Employing a cleaner

well im a bit spoilt as my cleaner is wonderfull! but i would expect at lest the basics, kitchen clean and dishwasher unpoaded, floor swept and mopped, bathroom thoroughly cleaned taps, bath basin and loo! floor swept and mopped, as we have lamiate flooring she sweeps and mops the whole house, she then does any washing that is in baskets and dries washing still in the machine, if she has time she does some dusting or it i ask her but as we are very untidy she also has to tidy up for us (she is an angel !) she usualy tries to do one extra each time she comes to keep the dust ect down but always does the basics. hope you enjoy having a cleaner! oh I pay her £6 per hour which is what she asked for! jane

ooh, i am thinking about getting a cleaner - janeawej, how often do you need your cleaner to come round? do you have to clean yourself ever or does her cleaning ie. the bathroom last until she comes again? where did you look? yellow pages? what about ironing as that is the worst thing of it all IMO!

HeyBigSpender wrote:

I want to get a cleaner, but have never had one before and don't have a clue how many hours to ask for, what to expect to pay, and what are the best things to get her to do while she is here. Any tips?

I think you need to specify what you want her to do - and when you want her to clean. If you want her only one day each week, then think about all the things you'll do on the days she's not there.

I don't ask my cleaner to deal with the laundry or the dishwasher, as she only comes once a week and I couldn't wait all week to get the laundry done or the dishwasher unloaded. As those things get dealt with "in bits" during the week, I don't need her to do them when she cleans.

My routine is .....

Dust & hoover (or mop) each room
Hoovery upholstered furniture & soft furnishings
Thorough clean of bathrooms & kitchen

Then, taking one room each week - more thorough clean e.g. move beds to hoover, clean windows & paintwork, clean pictures/photos. So one room gets a thorough clean ("spring clean") every week and the others get a weekly clean.

I don't ask her do ironing either as I pay someone else to do that.

My cleaner does four hours each week (four bed house) and her going rate is now £10 ph :eek:

I've had several cleaners (I'm on my 4th) and you need to tell them EXACTLY what you want done. Vacuum clean the lounge is not enough. If you want the sofa moved say so, if you want the cushion removed from the sofa and cleaned under say so, if you don't say it they won't do it.

I pay my cleaner £7.50 an hr and she does 2hrs once a week. If she was any good I'd have her more hours but TBH she isn't that good. If I ask her to clean the picture rail she uses a broom :eek: . I'd have thought it were common sense that you get a stool or chair and stand on that if you can't reach, well it's what I do.

In 2 hrs my cleaner vacuums and mops the kitchen and lounge floors, Dusts the TV and assorted techie stuff in the lounge, cleans the downstairs WC and cleans the main bathroom. I don't think that's a lot to do in 2 hrs and my other cleaners have managed more but I've come to the conclusion that having a cleaner is major hassle if you look at what they do and don't do. As I'm 7 months pregnant with a 2 year old to look after I really don't have the energy to clean the whole house (large 4 bed) so I settle for doing most of it and having help with some.

2 of my cleaners have stolen time from me, by that I mean they wouldn't work all the time they were paid for. Both of them were caught out by me and sacked on the spot. The 1st one I never caught doing that but given the fact one day she didn't even get the WC clean I think she was doing the same.

Think carefully before you get a cleaner and be prepared to sack him/her.

£6ph just wouldn't cut it around here, but it may work for where you are. Have you looked around at the small ads in your local shop or magazine to see if that rate is "about right" or not?

£12-£15 ph is the going rate around here