How do you instruct a cleaner??!!

The job market obviously expect quite a lot since my time off.

Cherrytree It sounds as though you heard that joke about the wire brush, which went the rounds about 60 years ago. (No, I am not going to post it)

Our Polish lady is incredibly thorough! She really takes the place to bits. She and her friend used to come together and blitz the place in about an hour but her friend went back to Poland. We will soon be missing our Polish friends and helpers I'm afraid.

Elegran afraid not
Can me give me a clue?
My mind is boggling at the moment

Oops should read
'Can you give me a clue'?

Having a cleaner is not a luxury but a real necessity. It allows us to look after each other and not worry that we are living in squalor! Neither of us is physically able to do very much and anything that we do takes a long time and even longer recovery time.
I have found that using a cleaning company is the best option as they walk round the house with you noting requirements and give a professional estimate of the length of time required each week. If you have an initial deep clean then it is easier on everyone as the standard is then set and it is easier to keep it up to that standard. It would be very difficult to bring everything up to standard on 2 hours per week.
Personally I find it is amazing just how much a professional cleaner can do in a weekly 3 hour slot. We play our part by ensuring that the surfaces are as clear as possible and everywhere is tidy. My cleaner knows that I dislike cobwebs and I don't want to see dust anywhere and hygiene is the number one priority. The main bedroom is cleaned every week including the ensuite. The sitting room, dining room, sun room, hall, kitchen, utility and cloakroom are vacuumed and dusted every week. Hard floors are steam cleaned most weeks. Each week one particular room receives special attention and so everywhere is kept up to scratch including the inside of that room's windows. We have a window cleaner on a monthly basis to do the exterior of the windows, doors and cladding. If we have visitors then clearly there needs to be extra hours or else something is not done. The spare bedrooms don't get very much attention between visitors. My family always help me by changing their beds when they leave and DH and I usually manage the laundry between us. If I want a spring clean or I want to turn out cupboards, defrost and clean fridge or freezers or similar then we need extra hours. Family will help if I ask them but I feel their visits are too precious to waste on chores as they don't live nearby. If I feel that anything is slipping I can talk to the owner of the cleaning company if the cleaner is not doing as I want but I have not yet had to do that. I pay £12.50 per hour which includes products and pay the cleaning company on the internet banking. It is a great relief to have someone come to help us every week.

I say come on Dyson the sooner we get this done the better.