Do you have a cleaning person?
- Thread starter Gunnerclone
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- duh yes you should
I've had the same person clean for me the last 13 years. As a single parent for a majority of that time, I didn't have the time to spend cleaning the house. Now, being married again, my wife and I have hectic schedules and it is worth every penny. There is nothing like coming home to a clean house. We still do some spot cleaning, but nothing too heavy in-between our regular cleaning.
We pay $75 and she cleans every other week. We live in a 5 bedroom home with three bathrooms and she cleans it all.
We pay $75 and she cleans every other week. We live in a 5 bedroom home with three bathrooms and she cleans it all.
We just pick up stuff so the places she's trying to clean isn't covered in crap, pick up toys, clean off the counters, etc.
We make the beds, tuck the mail in the desk, and that's pretty much it. We don't have to deal with toys since my kids are teenagers so one less thing to worry about.
We have had various cleaning ladies. We started with hiring a person (not a company), but didn't have good results - they'd miss stuff, act all upset when you pointed that out, etc. Finally, for this house, we just went with a company. 3 of them show up, hit the house like a tornado of dusting and vacuuming, and get done in an hour. They will strip our beds and remake them as well. Think it's like $135, and we have them come every other week. Money well spent.
My wife would probably like one but I wouldn't. I clean/do a ton of house chores that a lot of people joke about having a woman do. We hit the chores list pretty hard on the weekends so we don't have a ton to do during the week. Try and get the dishwasher running every night before we go to bed, and I unload every morning while the coffee is brewing, that's probably the biggest thing for us. We cook a lot, so when we come home from work, its so nice to be able to chop, boil, etc right away and not worry about the dishes.
Wife and I have been having this same discussion. Have 4 kids and each have busy jobs. We manage to keep the house generally pretty tidy, but the deep cleaning falls by the wayside. My wife really doesn't care but I'm a neat freak. Going to have to break down and do it one day.
Yes. We have a cleaning service that comes through every two weeks and we keep up with everything as best as we can in between. It was the second kid/job promotion for my wife combo that finally put us over the edge. There just wasn't enough time in the day anymore.
It's fine for now. I hate the expense but I like the results. I'd like to think that at some point we'll be able to cancel it and go back to doing it ourselves, but that's probably just wishful thinking.
It's fine for now. I hate the expense but I like the results. I'd like to think that at some point we'll be able to cancel it and go back to doing it ourselves, but that's probably just wishful thinking.
Your schedule sounds exactly like mine, except lately I've been unloading the dishwasher around midnight while I'm warming up a bottle for our youngest.
Just get the clutter out of the way. Clear off the surfaces that you want wiped down so they don't have to work around it or go through it, and get the toys and laundry off the floor if you have kids. That's about all we do.
For those of you considering a cleaning person, here are some things to consider -
-Are you going to hire a service or an independent person? Ask for references and take the time to talk to the references.
-Do you trust having someone in your home when you are not there?
-Do you trust them with a key or garage door code to your house?
-Make sure you set the expectations up front with what you want done - if you expect them to clean the blinds every time they clean, tell them that. I've known many people who get upset with their cleaning people because something wasn't done, only to find out they never asked for it to be done. Don't assume they are going to clean something, and put it down in writing what you want them to do. Also, if you are expecting them to do extras (cleaning windows, baseboards, making beds, etc.) be prepared to pay more.
-Make sure your definition of deep cleaning is the same as their definition of deep cleaning.
-How do they want to be paid? If you are using a service (Merry Maids) you are probably paying the office, whereas an independent you are paying them directly. Does your independent only want to be paid in cash, or can you write a check? I know some independents who only take cash.
-Are you providing cleaning supplies, vacuum, etc., or is the cleaning person providing them? If you have specific products you like, have to use, let this be known up front. Some independents will charge more if they have to use their own supplies.
-Do they need to clean the entire house, or are there rooms that can be skipped? Example, do you have a guest room that rarely gets used, if you do find out if they will charge less if they don't clean it.
-What is their policy on items that are broken/damaged?
The biggest thing I can say is make sure the expectations are clear up front. This will save you a lot of headaches later. In 13 years of having a cleaning person, I've never had an issue.
-Are you going to hire a service or an independent person? Ask for references and take the time to talk to the references.
-Do you trust having someone in your home when you are not there?
-Do you trust them with a key or garage door code to your house?
-Make sure you set the expectations up front with what you want done - if you expect them to clean the blinds every time they clean, tell them that. I've known many people who get upset with their cleaning people because something wasn't done, only to find out they never asked for it to be done. Don't assume they are going to clean something, and put it down in writing what you want them to do. Also, if you are expecting them to do extras (cleaning windows, baseboards, making beds, etc.) be prepared to pay more.
-Make sure your definition of deep cleaning is the same as their definition of deep cleaning.
-How do they want to be paid? If you are using a service (Merry Maids) you are probably paying the office, whereas an independent you are paying them directly. Does your independent only want to be paid in cash, or can you write a check? I know some independents who only take cash.
-Are you providing cleaning supplies, vacuum, etc., or is the cleaning person providing them? If you have specific products you like, have to use, let this be known up front. Some independents will charge more if they have to use their own supplies.
-Do they need to clean the entire house, or are there rooms that can be skipped? Example, do you have a guest room that rarely gets used, if you do find out if they will charge less if they don't clean it.
-What is their policy on items that are broken/damaged?
The biggest thing I can say is make sure the expectations are clear up front. This will save you a lot of headaches later. In 13 years of having a cleaning person, I've never had an issue.
This is the way we used to be, but we've had a cleaning service for years and love it. Now we can enjoy the weekend rather than figuring at least one day every couple weeks needs to be dedicated to scrubbing, dusting etc. I keep laundry going on Saturday (with a couple loads sprinkled in throughout the week) while I watch Gameday and football and my wife generally works in the kitchen and runs errands. We don't go out to eat often and don't travel a ton so this is one of the few luxuries we afford ourselves. We pay $70 for 2 ladies to come in for 2 hours every other week and it's some of the best money we spend. As hectic as our schedules are with work, meetings, kids' activities etc, we like to be able to relax and recharge on the weekend.
As far as us cleaning before they show up....no. We pick up so they don't waste time with that, but aside from that they're doing all the stuff we'd rather not do, like scrubbing the kitchen floor and bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting etc. They're not always perfect but they're reliable and trustworthy and will work on something different if we ask them to. We could live without it if money deemed it necessary but I don't see us getting rid of it as long as we can afford it. I don't like to clean, and I feel guilty dumping all the housework on my wife so it's every bit as much for me as it is for her.
Good subtopic. How often do you do laundry every week? Wait til it's a mountain or two or try to keep feeding medium to large loads throughout the week?
For a while we were going with the mountain technique, but now I generally try to do a medium load or two at least every other day just to stay on top of it. For me the washing through folding phases go smoothly enough. But I'm terrible about putting clean clothes away and it drives my wife insane.
Samesies.
With 2 young kids, the worst part to me is all the constant clutter, just drives me nuts. Once that's picked up, the sweeping/vacuuming is the easy part.
I'm way too cheap to pay someone to do something I'm perfectly capable of. Same reason I do all of our minor car repairs, minor house repairs, mowing/fertilizing, snow removal, etc. It has to be a MAJOR convenience to me to even consider, and cleaning isn't close to that level for me. Some people say their time is more valuable, but with how much time we still spend in front of the TV I guess I still have enough to clean for a couple hours a week.
I was going to get one this year, but then had a little plumbing issue that caused me to think twice about spending the money.
I'm going to move in with the gf here shortly, and then we'll likely get one to hopefully avoid a few arguments about cleaning
I'm going to move in with the gf here shortly, and then we'll likely get one to hopefully avoid a few arguments about cleaning
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Could some of that be cleaning materials?
If we use bleach in our home, it activates any sort of allergen floating around. Other stuff doesn't do that at all.
