How do you instruct a cleaner??!!

If I was only employing a cleaner 2 hours a week I'd only expect them to do the hoovering and maybe a flick around the mantelpieces with a duster and wipe the bathroom sink. I know how long it takes me!

I live with my daughter and, as she works full time and also has mobility issues, I do the cleaning. It can be hard work, especially with three grandchildren around as well (and my daughter is dreadfully untidy). I try to clean one room a day and just tidy and dust/vacuum the others but it is hard work (if you do it properly!) Not at all sure I would want to work for someone as a cleaner though, although my daughter thinks I should !

Well I for one certainly don't intend to defend myself.
It is my business and nobody else's.

annsixty what??!!! Are you posting in the right thread? I didn't see any comment here against you?

People dust skirting boards every week.....?!?

Definitely asking too much!

Not against me personally.
The inference that we should all do our own cleaning.
I sometimes get out of bed the wrong side and take slight at every little thing, so just ignore me.?

Make a list and negotiate

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.

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.

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!!

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

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...

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!

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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!

?

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

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!

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.

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.

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.