Expecting too much of my cleaner

Thar reminds me of the time very many years ago when a new girl came to our school and my friend and I were chatted with taking her under our wing.
We would have been 13/14 at the time.
It was stressed on us that a very good impression must be made as her father was very high up in the County’s Education dept.
When she took us home for the first time, shock just didn’t cut it.
There was a full litter tray and dried up cat food in bowls all by the fireplace, the place was quite frankly filthy and I can see it to this day.
She and her parents were absolutely charming, her father was great fun.
They just didn’t mind how they lived.

When DC was little, I cleaned once a week for a local family who had 2 dogs and 2 cats. The dogs were rarely taken outside and so left their poo behind sofas, curtains and in corners, where it slowly dried out until I arrived the following week to remove it. The cat litter tray was never emptied between my visits and simply had another layer of newspaper and cat litter put over the poo - a bit like a sandwich. The final straw was arriving to one day to find that one of the dogs had eaten a large bag of dried fruit that had been left on a table. The "fall out" in the kitchen from that was just too much and I left immediately.
The stench of that house remains with me to this day. (not envy)

I now realise what a gem I had before lockdown.
She was like a whirling dervish and didn’t need asking to do anything, she just did what needed doing.
I miss her very much.

Calendargirl, the OP’s cleaner has said she doesn’t clean shower traps. The OP said she didn’t specify that she wanted this done so the cleaner can’t now be made to do it. Of course the OP should have said exactly what her requirements were before hiring the cleaner but that ship has sailed. She now has two options:
1 - find another cleaner who says she will include this in her routine, but who may turn out to be less efficient in other respects/reliable, and the OP will then have to sack the existing cleaner which she may feel uncomfortable about, or
2 - find a way of doing this task if she can, and I have suggested a method which might work for her. If she can’t manage this (she hasn’t said) then there is only option 1 available.
It’s only a matter of keeping a dog and barking yourself if you have made clear what’s required and the cleaner has taken the job on that basis but failed to keep her side of the bargain.

When my children were small I cleaned for a neighbour. I stopped when she complained I wasn’t “getting into the corners” when I cleaned the window sills. I was too busy scrubbing down the garage door and picking up the dog poo that her dog deposited around the house.
I admire anyone who cleans for other people.

My cleaner comes for 2 hours a fortnight. She does the bathroom and kitchen, and dusts and vacs everywhere. She is a lovely woman and a friend now, and always asks if I am ok or need anything.
I should be lost without her.

I’ve never employed a cleaner, but I would have thought that when you take one on, you would define what you expect them to do, and they would either do it or refuse the job.

As for Germanshepherdsmum suggesting that the OP sits on a stool to clean out the shower tray, why?

‘You don’t keep a dog and bark yourself’

That, to me, is why you employ a cleaner, to do the jobs that you find difficult to do yourself, otherwise why bother?

I think it is expecting too much to have your cleaner clear traps in shower and inside of microwave and empty bins. If you want that level of service you should pay a company to come in and do a deep clean every so often.

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.

That doesn't leave a lot then does it MissAdventure not really worth employing someone from an agency like that.

Sometimes people are unable to do certain jobs Nicegranny you are fortunate to be fit enough to do them.

I realised after many years of being so privileged that all of these jobs take time and some are pretty nasty. I now take pride in my manageable home to do these jobs myself.

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 didn't request it specifically" - and there you have it!

So now that she knows, should be plain sailing from hereonin.

I cancelled them when the first lockdown happened, but IB had a cleaner through AgeUK, at £14 an hour, rising just before lockdown to £18. When she arrived the first time, she informed me that she didn`t do toilets. I asked AgeUK, was told that nothing was out of bounds when it came to cleaning, and that she should do it, but she never really did. My daughter cleans for me every so often, and straight after I`d can celled the cleaner, she said that my cleaner had been rubbish.

I’ve had many cleaners over the years and I’m yet to find a really good one however I would expect any of them to tackle a standard cleaning task. Give her the chance to understand that this is non negotiable and if she won’t do what you’re paying her for find one that will.

I think cornishpatsy is right. When you employ a cleaner you should negotiate what jobs he/she is expected to do in the time allotted. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for help with things you find difficult.
My daughter had a cleaning business and found that customers would add extra jobs "can you just" she had to be quite firm and say she would need more time or another job would be left.

My cleaner only comes for 2 hours and in the time does the bathrooms and basic vacc and dust the whole house. I don’t ask her to clean kitchen surfaces, or windows, or empty bins. if I wanted more would ask her to come for extra time.

Neither have done microwave or fridge but with the previous I'm sure she would have done if asked.
Maybe I'm out of practice after not having one for over a year. I need to communicate what I expect.....still not sure she'll change her mind re hair trap!
Have to say otherwise she's pretty good .....

I don’t have a cleaner so difficult to comment on whether cleaner should be expected to do this yucky job, but can OP not clean the shower trap sitting on a chair or low stool? I have a dodgy back and arthritic knees so find bending difficult. Kneeling or squatting on the floor is impossible. I have a low gardening stool which I not only use in the garden but also for indoor jobs which require kneeling or a lot of bending.

My cleaner did everything I asked! Sadly though during the pandemic she started helping her daughter out with her business so isn’t cleaning anymore. OH and I have been doing odd bits and when our son was home we paid him once or twice to do the whole house. I realised the other day that the whole place was a bit grubby and it doesn’t help having two medium furred cats! So, as it seems impossible to find a new cleaner at the moment, I contacted a cleaning company and they are sending a team next week to do a ‘deep clean’. Seeing as we saved a bit of money over the last year not paying for a cleaner, we reckoned this was a good deal.

I had two cleaners (not concurrently!) when my children were at home, the first was excellent and would clean fridges and microwaves if asked, she also did ironing (which I loath!) she was with me about 7 years and only left because she married and moved away. The second however was awful (I was working full time so the ladies had keys and came and went in my absence) I quickly realised that little was getting done and this was confirmed by my eldest DD who was on exam study leave and divulged that she spent most of the morning on the patio smoking ?

Thank you for reminding me about the hair trap in the shower. I've just done mine and what a horrible job. I saved the little toothbrushes that I used to be given on planes and use them for that type of thing.

When you employ a cleaner it is best to say exactly what you need done before they start work for you, if they say they do not do certain jobs then do not employ them.

I had one that said she would not do mirrors or glass as she could never do them well so would waste too much time on them, that was fine by me.

I've never employed a cleaner but I'm surprised they don't empty bins I would have thought that was a basic.

After a few bad experiences since our lovely cleaner of 17 years left, I now have a scarily efficient one who comes fortnightly. She doesn't empty the bins, although all others have, none of my cleaners have cleaned inside the fridge or microwave.

I am also expecting too much of my cleaner it seems.
My last cleaner quit at the first lockdown and I only got a new one a few months ago.
She doesn’t empty waste bins, she doesn’t wipe out the microwave or the fridge, alll things my other cleaner just did as part of her routine.
I have now told her only to come every two weeks and my GD and I do it the middle week although I am not very able.
She makes a good job of the bathrooms and is a good window cleaner so I will keep her on until I feel I can’t do it myself.
She is a nice woman but my GD feels she has become too comfortable too soon.