Why is my new house keeper not cleaning things good & having issues with cleaning?

I already did tell her exactly what needs to be done from the get go. I only added one small thing once like just clean the refrigerator shelves on one side only. I moved all the food myself.

She works at a set rate. So she can clean the house at her pace. There is NO time limit.

If she works fast or slow, she will still get paid the same amount. I’m generous & I give her a $20 tip for a flat rate of $50 each time. That’s way over a 20% tip.

And I don’t make much money either. I appreciate her hard work. I’m not expecting miracles, but she seriously left my husbands toilet filthy.

And when I nicely asked her to please clean it, she got quiet & offended it seemed like. Wth? Did she really expect me to be OK with her leaving things dirty?

Also, what really bothers me is that I almost slipped and fell 3 seperate times in the kitchen because she left the floor wet. The first time it was very wet. .

I could’ve fell & broke me neck! I told her that too & to please dry the floor. I even offered her towels..
She didn’t do anything until the third time & she made zero apologies for anything! Wth? She finally dried the floors the 3rd time but she left a few wet spots on the floor.

It’s a safety hazard. She also didn’t clean the microwave until I asked her to clean it.

I don’t understand her. She kind of half cleans stuff. She shouldn’t get so upset & shut down whenever I politely ask her to clean stuff!!!

If she wasn’t so inexpensive, I would’ve hired a better and maybe more expensive cleaning service.

I don’t understand her. She’s weird tbh. She’s way to sensitive.

Jesyka several people told you that your list of chores is unreasonable. Yea it could be done but not spotless. If you want her to leave it spotless, she’d need to be there longer than 2 hours but who would do that for 50 bucks. You said she is fast but you keep adding tasks so she isn’t going to do them perfectly because it’s too much

Your expectations are unreasonable. Even the most experienced cleaner and a clean freak would leave “some wet spots”. Floor being wet after mopping isn’t unusual. Do not go in the kitchen after she mopped. What’s the emergency?

Now of course you can fire her but you’ll not find anyone to do a massive clean up you require for $50. The most you could get is some surface cleaning or just some parts of the house. And that’s what she is doing.

Thanks. She cleans almost the same stuff everytime. I’ll fo that next time if I need something extra.

I don’t understand why people keep saying that she only has 2 hours to clean everything.

I already mentioned that since her is a flat rate, she still gets paid the same no matter how long everything takes her.

So she can be here for 3 hours if necessary. I only need 2 small bathrooms cleaned, the bed made, the floor vacuumed, the kitchen cleaned & the floors mopped,

Occasionally I need the shelves cleaned in the fridge too. I remove the food for her & put everything back.

If she’s only making $50, expecting over two hours of work is unreasonable. You are asking too much for such a small fee. If you want more done, double her pay because honestly, you are asking for over $100 in cleaning services.

For $50, mopping the floors, dusting, vacuuming, and bathrooms once over is the most to expect. When you start adding in detailing like cleaning the microwave, cleaning the refrigerator inside, cleaning shelves, cleaning under furniture cushions, etc., you need to pay her more.

Additionally, get out of her way. Most people I know get out of the house for a few hours while their house is being cleaned so they aren’t in the way. Don’t hover. Stay out of the areas that are mopped until the floors dry, etc. The more you hover, the more likely you are getting in her nerves and the less likely that she will feel comfortable. Honestly, I am surprised she comes back. You are paying very little and expecting more than the rate is worth. She should charge more. That’s on her, but she probably needs everything she can and is afraid of losing income. Unfortunately that means she’s in a position of being a bit taken advantage of here.

Pay more or expect a bit less. Be a bit more reasonable.

Think of it this way. At $50, if she works two hours, she’s making $25/hour. If it takes her three hours, she’s only making a bit over $16.50/hour. You are expecting her to work longer and do more for almost $10/hour less? Would you do that? That makes no sense. Don’t say you too her x amount. Tip is above and beyond her rate. Even if you do, she STILL isn’t making $25/hour if she works that extra hour, and now she has no tip really. That’s what is obvious to us but you don’t seem to understand.

Yes she can theoretically stay 3 hours. But not for $50. You either have to pay more or lower the demands.

Like not only you want floors moped, you demand them being dry with no spots left wet. That is all additional and time consuming. Being upset she didn’t clean microwave. It takes time to clean it in and out. It can’t be included in your $50 fee. It has to be additional task paid accordingly. When you add additional tasks, pay extra.

It sounds that she is an immigrant working under the table and is afraid to speak up.

And I agree with previous poster that you need to stop following her around. You observe her not being friendly or what not because she’s probably uncomfortable. I cleaned houses when I was getting college degrees being single mom. I never ever had owners following me around the house. They typically weren’t home or stayed in one room and didn’t walk around at all. It’s way too stressful for a cleaner.

The woman is clearly desperate for money. But you got to change your ways.

I don’t understand why everyone is so fixated on the time limit. I clearly explained things numerous times.

She has NO set limit. She can take her time to clean everything.

I don’t think that adding ONE small thing is a big deal like everyone thinks it is. It sounds like people think that I’m being very unreasonable.

I’m not. It’s insulting to how some people think that I don’t deserve to have my house cleaned good just because she doesn’t charge me much money.

I clearly stated that I tip her good but people are still giving me crap & insinuating that I’m
Not paying her enough.

SHE set the price. Not me.

Again, she can stay here as long as she wants or needs to to get everything done.

To leave almost everything in the bathroom dirty is unacceptable.

Would you be OK with having a housecleaner come over to your house & leave most of the bathroom dirty still?

I’m talking about a dirty toilet & not just a few crumbs on the floor.

She didn’t bother vacuuming my bedroom until I asked her to also.

With the floor, I don’t expect perfection, but to leave the floor soaking wet is dangerous to myself & her as well.

I did need to go to the kitchen. I wasn’t aware of how slippery the floor was until then.

I don’t understand why people are giving me a hard time just for wanting my house to be clean.

I work hard & my body is in a lot of pain all the time. What’s the point of having her here when she barely cleans anything?

If I didn’t ask her to clean stuff, then I’d basically be paying her to just wipe down the counters mostly.

I’m upset that people are insinuating that I’m not paying her enough or that I expect to much just for asking for ONE small thing done sometimes.

What’s ironic is that the people who complained about things & made assumptions about things would probably get upset if she left their house dirty.

It’s like most people think that I don’t deserve anything nice or good. I don’t understand why that is.

If I only paid cleaners $50, if not expect my house to be very clean. Maybe just some surface clean up like pick up stuff. Like if you buy a meal for $5, you’d not expect gourmet meal. You want gourmet, you pay 4 times more.

Yes she can stay longer but no one will work more than 2 hours for 50 bucks.

If you don’t like her, fire her. Find a cleaner through reputable company. But then of course you’ll pay more. You get what you pay for. Of course you deserve good things. But good things cost good money.

I understand that. I have used services that charge more from big companies, but even they do a bad job at times.

Worse yet, they are often sneaky about the prices. They claim that it’s $100 for example then change the price once they get there claiming that the house needs extra work.

Or they’ll say it’s $80 an hour but they fail to mention that it’s per cleaner. So two cleaners would cost $160 an hour.

She should at least try to clean the bathroom & not leave it dirty. She literally did nothing in there which is upsetting.

I would find someone else if I could affford someone better, but my husband finally stopped putting money in the joint account & the credit cards are maxed out too.

I only make $19 an hour. I have to pay for insurance (they’re going to take out $460 biweekly for insurance). I also pay for my own food, gas & miscellaneous expenses.

My husband is extremely cheap & controlling. It’s really disgusting. He now works two jobs & he claims that he makes $150,000 a year, but he never has any money. Right! I know that he’s a liar as he had at least $400-500 in his wallet until recently.

I wasn’t working for a week because my client was on vacation & he only gave me $200! Wth? That barely covers food for a week! My car uses up over $70 in gas alone! What a joke!

I’d be in serious trouble if I wasn’t working f/t!!!

I’m not cheap but people on here are acting like I’m cheap & not paying her enough. I mentioned tipping her $20 each time, that double a normal tip!

I wish that people wouldn’t be so harsh & judgemental. I’m extremely upset now as I found out that my client isn’t completely happy with me.

She says stuff about how I try hard to do things & that I show up. She is a picky pain in the butt at times.

She was thinking about letting me go. I kind of pried that info out of her as I had a bad feeling that I was right about things & I was..

Now I am constantly worried that she will let me go at a moments notice just because I vented a bit to much to her & according to her, I didn’t clean things good enough. I thought that she liked me until now.

I have to watch everything that I say & do around her now which is stressful. She doesn’t handle any criticism or perceived criticism well.

She is also a bit judgemental & inappropriately at times too. I’m worried especially since she’s had a lot of different caregivers in a short period of time & she only liked the last one. She fired one lady who she didn’t like.

If that happens, I won’t be able to afford one of the few nice luxuries that I have left.

On the Peninsula, the going rate for housecleaners is $35/hr for basic cleaning. I do not know what the rate is in San Jose and may be it is a bit lower, but I would be surprised to learn that it is a whole $10/hr lower than here. I do not know why this cleaner quoted you what seems to be a below market rate when you first began talking to her. How did she come about in your life? Who recommended her?

This gal charges less than other house cleaners because she knows she doesn't do a great job and has no intention of upping her game. She figures there are clients who will put up with her half-hearted work because she works cheap. It sounds like you have pretty much fit into her plan. As you say, you only tolerate her because she's less expensive than her competition.

In recent years, I've hired people to help me on occasion with cleaning and organizing. I too got hit with sticker shock. What I learned is that the less they charge, the less they do.

Back in the 90s, I used to hear about all these immigrants who couldn't get work legally and were working under the table doing household chores for bargain wages. Well, I don't know where they all went, if they ever even existed. In 2020, I hired someone to clean just my bathroom, which was a bad mess, due to some work by my landlord and due to me being away for months. (Bad stains in the toilet, sink and tub from hard water.) The person charged me $100, but she did a beautiful job. People who are really good at this have no problem finding clients who will pay them a lot more than $50 to clean several rooms.

That's the reality. So your choice is to pay more or lower your expectations. I'm not defending this person you hired. It sounds like she is lazy and out to skate by, putting in little effort. I'm afraid that's what you get for what you're paying.

When I cared for my friend who was dying of cancer, the VA and the state were willing to pay for him to have home attendants to help. They were supposed to clean, cook and render personal care like bathing, etc. They were obtained through homecare agencies. You would not beleeeeeeve how little these individuals are willing or able to do. We had a series of them. An agency supervisor comes out and tells you all the help you're going to get from this person who makes about $14/hour. Basically, you get a sitter who might be able to heat up something in the microwave, IF you leave it all prepared ahead of time. As the personal care got more involved, I even tried hiring experienced nurse's aids for the same wage the nursing homes were paying. One of them failed to even take him to the bathroom all day. You find that you just can't drop the bar low enough.

It really is a scandal when you see how little many people are willing to work. That's why really good workers can charge quite a bit. Even wealthy folk will tell you that it truly is hard to get good help.

I think you do deserve to have your house cleaned, @jesyka. If someone agrees on the price, he or she should do a thorough job. I'm surprised at the push back and lack of sympathy you're getting from this "support" forum, and I'm sorry about that.

@Rose76 summed it up well: