cleaning before the cleaning lady gets here?

[WeirdEyes]

I do pick up before mine comes. I also spray the showers with Tilex because she doesn't and it drives me nuts! LOL

 

[willis37862]

Ok I see no cleaning ladies have added their two cents. So I will. I am a cleaning lady. And I greatly appreciate when people pick up there clutter before I come, it makes it so much easier to actually clean the house. Like a few have posted they don't pay someone to pick up the clutter but to clean their house.
That being said some people go over board cleaning before you get there. It is kinda funny how many people will say they hate for you to see there house a mess. But if it wasn't a mess there wouldn't be a need for me!
I can't speak for all the cleaning ladies out there but I know I appreciate it when people at least pick up their dirty underwear off the floor! That's just gross.

 

[froglady]

back in the days when my children were young, and I had a cleaning lady (service for the second one) I had a basket that they could put "clutter" in so I could put it away later. However, I did have to clean the litter box, and I would try to get the counters, tables, etc cleared.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

You have to pick up if the cleaning person is going to be able to clean. I don't have a cleaning person now, but when I did I would clear counters, wash the sheets, clean up all the toys, and basically clear any area that I wanted them to clean. It was a lot of work, but it gave me the incentive to get all the clutter cleaned up and I was left with a clean and picked up house.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Okay, I can do one better.
I don't currently have a cleaning lady and I do okay with cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming etc. but I can NOT, really can NOT keep the house tidy. I've given myself another two weeks to tidy/declutter the spare bedroom and the den and then I'm getting a cleaning lady so that it will force me to do that every other week pick up.
Do you think I missed out on some sort of self motivation class in elementary school?
Your are definitely not alone.

I am the same way. When I had a cleaning person there were few areas that were not picked up. Now, on the other hand, it's a different story. I try to keep the front of my house picked up just in case someone stops in unannounced--so the living, foyer, and dining rooms are picked up. At least that gives the illusion that I am a neat person.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

DH is a SAHD. The extent to which he gets the house ready for the cleaning lady DRIVES ME NUTS!!! He takes everything from the kids' floors and puts it on their beds...same with our room, only he adds everything else from the surfaces (everything from atop the dressers, etc.) He puts everything from the kitchen counters on the dining room table (so that never gets cleaned by the cleaning lady), everthing from the bathroom counters goes under the sinks; he even puts the breakfast room chairs in the garage. INSANE!

That seems a bit excessive! I did used to move things from the bathroom counters and clear the clutter from the kitchen counters, but I wouldn't move everything that normally belonged there. I would NOT move everything onto the beds! And they can work around kitchen chairs! If he wants to do all that then you need to convince him to put everything back where it belongs.Good luck!

 

[binny]

well that didnt really work out like Id hoped


They didnt use their own products like they said they would and they took waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too long to do things.


So, I dont think we will be having them back again. Dont get me wrong they were perfectly nice people but as far as cleaning went it just didnt do it for me KWIM?

 

[Barb D]

What company was it?

Cleaning Authority does use their own products. I've been very pleased with them. I tried another company and wasn't as pleased, so I switched back.

 

[heart4pooh]

My DS18 used to laugh at me too for cleaning before the cleaning lady came. Then this past summer he got a job cleaning condos (we live in a summer tourist area) and after the first week told me he understood why I pick up first, that it made such a difference for him!

 

[Keli]

well that didnt really work out like Id hoped


They didnt use their own products like they said they would and they took waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too long to do things.


So, I dont think we will be having them back again. Dont get me wrong they were perfectly nice people but as far as cleaning went it just didnt do it for me KWIM?

As far as taking way too long to do things, are they being paid by the hour or by the job? If it's by the job I wouldn't worry about it because one thing I know about cleaning people--for some reason it takes way longer the first couple times they clean a house but once they get a routine down they still do just as good but it takes them a much shorter period of time. I know this because I have two friends that clean houses for a living and they tell me about how it works this way for them. And they are both in great demand because they both do fantastic jobs. They constantly turn down new customers because their time slots remain full.

 

[jajuan]

When I was a kid, my friend had a cleaning lady and I never understood why they had to clean for her to come. Now that I am an adult with a cleaning lady, I totally get it. Luckily my children do too. They know better actually because my cleaning lady will clean the clutter if we leave it there...we can just never find where she put it...lol.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

They didnt use their own products like they said they would

That would be irritating if they said they bring the cleaning products and then didn't.

I actually prefer to supply my own products (when I had a cleaning person) because I could then decide what products are used and I don't need to worry about them scrimping when using those products. But if they were supposed to and didn't I would be annoyed.

 

[binny]

they were being paid by the hour. She asked what I wanted done and I gave her my list then she asked what my priorities were for that day. I told her that I wanted to have the 2 plant shelves cleaned off and the floors in the main area done. She got part of one plant shelf done ( took her 45 minutes) then had to leave to go get her kids. She was supposed to be working there with someone at the time but they had something else to do so then the other lady shows up 3 hours later. I had arranged to pay them for 3 hours work. That 3 hours should have been MORE than enough time to get those 3 things done and then some. If they had worked as a team as they were supposed it might have been different.

All in all it was just a bad situation.


It was private company. Just a lady and her employee.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I've never hired someone hourly. Obviously it seems that it just wasn't worth it for them. The expectation is that they would give there all when they are there, would have coordinated their schedules, etc. Sorry it didn't work out. Maybe look for someone who will not charge by the hour.

 

[binny]

See, and thats the other thing.

I told her I wanted a deep clean done on my house and she asked how big the house was I told her and she said " oh ok, I think that would take about 3 hours" So that is what I agreed to. The more I think about this the madder I get!

I fully expected they would work as a team and get the deep cleaning done. That is reasonable right?

I told her I wanted that done and she told me that was how long it would take them. She didnt do what she said would at all.

I think Im going to call her. I hate confrontation but this is ridiculous!

 

[pearlieq]

Yeah, that's pretty bad. You certainly are justified in making a complaint!

I pick up for the cleaning lady, partially because it helps me keep the clutter under control but mostly so she can do her job. We had Merry Maids for a while, because we were new to the area and didn't know better. They were pretty darn bad. It felt like nothing was actually clean--everything was just kind of wiped over. We finally switched to a private service and she's great!

I would go without groceries before I went without our cleaning service!

 

[willis37862]

binny sorry you had such a bad experience. It is people like them that give cleaning people a bad rep. I don't know how many people have asked me up front do you have kids, do you plan on leaving to pick them up? I don't work for a company, I do all of it myself. And they should have done what they told you , when they told you.I know in my area the big companies have a bad rep because they charge by the hour and take lots of breaks. It is good for me cause I pick up the people tired of them. Maybe you could ask around and find out who others use and recommend or don't recommend.Hope you do better next time

 

[Tigger&Belle]

They didn't deliver the service that they said they would and you are most certainly justified in complaining! C'mon, pick up your phone, dial the number... It's good for them to get the feedback.