
Cleaners; they are like angels with mops and vacuums, helping make our homes liveable. But most of us have had a moment where we wonder if what we’re leaving a cleaner to do is… normal. Acceptable. Appropriate.
You might have also wondered about the sheer extent of what cleaners have to put up with. Surely it’s worse than our grubby windows and grimey showers?
Mamamia spoke with a group of cleaners who shared six things you wouldn’t know about their job.
Four cleaning hacks to make your life easier. Post continues below.
1. It isn’t an easy job that anyone can do.
Renee, a domestic cleaner of over four years, says “the biggest misconception of cleaning is that it is an easy job and a dead end one, for people who aren’t able to get into anything else.”
She said that the nature of the job, which can often mean being self-employed, is excellent in some respects due to the freedom, but it can also be difficult in others because “if you don’t work you don’t get paid”.
*Kylie, a domestic cleaner of three years, said cleaning is actually “hard labour. It can be very physically demanding.”
“Because cleaning is viewed as a non-skilled trade, sometimes clients will turn their noses up at us,” she added. “It is usually these same ones who will also view us as a housekeeper and order us around to try and get every dollar’s worth.”