House cleaning and cleaners

What about your skirting boards (see earlier thread)? 😁

Maybe she felt that she has to say this. If you go to a new hairdresser, it's compulsory for them to day, with disdain " WHO cut your hair last"?
I think this is taught in hairdressing school.

GSM - good point 😂 I have a father and daughter who clean for me, once a fortnight. One thing’s for sure -I know they definitely cleans/hoover under my bed - because they find my pens, tissue, mobile phone, glasses, magazines, notelets. They are worth every penny of the £25 I pay them.

My parents had a wonderful cleaner who first of all took one room at a time and cleaned it thoroughly and then did the essentials when she came after that. She made it her own but had been trained at a top hotel.

Clean

Hopefully she has very high standards, there’s little point cleaning yourself and having a cleaner if they don’t make a difference. Good luck.

I have started a thorough clean following several months of neglect, dong one room at a time, inspired by Clean it, Fix it and I am horrified at what I am finding. Nearly finished the kitchen, including pantry, washing machine, oven and dishwasher. Oh dear! And not that much stuff for the charity shop as I hoped, so not gaining extra space.

New hair dressers ALWAYS say this!!

We just try to keep tidy so the cleaners can get on with it. They were a bit taken aback to find a toilet in the dining room this week!!

Previously had brilliant cleaners. The last ones that came in said our house needed a deep clean! which totally shocked me. So yes I think that some of them do say this perhaps to spend longer and to get more money out of you!

I was a private house cleaners for years before I developed arthritis. I would expect a house to be tidy enough for me to clean. But not super clean , that's what you employ a cleaner for . Usually in a busy household or when people develop health issues etc. The cleaning is the first thing people let go . Ironically, I could do with some help to clean my own house now 😂

Her comment might just be her way of being thorough and making sure nothing is missed. Since you already keep things tidy, you could let her know the areas that really need attention, like floors and bathrooms, and she can focus there. That usually works well for both sides.

Good luck. I wonder at intervals re having a cleaner - and then think "they've got to be good and discreet and reliable" and worry whether at least one of those things would be missing and I might as well do the job myself.

I'd say the test I'd use first if I were assessing a "potential" would be how they clean my shower. I've got one of those modern-size walk-in showers and when I'd been too preoccupied to keep up square recently I hired a firm for a "deep clean". Clue for 3 of them turning up - boss/his wife/a cleaner. Unfortunately it was the "cleaner" that did the shower and I had to get her to re-do the glass a couple of times and it was still not right at the bottom couple of feet of the shower doors (even though I'd said to them all the shower was the most important thing to me).

Even when I said it wasn't finished yet and she went back into it for another go = it still wasnt right. Cue for I complained to the boss and he was just as fat as she was and he went and did it - and that time it was done properly. She was too unhealthy/fat to be a cleaner - but she was still determined to be one was what the problem was there. He wasnt slim - but he was the one that achieved cleanliness in the end.

So that - and my rubber gloves were missing come the end (I'm assuming they'd been picked up absentmindedly - rather than deliberately stolen) meant I thought "Back to the drawing board - and wouldnt have that firm again".

I had another bad experience on this with someone else and, between the two things, I'm focusing now heavily on working out "time and motion conscious" way/suitable gadgets to psych myself up into keeping my own up-to-date.

Well…….

(a) This thread is nearly two years old

(b) I didn’t know you had to be slim to be a cleaner?!

Wow, so anyone who is 'fat' in your eyes shouldn't be a cleaner? That's unbelievable! My husband used to run his own cleaning company and believe me, it's not an easy job - but some of the best people he had working for him were probably some that you would have dismissed out of hand based on the way they looked!

I’m in sheltered accommodation and they have an agency with cleaners. I’ve had a different one every week. The standard was very low with bits missed etc. and I had to pay agency prices of £22.50 per hour.

I now have a lovely private cleaner who knows what she has to do and she gets on with it and does a wonderful job at £17 per hour!

Tuaim

My parents had a wonderful cleaner who first of all took one room at a time and cleaned it thoroughly and then did the essentials when she came after that. She made it her own but had been trained at a top hotel.

Sounds like the best type of cleaner - they get to know your home and the cleaning that needs prioritizing when they visit you.

ViceVersa

Wow, so anyone who is 'fat' in your eyes shouldn't be a cleaner? That's unbelievable! My husband used to run his own cleaning company and believe me, it's not an easy job - but some of the best people he had working for him were probably some that you would have dismissed out of hand based on the way they looked!

I could see she was struggling to have a full range of movement because of this. A full range of movement is necessary to do a physical job of any description.

Watching her - it was obvious she was struggling to be physically able to kneel. Kneeling is necessary to be able to reach low down on showerglass.

On the topic of cleaning, how many different products do we really need?
I have just been going through my storage and found loads of things I have bought but never use. I wonder if they have expiry dates?!
I mainly use a home made mixture of white vinegar plus water plus either a few drops of washing up liquid or Stardrops for most surfaces.
Occasionally I might use a specific product to tackle something greasy, and I use Domestos in the toilets. That’s more or less it.

Kneeling is necessary to be able to reach low down on showerglass
What nonsense!
I can’t kneel, but I can bend and a good “daily shower shine” type product deals with the limescale in my walk- in shower.

(As it happens I do have a cleaner but clearly not every day! )

I could see she was struggling to have a full range of movement because of this. A full range of movement is necessary to do a physical job of any description

Another fatuous, not to say fattist observation.

I have had cleaners in all shapes and size through my married life, the one important factor for me is that she should have higher standards than my own 🤣🤣🤣

Quick internet check has revealed it is more difficult for some people to move as necessary to do cleaning if they are overweight (there are exceptions - but they are exceptions). I could see she was literally physically struggling - puffing/panting/clearly needed to scrub at the doors but was struggling to kneel down to do so. "Daily shower shine" is just that = daily/every day/light work if done everyday. Heavy-duty scrubbing was necessary - not quick spray from a distance and quick swipe with a cloth and that was a large part of why I was employing cleaners - because the quick daily swipe routine wasnt doing it.

Reported