Is your cleaner brilliant?

[Pickle]

The time has come for me to bite the bullet and find a new cleaner. Our current one had been with us for over 4 years so I'm dreading having the conversation, but her cleaning is slipping and despite me specifying the way I want things done I find she still doesn't do it. I've put up with it, but as I find myself re-mopping the floor at 8pm on the day that she has been I think it's time.

I'll put it out there now, I have high standards. I am very house proud and keep things neat and tidy, and also do quite a lot of cleaning myself during the week. What I don't want is someone who comes in, thinks "this house is already clean", and does a half hearted job.

I want someone with common sense. Someone that thinks to look up, underneath and behind things. I shouldn't have to point out that the front of the cupboards in the kitchen need wiped, or that the cat's bowls should be lifted up off the floor before you mop.

What I don't want is someone that thinks by tidying up they have cleaned. I don't want anyone that won't use proper cleaning stuff with chemicals in it (or someone that thinks making a bottle of bathroom cleaner last over a year is a good thing, it's not, it means you're not cleaning properly). I don't want parenting advice, especially if the person handing it out hasn't ever had children and is adamant that 4 weeks old is the right time to start giving Weetabix.

If you can understand where I'm coming from, and have someone cleaning your house that you are pleased with - let me know!

My current cleaner does 3.5 hours a week, which includes ironing 5 shirts. I'd be interested in hearing about cleaners that work in pairs (so in the house for half the time) as I find it tricky with a baby to try and keep out of the way for the whole morning.

Please, don't recommend yourself. I've been on the forum long enough to know that good cleaners don't need to constantly post on Internet forums looking for work.

Am I asking the impossible?

[minder]

Oh dear, I hope your cleaner doesn't read the EDF, unless you've already been this frank with her.

Couldn't you offer her more hours, especially as she's spending probably nearly half an hour ironing?

Couldn't you go out for the morning and leave her to get on with it?

I used to clean houses/flats and it was very awkward if employer and family were still around.

[Pickle]

I do go out for most of the time to leave her to get on with it, but can't stay out for the whole time (and when I'm home I stay completely out of her way). She has more than enough time as will often do extra ironing - its not the time that's a problem, it's the attention to detail with the actual cleaning.

[jimnem]

Our cleaner is brilliant. She does 3 and a half hours a week and in that time irons at least 5 shirts and cleans a 4 bedroom house. I have a 7 month old baby and she manages to work around us just fine.

She works for an agency, I've had a few of their other cleaners when ours has been on holiday and they are ok, not always as good, but that might be because they are just doing at one off job for me. The lady that runs the agency is really helpful, so when I've had a problem with the cleaning I've just emailed her. Much easier than having to tell the cleaner!

If you would like me to send you the details of the agency then PM me.

[Pickle]

Thanks jimnem - we used an agency for years (and subsequently employed our cleaner independently of them in order to pay her more). I'd rather use someone directly and pay them the full ?9-?10 an hour than go through an agency.

As an aside, once we had a temp cleaner through the agency - I went out for 3 hours, when I got back she went to great lengths to show me how clean the toilet was. To give her credit, it was sparkling. That was all she had done in 3 hours!

I've had a few PM's, and have some good recommendations to follow up on.

I've also had some PMs from people recommending their cleaner, who appear to post about almost nothing other than their cleaner. I wasn't born yesterday, so please don't be offended if I don't reply!

Many thanks all.

P x

[Mellors]

I'm surprised yours get that much done in the time. My house is about the same size as yours Pickle, and is generally already reasonably clean/tidy when they arrive. Mine do 4 hours (between two of them), and quite often have to do an extra hour to get things finished. They do change all the beds, but no way would they have time to do ironing as well?

[Pickle]

Mine doesn't change all of the beds, just the master bedroom (and I strip the old sheets off before she comes to save time), and the bedrooms in the loft are only given a quick dust/Hoover unless we have people coming to stay.

Pffffft, you have in the region of 17 reception rooms in your mansion don't you Mellors?! Given you can turn both left and right when you go in your front door I'd say your house is larger ;)

[jollymummy]

Sorry to hijack Pickle's post but I too am looking for a cleaner and could have written her original post myself! I'd love recommendations as need about 4 hours a week and am looking for someone fabulous.

[Pickle]

I've had a few PM's from people wanting details of the recommendations I've had - I'll get these out ASAP, but probably not until later next week.

P x

[Bellenden Belle]

So following on from this post I'm wondering if people out there could tell me what tasks I should expect from my cleaner?

For the last twelve months I've had a couple of lovely cleaners who work in tandem - it's a small three bed victorian house - between them they work three hours in total.

When we originally employed them it was only once a fortnight and so were told that cleaning the inside of cupboards, cleaning the fridge, and cleaning the oven would all be at extra cost.

Now that I'm returning to work and having them weekly I'm wondering if I could re-negotiate this? What do other people think is reasonable? I would like those three tasks done once a month as part of their regular clean. Is this acceptable?

[Strawbs]

Whilst on mat leave I had a cleaner just for 1.5 hours to come and focus on deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom (two things I found I just coudlnt manage properly with a baby), on top of this she managed to hoover, empty all bins including the nappy bin, dust in the living room and I would strip my bed and she would replace the sheets. I thought she actually did quite a lot in 1.5 hours.

Now I am back to work I have changed it to 3 hours once a month (for now as Jaws is unconvinced we need her more) so she will do 2 hours cleaning and 1 hour ironing.

what I'd really like is for someone to do things like if the dishwasher is clean and full to unstack it and restack and put on (she currently just washes up anything Ive left out), if there is washing dried on radiators to take off and fold etc but I think I might be expecting too much as in that might be more of a housekeeper type role.. I'd be interested to see what others think?

x

[pebbles]

Stawbs, I totally agree. We have a fab cleaner who works 3 hours a week. We have a fairly large 5 bed house. In those 3 hours she cleans the whole downstairs top to bottom and then 3 bedrooms, changing sheets, dust, hoover etc and then downstairs loo and both bathrooms thoroughly. She also puts on and takes out and hangs up (or puts in tumble dryer) as many clothes washes as she can fit in in that time. She finishes all of this is 2 1/2 hours and the last 1/2 hour is for extras i.e. cleaning fridge, cleaning oven, cleaning windows, cleaning spare bedroom or study.

We absolutely love our cleaner however she doesn't use her common sense - i.e. empty dishwasher and put in dirty stuff, instead she washes it all up. She won't see that some flowers in a vase are dead and therefore throw away she'll just leave there. However all of these things are very minor and I know we are lucky to have someone who is quick and thorough and trustworthy. We've had her nearly 10 years now and love her to bits.

[Sol]

Lucky you Pebbles. I have had just one really good cleaner who used to clean with her husband, they moved back to her home country 6 years ago and since then I have not found anyone like them. I decided to change cleaner once a year at least, as they do decrease the quality of cleaning after awhile. I made sure I put everything in writing from the beginning, every single thing I want them to do, otherwise they just limit themselves to the basis. Mine works 3 hours a week including ironing, however I made sure the house is tidy and there is not mess lying around, I also tidy up the kitchen and made sure there are no dirty dishes, so she can concentrate on the cleaning and ironing. I tried 4 hours before, but noticed they were just wasting time. I pay ?10 an hour. I would like someone to take pride of the house and have initiative; however I believe I will need a full time house keeper for that.

[TillieTrotter]

She doesn't sound like she has time to use her common sense Pebbles? That's an awful lot to get through in 3 hours!

[Jessie]

All these cleaners sound amazingly hard working to me, with high expectations to meet up to

[snowboarder]

Agreed - pebbles your cleaner sounds like she's supersonic!! We have what sounds like a similar sized house and have 2 cleaners who come together for 2 hrs - they do not do ironing or any of the little extras and I've been in when they are working and they are flat out just to get the basics done. We left a lovely cleaner in east Dulwich who would do funny little things like sorting out our cutlery drawer and would rearrange the children's books by size....

Having moved and had to get a new cleaner it is really hard - one lady I tried refused to empty most of the bins because of smelly nappies...and was offended when I said it wasn't working out...

[pebbles]

Wow, I really am lucky. I don't think I realised to be honest, I always knew she was good and quick. I'll definitely let her know on Tuesday :)

I'll also ask her if she wants to work more hours but she's the one who's led us with how long she works - i.e. when we moved here she was working 2 hours a week and then said she asked to be increased to 3 when we moved to this house - I'll let you know if she wants to increase her hours but I think she'll say she's fine!

[poppet27]

Sorry to also hijack, but I'd appreciate any PM's / replies too. My circumstances are a bit different though. I only have a one bed flat (all separate rooms), and whilst I don't earn anything other than a median salary, I work silly hours. Inevitably, the cleaning gets left to the weekend and bam, my Saturday has gone.

How many hours per week or per fortnight do you think I should request? How much per hour should I expect to pay? Do you all use agencies as oppose to private/ individuals?

Thanks x

[Strawbs]

I live in a 2 bed ground floor conversion and I had my cleaner whilst on mat leave for 1.5 hours and she managed to do loads.. So long as you are doing your own ironing and washing I would like 1.5 hours is ample for a 1 bed flat..

[Strawbs]

Oh and ps I use a private individual (got the name off a friend) and I pay her ?10 an hour

[poppet27]

Thanks Strawbs. Puts me to shame that it takes me nigh on 5 hours to clean each week!

[Pickle]

I'm still to reply to all the PM's I have had asking for recommendations to be passed on, sorry, need to find 10 mins to sit and compile them into one list!

[camberlou]

I can recommend my cleaner, who is looking for more work in the area. I'm hesitant to say she is brilliant, as I know from sharing a cleaner years ago that different people have different expectations. She is very responsive when I ask her to do something new or different (or when I've told her that something are not important to me).

PM me if you'd like her details and more any more information.

Lou

[Pickle]

I thought I'd report back on this. I'm pleased to say I have, thanks to recommendations received, found two lovely cleaners who absolutely meet my requirements. Today was the 2nd time they have been, and the house is gleaming. The fact they work as a pair means they were finished by 11am, which is perfect in terms of working in with my baby's nap and meal times.

Not only have they done the basics, but in the last two weeks all the sofas have been pulled out and cleaned behind, they pulled years of junk out from under the bed and cleaned/dusted, and have found many a lost hair clip by pulling out the units in my kids bedrooms. They take an obvious pride in their work.

They work for a couple of other forum users, and are happy to take on other work locally (ideally to work in with other clients in the area, as they travel by bus to get here). Please PM me if you would like their details.

Hooray!

[Pickle]

I've now given their number to lots of people, so will now wait until I speak to them next week before passing it on any more as I don't want them overwhelmed by calls!