Any (current or former) cleaners here?

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CyclopsSummers
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14 Jan 2014, 4:02 pm

More and more, lately, I've been embracing the job of cleaner. I've consistently held several cleaning jobs for the past two years, although there's been a couple of months that I've gone unemployed now. I have very recently started a small basic cleaning course at a training center for cleaners, that consists of 6 three-hour practice sessions ending in an exam, that will get me a basic cleaning diploma if I pass. (More and more cleaning companies demand this from their employees).

I must say I quite enjoy the job of cleaner, although some of it depends on the location that needs to be cleaned. I especially like cleaning offices, because it's relatively light and consistent every day. I have in the past cleaned airplanes as well, which was a lot of fun, but it didn't work out because I was usually assigned to a team that had a particularly authoritarian team leader with whom I could not get along. I've also cleaned a sports center and a museum, and both locations were nice to clean.

I enjoy picking out the tools to set up on my cart before I start my shift. There's actually a lot of patterns you go through every day on the job when you go about planning your cleaning activities, and I find that my penchant toward categorizing and systemizing things really helps on this job, as does my eye for detail and my punctuality.

So, anyone else? Did you enjoy your job as a cleaner, or not at all? How long did you work, what were your (favourite) shifts, at which locations/buildings did you work, etc. etc.


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Janissy
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14 Jan 2014, 4:17 pm

My time as a cleaner was very enjoyable and lasted a couple of years. I cleaned apartments in a complex that had just been vacated to get them ready for the new tenant. That meant there was never any furniture to clean around. There were just empty rooms with filthy patches plus stove and fridge. Those came with the apartment and needed to be cleaned for the next tenant.

Pros:
the work was actually fun
I worked alone

Cons:
low pay
intermittent work- I would be called in when somebody moved out of the complex but this didn't happen often enough to be a way to make a living



timf
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15 Jan 2014, 11:34 am

Quote:
Did you enjoy your job as a cleaner, or not at all? How long did you work, what were your (favourite) shifts


When I was in the Army, if you were cleaning the latrine, no one ever bothered you. Third shift was the best because none of the management were around to look over your shoulder and hassle you.



hurtloam
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15 Jan 2014, 6:54 pm

I liked being a cleaner. It's very satisfying work. I don't have the health to do it full time.



chris5000
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17 Jan 2014, 3:57 am

when I was remolding a apartments I got stuck with cleaning the walls of this schizophrenic guys apartment that he had been living in for over 20 years and he never cleaned ever he also chain smoked. I scrubbed the walls from a deep yellow back to white so we could paint

I hated every minute of it

it really depends on the cleaning

if im like sweeping up a job site no big deal but when im cleaning other peoples filth I hate it



Roninninja
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17 Jan 2014, 6:44 pm

I worked as a janitor once. It was especially cool because my brother worked with me and so did my friend. What I liked about the job is that it was very structured and predictable. Besides receiving orders from my boss, the job was completely independent. We cleaned offices and we usually worked at night when nobody was there. Great job for an Aspie, but it is a tad mundane.


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nick007
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06 Feb 2014, 3:34 am

My 1st job was a dish-washer at IHOP. I was pretty good at it due to my OCD but I hated the stress/pressure when things got busy & I also hated the chemicals because they were really bad on my skin. I have a rare low vision disorder & a tremor disorder that makes washing dishes at home more difficult & my OCD acts up with that but it was easier to wash with the machines at IHOP but I double checked things. I wouldn't want to be a dish-washer again but it gave me work experience.

My 2nd job was floor-cleaning at WalMart. I was originally hired to do stocking but transferred after a couple days because my vision & tremors caused problems & because no one really showed me the ropes. I had problems catching on with the floor-cleaning at 1st but my supervisor & a few others took extra time with me because they saw I was trying & my good work ethic made me really likeable by most. I had problems getting along with the slackers but I worked well with anyone. I like planning due to my OCD so I was kind of a strategist when I worked with others & because of my good work ethic I kind of took charge sometimes when my supervisor or his backup weren't around which caused the slackers to accuse me of being a boss. I worked well by myself especially when I was left alone but I liked working with lots of the people as well. I didn't use the machines like scrubbers & floor buffers but I moved them around & helped set them up for others to use. My vision did cause some problems with moping but my OCD compensated by having patterns. I liked the job I was supposed to be doing when management left me alone to do it but management kept pulling me off to help with extra projects & then got upset because I didn't do the cleaning. We had a contract crew assisting us because we were really short-handed but they were screwups. I had been working 6 days a week averaging at least 9 hours a day not counting the lunch break & things built up with me. I had been dealing with a depression sense before I had my 1st job & working was a way to kind of better myself & escape some of the issues but working that much regularly wasn't good for my mental health after a while. management got worse. I quit because one had ordered me to move some stuff back for the contract crew & specifically told me to ignore other orders; a comanger had me paged to do something but she didn't make the page herself so I ignored it like I was ordered to & I got chewed out for it. Shortly after I quit my supervisor & the rest of the department was dissolved into others & the contract crew took over. I would of had problems working in other departments due to my disabilities so I feel I was forced out.

My 3rd job was custodial at a sporting-goods store. I was kind of left alone a lot which didn't bother me so I looked for things to do 1ce the usual routine stuff was done & most liked me for that. Part of the job was putting boxes in the compacter & I didn't feel safe handling the box-cutter sometimes due to my tremors. I started seeing a neurologist but the medication made me sick & I was let go due to company policy after being out two weeks. They said they would take me back if I reapplied but the tremors didn't get better & after a while I quit seeing the doc & taking the meds.

I wouldn't mind doing custodial or floor-cleaning again as long as my task work within the scope of my disabilities/limitations


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hanyo
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06 Feb 2014, 8:36 am

I had a cleaning job. I only lasted 5 weeks but at least I was alone most of the time. The only people there was me upstairs, my friend downstairs, and a guy that did the floors in the hall and gym who usually didn't bother us.

I quit during a school break when they had me working full time instead of part time doing different stuff and had other people in there. I couldn't stand it and quit. A week later my friend quit so I would have had to quit anyways since she drove me there and I don't think it was on the bus line.