To think that if you work FT you absolutely must have a cleaner??

[PisforPeter]

Just pondering..
Do people manage without one??

Goodness, I don't think any of my friends have cleaners, I'd better make some new friends fast if I want to stay on Mumsnet .

I don't know anyone that has a cleaner

Definitely not a necessity at all. But it's fair to say it helps, as do lots of other things like having a window cleaner, getting online shopping delivered etc.
I have a cleaner 2 hours a week and work FT, including work most evenings at home - but if I didn't or couldn't have one, I'd survive.

Of course not everyone can afford a cleaner even if they work full time. Everyone just needs to pull their weight and not leave a mess behind them.

It's much easier to get by if you just give up cleaning.

Ensure there are clean dishes and clothes and the rest can wait. That's how we managed.

I went through two cleaners. One caught leaving 40 minutes early each week. Life is easier if I do it myself.

Umm...yes? Most people manage without one?

We both work FT, and while we could just about afford a cleaner have decided to spend the money on other things. 2-3 hours a week (not including laundry, obvs) keeps on top of it all (fairly small house, thankfully) and about twice a year we have a mega blitz (which is always very cathartic).

Honestly, you do what you want - it is your life!

We can't afford a cleaner.

Besides, we'd miss the sticky floors!

We also like to play 'scratch 'n' sniff', a game to try and guess what the clothes stains are.

No need for Xbox or tv in Casa Conyo.

I work FT. I am a single parent. I am also studying for a Masters.

I don't have a cleaner.

Should I get one forthwith?

It's not the cleaning that I need it for it's the piles of crap created by our baby growing out of things that need to be sorted and storing and the filing and general sort outs due to tiny cottage living that I need and a cleaner doesn't do that. Generally I copy fine keeping on top of laundry, clean bathroom, Hoover and dusting, kitchen kept clean etc I just never get to the crap and sorting it out.

That being said I would love a cleaner if I could afford it and so justify the cost - at the mo £80 per month is too much for me - I plan to have a couple of weekends of working on the house followed by a spring clean one off clean which is around £60 for 6 hours but this would be pulling stuff out in the kitchen - oven and fridge etc, cleaning behind everything, oven fridge, conservatory - I would send ds and dfiance away and work alongside and pulling stuff out etc - so at one point I will have a clutter free totally clean house

YABU. Everybody must have a cleaner, FT work or not. Obviously.

I've debated getting one tbh but no we don't need one. It would free up time for all of us but we manage fine, and we all do loads of extra things.

Of course for some people it isn't even an option financially, so how ridiculous to imagine that it's compulsory.

Both DH and I work FT.

What we do in this house is share out the cleaning tasks - with 4 adults (one me, one DH, 2 teens, one 7 year old) we manage to clean up our own mess as we go along and do a big clean of loos etc once a week (usually at the weekend, with everyone pitching it, only takes a couple of hours at most).

Strangely enough, it's not killed any of us yet, and we're not paying out money for someone else to clean up after us. Result!

I work full time, have a 2.5 year old and currently don't have a cleaner.

I've had one before and it was great, but I can manage without one.

Plus I no longer have the Thursday evening madness of cleaning the house ready for the cleaners to come in the morning.

And more money for wine, which makes the dirt look better I find.

We both work full time. I will be studying again soon as well.
But we don't have a cleaner.
Even as a single parent working full time, no cleaner.
You get a routine.

Never had a cleaner when I was with my exh years ago we both worked 40 hours a week with 2 DC aged 5 and 3 managed fine didn't even have a tumble dryer or a dishwasher I knew one person then that had a cleaner which was my mum as a single parent still didn't have one

If you want one and can afford it fine but don't assume should have one just because we go on a internet chat forum

The benefits of working fulltime is that you are not in the house long enough to notice the dust and cobwebs
This is especially true in the winter when it is dark.
It's only when you are in the house with the sun streaming in that the mess is noticeable

Dh and I both work FT. No cleaner here, neither is our house very clean.No dishwasher or tumble drier either.
I am more surprised when folk don't do online grocery shopping tbh.
I chose home cooking and relaxing evenings over a sparkly house.

Yes YABU.

I don't know anyone who has one, not one person.
I worked full time when my dc were small and I never considered hiring one.

I'm currently on Maternity Leave and when I return to work (30 hours a week) I think there is a very high chance we will be getting a cleaner!!

Well I worked full time for many years whilst bringing up a family. I had a cleaner for 3 years and it was brill. The rest of the time I found it stressful and the house was never really how I wanted it to be.
I know not everyone can afford it but IMO a family where both parents work full time is much better off with a cleaner so that they can spend their time off having fun with their kids.
Its knackering to work 40 hours spend your time off cleaning, washing, gardening and chauffering.
I know it can be done but who really wants to?

Your cleaner doesn't do the washing, gardening and chauffering though - those things still have to be done. A bit of cleaning split between the adults of the house (and kids as they get older) is no big deal.

In response to "who really wants to" - me. Quite happy for us all to pitch in - and we all manage to have fun together too - usually with the money we save by not paying for a cleaner.

We both work full time and long hours at that. DH is out of the house for 14 hours a day. I travel a lot and work 50-60 hours a week. We tidy up after ourselves and have a cleaner for 2 hours a fortnight. It costs £10 p/h and is a no brainer to us
All my friends who work full time have cleaners

I have had a cleaner since I was a student (we all bunged in a tenner a fortnight for someone to come to do all the big jobs). Now our cleaner comes twice a week and does pretty much everything. I am currently considering whether to up her hours further as she is more like a housekeeper at this point so we might as well formalise it.

I would literally rather skip a meal a day than be without one, such is my hatred of cleaning.

But I'm pretty sure most people get by without one just fine.