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!).

[bednobs]

i have a cleaner who i pay 11 pounds per hour. For that she brings her own cleaning equipmenta and products. I have a 2 bedroomed house and it takes her 3 hours. She sweeps and washes the floors, pulls out the furniture, dusts (including blinds) cleans the kitchen (including the outside of cupboards and appliances and inside the fridge) she cleans my cloakroom and bathroom (including toilets!) and hovers and dusts in the beroom. I also ask her to put my sheets on but i dont think she does that at everyone's house. She hoovers my stairs and landing. She dusts the skirting boards and is slowly over a few weeks cleaning both my venetian blinds. if there is something she wont do she tells me (eg she dosent clean inside the oven cause she'd not have time to do anything else!) Although i dont ask her, if it's a nice day she puts the washing out and will put more on/put it out.
I find her worth 11 pound an hour, although when she first told me her prices i was shocked, but she told me she did 11 pounds worth of cleaning ecvery hour, and she was right. When she puts her prices up this year, i will have no problem paying more because she is so good. i have had cleaners before that do £6.50 an hour's worth of cleaning and i prefer 11 pound worth¬!

[craft1948]

I have a cleaning lady who I pay £10.00 per hour but she uses my cleaning equipment and products. She does a general clean-through each week, including cleaning the loo, and does all my ironing.
Usually there will be an extra job to do every few weeks.....e.g cleaning all the windows, cleaning the oven, polishing the granite bathroom floor.......I don't follow her around and am quite happy to just pay her for a many hours as she takes, 'cos she never stops working.........best investment I make. She had to bring her daughter one day during the Xmas holidays but that wasn't a problem.....