How do you instruct a cleaner??!!

I have a list of what to do (colour coded). Weekly I add other things that need to be done. I pay for a set time, holiday and Christmas tip. She is quite good and always returns.

I have a wonderful cleaner. I have a four storey 4 bedroom Ed house which she does in 2 hours every week. The spare rooms she does as and when but she vacuums most rooms and my 47 stair She is wonderful and I would do anything to keep her. She is from Lithuania and I would recommend soneone from Eastern Europe any time over a local.

I have had a number of cleaners over the years. My favorite one was taller than me and could reach shelves I needed a ladder to get at. she did each room thoroughly and knew how much time each took her. Then it was easy to swap jobs round when say visitors were coming and I needed the spare bedroom and the lounge doings not my office etc.

My current cleaner was made redundant from the prison service, she would prefer to walk dogs but took up cleaning so she could pick up her child from school. She is shorter than me so I am often on a ladder with her reaching things up to me, she has poor contrast sensitivity and uses reading specs. which means she does not see cobwebs and dust. So I am not happy. She attends reliably but has no programme of cleaning in her mind when she arrives. I'm not happy but have not managed to find a suitable alternative service. The last person could do half the house in 4 hours this one needs 6. Sadly if I do not give her enough work she strings out what she has to last the 4 hour period she comes for. I an hoping one day to find a reliable agency.

I used to own a cleaning company employing mums of similar age to me and it's true, some get it some don't even though all house owners themselves.always the ones who sound good were rubbish and vice versa.
I had cleaners when husband ill and they threw away my razor which I thought was a damn cheek, it was fine, well used but not for them to throw out so I cancelled them. Do it myself again now but have an ironing lady which is wonderful

If the person in question was young/fit/light on her feet, & you as the home owner consider yourself to be a tidy person, so that ‘the cleaner ‘ was not expected to move clutter before she could set to with her tasks, then no I don’t think you were asking to much at all.
I say this from personal experience as I have cleaned for the tidy homeowner & the untidy one, (back in the day)!

Our first cleaner was also our babysitter, if she babysat on an evening she rarely showed up to clean as’I didn’t need the cleaning money this week’ soon got wise to that one.
Second cleaner used to take my ironing home with her, then a neighbour spotted her and her husband in our local market town wearing a particularly nice shirt..... yep it was my husbands! I confronted her and she seemed very sorry. I did my own cleaning after that.

definitely leave a list of what you expect, that way there is no way the cleaner wont know what is expected of them!

My cleaner is brilliant and came recommended. I know she leaves early sometimes but also does exactly what is required. No instructions needed. If something isn’t done one week it’s done the next. Also uses her initiative and does things not asked of her too. It works both ways. She Is helpful and flexible.

I could do my own cleaning but I have others things including grandchildren childcare I would rather do.

I used to have a cleaner when I was working and she was very good. I was clear what I wanted and she did it. If there had been a problem she told me and we came to a solution. This was many years ago. When she had to leave because of ill health I took on another who stole from me and that's put me right off. I loathe cleaning but I do it as best as I can in the time I allot to it.

I did some training as a hotel chamber maid once as a teenager and with a housekeeper breathing down my neck it wasn't easy but by heck I learned a lot.

If I were to take on a cleaner I would certainly write everything down and talk it through to ensure both sides know what's what.

I, with my OH help give the house a good clean when expecting visitors. Far to busy enjoying life to clean, also don’t have a steamer.

Well Barmey I am beginning to wonder if I am the only person who doesn't steam clean things weekly! In fact I don't think I have ever steam cleaned anything, I am still on old methods!

Excuse me everyone, am I the only one who doesn’t dust the skirting boards?

Bluesnan, some people need to have very clear instructions and others can be left on their own. The amount you asked your cleaner to do seemed about right, but some houses, regardless of size, are somehow easier to clean than others.

And dear Boheminan, you sound lovely. I now have someone coming in to do some cleaning and hope I’m pleasant, and hope I don’t ask too much of anyone. I prefer to go to work, now very part time, and pay someone to come in to do the basics. I find it keeps me much tidier!

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I agree - specify what you want done in a certain time-scale.

DD has a cleaner (lovely girl) who is very thorough but oh, so slow.

Bluesmum you say "No, only four rooms - 2 bedrooms, one of which mainly unused, lounge/diner, again mainly unused, garden room and hallway. Plus tiny ensuite and bathroom." As I count, that makes 7 rooms. Plus you haven"t counted the kitchen. You were expecting way too much, IMHO. Also, saying "clean as you do your own", leaves too much leeway. Rather say "I expect sparkling floors, dusted skirting boards, clean window sills, etc". Before you get another cleaner, go round your house, and write down honestly what you expect. Then go to an agency, and ask them how long they think one of their cleaners would take to complete the tasks set. Then use the agency. That way, there's an agreement in place, and all parties have a clear idea of the job.

I have had several cleaners at various periods in my life and they have been either very good or a bit sloppy and leaving early if I wasnt there. That one soon got politely dismissed. Since we retired abroad with my elderly mother my husband kept on that I should have a cleaner to help as I spent so much time looking after Mum. For the last 6 years I have had an absolute treasure who doesn't speak any English buy that has improved my Portuguese no end. She is only 6 years younger than me but is an absolute bundle of energy. I dread when she decides to call it a day. She cleans from the top down and works for 5 hours. Everything is cleaned including windows inside and out. Everywhere she cleans a kitchen cupboard thoroughly or the tops of the units. She has become a very dear friend. My elderly dog has bladder problems and was a bit smelly last week and I said I was going to give her a wash. Next thing I knew the dog was tied up in the garden being given a bath. Then she moved on to the 2 little dogs. It was a sunny warm day so perfect for it. When I went to pay her extra because of this she got quite indignant and refused to take it. She truly is a treasure.

Talking of jewellery going missing, my mother and I (in seperate houses) both noticed some jewellery missing at the same time - mine was a ring that went missing from on top of my dressing table, hers was a larger collection that was meant to be in a secure hiding place but no longer was. Obviously we spent some time trying to speculate what had happened to it. One night a few weeks later I heard a sound from my dressing table like the little clatter of a ring landing on it and my ring was back. I phoned my mum and told her to check hers and all hers was back too - again in her secret hiding place. No idea what happened, it was strange.

I had a brilliant cleaner who used to do 2 hours twice each week. She cleaned kitchen, bathroom, downstairs cloakroom, vac and steam cleaned lounge and hall on one visit and vac 1 bedroom, 2 flights of stairs, clean shower room and dust polis lounge on other day. I was working and knew when I got home rooms would be spotless. Once a month my 2 sons paid her 2 hours to clean their bedrooms dust and hoover and change bedding. She came for three years then she got cancer and had to leave. We got another who was very slow and never completed jobs and I often got whiff of cigarette smoke after she had been. I told her I did not need her anymore after my gold and amethyst necklace went missing from my bedroom. I could not prove she took it but just thought it must be her as no one else goes into my bedroom except dh and me.

I'd love to have a cleaner as I hate housework but as I am retired and able bodied I dont feel I can justify it. The only time I did have a cleaner I had 3 children at home and a full time job. But she was not satisfactory - did a worse job than me and that's saying something. ) she was supposed to do 2 hours two days a week (upstairs one day and downstairs another.) When MiL was staying she noticed the girl leaving after an hour. Also the girl kept complaining eg your vacuum cleaner isn't very good, your son's room is difficult to do etc. I was wondering how to sack her but luckily she gave in her notice! This experience has put me off trying again!

When i've employed cleaners (in another life) I was always surprised by how much they could get done in their time allocation...
When I once commented on this they said they were professionals and they learnt by experience how to clean quickly and efficiently...
As do we all ....
But maybe you take nothing for granted and literally specify EVERYTHING you want done...

Oh I completely agree annsixty and others, yes cleaners want work as much as people who hire them want them to work. It's a mutually respectful agreement between two free adults. I used to give my cleaners holiday pay too. These days I do my own mainly because otherwise I would be sedentary all day and I know I need a reason to move around

I think I've got out of bed the wrong side a couple of mornings recently annsixty!

I have done some cleaning this morning (lick and a promise) and that probably made me even more crotchety!!

I worked as a cleaner - although he called me his housekeeper - in the 80s when I was made redundant at the same time as getting divorced. He was a divorced dad whose son was a day boarder at a local public school. He had very high standards and told me very clearly exactly how he wanted everything done. Which included raking the bedroom carpet with a carpet rake after vacuuming it, so there were no footprints on it! And ironing his very expensive double cuff cotton shirts. I had written shirt ironing instructions. But he was very pleasant and paid extremely well, so I did as he requested and worked there for three years.

Ann, I'm with you!

I hate housework, can afford a cleaner and am providing employment. Also, my cleaner suffers from anxiety and uses coming to us as something to keep her occupied for a while.

Make a list and negotiate