What a deep clean entails…..

[Livelovebehappy]

Hi. Just looking for some advice as not sure if my expectations were too high. My bil has had a stroke and we just can’t keep up with his cleaning so have decided to get a cleaner. He lives alone in a bungalow - a lounge, very small kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom with short narrow hall with all rooms leading off it. We were quoted £20 ph for an initial deep clean - kitchen quite greasy and floor dirty etc. just needed a really deep clean. A local cleaning company sent a lady today, to do a four hour deep clean for £80 in total. Having gone up afterwards to check before paying, the cooker still filthy on the hob (not sure if oven would also be done with deep clean?), blinds in all rooms still dusty. And the blind in kitchen looks like it’s been dusted but the grease still on it. They didn’t touch the front room where he was sitting, and I had to vac it etc when I got there. Bil said the lady popped her head round the door to say they’d do the lounge on her next visit! Was I expecting too much from a deep clean? Still dirt and grease down side of fridge between unit and fridge and dust at back of furniture but not sure whether cleaners would move furniture to clean? Is there someone on here who could confirm what a deep clean actually entails before I go back to her? Thank you!

I’m a cleaner.
i would not book just 4hrs for a full house deep clean. I would spend that time just in the kitchen if there’s a significant build up of grease. Especially when there are fiddly bits like between appliances. That said, I do not pull appliances out so would only clean as far as I could reach.
I always send a really detailed itemised list of what will be included so expectations are clear for both parties. I price per job, not hourly so I’m not just walking off the job when time is up.
I would clean the job but would outsource the oven to an oven cleaning company.

I think w cleaners you need to be v specific with what you want in the time they are coming
eg 4 hours. I would like you to
clean the fridge
clean all surfaces and hob
wipe all units down
steam clean/mop kitchen floor
etc - depending on size of kitchen.
Then ask: can you do that?
Yes - she does it. No - you come to a compromise.

For the next visit similar for other area.

then establish what normal tasks will be in time allowed with some additional ones that are not weekly.
Any you have to keep an eye on things and point out what you are not happy with

I wouldn't expect a cleaner to move furniture. This doesn't sound like a deep clean though, my cleaner does the hob and shutters on our fortnightly clean!

I would make a list of what wasn't done and send it over to the company and ask if it should have been done as your disappointed with the standars of the clean. It does sound like a lot to cover in 4hrs though if there's a lot of build up.

I’ve had a reply from her. I queried what the deep clean consisted of, as opposed to normal clean. She admitted she had under estimated the cleaning needed (hardly surprising as she didn’t actually look at the job first before quoting us) She’s arranging for another four hours to finish the job off. We’re going to stick with her for the time being and see how it goes. Thank you all for your help and advice.

Well if they didn't look at it, there's the problem. That is such a basic mistake, unless it's the sort of company who charges double what you paid so as to cover all eventualities.

For what it's worth, a lot of successful domestic cleaning companies simply will not touch anything that is as dirty as you have described, as it's just not worth it for them. It needs a company that specialises in one-off cleaning of empty homes, student lets, etc, and you'll pay accordingly.

Also, you say a company sent a cleaner, well if it really was a company (as opposed to an agency) then £20 per hour is nowhere near enough to have charged you, if it is they are going to pay the staff properly and make a profit from it.

I have done deep-cleaning in the past, many times, and I detest it. I have only done it to help people out - it's a filthy, horrible job and there's often no end in sight. I much prefer regular visits, with a concentrated effort on one area each time, to get the place in order, but it does take weeks before the whole house looks clean, assuming I go weekly. Also, I do not and never have charged by the our. I agree a price for each visit and stick to it. People pay me for the outcome not the time. Question is, do you feel you had £80 worth of cleaning?

Having read your post again just now, I'm inclined to say a whole house "deep clean" was far too broad, rather I think it needs a dedicated room-by-room approach to reach the standards you are expecting. A decent time-served cleaner or cleaning company will have known this, as they won't have taken the job on without looking at it and interviewing you as you went around the house together, so as to understand your expectations in relation to what they are seeing.

As I always say to people when I'm faced with the kitchen from hell, "can you talk me through how you think this will look when it's been cleaned"? and then I stick to the old saying that he who speaks first loses. As in, I say not one more word until they have spoken.

As an aside, the levels of dirt you speak of (the sides of the fridge, the kitchen blind, and so on) do not paint the picture of a home that got dirty overnight. As such, I have to ask pragmatically and objectively, do you need to get the house to a standard that is so much higher than your BIL is accustomed to? Don't get me wrong, a clean home is much easier to keep on top of, and I appreciate you are feeling the pinch of being a carer and a cleaner (been there, done that), but you do have to decide what standard you are aiming for, and if that standard is quite apart from the one your BIL is wanting. You may find that keeping him safe and clean is the priority, whilst turning a blind-eye to the cleaning standards which are clearly a lot lower than you'd like.

We had a deep clean after a house renovation. One cleaner came and worked 8 hours, it’s a 3 bed house and the kitchen was not included. She did windows skirting boards all surfaces and floors. Only after this would she take us on as a regular clean.
I think 4 hours was too short for the whole place to be straightened out but it may be they’ll gradually get it all done with a regular clean

I think you need way more than 4 hours! Way more!

I think deep cleans are often disappointing because they do actually take time. You'd be better getting a cleaner for two hours every week and each week tell them one detailed job to do like the blinds. Eventually you'll get all those jobs done.

Thanks for all your comments. I think our expectations were probably too high. We expected to walk in after the clean and everything be nice, fresh and sparkling clean. My bil had his stroke earlier this year, and my dh, who works full time, was trying to pop up to keep it superficially clean, ie vacuuming/dusting. I rarely go there. Bil estranged from his adult children, and has not been a nice person in the past, but I have been doing his washing and ironing etc. The lady I’ve been dealing with runs her own cleaning company and said she has 8 cleaners on her books, so not a huge commercial type company. She’s been very good with communication, and has asked for feedback, but it would probably have been better if she had initially come and inspected the job prior to quoting, and also let us know the situation immediately following the clean, to set our expectations for when we went to check. The house was probably a lot more grubby than we thought.