Does anyone else run around like a scalded cat before the cleaner comes?

Well here I am to say it was worth the extra tidying.

My house is fairly uncluttered, but The Wonderful Man is really quite messy and leaves a trail of debris behind him - so I took all his stuff up to the garage (yippee ?) and put away any stuff that was laying about so the cleaner had direct access to all the surfaces and floors - and she’s done a cracking job. ?

I working cleaning for a care home - £10.50 an hour. I also temporarily cleaned a private home to cover another cleaner for a few weeks and that was £17 an hour. I wouldn’t do private cleaning for under £15 an hour as that is the going rate (and I would expect the supplies to be provided).

NO, he lives here.
Don`t want to take the job off him.

My daughter had a cleaning business and said her customers varied wildly from the really dirty to those who cleaned before she got there. The most annoying thing she found was the "can you just do...." adding another job to her list that had to be fitted in the time scale. In the end she said yes I can do that but I will have to leave the bathroom/ironing.

I used to have one for years when I worked. We locked the study where my husband's papers were, she didn't mind ,one less room to clean. She even looked after the girls when they were off school and I wasn't. It was extra pocket money for her.
I would say get one from an agency or on a friends recomendation. After my gem retirred the next one lost my key in a cemetry!!! It didn't have my name on just a code but for security I did have all the locks changed.
I must admit I felt uncomfortable when I was on holiday and it was her day so I usually took DD's out for a treat.
My mum longed for a cleaner to 'Scrub her steps", she was disgusted when she found out what mine was doing and thought I was lazy.

We started having a cleaner when I broke my ankle badly some years ago and never stopped! We always tidy before she comes. We pay £15 an hour which seems to be the going rate here. I would never expect her to clean poo stripes off the loo or clean the shower traps. Bad enough doing your own!

grannyactivist
If I am employing /paying for a cleaner then chance what anyone thinks as am happy to sit with coffee in my hand while the cleaner gets on with the cleaning
The cleaner can then join me also with a coffee as they will have earned it.

I had to have help about ten years ago when I was 89 and found a lovely lady who would also drive me to hospital. After five years she had look after her elderly father. Then through “Next Door Neighbours” another lovely lady. She comes every morning for an hour or so not only to clean, wash up, supervise my showering and living in the next street is on call if I should have a fall, etc. Drove me thirty miles each way to hospital for treatment when I had cancer. Recently my previous lady became available so they alternately look after me.. l pay £16 an hour with which they are happy.

I don’t lock anything away, but I don’t think I’ve got anything worth stealing.
I admit, I’ve decided not to give her a key, I just wait for her to come and she drops the latch when she leaves.

We always keep private papers in a locked desk. I don’t know what sort of valuables you might have but any nice jewellery or cash I would lock away too. It doesn’t have to be obvious that you’ve done so. My concern wouldn’t be so much a light fingered cleaner as a gossipy cleaner who has dodgy friends.

May I just ask, how do you feel about security? Do you all trust your cleaners? Do you lock away valuables or paperwork eg bank statements etc. Do you check on references or what? I have never had a cleaner but seriously considering it now as finding several tasks really difficult now.

There was a time after my first husband left me that I was so short of money, even though a solicitor - young solicitors in the provinces, as I was then, don’t earn huge amounts - that I seriously considered taking an early morning office cleaning job to help pay the bills. In the end it didn’t happen but it was all I could think of. I have the greatest respect for people who make their daily crust by cleaning other people’s lavs.

Nahsma - yes, I know. But we pay her much more than that. Just ask her not to broadcast it. And more "in kind".
The £8-10 ph was mentioned to me by someone I know, and I assumed it was common.
And I heard this morning from another friend that a local person has set herself up as an agency and also charges a fee.
Having said all that our cleaner has got another job in a factory which pays much more than her cleaning jobs. but it's only once a week which she alternates with her sister.
She's from Romania and has 2 children, worried about her parents still there. So we do try to look after her.

Me and OH always shared the cleaning and gardening but when we moved into this newly renovated apartment last year he insisted on finding us a cleaner. I was a bit miffed. What’s wrong with my cleaning? I am blessed with reasonably good health but with high blood pressure, not keen on using a step ladder or bending down to clean skirting boards. I always found dusting a chore and never got the hang of it. It just seemed to spread to another area even with a wet cloth. We now have a lady who charges £12.50 per hour using our equipment as she comes by bus. We round up the money and remember Easter eggs etc. I just tidy before she comes and she always checks the oven so it’s immaculate. I change the bed with help from OH as broken arm and shoulder held me up for a while and prefer to do our ironing. I bought a rather heavy iron but notice my shoulder is getting stronger. I don’t want to give up doing everything physical. We also have a gardener who is 80. Just because the landlord filled the coal shed with junk so we have no room to store a lawnmower. Things may change as so much “stuff” being loaded on EBay. That’s my specialty. LOL.

My cleaner is a very smart lady, she was in a professional position before she had her children, and then decided to become a cleaner.
She comes in a smart uniform and with a big smile , and is very thorough.
Downside, nurseries closed for covid, childhood illnesses, but I’m prepared to put up with that.

fennel you do realise the minimum wage is £9.18 ph and the “living” wage is £9.50? Poor (in every sense) cleaner if they are only getting £8.

I've never had a cleaner. I'm not particularly house proud, but live alone and clean when I feel like it - which is when I notice the dust.
You couldn't pay me enough to get me to clean other peoples' houses!

My sister whos a hard working district nurse has a cleaner one day a week if her day off is the cleaners day she travels 120 miles to have brunch with me cos she feels embarrassed .

After my mother retired (at 60) she decided to set herself up as a cleaner. Her house was immaculate and she actually liked cleaning. She had two houses that she cleaned - one posh one more ordinary. She only stuck it for a couple of months. She said the houses were tidy but they had so many knick-knacks that it was a nightmare trying to dust and took half of her allotted time.

We briefly had a cleaner. I had never actually met her as I was away quite a bit. I came home one day to find her sitting in the kitchen watching the telly and drinking tea. I would understand if it was after she had finished but it wasn't.

I agree, good cleaners are hard to find. They are like gold dust around here where there are a lot of elderly people.

I tidy up, put things in their correct place but that’s it.

When the children were at home we had a rule that if they wanted their rooms cleaned they had to be tidy and doors open. If not then they had to clean their rooms first thing Saturday morning, before any activities, it worked 95% of the time.

I honestly cannot imagine not having a cleaner after 35 years we f being fortunate enough to afford one.

I have a cleaner every 2 weeks who does things like inside of windows. Cupboards bathrooms etc; Best of all I have a man to do the laundry. mr Eggs he is efficient, likes doing it and even does the ironing. Meanwhile, I am the cook and gardener.

I don't have a cleaner, which is fortunate as we could not afford one.

If we had one, I would not clean before she came, but I would ensure that she did not have to waste her time and my money on picking things up from the floors or the like.

If I ever am able to afford a gardener, I will make sure he or she can reach the gardening tools without trouble, but I certainly not mow lawns or weed before the gardener came.

Why have a dog and bark yourself?

No, that's what I pay the cleaners to do! £60 for two for 2 hrs every other week. Worth every penny.

Don't have a cleaner - but do run round like a scalded cat if I think anyone is coming!!

Sounds like less the minimum wage, let alone living wage. Then there’s the unpaid time travelling between clients. I would be ashamed to pay so little - indeed I wouldn’t do it.