People who use cleaners - advice please

[mangopumpkin]

Hello everyone, sorry if this is quite a basic question, but I'm hoping for a bit more of an understanding about getting a cleaner.

If you get one, please could you let me know a. how often they come, and b. what they do versus what you do? Is there anything in particular you would never expect them to do? Or anything you make sure you've done immediately before they arrive?

We are looking at getting one and want to make sure we are getting it all right! Thanks in advance :)

I have one once a week for 4 hours from an agency. I provide all cleaning materials. She hoovers, mops, cleans bathrooms, changes sheets and wipes down. I make sure surfaces are clean, take out garbage and make sure toilet bowl is decent.

I have one who comes once a fortnight, main job is a good clean of the kitchen and bathroom and other than that hoovering and dusting other rooms.
In between I do daily hoovering and wiping down surfaces.
I make sure everything is tidy and surfaces are clear before they come, nothing on the floor or in the sink.

Ours comes every fortnight for 3-4 hrs (only a flat). She does bathroom, guest toilet and kitchen and hoovers rest of flat and dusts.

Ours comes twice a month for 5 hours - she brings her own supplies. She doesn't do changing of sheets or emptying the bins, but she does everything else as a deep clean, as we clean in between visits. We just make sure the house is 'tidy' - no crap lying around, no dishes on the drainer etc so she can get in and clean, rather than tidy.

Things I would never expect a cleaner to do
Clean skidmarks
Pick clothes specially underwear off the floor
Have to deal with sanitary waste

When we had a cleaner she came every week for 3 hours. Well, she was supposed to do 3 hours (but that's another story).

In that time I asked her to clean the one bathroom (tiles, shower, bath, basin, loo and sweep or hoover floor). I made sure the toilet was decent already and put the toilet bowl cleaner in a few hours before her start time, no splashes on the seat that sort of thing!

Then she hoovered upstairs, all the stairs, living room, study. Dusted downstairs. Swept or mopped large kitchen floor, cleaned kitchen sink and draining board and the gas hob. This was every week. She took it upon herself to keep our shoe cupboard in order!

I found other small jobs like cleaning out a cupboard or doing some inside windows if she finished in less than 3 hours.

I didn't ask her to do any laundry. Oh - she changed the children's beds but not my bed. She didn't do dishes or the dishwasher or any major tidying up.

Once a fortnight the lovely cleaner brings all of her own supplies, I just make sure I have bin bags.
Make sure everywhere is tidy and surfaces are cleared.
At the beginning it’s good to give a clear idea of what you need. Mine concentrates on kitchen, changing bed, hoovering and wiping down surfaces.
Most cleaners come via agencies now I preferred having a cleaner recommended by someone else, too.
I pay twice a year for an oven deep clean.
Always give the toilet a good clean beforehand which there is much humour around (have you had your hand up the U bend again, Peggy?) but after jeering horror stories about other houses, I make sure the toilet is sparkling.
Mine very rarely wants a tea or coffee, but there is always some available.
Oh and nice gift at Christmas and a good tip goes a long way!

My experience is it really depends. Is it the same person every week then they tended to have a four week rota.

So the usual bits for three hours a week and then one hour for a bigger jobs e.g. the grouting, hot press clear out of a room etc

I then always book a deep clean usually a team of two or three, a couple of times a year.

It just makes life so less stressful and gives me back a huge amount of time and headspace.

There are no hard and fast rules.

I have had the same cleaner for many years. She does all sorts of things that Mumsnet would say cleaners don't do.

She tidies - we do tidy before she comes as well but she does a bit extra often

She will deal with laundry if she sees something needs doing like moving stuff to the drier or putting the kids washing away

She even sometimes briefly keeps an eye on the kids if I need her to.

This works for us - we like that she is flexible and it feels like she will do whatever is helpful on the day.

Mine comes 2h a week. I make sure everyone tidies so she can clean and I empty the bins as she just puts everything in the main bin, but I sort the recycling from it.
Make sure the toilets are acceptable and the teens haven't left random pants and socks lying around.
She provides all her own stuff, including her henry hoover. She is the best money I spend
We don't pay if she doesn't come (her choice), but she gets cash at Christmas

How much do you pay one of mine is £15 and hour and my fall back one is £20. I wouldn’t say they are worth their weight in gold but in London. It’s so hard to find a good one. Years ago it was so different. They seem a lot younger now and not so into it.

Fortnightly for about 2hrs. We leave it tidy and she cleans the whole house. It’s mostly vacuuming and she will clean round things unless we ask her or move stuff first.

Four hours a week, I provide supplies and think it is money well spent . Cleans kitchen, 2.5 bathrooms then hoovers everywhere, mops floors and bathrooms. Changes beds if time. Tidies after the kids.
She doesn't do: emptying bins, skirting, windows, excessive dusting

Mine does 2 hrs a week. I think it's a short patch of time. I ask her to concentrate on the floors throughout, then the kitchen and bathroom. She doesn't exactly tidy but she does make the sofas look nice and neatens things up. We tidy as much as we can and make sure the floors are clear and the surfaces. She doesn't wash up the few vbits we leave or empty the bins. I don't think she is perfect but she's a whole lot better than I would be. £17 an hour.

Mine comes twice a week, and she does whatever needs doing - changes the beds, puts a wash on, folds laundry, irons, tidies out the kitchen cupboards, empties dishwashers, as well as normal cleaning and seems to have a mental list of rotation of deep cleaning and tidying things. But her hours are such that she has time to do all this and when she started working for us she knew that we needed a housekeeper/cleaner and shes paid accordingly.
In between, the kitchen surfaces get a quick wipe over, and the Roomba sent round

Once a week. Three hours. I provide materials.

And then every so often I have two teams of two come in and deep clean a room after I have decluttered it.

What I would never expect her to do:

~ do washing up
~ empty bins
~ handle bodily fluids or used sanitary products
~ laundry
~ declutter or clear up ridiculous amounts of mess (that would be a waste of my time as I prefer the time spent in cleaning not tidying)

She occasionally does iron a couple of shirts in an emergency but that’s it.

My lovely lovely cleaner recently retired due to ill health and I seriously miss her, not just for the clean house but she was fantasic with the pets, kids etc. For now I am doing it myself as my SE work is usually quiet at this time of year and having had some nightmare cleaners before I can't face finding another one
Anyway, she did 4 hours once a week and I have no idea how she packed so much in BUT I always made sure everything was tidy for her, nothing on floors, nothing on the draining board etc. She did empty the bins but only if they were full as I do it regularly anyway and I prefer to clean them when I do.

I used to have one (can't afford one now but that will be the first thing to reinstate whenever I can).
Five bed/three reception room house she came four hours a week. Number one priority was floors (vacuum and mop), bathrooms and kitchen. Dusting. Every so often I'd get her to do the fridge and the shutters. She did not do laundry/change beds but she did iron on occasion - mostly school shirts.
I made sure things were tidy - nothing in the sink, no clothes on the floor.
Some are faster than others - one woman trained in a hotel and could whip through the house (doing a thorough job) and have time to clear out and sort a few cupboards. Another never took a break and seemed to be constantly moving but she rarely got through all the jobs.
I provided all cleaning products but asked if they had any preferences.

Thank you all, this is so helpful!