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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to ask; If you've been a cleaner, or are a cleaner, would you have a cleaner? And if not, why not?

26 replies

Laiste · 06/06/2016 14:27

Purely out of interest.

I've been a cleaner in the past and i wouldn't have one. Wondered how typical that is.

Oh and the why not for me is hard to pin point. Just would feel really awkward. Wouldn't want anyone roaming round the house while i was out, but equally wouldn't want to be here while they worked.

OP posts:

pleaseholdyourcallisimportant · 06/06/2016 14:33

I have been a cleaner and if I could get someone like me I would. I know I did over and above and didn't go snooping, didn't leave early, didn't take the piss.

As I can't afford a regular cleaner I nicked a great tip from MN (wish I could remember the OP) and now I allocate myself 2 hours a week where I go hell for leather, pretend it isn't my house and pay myself £5 a week I have a pinny and headscarf thingy to wear At the end of the month I treat myself

VilootShesCute · 06/06/2016 14:39

Nobody would clean my house as well as me. And I'd hate having to pay someone just for me to re-do it all! I want a pinny and headscarf too pleaseholdyourcalm!

gamerchick · 06/06/2016 14:41

Been one and would have one.

Heh I have a tabard to get stuck in as well

MyBreadIsEggy · 06/06/2016 14:45

I've been a cleaner and if I could afford one, I would have one!
Or maybe not necessarily a cleaner....but a laundry putter-awayer! It's the one household job that I absolutely loathe!
I quite enjoy hoovering the carpets and steam mopping my kitchen it's quite therapeutic!

gamerchick · 06/06/2016 14:46

There was a time I wouldn't have had one but the closer to full time hours and this big arse house I would get into knotts keeping on top of detail work and I dislike dirty skirts, dust in light shades, cobwebs, edges of rooms and underneath furniture so would rather hand those jobs to someone else.

pleaseholdyourcallisimportant · 06/06/2016 14:47

Viloo As soon as I put my pinny on I become my alter ego - wish I could remember the thread I got the idea from. It wasn't that long ago. It makes me laugh and when the 2 hours are up I stop. Obviously I do regular tidying up inbetween but for those 2 hours a week i am Clara the cleaner and I get paid

wigglesrock · 06/06/2016 14:49

Been one, occasionally still go back to it for a few months and yes would have one for my own house. I've used a cleaning service for a deep clean before.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 06/06/2016 15:03

I can't comment really on the OP but if my cleaner calls in sick I pay myself the £50 she gets and find the time. Dh doesn't seem to notice that the cash has gone anyway and he certainly doesn't muck in so "it's mine, all mine"

Hirosleaftunnel · 06/06/2016 15:25

Been a cleaner and a chambermaid when at uni. Since I could afford it I've had a cleaner, paid well for good ones. Now have a house keeper, always make sure they know I have done it too and I don't act like a cunt. House is always kept tidy and staff treated with respect.

ImperialBlether · 06/06/2016 15:29

A housekeeper! That sounds amazing, Hiro. Are you in the UK?

Hirosleaftunnel · 06/06/2016 15:39

Not any more.

JustBoppinAlong · 06/06/2016 15:47

I am a cleaner. And I wouldn't hire a cleaner myself. Only for the simple fact that I would feel lazy. It would feel wrong to clean everyone else's house but then get someone else to clean my own.

WhereTheFuckIsMyCunt · 06/06/2016 15:54

I had a Saturday job cleaning holiday villas as a teenager. I would never have a cleaner. Don't like the idea of someone spending that much time in my house. I can just cope with the dog walker.

Original poster

Laiste · 06/06/2016 17:55

Split then really. Loving the idea of donning a cleaning persona and paying yourself

I feel i was a good cleaner. No snooping, no piss taking with time, ect. Treated their home as i would want my own treated, etc.

Just weird that i felt no ill will towards my clients at all, i would get a sense of pride looking at the lovely clean house and knowing how pleased they would be when they walked in - and yet i would feel embarrassed to have a cleaner myself. Makes no sense. Am i an inverted snob?

OP posts:

rookiemere · 06/06/2016 18:04

I have a cleaner. I hate cleaning but I like a clean home. I work 70% of DH's hours and do the laundry, food shopping and preparation , homework supervision and school admin. No one gives DH any grief about having a cleaner, so why shouldn't we outsource the jobs we hate and don't have time for.

Our current one is fabulous, very professional and does a great job in 2 hrs. If she were to stop I'd maybe not get a replacement as we've had some bad cleaners in the past - the worst being one through an agency who stole our Tesco club card vouchers.

RebelandaStunner · 06/06/2016 19:33

I sort of am a cleaner. I clean our holiday home ready for the next guests and it has to be spotless so I like to do it myself because I am fussy. I treat it like my second job. I also do most of the cleaning at home as DH works longer hours than me.

Blankiefan · 06/06/2016 19:55

I was a cleaner for a while whilst being a student. Ive had a selection of cleaners for the last ten years.

Don't see the issue really. When I cleaned, I got on with it like I did the various other student jobs I had (working in a bar, umpteen shops, doing admin temp work, etc). I was pretty concientuous in these jobs (I've worked since I was 13 and always found it made the time go faster to actually do the job).

These days, I don't want to do it / spend the time on it (I work full time and have dd) so why wouldn't I pay someone else.

I'm not overly fussy but similarly, if there's a problem, I've no issue bringing it up with the cleaner / agency.

GetAHaircutCarl · 06/06/2016 19:59

I love my cleaner and have her over lots of hours ( over 10 most weeks) but I know how people feel about having someone in the house.

It is especially hard as I do a lot of work from home.

But we've settled into a good routine now. Sometimes I barely see her!

Ilovewillow · 06/06/2016 20:14

I have a cleaner but I know what you mean - it's never quite as I would do it. I have had several over the yrs and they have all been great except the contract cleaners who were expensive and poor!

Finallyamummy · 06/06/2016 20:18

We have a cleaner for 3 hours every other week. Dh and I both work full time and we have a 2 yo ds. Our cleaner saves my sanity and means the time I would have spent cleaning, I spend with dh and ds.

morningtoncrescent62 · 06/06/2016 20:24

I've been one, and at the moment I wouldn't have one - I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself and I'd feel lazy asking someone else to clean my house. If things change as I get older and I'm not able to cope then I'd have one (assuming I had enough cash).

MarkRuffaloCrumble · 06/06/2016 20:46

I have been a cleaner, only for one client, a neighbour who needed someone and I was after a bit of extra money for a few months.

I now have a cleaner, but can only afford once a fortnight.

I do feel a bit guilty when she is here and I try to make myself busy (usually am anyway!)

I think I did a more thorough job than any of the cleaners I've had when I was being paid, but I just can't muster the enthusiasm for doing my own house, so I have to pay someone or it will never get done

RacO · 06/06/2016 21:13

I have a cleaner, for me it's about outsourcing what I can to give me more time to do other things. Both my DH and I work full time and like the help to keep our house in order. I love it when our cleaner comes and sheets changed and clothes ironed. We trust our cleaner she's lovely, her only flaw is she brings us gifts when goes on holiday and we have to keep them or she'd notice...

BoboChic · 07/06/2016 14:13

I recently moved and, although my cleaner was very keen to follow us, I used the opportunity to let her go on the basis that the new place is much harder to clean than the old place and that I knew she wasn't at all keen on stepladders (there are very high ceîings and a lot of putti to dust).

I haven't yet embarked on looking for someone new and I am just loving not having a cleaner!

ChipInTheSugar · 07/06/2016 14:18

I've recently employed a cleaner - it's lovely not having to do as much through the week. BUT .... she moves things and it DRIVES ME MAD. Everything is re-positioned at an angle - the microwave, the hall table, the clock on the mantelpiece, my little free-standing bathroom rack. Vases and ornaments are swapped round ... I feel that this is outside of her remit to just clean!

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