that both have mentioned back problems. Maybe that’s why they will do anything to swap skirtings for windows?!

Oh that’s not too heinous.
I was imagining a grimy hob and floors with dropped toddler food, spilled milk &c

No, nothing like that 😀

I really think the phenomenon of no tidying and only cleaning clean houses is a MN phenomenon.

Usually my house is pretty clean and tidy just because that’s how we live and my DC are older. But there are occasions when the house has been a dreadful state (usually after parties). She’s never batted an eyelid.

…only cleaning clean houses…Love this! 😂

Exactly this. My cleaner seems quite happy to clean our not already pristine house. She even wipes up crumbs without batting an eyelid! Anyone would think that their job is to clean stuff 🤷🏻‍♀️

My cleaner does 2 hours a week. She cleans the kitchen, including washing up my breakfast things and cleaning the cooker. Polishes and hoovers 1 bedroom and 2 reception rooms. Dusts skirting and bannisters. Cleans bathroom and mops hard floors. She also changes my bed (I'm disabled) and, if there's time, will do something else, like clean a window or the inside of the fridge. She is a bit...driven...and works extremely hard.