Do you have or are you a domestic cleaner??

[Pottyone]

My present part time job, which fits round school hours, is coming to an end. I am looking for another part time job, but as they are few and far between, I am thinking of becoming a cleaner. However, one of my work colleagues mentioned that these days cleaners will rarely clean someone else's toilet and are only meant to do the basics, i.e. not do the edges of the carpets or remove cushions from sofas. I was shocked. I thought cleaners, er, cleaned!! So those of you out there who clean or have a cleaner... what do you expect, and what is expected of you? Do you clean toilets?? Do you, for example, make sure the silicone round the bath doesn't get black bits on, as mine seems to do every few months?? Do you do different chores in different houses according to what each person particularly wants, i.e. some people want windows cleaning, some don't. And dare I ask, what is the going rate as someone has told me some cleaners get £12 an hour (I assume they clean the toilet for that!).

[redcrx]

Im not a cleaner and i dont have one but surely what a cleaner would do depends on the time that they have to do it. No point in only being paid for an hour in which the muck behind the bathroom pedestal is cleaned up and yet the lounge isnt hoovered is there.
It will all depend on what is expected and for the employer and employee to decide what is and isnt expected within the time frame and money paid

[ummmm]

I wouldn't employ someone who didn't do the edges. I use to have a cleaner and she done the 'none' everyday jobs. Skirting boards, top off doorways...stuff like that. The house was generally always tidy but I'd leave some boxes out. She'd put any kids stuff in one and any other other stuff in another and we'd put it away when we got home. She'd also clean under the sofa's.

[coccinelle]

Aren't they called cleaning ladies anymore?
I knew of a cleaning lady who was asked to clean the copper and brasses in this person's house and I'd go along to help her; she was also asked to pluck the pheasants the hubby had caught at the hunt!! That's surely going over the top; she was paid her hourly rate but even so there are limits!!!

[Nosha123]

I used to have a cleaner and she would do anything I asked her to! I admit I never asked her to clean the bath or toilet - as I didnt think was fair. But she did all the ironing, all the hoovering and mopping of a three storey house in 1.5 hrs. She was FAB. I think I paid her about £8 per hour - she was Hungarian.

[MarkRae]

I have a cleaner. She's from Poland, and does a great job, including the bath and toilet. She comes once a fortnight, and I pay her £10 per hour or part thereof. Of course, she usually takes about 70 minutes...

[misspins]

Hiya, I used to be a domestic cleaner and basically I went to see him before I started to see what he wanted me to do. I was paid £10 an hour to sweep and mop floors, hoover the carpets in the lounge, study, stairs and bedrooms (3), cleaned the bathroom and downstairs toilet, washed up and polished. Bearing in mind the house was huge and usually fairly clean anyway I did 2 hours a week and that was just enough time to get it all done. I never touched any personal paper work but I would pick up his post and put it on his desk for him. The only time I got annoyed was when he had just come back from holiday and his girlfriend left her manky bikini in the sink!!

[lankeela]

Why not sign up with one of those 'mrs mop' type agencies, where they go in van and do contract cleaning. Lots of them springing up all over the place, ask at an employment agency if they have any details. I think one is called Molly Maid.

[lankeela]

http://www.mollymaid.co.uk/

[lankeela]

This is what they do:

■Floors: Wash and/or vacuum throughout
■Kitchen: Clean work surfaces, dust and wipe appliances, wipe clean cupboard fronts and wash floors.
■Bathrooms: Thoroughly clean sinks, baths, toilets and wipe counters.
■All rooms: Clean and dust skirting boards, pictures, lampshades, knick-knacks, window sills, furniture, and light fittings, and vacuum throughout.

[smudge]

When I was at work, I had a full on lifestyle, so used to have a cleaner on Mon, Wed, & Fri mornings.

Jean loved our house & used to put on the radio before starting her chores. She was brilliant at her job, cleaning & ironing.

She sadly died of breast cancer just before I semi-retired 10 years ago - I still miss her & the friendly little notes she used to leave for us.

Good cleaners are worth their weight in gold.

[LoftyLottie]

Just a quick note - cleaners should not be asked to do anything that involves lifting or moving heavy objects (like sofa's etc). All to do with Health and Safety and you could find yourself prosecuted.

[LoftyLottie]

I have never had a cleaner, probably because I have pets and it would be too much trouble to have someone coming in when I am not there. Also, I am not very houseproud - as long as the essentials a done, I can turn a blind eye to dust, etc.
However, I do pay for my ironing to be done (it gets collected) mainly because my arthritis won't let me do it and also because I hate ironing.

Probably if I had had a cleaner during my working life, I would have been ashamed cleaned everything thoroughly before he or she arrived, so everything would be super clean!!

[smudge]

....Quite right - I never, ever asked my cleaner to lift any heavy furniture Lottie.

Every now & then, I would pull out the beds, sofa, armchairs & any other heavy objects to clean behind myself. Jean used to do general light housework, like hoovering, dusting, washing the kitchen floor & ironing.

I have the time to do it all myself now tho'...... ;o}

[smudge]

I used to tidy up & make it presentable before Jean came to do the house Lottie - that always amused Mr S!

Mind you, we are quite tidy anyway, so would never leave dirty washing for her to pick up after us. We live on quite a busy road & have two open fires, so the dust drives me nuts at times! As for ironing.....!

[LoftyLottie]

Hi again,

My ironing that gets shipped out is mainly Mr LL's shirts. He has so many that I only need ironing done every three weeks and there are still loads in the wardrobe. Once he retires there will be no ironing!!!

Actually we are pretty tidy too, Smudge and I am fussy about loos and sinks - and having dogs and cat I hoover regularly. As for dusting - well I do remember doing some about Christmas time...............

[LoftyLottie]

............... and as our house is full of nooks and crannies and beams and the woodburner has been in use almost permanently since before Christmas - when I say 'dust' I really do mean it........................ Silly stuff dust, you get rid of it and then the next day it's all back again - so why bother ;o).

[Pottyone]

Yep, my house is like that. I dust our bedroom and then the sun shines the next day through the window and I can see it all laying there again! It wasn't so bad when we had white bedroom furniture, but now it is wood it really shows up. Thanks for all the answers so far.