How do I tell my cleaner she's doing a rubbish job?

I reiterate what I said before, if there is one person or twenty in the house, the three seconds it takes to wipe a bedside table should be obvious to anyone who is cleaning that bedroom. In my eyes that makes her incompetent.

I would give her a list of tings you want doing and then if that's bad say your letting her go for economic reasons i.e. its not worth the money. I have a very good chap who I have trained up over the years so he can do it all unsupervised now. Nice bum too.

I have a chap like that Teetime he needs a list though, he cooks too.
Years ago I had a cleaner like yours Tiny. I couldn't tell her so asked her to do the ironing instead, she was good at that.

I may be old fashioned but if you are paying a decent wage and giving her/him
enough hours to do what you want doing the cleaner should do it and earn their wages

The relationship between employer and cleaner is fraught. It sounds as if it is far too down the road in your relationship to challenge your cleaner without her getting upset or grumpy. Then you might be into 'revenge' territory.

To be honest, I'd start again. When I started with a new cleaner I had a list of everything I wanted done in each room and handed it over. Then there were no false expectations on either side.

Of course, it depends on both personalities, yours and hers. Also levels of competence and understanding. My last cleaner was a clever Irish lady who was doing a bit extra to supplement her main wage. She always went the extra mile and spotted things before I had a chance to. However, she was a real exception as I'd had a line of variable ladies, the worst of whom was a wannabe film star who was just filling in before her next Hollywood blockbuster! Needless to say, her heart wasn't in it.

Mutual respect and good pay are essential but you shouldn't be paying for poor work.

My parents have a lovely cleaner, but not a good one. Unfortunately, she has become a good friend to them, takes them shopping, responds in an emergency etc, so it is difficult to tell her she is not much good. Ive suggested she ask her to leave the vacuuming, which Dad can manage, although he is blind! They can then give her a list of alternative tasks without offending.

I only ever had someone to do the ironing (not a job I enjoy ) and have always done my cleaning myself. Persuade myself it is good exercise.
My ironing lady retired, but I have trained up a substitute - retired husband- well he needed something to occupy himself!!

You are unhappy so she has to go but firing her is difficult. I could hire and fire easily at work but struggled with cleaners because it was far more personal. I think you just have to pluck up the courage and tell her you no longer need her services, no explanation required and perhaps give her and extra week's money then goodbye. If you start explaining why it gets difficult.

There is a huge difference between a good cleaner and a bad one. I had one who managed to whip through my list in no time and then I would find her doing what she saw was needed like cleaning the outside paintwork. I was very happy when I discovered my perfect cleaner missed the outside of the loo bowl every time! She clearly didn't have little boys. Another one wandered around slowly and thought she had come for a chat and kept asking for veg from the garden.

I watched a cleaner I once had pick up an apple core left by a child on a coffee table, polish where it had been and then carefully replace it. Oh dear.

My present cleaner has been with me for 3 weeks and could talk for Poland. She has broken or dropped something each week- the last being a cup of coffee which splashed up the wall on the staircase. I have a stair lift so she was lucky that was not affected.

She moves the same furniture each week and others get left- do I leave those items to sit until there are swirls of dust and then show her? I also do not appear to have a corner in my house- the middle of the floor is clean but that is it. She is employed by an agency so I could get rid of her but as this is her first job with the agency, I am acting slightly soft. I know she needs the money, she has an evening and a weekend job as well as looking after her own flat, husband and daughter. She has a hefty mortgage to pay. Difficult.

I've had my cleaner for around twenty years. She came when our first cleaner left for another job. The first cleaner went OTT and started making little frilly doyleys for the dressing tables and washing curtains - which shrank!

I'd rather have the present one who just dusts and vacs. Anything more 'in depth', I either muck in with her or do myself some other time. At the same time, she treats me like a therapist, talks through all her family woes whilst cleaning. So I think I have a sort of dual role We rub along.

My DiL has a professional cleaner, own tools and van with proper signwriting on it. Very thorough, tidies and puts things away. I lost a pair of shoes that way once when I was staying. I found them amongst DiLs things, all neatly in a row. But you have to go out whilst she is there...

This is all galling. Try being a cleaner. How much are you paying her? I was a cleaner once and had to give it up, not because I wasn't doing it well but because I was too slow. It is so hard, believe me. One job was to clean a whole house once a week in two hours. I was still clearing up the enormous kitchen in that time.
Also; I don't think any two women will ever have the same views on what is 'clean'.

DD's cleaner puts stuff away for her - like a pile of my tupperware which was left out in the hall for me to pick up, paperwork is put in tidy piles even though it was in tidy (but relevant!!) piles already.

I have had an excellent cleaner, who was both taller and stronger than me. We agreed what needed to be done in each room and she then worked at it and found out how long it took her. The each time she came she would say what she hadn't done last time and we would work out the priorities and she would say if she thought she could get an additional job done in the time 4 hours. Sadly, she wanted a social life and went to work in a village cafe.

I now have one who has to put her reading glasses on to see the dust. Furthermore her contrast sensitivity is poor so she fails to see cobwebs etc. I point them out asking her to do them this time. She does not come with a plan in mind. When we decide what she is doing if I don't put enough in she just lets the work fill the time. And she is shorter than me so I am often the one on the ladder putting things back or taking them down!

I live in the countrywide and the cleaner was recommended by a neighbour. All in all it is simpler to keep her and try to train her up. So I have printed out a list of the rooms and tasks. And each quarter go through with her what needs doing. We had some new leather chairs and some old ones so I asked her to do them all, in one hour with the two types of cleaning stuff and explained to her that I had rung the makers of the stuff and they advised the following etc. She knows they should be done every six weeks but I think I shall have to rota this. I am starting a folder of instruction. For the first year she did not hoover under the bed and the Chinese carpet got moth. I bought a new Bosch vacuum that does go under the bed. I have sat with her with a utube of how to change the bag. I helped her the first time, she nearly spilled the dust back into the clean section before she had pt the new bag in!!!. So I plough on. I make sure that I give compliments when things look fine and that any 'instruction' is part of making sure we are getting it right!!

I don't have a cleaner now, but when I did I had to find a way of kindly getting rid of her. I told her that DD2 was coming home to live for a while (true) and that as part of her contribution to the household she was going to help with housework (a bit true).

I was a cleaner in a commercial property.Many people asked if I would clean for them at home.Not on your Nellie I had heard of too many woman being difficult to please..My boss left me to decide what needed cleaning I had a rota and did an office day by day.Toilets and canteen twice every day.It was a fantastic job well paid and nobody breathing down my neck.Unfortunately I had to leave due to health reasons.If you are not pleased with your cleaner just say you had noticed that A and B hadn't been done could they make sure they do it next time.If they miss some thing else say the same thing.If it happens again just say we will have to sit down together and draw up a list.Good luck.

Four years ago when my arthritis made it difficult for me to clean I employed a company and a different cleaner turned up every week and most were hopeless apart from one. She decided to go independent so I started to employ her three years ago. She is a treasure. As my mobility has worsened she comes daily to help me dress, do all the housework, ironing and even gardening. is very good company. Takes me to the doctors and hospital and gets any bulky shopping. I don't have to tell her what to do. I would be lost without her. I do pay her well over the going rate.

This is the reason why I have a cleaner through an agency. Our last one was taking the p*ss , even when I was there she would leave half an hour early! I gave her a few chances, like leaving her notes saying what needed to be done but eventually called the agency and told them I wanted another cleaner. No embarrassment! The new one seems fine and knows my expectations.

I'd just like to thank those on this thread who are or have been cleaners for their advice and comments. It's always good to get the other side of any story and I'm sure we can all learn something about how to approach issues which can crop up from time to time.

My cleaner used to work for an agency but went on her own some years ago. My neighbour had had her through the agency but went with her when she started on her own. It was on her recommendation that I employed her and she is excellent.
She does work for SS and also does work with people who are disabled on a private basis, so she understands my H's foibles and is very good with him which is a bonus for me.

We moved because we couldn't tell our cleaner she was crap, she was very popular in the village where we lived. A big woman who cleaned like a robot and woe betide us if we left any signs of life around.

We used to have a cleaner when I was working but my husband said he could do a better job so, as he's self employed, he did the cleaning on Mondays. Unfortunately, now I've retired, it's me doing the cleaning, although he does the vacuuming still.

I only had a cleaner once, when I was working full time, who was an Eastern European girl and it was her first cleaning job. . She didn't clean as well as me (and that's saying something!) - I paid her for 2 hours twice a week - upstairs one day and downstairs the other. She didn't clean effectively and when my MiL came to stay she said cleaner had left after one hour saying she'd finished! So I started leaving noted saying things like if you've fishes could you do this as well etc. I was dreading firing her as she needed the money but after I started leaving the notes she said she was leaving to go to college full time to learn English . I was so relieved, I've never tried having a cleaner again and feel I'm not justified in getting one now I'm retired.

I meant if you've finished, not fished!

My cleaner comes through an agency. There are never any problems but I know if there were, they would be sorted with a phone call or email to the company owner.
It's flexible and if we are away for weeks I don't have to pay if I give a couple of weeks' notice.
It's expensive but worth it to me to know that the agency pays for insurance for the cleaner herself and for public liability. VAT is paid and employers NI too, so I know the cleaner will have a proper NI contributions record for herself.