Is two hours reasonable for three bathrooms cleaned a fortnight ago?

[Sunca]

Just wondering if we're being naive or if this is reasonable. We really need a cleaner... for various reasons we have not been keeping on top of cleaning the house. 3 bedroom with a family bathroom (shower over bath) and ensuite (corner shower) upstairs and a downstairs loo. Not a massive house, pretty small bathrooms. Two kids (toddlers) who use the family bath.

We found a cleaner who has a few one-off spots available over summer. She was here 2 weeks ago for 2 hours and thoroughly cleaned the two upstairs bathrooms and gave the downstairs a quick clean. I was totally happy with this as the two upstairs bathrooms were in a bit of a state 🙈 (built up lime scale in ensuite etc) and they looked great after.

Planning to have her back on Friday for 2 hours and we were just messaging this morning as she was asking what we'd like done this time. I said the bathrooms again and if time the kitchen. She said she wouldn't have time for anything else but the bathrooms would all be spotless.

Was I unreasonable to think that since it took her 2 hours to do the bathrooms last time when they were in a state, she should have more time this time? Is it normal to take 2 hours to do 2 bathrooms and a downstairs loo that were cleaned thoroughly two weeks ago? What do other cleaners get done in 2 hours? (We are not disgusting people, they are really not in a bad state after two weeks) Maybe it is normal so I just wanted to check. If she ever gets a regular spot come up I want to know if we should use her or not!

She also charges £25/h which I believe may be on the high side?

I'd expect a quick once over type clean, keeping on top of a house that's basically clean already, could be done in two hours for the whole house.

But bear in mind she's seen the condition your house is in....

That is true, but the rest of the house is really not bad (I think!), it was really the bathrooms that had not been cleaned properly recently. But it was more that I'm surprised it would take someone two hours to do the same job that they did in two hours last week when it was much worse, would have thought she'd have time to at least do something else.

Only you know the state of your house and whether she’s being realistic or is taking advantage. Personally I don’t think two hours for a thorough clean of three bathrooms is massively out of touch - especially if she only did a quick once-over of the third last time she visited.

Why don't you try doing it yourself and see how long it takes you? My guess is about two hours so I think the cleaner is being totally reasonable.

She's being reasonable. A proper thorough clean takes a lot longer than people think.

I have four bathrooms and a downstairs toilet plus a full house hoover done once a week and that was four hours. For every two weeks I don't think two hours is unreasonable and £25 an hour is normal in London/south east area too.

She’s quoted you £50 for two hours work cleaning the bathrooms. That’s her price, take it or leave it. In my family’s experience, good cleaners are hard to find, and if you can actually find a good ‘un, their services come at a premium.

Thanks for the replies. Seems reasonable so that's good to know. Obviously I understand it's our choice to use her or not, but it's the first time we've used a cleaner so didn't really know what's normal for two hours, so it's handy to hear other people's experiences.

I think she will likely do the same stuff as last time - whether dirty or clean the loo needs scrubbing, sides wiping down, floor mopped, mirrors and glass cleaned etc. It takes a similar time whether filthy or clean to do it properly.

Id ask her to do the kitchen instead and do the bathrooms quickly yourself.

Thank you that was a really helpful way of putting it 😊

if I had to clean my bathroom once per fortnight and make it spotless, it would take an hour.

However I don't make it spotless every time I clean, some are more maintenance cleans

When my new cleaner first started she spent about a hour cleaning the bathroom especially the shower tray and screens. She then spent 2 hours on the rest of my bungalow, thorough clean of kitchen, my bedroom and lounge, lighter clean of spare bedrooms, garden room and hall.

On her next visit two weeks later, she came for 2 hours but spent a lot less in the bathroom as the shower only needed a quick wipe down. We’ve agreed that she will do certain rooms every visit ( fortnightly) ie bathroom, kitchen, hall, lounge and my bedroom then do one low use area each visit in rotation ie the two spare bedrooms and the garden room. I usually tell her each visit which extra area needs doing depending if I’ve had guests using a bedroom or if I’ve entertained in the dining area in the garden room.

I live in Cheshire near Manchester and pay her £20 an hour, my previous cleaner who retired charged a bit less but £20 is the going rate here. I think the price is right for London but that the bathrooms will not need such a long time every visit if you keep on top of any clutter. I am a tidy freak and have little stuff out but am physically unable to clean hence having a cleaner!

We haven't used cleaners that much but when we have we have found that one-off cleans they seem to deep clean, the regular weekly one is quickly doing things but not everything in a deep clean. Personally I find the deep cleans far more useful and would expect to pay more. Its quite rare to find a cleaner keen to do deep cleans on a regular basis for that sort of price. Ultimately its whether its worth it to you.

Whilst two hours would probably be ample for the bathrooms it’s probably a step too far to include the kitchen.

I did an initial deep clean on an average kitchen yesterday. Took me 4hrs!

Maybe she got the bathrooms done in the two hours previously but she might have had to work totally flat out to get that done.

I give a price per job. I don’t let clients choose how much time they think it’ll take.
if they need a deep clean, they obviously haven’t been doing it themselves so how can they accurately predict the time?

Cleaner here. 20 minutes each bathroom now they’ve had a deep clean. 10 minutes downstairs loo. One hour left to do what she can in the kitchen. Sounds expensive but depends on your area. I’m midlands and charge £17 an hour.

Maybe she only does proper cleans...not just a wipe down. I'm always trying to find someone like that. I think after 2 weeks...you are pretty much back to square one so only maybe a bit quicker than the first day (and definitely not enough time to deep clean a kitchen too). Weekly cleans might make it faster.

But presumably the time spent on the first visit was to remove stubborn limescale which is a time consuming job? Now that has gone, it’ll be a “regular” bathroom clean.

It surprises me on here that people respond with “well why don’t you try it and see how long it takes you” with “cleaners do things much more quickly than you could”. Which is it?

Having said that, our cleaner would take the same time as OP’s but I’ve had others who would do kitchen/bathroom/downstairs loo//two receptions/three bedrooms/stairs and landing in three hours.

So I suppose it depends …

I've never had a cleaner but would like a one off clean occasionally! To be fair as long as they've done a good job and they're trustworthy I'd pay whatever they needed to do the job I asked for. If you need the kitchen doing too you'll have to pay for the time it also takes her to do the kitchen. The one thing that puts me off having a cleaner is having no idea what it would cost and I worry about coming across cheeky if I asked them to do more than they could in the time 😭😭😂 my mum was a cleaner her whole life and worked bloody hard and was good at what she did, but she definitely had some clients who would take the piss and expect her to add on loads of extra jobs without any extra pay. That price sounds about right for London area. I guess you could just ask for a wipe down of the bathrooms this time and not what she did last time if you want her to do the kitchen too but again you will need to understand if you ask that then the bathrooms won't be as good as when she last did them!

I wouldn’t be paying £50 for two hours and all I got at the end of it was two clean bathrooms. That’s a rip off. In the time you’ve spent posting about it you could have cleaned them yourself.

No just tell her bathroom will just need a maintenance clean and to start kitchen and see how time goes. Ours used to do 3 bed house in 2 hours including the bathrooms hovering around and mopping floors

It takes me 2 hours to do the house shares that I have as regulars. Here is an example of a 4 bed house I do:

Living room/kitchen (one space) - dust and hoover whole room, counters and sofa. Wipe down sides, clean (empty) sink and cooker hood. Mop floor. Spot clean door.

Hallway and stairs - hoover and mop, wipe down bannister, spot clean skirting boards

Bathroom 1 - dust and hoover, clean mirror, radiator clean walk in shower including both sides of glass, and drain, clean toilet, sink. mop floors. Spot clean door

Hallway 2/utility - dust, hoover, mop, clean off outside of applicances.

Bathroom 2 - dust and hoover, clean bath with overhead shower, shower glass panel, mirror, radiator, toilet

I can do this in 2 hrs because the tidying is light and they don't have many things to take off of shelves and put back

Clean the bathroom yourself to dictate how long it takes.

Thanks for all the messages, mixed responses! Thanks for all the info.

Just for info regarding the rate, we're nowhere near London, we're in Scotland.

I agree with pp-say the bathrooms are pretty clean, can she start in the kitchen and if time left over, give the bathrooms a quick once over.

A two hours clean for 2 bathrooms and the kitchen is more than reaonable. Unless you are expecting a spring cleaning in the kitchen (cleaning cabinets inside and taking everything out), it's the time I'd expect to do it myself.

Two hours is plenty of time to tackle the job.