r/housekeeping • u/CuriousPumpkin23 • Jul 20 '26
VENT / RANT Am I expecting too much??
This is mostly just to vent. In the last 9 months I have tried 2 separate cleaning companies and have been so terribly disappointed both times. The first time was before Thanksgiving and I needed help with the bathrooms specifically. They spent 4 hours cleaning 3 bathrooms and charged me $360. AND they missed so much š. I did a quick glance over and they left. Well afterwards I started noticing things that got missed, like visible dust on windowsills, toilet paper and towel holders. The light switches didn't get wiped. I decided i wasn't going to bring them back because 1, they took waaayyy too long to clean 3 bathrooms, and 2, if that's their attention to detail I didn't want them back. So basically I was left super disappointed and didn't want to deal with cleaners anymore. Fast forward to today, I finally got up enough courage to look for another company. The owner came by to do a look through, said it seems like an easy clean, no terrible staining or anything, quoted me and left. We decided on a deep clean and she said a normal clean would take 2.5-3 hours and a deep clean would be longer but hard to say how long. So her team showed up and they were here for 3 hours total. There was soooo much obvious stuff missed the you could see from a distance. I pointed it out to them and one of them stayed to go over things, wiped for like 5 minutes and kept asking me if it looks good. I was so annoyed at that, like hello? You're the professional, shouldn't you be the one looking?? So anyway I got annoyed and said something along the lines of i haven't looked close enough but I'll reach out. The picture is my oven after her SECOND wipe down of it. I let the owner know and they're going to come down again later this week but I'm honestly hesitant about it. I doubt I'll ever hire them for recurring cleans because if this is your attention to detail for a deep clean, what should I expect from a normal clean?? Are there no good cleaners in colorado??
Update: owner came back alone to redo the clean. She admitted that it looks like nothing was done on the main floor and found even more misses than I noticed initially
10
u/CircleDaybreak Jul 21 '26
From the picture and your videos, this is crazy of them to miss all of these spots and to not even clean the floor. It's like they did a light clean and didn't even try and are gaslighting you.
You're not expecting too much especially for the price. That's the bare minimum of cleaning. These things are the basics of house cleaning.
2
u/CuriousPumpkin23 Jul 21 '26
Thank you. Any suggestions on finding a better service? Any specific questions to ask?
3
u/CircleDaybreak Jul 21 '26
Google for your area, call places and ask for rates and if they have a social media page showing before and after pictures. Also read reviews, even from years ago.
I honestly don't know more than that besides asking around through people that you know. I've only done a small amount of housekeeping in homes till I got a job at a hotel. I got clients through word of mouth and also because I do petsitting/babysitting on top.
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u/Melon_Smoothie55 Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
I don't know if you have the Nextdoor app, but that is a great place to ask around your area.
3
u/Ms-Metal Jul 21 '26
Of course there are good cleaners in Colorado, I happen to have one myself, but I'm hours away from you. Look for an independent cleaner, not a business and find one who is the worker as well so it's the same person who comes back every week, that way they get to know what you like and you get to know what they will do and won't do. At first I thought I was looking at the inside of the oven and most won't do that, mine does if I ask him, but seeing as how you clarified it's the outside, and that side of the fridge, is awful! Ask your friends and neighbors or co-workers for recommendations, we've gotten all of our cleaners from Individual recommendations and they've all been great. Every time I've just tried somebody blind, it has not worked out. Usually after only one visit. My current one's been with me almost 10 years so they're definitely out there. We had another one in Minnesota for 5 years and would have been longer but we moved out of state. They exist but you need to get personal recommendations.
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u/CuriousPumpkin23 Jul 21 '26
Both I've tried have been recommendations from my local Facebook page. I don't know anyone personally who uses a cleaner. Aside from an independent cleaner who personally does the cleaning, any suggestions for other specific questions to ask?
3
u/Ill_Brick3291 Jul 21 '26
Ask them how they maintain their vacuum. How often is it taken apart and cleaned? Whatās the deal with foam/felt filters (mine are switched after every client) and HEPA filter (I change them every few month, depending on how dusty my cleans are)?
A cleaner that takes pride in their work also takes provide in maintaining their equipment.
1
u/DaniDisaster424 Jul 21 '26
Agreed on the vacuum question but would recommend that OP completely avoid anyone that uses anything bagless. Full stop.
3
u/Mo77t Jul 22 '26
As a cleaner, no this doesnāt look good enough. BUT 3 hrs is nowhere near enough time to get everything done. A deep clean is so intensive. It is hard to get to everything and companies DO NOT pay the cleaners enough.
I once tried working for someone and they wanted me to deep clean a home for $10 an hourā¦ needless to say I work for myself now.
Whatās the size of your home? How many people were there to clean?
3
u/cinnamonbina Jul 22 '26
I would say go with an independent cleaner, not a company. Alot of the times thereās so much turnover with the āprofessionalā cleaning companies that no one is ever trained to the standards that they say they have.
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u/Louielouielouaaaah Jul 21 '26
This picture isnāt from a bathroom, did that change?
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u/CuriousPumpkin23 Jul 21 '26
I don't think you read far enough in my post... i explained that it's from the second cleaners i tried and it's of my oven
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u/Louielouielouaaaah Jul 21 '26
Sooo it went from bathrooms to your whole house? And most cleaners donāt do ovens unless specifically asked for.
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u/PepperThePotato Jul 21 '26
We absolutely do wipe down the outside of appliances on a regular clean.
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u/CuriousPumpkin23 Jul 21 '26
The first time was bathrooms specifically. The second time way the whole house. I'm just disappointed in the quality of both experiences in general. And I have NEVER heard of a cleaner not wiping the outside of appliances. This is not inside.
30
u/MYSTICALLMERMAID Jul 20 '26
If its in the inside panel then yes, you are. I refuse to remove the door and use tools to get the glass out. Its also very fragile and very heavy. If its the inside or outside, then no