questions to ask cleaner

Pollycat

Actually, Naveed, we don't really care.

You're not allowed to advertise on here so expect your post (and any others in a similar vein) to get reported and deleted.

Dippypud

Pollycat wrote: »

Actually, Naveed, we don't really care.

You're not allowed to advertise on here so expect your post (and any others in a similar vein) to get reported and deleted.

Methinks he has been Spammed :rotfl::rotfl:

pinkshoes

I always ask a cleaner if they smoke, as there's nothing worse than coming home to a clean house that is tainted with fag breath! Obviously they'd never smoke in the house, but I remember trialling one cleaner who'd always smoke in her car on the way over, so all her clothes stank, which just hung around.

Newly_retired

Before I retired I had cleaners, several over the years. Out of maybe around 10 or 12, only 2 were actually any good. One of those left to start up her own catering business, the other went to college - ie they had some brains!
One or two were local contacts/friends and to be honest it never occurred to me to think about NI and Tax - but I ought to have done.
The rest were from an agency, and that certainly saved me a load of hassle with the legal side of things. Also I was always provided with a new one when one left and didn't have to do the leg work of finding one myself.
That said, most of them were pretty poor. One or two whizzed round and completed my list but never very thoroughly so when I had a blitz myself, I could see that they hadn't moved much furniture. One never moved anything. She didn't last long. Others complained that the list was too long, so I had to adjust it. Most were reasonable and there was flexibility on both sides as regards days off for appointments, children's illness etc.
One cleaner took me for a ride, as I found out that she came late and finished early. Needless to say she made it look presentable but did not do a thorough job.
I put up with the inadequacies for the sake of not having to worry about housework throughout the busy term and coming home to find the house looked and smelled pleasant. It also made sure we tidied up once a week, to make better use of the cleaning time.
So all things considered, it was money well spent. However I was glad to stop having to have a cleaner when I retired.

heretolearn_2

Just be very clear on what you want done and the instructions. Sometimes she may have to compromise between either doing less work more thoroughly, or more work less thoroughly - she needs to know which you'd prefer her to do.

Watch out for standards slipping. A lot of cleaners start off well but then the shortcuts start - not hoovering/washing floors behind doors etc. Also watch out for nice little time-wasting easy jobs being done instead of the harder ones, ages on 'dusting' for example, or (lining all the bottles in the bathroom up in size order in precise arrangements- I had a cleaner with a touch of OCD once).

Otherwise when choosing someone you just have to go with who you like and gut instinct, and see how they do. Whenever we advertise for a cleaner at home or work, 90% of the applicants turn out to be complete weirdos, so it's not been hard to pick one of the more normal ones. It's not the sort of thing you can ask interview questions on...

Sambucus_Nigra

I've got a brilliant cleaner.

Get her round and ask her what she could do in 2 hours. I dropped the key to hers so that I knew where she lived.

Mine cleans the bathroom, bedrooms, stairs, kitchen, dining room and front room. Hoovers upstairs, and mops downstairs. All surfaces cleaned, bath, loo and basin cleaned, mirrors cleaned. Kitchen all cleaned through and bins emptied. Will do the odd bit of washing up if it's been left but we tidy up the night before so she can just CLEAN as alot of people leave their cleaner to tidy and wonder why they get little done.

Mine uses all her own cleaning equipment and stuff. She's a godsend. It smells so lovely when she's been

Any

I used to clean when I was an au-pair and I also used to have a cleaner (and am planning to do so again.)

Sorry, but one bedroom + 1 study apartment not being able to clean in 2 hours??? The list too big?? As for some of the quaterly/monthly stuff - we (cleaners) used to rotate that... because basic cleaning of such a little flat when it is done regularly does not take 2 hrs!! It does sound a lot on the list, but most of these items are 5 mins jobs when looked at separately (such as dust a table, hoover hallway...). So let's say one week we would wash the floors, next wipe the windows, next wipe skirting boards.

2 things we did not do - clean inside cupboards and clean inside fridge. That was extra. And noone ever asked me that.

However we did change beds. Sometimes were told to put washing machine on when leaving to be done when they came home.

I do agree that over time some cleaners get comfortable and needs pulling up on the quality of work.

When hiring a local I do agree it is cleaners problem to sort out her tax etc. I seriously doubt HMRC is going to pull you for 2 hrs a week no matter what the arrangements are, but I would make sure the cleaner takes the responsibility herself (maybe in writing) just to make sure you are covered just in case.

Any

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I've got a brilliant cleaner.

Get her round and ask her what she could do in 2 hours. I dropped the key to hers so that I knew where she lived.

Mine cleans the bathroom, bedrooms, stairs, kitchen, dining room and front room. Hoovers upstairs, and mops downstairs. All surfaces cleaned, bath, loo and basin cleaned, mirrors cleaned. Kitchen all cleaned through and bins emptied. Will do the odd bit of washing up if it's been left but we tidy up the night before so she can just CLEAN as alot of people leave their cleaner to tidy and wonder why they get little done.

Mine uses all her own cleaning equipment and stuff. She's a godsend. It smells so lovely when she's been

Completely agree with that!!

gratefulforhelp_2

pippa if you can do your list in the time to your expected standard, then it is reasonable to expect your cleaner to. That's why I would give it a go yourself first.

I have been a cleaner and had three cleaners. The first and third were brilliant and never lessened their efforts. The second was dreadful, started well but got progressively worse to the point where she took 2 1/2 hours to iron 1 duvet cover!!

Also add to your list things up high, since IME cleaners sometimes don't look up (cobwebs et.c.)

heretolearn_2

For an idea, we have a 3 bed house and have 2 cleaners come in for 2 hours (they work as a team) every fortnight.

For that they clean
main bathroom - clean bath/sink/loo, wash floor, clean tiles, tidy/wipe tiled windowcill
living room - hoover (although they don't move the furniture, grrr) and dust tv unit/windowcills
hall and 2 flights of stairs - hoover and dust bookcase
kitchen, clean worktops, tiles, cooker top and wash floor
main bedroom - hoover and clean en-suite similar to main bathroom
2 small bedrooms - hoover
downstairs loo - clean loo and basin and wash floor.

That's it. I wish they'd do the kitchen cupboard fronts and woodwork now and then, but they've got their routine and it pretty much keeps us going without us doing housework, just a bit of tidying up and then every couple of months I'll pick a bit to blitz a bit more with inside fridge, or cleaning a room door or something.

One thing that does annoy me is that if there is any washing up left out, they'll do that, which is a waste of blooming time as we've got a dishwasher! I'd rather they did something else...I'm not there when they come, OH is, and he never notices what they are doing, just leaves them to it. I'm the one to pick up when, for example, I find 2 inches of dust on the floor behind the kitchen bin and insist that they start mopping under there.