Expecting too much of my cleaner

People have to source whatever help they need these days, and that is what pip payments are for.
Or, people who could do it themselves find that they actually don't want to, and would rather be out and about in their leisure time than wrestling with a hairy plug hole.

@Ladyleftfieldlover
Why did you pay your son to help you clean your home
I am really curious

I clean for my daughter and prior to that I did housekeeping/cleaning for someone else two days a week. I think it’s quite important to agree at the outset what will be covered as much as is possible - I’m fairly flexible but for example told my employer I wouldn’t clean the oven - it’s a massive job and something I hate doing. Neither would I clean windows. If you literally list every little job you want done it soon mounts up in terms of time and if you like a job done properly be realistic about how long each thing will take. I am quite quick but sometimes I literally don’t draw breath and end up exhausted so it’s easy to see both sides of the coin. Show drains - a definite yes - if I was paying a cleaner I would want it done weekly, toilets 100% yes.

It amazes me just how many people employ cleaners!! I can remember you were regarded as 'posh' if you could afford one!!

I regularly do jobs like this in "my" people's houses.
If they are unable to do it themself, I don't mind.

Maybe some self-help would sort this out? There are plenty of sink/hair traps on the market which lie on top of your plug/drain and don’t appear to involve digging deep with toothbrushes. I looked on Amazon and there were lots. These could be rinsed off/cleaned every day or so; I think the idea of weeks of hair in a trap is pretty repellent; I’d do my own but probably not someone else’s?

I don't have a cleaner but I do struggle to do some of my housework. I have a wet room & cleaning the shower trap involves lifting the grid (easy with a long handled screwdriver) then the drain part has to be twisted & lifted out. Luckily I can still bend enough to do this but it would be difficult to reach it from a stool & my problem is getting up off a chair/stool without arms. I dread the day I may have to get a cleaner . I will soldier on for as long as possible.

My DM had a gem of a cleaner before she was admitted to Hospital last year after a mild stroke, her Carers did some cleaning, I agreed on the level of cleaning to be done with the Care Company, 1 extra hour per week which worked out well. Before any-one questions why myself or DD couldn't clean for her, we live 300 miles away so that's not an option. DM's cleaner had stopped cleaning for her when she needed Carers as she had for other clients.

£15-£18 per hour and only doing the ,'middle bit' !!!! I've done cleaning work and did what was required on that day

Emptying bins is a much longer job than it used to be -- all that sorting out of recyclable and non-recyclable items. I don't think I'd like anyone going through my rubbish in such detail.

Sorry I have not read through all comments ( I will later) but surely if you employ someone you should have a schedule of tasks written down prior to them accepting the job ?‍♀️ xx

Anyone else seen the funny side of this thread? just been reading the one about the benefits of Brexit, ie. the so called "rich" can`t get workers for the pittance they were paying, and the requirements of the job..

oh dear! come on let`s laugh at ourselves, but yes, I do understand some of us can`t do this work, I am getting towards the time in my life when I will have to find a cleaner.. meanwhile... we are a funny lot!

I had a cleaner(well over 3yrs ago) from the age concern carers/cleaners (think its called something else now) but it was getting quite expensive, so we struggled along trying to manage what we could between us, (though we all have a disability in our house!) till about a few months before pandemic, when a friend of my DD had started up a proper cleaning business-(i didn't really know her as such, only her relative) i mainly ask her to do all vaccing & mopping but she scrubs all sides in kitchen (which includes OUTSIDE of micro, bread bin, cupboards etc if they need it, then wipes furniture in lounge before vaccing etc.She does bins if they need it, but i don't specifically ask her to.She doesn't do inside fridge& i wouldn't want her to.She used to do bathroom often but now i just pay her to do it a 'deep clean' every few months.(ive got my son to do the shower drain, he unscrews it all &cleans it thoroughly) but yes i would imagine its easier if you can sit & do it as someone suggested? What about those long things they have to unclog the plugholes? Overall im happy with my cleaner, i did ask if she does the cooker/oven as i can't bend/kneel but she said thats a separate deep clean job, but she's relented a bit & will wipe hob of it over if it needs it & she's any time left to fill.?

MissAdventure

Some agencies don't allow their staff to bend or stretch up. They are only allowed to clean the middle bit of everything.I know that because my neighbour used to take on many a disgruntled customer and clean properly.

I know this to certainly be true in the area where I live. I once did cleaning for an elderly chap who had suffered a stroke and had very limited mobility. At that time, our local council provided home help cleaners to those in need and they had sent him a cleaner who wasn't allowed to stand on any steps or reach up, bend down to clean skirting boards or clean anything where there were bodily fluids - this included the bathroom. When she was dispatched, I was asked to go and help and, quite frankly, the poor man's house was disgusting. Several weeks before, he'd fallen and bashed his head on the radiator. The dried blood was still there and was congealed on the floor. It took me a long time to get his house clean.

My cleaner is very slapdash and heavy handed. Broke the shower attachment! However, she helped me enormously during lockdown, Odd parcels to post etc and bits of shopping . I can’t bend easily and am not very strong any more. She even swapped over the hanging baskets last week when asked ?

Since I couldn't do it myself I've had dozens of cleaners. They all have their different ways and I've learned to get used to it. I'm a very tidy person, always clean loos and bathrooms every day - I'd love to get paid for cleaning my house, if I only could! The sweet woman I've got at the moment is wonderful, apart from vacuuming she doesn't just do the same things every week but sees what needs doing at the time and does it. I had a really dreadful agency cleaner for years before her, apart from doing a terrible job she was so surly I began to dread her coming each week. She must have broken every ornament I possessed, but didn't tell me - I'm still finding broken stuff now. Why did I put up with her? God knows; I think it's just a Brit thing, that and feeling guilty I'm not doing it myself. And that's a generation thing. But with my present cleaner the good (and clean) times are here. Long may it last.

My son employed a cleaner who suffered from OCD. We couldn’t believe how his apartment shone. Unfortunately she was also a thief and it took a while for him to realise. I do it myself- not very efficiently!

My cleaner (helper) has jet washed my patio
swept up leaves in garden
Yesterday cleaned bin which had start of maggot infestation. Yuk yuk
put up Christmas decs. Outside Christmas lights. ( and took them all down again).
Puts stuff in my loft.
Goes through cupboards and throws away all out of date food Wrestles me for out of date smoked salmon and bacon that I think are perfectly fine
Cleans cat litter trays and all the mess around it
Changes my bed and irons it
Does she do hair in shower filter. ??? No idea. Ive never looked but I doubt it. But mustn’t complain !!

Nobody asked her to.
She set her own routine, and didn't thank her customers for trying to interfere.
Some were a little put out when she first went there, but after about a month, when their washing, ironing, sorting out and clutter was rapidly diminishing, they were over the moon.

MissAdventure I wouldn’t dream of asking a cleaner to do my outside windows. I’d get a window cleaner to do that.

Oh, I should add, cleaning agencies in general, not just molly maids.

The majority of my neighbours customers as a cleaner came to her after being dissatisfied with molly maids standards.

Molly maids phoned her, and asked if she would like to work for them, which she declined, as she earned an excellent living.

They then asked her if she would consider giving them any tips.
She told them the trick was to clean properly, which is what she did.
Hands and knees, cleaning stained carpets, toothbrush around taps and plug holes, socks paired up and put away, windows cleaned inside and out, tops of doors wiped.
Once she had established a routine for them, they had no need to worry about anything, because it was all taken care of.

Well said Buttonjugs

I was a cleaning lady for 15yrs and had many lovely people/offices that I cleaned for, in my opinion to clean the shower properly would include cleaning the hair from the plug, apart from anything else the water wouldn’t run away properly if clogged up with hair. So op it should be standard.

I once won a prize - 6 months of Molly Maids cleaners, two women would come along and spend a couple of hours doing I don't know what? when they left I had to go round cleaning stuff again, or maybe I am just too fussy? I suppose no-one ever cleans as good as your personal preference?

I have a cleaning business and have cleaned private houses for the past 30 years.
I always clean my clients houses as if I’m cleaning mine which includes emptying all bins, cleaning hair from the shower drain, cleaning inside microwaves and if time allows clean the inside of fridges etc…
However it does depend on how long I have in a house which reflects on which jobs I do first. I always ask clients right at the start if theres certain jobs that they would like me to do every week/fortnightly etc… and we work out a clean plan together.
The most important thing is to be honest with your cleaner, I ask my clients every 6 months of they are still happy with my work.
I have been cleaning with most of my clients for many years so I’m doing something right. ? xx