We used to live in a 3 floor 5 bed 2 bathroom house and I've always been very on top of keeping things tidy, so nothing to pick up, etc, just pure cleaning - sweeping, mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, etc, no bed linen, etc, but I kept finding that a team of 2 cleaners coming in were taking about 5 hours, which I couldn't understand - I was able to pristinely clean the whole house on my own in under 3 hrs - and I'm OCD, so this wasn't me doing a haphazard job! I tried 3 different cleaners, before deciding to do it myself. And now we've moved, I'd love to have a cleaner, but I still feel there's just no point in paying someone when I can do it faster and to a higher standard of cleanliness. (I 'caught' my parents cleaners a couple of times cleaning their big glass dining table with a dirty cloth - which finally explained to me why this glass table always smelt!!?)

I agree it depends on a number of factors. We have 3 floors, with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms occupied to be cleaned every week and 2 sets of bedding to be changed including washing and ironing of the changed sets.

2 Empty Guest bedrooms still need to be hoovered and dusted every week when cleaner comes.

Then it comes to ground floor with double reception (as in most of houses here usually) to be hoovered, furniture dusted.
Then the kitchen- i always ask the oven, microwave to be scrubbed and cleaned , fridge and extractor to be washed and polished.

It takes 5-6 hours.

Then there is a basement which needs to be hoovered once in a while.
I would also prefer wet floor wash in reception and bedrooms in addition to hoovering but its nit always enough time for this as there is 1 hour of ironing to do. So usually it comes 6-7 hours with ironing and there are still some bids to do extra that done not every week.

Yes, I use a company called C G Scrubbers. They are based in SW London and the owner is called Liz I think from memory. If you google them you'll come across them. A really thorough clean including carpets is about £500-£600 but well worth it and they pull out all furniture and literally clean everything. Works out at about £6 a week and as the Heineken Ad used to say they reach the parts other beers, or in this case cleaners, don't reach.

Yes, I use a company called scrubbers. They are based in SW London and the owner is called Liz I think from memory. If you google them you'll come across them. A really thorough clean including carpets is about £500-£600 but well worth it and they pull out all furniture and literally clean everything. Works out at about £6 a week and as the Heineken Ad used to say they reach the parts other beers, or in this case cleaners, don't reach.

Thats an excellent idea - doing a deep clean regularly!

Can you recommend a professional cleaning co that you've used?

We have a five bed terrace again with the top floor rarely used. Two adults and two teenagers. Our cleaner cleans for three hour each week and that includes, sweeping all the way through, mopping wooden floors in hall, kitchen, utility and bathrooms, hoovering throughout, wiping down bannister rails and light switches, cleaning two bathrooms and the downstairs loo, and polishing mirrors and a bit of dusting etc.

The kitchen is always clean surface, cooker, sink wise and the house is tidy. I don't expect her to pick up after us, make beds or change beds.

She also does two hours ironing for me.

On the whole I probably spend about an hour a day tidying and doing stuff like the dishwasher, washing machine, tumbler, putting away, etc.

Every 18 months to two years I get a professional cleaning company in to do a deep clean, cupboards, tops of kitchen cupboards, all paintwork, lampshades, carpets, etc. Find that works better than having more hours of light cleaning each week.

Thanks a lot everyone.
Very helpful!

It depends on what you are looking for. I know some people who have their cleaner 4hrs fortnightly and some who have one 16hrs q week (no childcare). Some want ironing, some dont, some want housekeeping some want just cleaning. I have a typical 5 bedrooms terraced house and i have a housekeeper for 11hrs a week. For us it works, couldnt have any less and she is fast.

You need to decide what you need and how long it needs to achieve it and see with the person if it works. If if doesnt you should be able to adapt.

It is not set in stone.

We have a 5 bed with 3 bathrooms and it takes 6.5 hours including ironing, and a weekly bed change. We also don't bother tidying before our cleaner arrives, so that does make a difference. There's usually a fair amount of picking up to do.

I don't think 6 hours is unreasonable personally - but then I would say that!

Our cleaning woman does 3hrs (no ironing) and does a pretty decent job. We do tidy up (not clean) beforehand, so she's not spending ages picking up toys and clothes in order to vacuum. In 6.5 hours I'd hope she did all the ironing, some cooking, my taxes...as well

I would say it depends on how tidy you are as well! My house is very 'lived in' by the 5 of us so it takes our cleaner a little longer. The kitchen can take an hour Plus she also changes all the beds for us on a 2-weekly cycle. We have 7hrs cleaning over 2 days. Ironing done separately.

We have 5 hours a week but split 3 and 2 on Tues and Friday. Tues is big clean and Fri quick clean and tidy. She also anagram to fit in a bit of ironing on Tuesdays.

thank you!
5 hrs is about what i thought was right too (same for us,2 upper bedrooms are not used)

We have 5 hours a week, and can usually squeeze in a little ironing at the end of the cleaning. Our upper 2 bedrooms are rarely used though so only get a hoover / light dust at most.

Hello,
how many hours does it take your cleaner to do a typical BTC terraced house (5 bedrooms)?
Ours says 6.5 hrs which seems a bit long to me..
thank you!