Expecting too much of my cleaner

Agree Absolutely

I've started cleaning for a couple in their 90's. My husband does their garden. They were paying a "professional " cleaner and I have no idea what does was doing as the place was filthy. Another neighbour had the same woman and it turned out she spent most of her time sat drinking coffee and reading magazines whilst they were at work! The first 2 weeks it took me a long time as it was so bad, but now I can whuzz through it and they are so grateful.

My cleaner, Mr Barney, does a fair bit around the house but we have a deep clean come in about twice a year to keep it up to scratch.

I've not read all 4 pages only the first but when I took on a cleaner many years ago I wrote lists of 'regular essential', 'occasional essential' and 'would be useful' tasks before meeting anyone, then asked a couple of cleaners to give me time estimates for each list so I could work out what I could afford to have done and when.
I believe in the same way as when starting a new job you want to see your Job Description, you need to agree the same with your prospective cleaner, if they don't want to do certain tasks ask why and either agree a revised list of tasks or find another who will do them.
Also, if there are extra 'occasional tasks' you want doing remember that either some other task(s) won't get done or you'll have to pay for extra time for them to be done.

I am having th same issue trying to get a gardener. They just seem to want to cut grass and hedges with electrical equipment. When I mention trimming the edges of the lawn with shears, digging and removing unwanted shrubs i dont hear from them again. Also if it is a one off job unless it is really big and therefore expensive they are not interested.

H1954

I don't have a cleaner either. However, I can sympathise with any cleaners out there that cannot tackle the hair in a shower plug hole. I can clean my own but the though of cleaning anyone else's just makes me shudder! ??

And me - yuck!!

Can you arranged for the trap to be spotlessly cleaned by someone other than the cleaner? Then show the cleaner and explain if it was cleaned everytime she visited it wouldn't really be dirty when she cleaned it. These things only become bunged up and ucky if left for any length of time. Just the same as a sink plughole. Try to renegotiate what tasks you expect to be done making a list for the cleaner identifying the regular tasks and the once in a while, say 4 weekly tasks. Never had a cleaner who wiped the inside of a microwave or cleaned windows and nowadays imagine health and safety would be applicable for the latter. Good luck hope you resolve the shower trap issue.

Maybe the reason that so many of us have cleaners to help us in our homes is that a very much larger proportion of us work.This is a trickle down effect, in that we work outside the home and pay for someone to help us in it.

One of my neighbours customers built her a beautiful granny annexe to stay in so she didn't have to drive home, I have also seen her picked up and dropped off in Rolls Royce, a Porsche and all manner of luxury cars, as nobody wanted her to retire.
(Even when she smashed into their electric gates by accident - twice! when she started to get unwell)

Gosh! You sound like an amazing cleaner! I think a 6 month review of what's working well or not so well on each side would be a great idea.
I didn't realise I was opening such a can of worms. I am disabled but some posters have missed that.

That sounds like good idea!
I shall try that. Thank you

Well if I were a cleaner I wouldn’t do it! Yuk

I really didn't mean to rile people so much. It was a simple question. Previous cleaners had done it and it did not cross my mind that this one would refuse, especially as she is aware of my physical limitations. But my daughter has now said she will do it each week for me.

Goodness I feel lucky! Our Maria is great. If we're away for a week or so and nothing's changed since her last visit, she'll sort out and clean the fridge, the cutlery drawers, cupboards, all sorts of things. She is from Ukraine and even after several years speaks almost no English (I should probably learn some Russian). We paid her during lockdowns and I'd hate to be without her, in spite of her preference for our sofa to have all its cushions lined up in a row, on their corners. Not sure I'd want her to do shower hair traps - that's kind-of personal stuff really. A bit like asking her to clean your hairbrushes or something.

Because of my age and disability I have a daily help who also does cleaning. She is not very good at cleaning and marvellous in other ways. She does concentrate on the kitchen and bathroom (including the plug holes). Oven and microwave and defrosting the freezer. Makes my bed and loads and unloads the washing machine. Fills the bird feeders and even does some weeding. Three years ago when I had to go to hospital (thirty miles away) for radiotheraphy every weekday for five weeks she drove me there.
So I put up with a bit of dust around the house.

Thank you Sodapop.
It is only because I am registered disabled and receive PIP that I have a cleaner.

I think it is OK to have a cleaner if you are too disabled to do your own cleaning and had some for many years when my husband was working and I was ill myself and I also had my bedridden daughter to look after. But now that she lives independently and he is retired and helps and we have moved home, I do without. Because though the girls I had were nice, I find it so intrusive, especially when you are unwell. But as I am getting older and iller, I will have to give in one day, I suppose. Men do not really clean that well. Though my standards are not as high as some here. I always put myself in the place of the girls cleaning and thought how I would like to be treated. Though it is an essential job and can give satisfaction, it is also a schleppy thing cleaning up other people’s dirt. I did have to speak to one girl but she was OK after I did. We can’t let people take advantage of us but we should be thoughtful and kind ourselves. We maybe do all sorts of bits of awkward or difficult cleaning ourselves that it would be unreasonable to expect another person to do in the same way. But I do appreciate for the elderly and completely disabled it is difficult. perhaps an occasional, special deep clean is the answer.

I've had 3 cleaners over the year and all were useless. The first put a leaflet through the door as she was just starting up so I gave her a chance. She just wanted to talk and talk about her relationship. Let her go after 3 weeks as v little got done.
The second left rooms half done, bins not emptied worktops not wiped, just dusted and hoovered the middle of rooms.
Went to an agency for the 3rd. Paid for 3 hours. First week was good, 2nd week left half hour early, kitchen not touched.
3rd week half stairs hoovered bins not emptied, worktops not wiped, floors not washed. Left almost an hour early. That was goodbye.
If you get a good cleaner hang onto them.
My work colleague had a cleaner and after she left found her v expensive binoculars for birdwatching missing from her bedroom drawer along with a few other things. No proof as it was 3+ months later.

When I had my first child and returned to work, I had a cleaner. This was over 40 years ago.
I’ve moved home and as such had about 10 cleaners. Over the years my house cleaners have been mainly great and usually trustworthy.
In the last 5ish years I’ve had some precious cleaners who want to Hoover around furniture, dust around ornaments, want to leave early when the house still needs attention. They obviously don’t last.
I interviewed a cleaner who said the house would need a deep clean before she started work. I couldn’t believe my ears - that was to be her job to clean. A deep clean is cleaning. Where did this term ‘deep clean’ come from?
I don’t ask for ironing or windows, just to tidy and clean.
I need a non princess like cleaner and one who will work their 3 hours per week. Of course they can have a cuppa - but not lasting 30mins. Not one who is constantly on their mobile or having smoke breaks.
I don’t like 2 at a time cleaners but 1 cleaner.
Companies are very expensive and, in my experience, don’t seem to think. If it’s not on their list, it’s not done. I came home one day and the Hoover was still in the middle of the floor. She didn’t like to empty the Hoover (it wasn’t on her list) so left it for me to empty. She liked doing the next clients home because he had OCD and was very tidy.
Where are the common sense cleaners?
I need a thinking cleaner and will willing pay for this. My cleaner makes for a smoother lifestyle and in return gets holiday pay and birthday and Christmas and Easter presents for her and her children. She’s moving home soon so I’m looking for someone to replace this angel.
Cleaners who clean and think are becoming a rarity.
Please value your cleaner if they’re doing what you want.

I've got one of those things that fit over the plug hole you can pick up and empty/clean. Easy. Would she do that if asked?

I've just lost my very wonderful cleaner. She left the agency. Who don't seem to have any replacement in my area? A good cleaner is very hard to find.

As a student I worked as a cleaner in private homes.

I quickly learned at interviews to ask precisely what the lady who was considering employing me wanted done.

I wrote things down as she mentioned them, asked her if there was anything else and then if she wanted me to start made a fair copy of the list, which I asked her to sign.

I made it clear as politely as possible that I was not prepared to risk my neck by cleaning windows in flats on the third storey or higher, nor to balance on rickety stepladders to take down curtains or the like.

At that time, emptying bins, cleaning hair traps, toilets and fridges were expected of a cleaner.

I always asked how often they wanted the fridge cleaned, and made a point of saying that defreezing and cleaning a freezer was not part of my regular work, but that we could agree that I came in on another day to only do that, but that it would take longer than an hour to do.

I made sure to ask whether they wanted me to do laundry, as usually a wash-cycle took longer than the hour or so they were paying me for.

Most ladies preferred to load and start the washing-machine themselves, asking me to take out the washing and hang it to dry.

My system worked , so I suggest as others have that you specify your needs and expectations.

I would never assume that this or that was part of what a cleaner automatically would do, even although I am surprised to hear that bins were not emptied.

I remember once being asked next time I came to wash the doors and door frames. I had actually just done so, but felt that if I said that the good lady would probably comment that I hadn't done it well enough, so I said, "certainly" and the following week made a point of telling her I had done so.

She remarked that the paintwork looked so much better now, so I smiled and said I was glad to hear it, and didn't point out that they had looked like that the previous week too.

I was the one who said my current cleaner didn’t empty bins.

My waste is all sorted before it goes into the room bins.
I was talking about two small bathroom bins which would probably contain empty toothpaste tubes, soap wrappers etc
The bins have bin liners which just need lifting, tying and another one putting in.
The kitchen waste bin will have plastic containers which can’t be recycled, no food waste that is separate and recycled and general waste, nothing nasty.
I just do it before she comes now.

I cleaned for a lady, and the first time I was there, she gave me a specific list of the things she wanted done; ie clean on top of cupboard, clean inside windows etc. It was wonderful as I didn't have to think, just follow her wishes. It was full on, but I think the best way. I also cleaned for a couple in a 3 floor house. The first time I did it they wanted the library/study cleaned. It was filthy, so I had to move everything to get it really cleaned. It took me longer than I had, so I had to do a quick clean of the other rooms, and said I didn't have time to clean the dining room fully. They weren't impressed, so feel it's best to have a list, ie just a quick flit in this room, thorough in this etc., so we know what we're doing. Incidentally, I stayed over an hour longer than I should and still they weren't pleased.

To me, that is like saying I wouldn't expect a doctor to lance a boil, or a carer to change a pad or colostomy bag.

I wouldn't expect anybody to clean the hair out of the trap because it is a disgusting job but I might ask them to pop a drain cleaner down it. I think emptying bins is ok as long as you use them "cleanly", such as wrapping smelly stuff, so you eliminate unpleasantness.