Do you have a cleaner?

[Lovemy3kids]

Does anyone have a cleaner? Would you be without them? Are they expensive? Do you feel comfortable that they are in your house when you are not there? How much cleaning do they do (do they clean windows and things like that).

I am a full time single mum with 3DC and I try to do a bit of cleaning each night (if I can), or I seem to spend the whole weekend trying to get the house up together, so am seriously contemplating working the cost of a cleaner into my budget, but would just like some feedback from those of you that already have a cleaner. Is a cleaner considered a bit of a 'luxury'?

[Portofino]

Yes - and I don't see it as a luxury. I work FT and it is enough for the 2 of us to do food shopping and cooking etc. I would basically get hardly any time to spend with dd if I had to clean the house as well.

[thestringcheesemassacre]

Yes and I'm a SAHM. She does 4 hours one week and then 2 the next.
I love her. She charges £9 per hour.

[Lovemy3kids]

What kind of things do they do in terms of cleaning?

[thestringcheesemassacre]

Clean bathrooms, floors, kitchen, mirrors, hoovering, change beds, iron, dust/wipe surfaces, fridge, empty bins, light tidying (but I usually have the house tidy for them to clean)

[MrsMarigold]

£9 per hour, I used to pay £10 but the new one charges £9. My experiences have been mixed. The cleaner comes for four hours a week which really is nothing (our house is big, dusty and victorian). She vacuums the stairs, cleans the bathrooms, mops the kitchen floor, polishes furniture, cleans the fireplaces, dusts surfaces and irons seven shirts - DH always wears a proper shirt everyday. It's more about keeping on top of things. She does not tidy. It is worth it.

[Lovemy3kids]

Do you use an agency thestring or did you find your cleaner privately? I am not sure where to start with it all! I have just looked online and there is a husband/wife doemstic cleaning company near me and they charge £10.50 an hour....how many hours is the norm?

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

Yes I don't think I can live without a cleaner but then I work full time. She comes for 2 hours a week for a 3-bed semi with one bathroom. I think you can estimate how many hours they'll need by trying to time yourself cleaning the bathroom(s), kitchen, dusting, moping and vaccuuming. That'll give you a realistic idea of how much they can cover in the hours your paid too. Mine charges £12.50 an hour but we are in the SE.

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

Oh and you can also ask them to do ironing and window cleaning etc. Basically anything. But I opt to do those myself. I just want someone to keep on top of the weekly chores, so I can concentrate on the stuff you do irregularly. Like oven cleaning, windows, iyswim.

[Bonsoir]

There are lots of advantages to cleaners aside from cleaning - a regular cleaner forces you into a domestic routine about bed changing/ironing/tidying etc and it also makes you rethink how you run your home and what you prefer to outsource and what you would rather do yourself. You often gain a lot in efficiency just by having to think about how to manage your cleaner.

[Lovemy3kids]

Thank you for your feed back. Can i just ask - do they provide all the equipment or do they use your equipment (polish, mop/bucket, hoover etc...)

[LST]

No I don't. I don't know if I would tbh. I'd probably clean before they got here..

Bit OCD.

[areyoutheregoditsmemargaret]

You provide equipment

[Bonsoir]

Cleaners who work for cleaning companies often come with their own equipment and products. Self-employed cleaners usually expect to use yours.

[Lovemy3kids]

And would it be better to use a cleaning company as opposed to a self employed one?

[Bonsoir]

If you are unused to employing a cleaner, a company is good because the cleaner is managed for you - someone will come to your house and help you work out what needs doing, and then give you a quotation.

[Lovemy3kids]

Thanks for your advice....think I will look into this further in my area

[PuppyMonkey]

My cleaner brings her own stuff. She even brings her own Henry, as she loves him so. £9 per hour here too. She does three hours a week, four bed detached, q big house. dusting, vacuums, mops floors, does bathrooms, loos etc. Have had her 2 months and she's made me very very happy.

I found her cos she put a note thru door advertising her services.

[Lovemy3kids]

Are you in the house when she cleans? I work full time so am out of the house from 8.30-5.30 and then running around after the DC with their activities

[thestringcheesemassacre]

I got a recommendation from local friends. She does about 4 of my friends houses. She's slightly different as she brings a tribe of people with her and they blitz clean. So if she says 4 hours, and she has 4 people, it means they're in and out in an hour.

I have a 3 bed/bath house over 3 floors and 4 hours is enough time to do all that to a high standard.

[OneLittleToddlingTerror]

I am never home when she comes. And I provide all the mops, clothes, hoover, cleaning products, etc. But she's very particular about cloth colours so she sticks with one colour for the bathroom, one for the kitchen, that kind of thing.

[MarshaBrady]

Yes recommendation from friend.

Very good, I supply stuff. I leave when they (two usually) are here and enjoy the walk in to cleanliness.

[PuppyMonkey]

I an usually in when she comes, working in our home office (only room we don't bother getting done). I nip out sometimes and leave her to it though.

[enjoyingscience]

I just got one last week. I can't tell you how amazing it was walking back into the house after she'd been.

She's only doing 2 hours, but I would have more if I could afford it. We both work FT, with one of us working late every night of the week at the moment. I don't see her as a luxury at all.

[Ephiny]

Yes we have a cleaner for 3 hours a week, I think we pay her about £12/hour (though DH takes care of the organisational side).

We provide equipment, sometimes she buys cleaning products if she needs them and we reimburse. I'd have no problem with her being there when we're out - I prefer not being under her feet, and it's lovely to come home to a clean house - though in practice DH is often in, working from home.

She mops floors, hoovers, dusts, cleans kitchen surfaces, cleans bathroom, makes the beds, takes the rubbish out, empties/loads dishwasher, empties washing machine/airer if needed, cleans oven and fridge as needed.

Maybe some consider it a luxury, but I can't imagine ever not having a cleaner. There's no way I'd want to do all that stuff myself, and it wouldn't be fair to dump it all on DH!

[wordfactory]

For the past few years I've had someone for 15-20 hours a week. A housekeeper, I suppose you'd acall her, htough that sounds absurdly grand.

She has been fabulous.

However, a few months ago she went on an extended trip to NZ and since her return has been plagued with a back injury. I can now see what ajolly long time all the household chores take.

Thing is, we're now splitting our time between London and country, and the flat in London is far too small to justify as much help. And we won't be in the other house except weekends holidays.

I dunno what to do, actually.