Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Am I the only one who doesn't have a cleaner??

235 replies

Hotmad · 26/02/2014 09:48

At my mum & baby group the other day consisting of new mums only, I found out they all had hired cleaners!! I don't have one as I can't afford to have one. I just said, I live in a pig sty at present :)
I looked up cleaners costs and locally (london) they charge about £12-£15 per hour, Is this a lot do you think? I might pay myself £10 per hour and do it myself!

OP posts:
giraffesCantBoogie · 26/02/2014 20:16

I have one - £20 once a week. I LOVE her. I have lung issues that make cleaning hard even when I am well, so well worth it. I have taken on some extra weekly work to cover it.

whatever5 · 26/02/2014 20:17

I don't have a cleaner because everyone seems to work for agencies in my area and they charge about £20 an hour. Although I don't particularly like cleaning I don't dislike it enough to pay that.

bbcessex · 26/02/2014 20:27

I have a cleaner twice a week.. she is brilliant.

I'm.reasonably frugal in other things, but more because I'm.trying to stop waste.. I don't class this a waste, for us its money very well spent...

Skivvywoman · 26/02/2014 20:28

I don't have a cleaner,don't need a cleaner,don't know anyone with a cleaner and wouldn't judge anyone who does.... But I don't like the comments I'd rather have a cleaner so I can be more of a parent!
Us who don't have cleaners can still parent our kids

likeit · 26/02/2014 20:29

I have a once a week blitz by my wonderful cleaner. SAHM of 2. Judge away, really don't care Grin

MaryWestmacott · 26/02/2014 20:43

HappyMumOfOne - to my earlier point, would you expect a professional nanny to clean?

If not, why should someone doing that job for free have lots of extra free time to clean?

I'm on mat leave with DC2, and just had to stop having a cleaner until I return to work because we just can't afford it. But cleaning has to be done in the evenings/weekends because my DCs are rather 'hard work' in the day, I do'nt see that because I'm in the house in the day that means I have lots of extra time to clean, just that the house gets dirtier as there are people in it.

oif · 26/02/2014 20:56

We have a cleaner twice a week, and have done for ages. I am SAHM to two pre-schoolers, and DP works long hours and weekends.

Undoubtably I would miss it if we stopped, but I have never felt comfortable with it. I don't feel lazy as the constant tidying, washing up, and childcare from 6am to 7pm every day makes me feel I am doing 'enough'! I leave the kitchen clean every night, do 1 or 2 loads washing eevery day and wash the bathrooms down after use.

But I do feel kind of spoilt, and I want my children to leave home knowing how to clean toilets, hoover etc. so I don't want to have a cleaner when they are old enough to help out (DP will take a lot of convincing on this though, and not sure how much of a fight I really want to get into for the right to clean my own toilet! Especially as I tend towards the dirt-blind side of the dirt tolerance spectrum)

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 26/02/2014 21:10

oif it is perfectly possible to teach your children to clean while you have a cleaner.

My Mum always had a cleaner when we were growing up, but there are always crumbs to hoover, sinks that need wiping etc etc. I managed to clean my own house for several years before I had a cleaner myself Grin

One of the most ridiculous threads I ever read on MN was a couple of years ago, and a SAHM was posting about feeling a bit adrift now that her DCs were at school etc etc. She was asking about volunteering IIRC.
The sheer number of people who said 'well you could give up your cleaner for a start, cleaning the house will keep you busy'!

I was utterly shocked, that in these 'enlightened' times, the best suggestion for a woman to fill her time is to clean toilets and mop floors. Really bloody depressing.

RuddyDuck · 26/02/2014 21:14

When we moved to a village when my dc were small, I was Shock that all the other families we met had cleaners yet the mums were sah. I worked and didn't gave a cleaner and I really don't think our house was any dirtier than the other families' houses. Our dc used to go to sleep at 7.30pm so we did cleaning then, we'd only have been watching crap tv otherwise.

Dc are now teens, dh and I both work ft and still don't have a cleaner. As others have said, its a matter of priorities. We'd rather have lovely holidays and do our own cleaning. If we had unlimited money we'd probably have a cleaner, but atm that's not going to happen.

Apart from illness or disability, I can't imagine any scenario where I didn't work but still had a cleaner.

oif · 26/02/2014 21:19

yes true Ali, and conversely, I grew up in a house without a cleaner where we all had cleaning chores to complete each week, and once I moved out I probably didn't clean anything much for a good 6 or 7 years…

I think the more important thing is probably getting everyone to be responsible and respectful in cleaning up after themselves, rather than worrying too much about washing walls or dusting furniture etc.

SpagBolgs · 26/02/2014 21:21

I need one and can afford one but choose not to.

WhereIsMyHat · 26/02/2014 21:36

*HappyMummyOfOne Wed 26-Feb-14 18:59:41
Why Whereis, because i believe people who are home all day dont need a cleaner *
Because your clearly miserable.

whatever5 · 26/02/2014 21:40

Oif- my parents had a cleaner three times a week and I still learned how to use a hoover (not sure that my mother knows though).

tunnocksteacake · 26/02/2014 21:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BrennanHasAMangina · 26/02/2014 21:50

I had one for a few years when my kids were preschoolers but then I worked out how many handbags I could buy instead that the money I spent on her each week could be better used elsewhere. I now do it myself, a zone each day. I sort of like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from transforming a room from minging to sparkling and having more money for shiny things. It's not fancy and probably no one cares except me but it's good, honest work and good for the soul, I think.

MortaIWombat · 26/02/2014 22:15

I judge the SAH mums of my dc's school chums who have no pre-school age kids as right lazy buggers. I'm not actually sure why, though. Perhaps it makes me feel that they don't take pride in their homes and are satisfied with a bought-in job - but that could be because I reckon I do a better job than a hired help would, because it's my home and I care about it and want to make it nice for my family - it's not just a job. It's the same guilt/corner cutting I'd feel serving up junk food.

Most irritating is, though, when they complain at the school gates about how terribly busy they are, and how they've barely got enough time to get in a decent jog before they're supposed to be meeting so-and-so for coffee, and yap, yap, yap. But that's the Dulwich set for you.

I'll never tell them, though. It's a free country and people can spend money on what they choose, if it's their money. Grin

Pipbin · 26/02/2014 22:45

Mine comes every other week during term time.
No children but we both work full time. She costs £8 an hour.

I do tidy before she comes, but I'm fairly tidy, because that's not her job. She mops the floors which I know I couldn't be arsed to do every other week. She's brilliant.

gilliangoof · 26/02/2014 23:10

I would love a cleaner. Even as a SAHP. I would rather spend time with the children than clean. I would rather do any of the other things I do than clean.

Alas, it is not to be.

Joysmum · 26/02/2014 23:18

As a SAHM with a DH who works long hours, I am that cleaner Grin

I'm looking to return to work and I don't want a cleaner. I'm very precious about my privacy.

OhThePlacesYoullGo · 26/02/2014 23:27

Our weekly cleaner was 'gift' from MiL that coupled with DP's cleaning obsession means I got lucky on the housework front.

Stripyhoglets · 26/02/2014 23:27

I work 3 days a week and have a cleaner, some people have expressed suprise that my DH "lets" me have a cleaner! I say it's my choice what I spend my wages on, he likes having a cleaner too as I sufferer chronic pain so he has to do more when we don't have one. I don't spend on other things that a lot of women do and I don't see why I should be judged for spending on that when I didn't judge other women for paying to have hair dyed, nails done etc etc. there is still a lot of cleaning and tidying to in between anyway but she does the heavy duty stuff.

Bodicea · 27/02/2014 06:19

Had a cleaner ever since I started earning my own money and had my own home. I just can't stand cleaning. There is always something else I would rather be doing. Before children I worked long hours so when I got home I wanted to go to gym, cook a nice tea and flop in front of tele. Now with a baby it still isn't a priority. I would rather be playing with Him, out for a walk or at a baby group. He is v demanding of my attention ( doesn't nap in the house) so don't think I could manage cleaning bathroom or something anyway.
As other people say it us about priorities. I would rather get a cleaner and do my own nails/spend loads getting hair done.

Bodicea · 27/02/2014 06:20

I mean not spend loads in hair

Rosa · 27/02/2014 06:30

I had one before I was married as i worked so hard and my 1 day off I did not want to spend cleaning. Now I do it and call in a hand when the ironing is taller than me and i am busy. I am a P/T SAHM with often P/T becoming FT . My house is small btw...

TheArticFunky · 27/02/2014 08:23

I don't have a cleaner but I'm working on it. When I earn enough to justify the cost we will have one for a couple of hours per week.

Swipe left for the next trending thread