Cleaner hours

[NTW2]

Hi,

Dreaming about being able to get a cleaner in again.

We used to have 3 hours a fortnight but it felt like the kitchen got out of control during that time. Kitchen, hoover, bathroom, downstairs loo and she'd do a cursory wood floor clean downstairs bit it really needs carefully doing as it's not actually supposed to be for heavy traffic and kitchens etc so I do that (dh chose it, architect, looks nice but it's not practical)

We did very little in between tbh but I had a baby and we were v busy. Dh is very housework adverse and also always working and stressed. I can have phases of poor health which results in fatigue. But I think getting better.

I'm trying to decide if two hours a week might be better than 3 hours a fortnight. And somehow spread the hours to meet an extra kitchen clean.

Has anyone done this? Would a cleaner do this or is it too much faff and they prefer a longer chunk?

The company I've used before is a cleaners / housekeepers so can do extra bits.

Tbh in a way I'd prefer fortnightly as the tidying up is half the issue! But lockdown had made us reorganise a lot and that's easier now.

Or maybe 4 hours a fortnight? Doesn't solve the keeping things ticking over though!

I'm definitely in the little-and-often team. Look at TOMM and how well that can work - a cleaner can do the same thing.

It also helps you keep things tidy if you are only motivated to clean if the cleaner is coming the next day.

TOMM? Thanks for your reply :)

Oh sorry, The Organised Mum Method. It's a programme for keeping your house clean that basically works on a "little bit every day" theory. You have a quick set of daily jobs (that should take no more than 15 mins - stick on a wash, make your bed, wipe some part of your bathroom down, quick floor clean of the main traffic area of your house) and every day Mon-Fri you take 30 mins to do one part of your house. Over the week, you are doing 5 x 45mins of housework and nothing on the weekend and you should get round your whole house by doing Mon-Fri.

If you want me to make a decision for you, and 2 hours a week is in your budget, I would ask the cleaner to do two hours a week and focus on the bathrooms, kitchen, dusting and hoovering. Then you do the daily jobs of TOMM (which you really have to do yourself - eg. make your bed, put a wash on, sweep the kitchen floor at the end of the day) and focus your efforts on tidying clutter away and keeping clear surfaces. You can go round the different rooms of the house Mon-Fri and just tidy room by room using the TOMM method. That will keep you ticking over between your cleaner's visits.

Ideally you would have a cleaner 30 mins a day rather than 2 hours a week! I've been reading some old school kids books to the kids and the working class family in the story has a "daily".