Getting a cleaner?

[Jugoo28]

Very first world problems. Our house has wooden floors. It takes a long time to mop them all. I hate mopping the floor as does my DP with the result that they do not get mopped as often as they should.

I want to get a cleaner purely to mop the floor. My DP thinks it is absolutely ridiculous and a waste of money as we are both capable of mopping the floor.

Somehow he fails to see the fact that WE DONT MOP THE FLOOR even though he is right in that we are perfectly capable of doing it.

WIBU to just get a cleaner? We can afford it and I can't be bothered nagging him to do it, especially as I can't be bothered doing it myself.

Work out how long it would take to mop all the floors in the house and then multiply that by the hourly rate of a cleaner. Then give your DH half that amount and tell him either he mops all the floors in the house every week or he books a cleaner to do it. His choice.

2 hours a week is an acceptable amount of hours to offer someone so add a few other things you hate along with the mopping and get searching!

It's a waste of money insomuch as you could easily do it yourself.

BUT, for our family of four, we have a 5 day a week cleaner* as we can afford it and housework of any kind sucks. I'd happily go without many nice things to pay for someone else to iron, mop, shop etc!

*she is also our childminder after school until DH and I get home.

Are you sure there aren't any more jobs you hate? Changing bedclothes? Cleaning out the fridge? Cleaning the oven? I'm sure you could find a few extra things to make it worthwhile for a cleaner.

And YANBU. I did exactly the same, said that I was going to get a cleaner and if DH didn't like it then he could do all the cleaning and I'd cancel the cleaner. About a decade later, we've still got a cleaner. And she's wonderful.

I love my cleaner.
But if it's just about mopping, what about a floor washing robot like Scooba?

Get a bloody cleaner. Why in this day and age (if you have the money) any of us do the huge job of cleaning when we have other jobs too is beyond me. If you can afford it, why the heck would you do it yourself (unless you enjoy it). We have enough jobs in our lives without housework. Of course some needs doing but life is too short to not outsource.

Definitely get a cleaner. I resisted getting a cleaner myself, it was DH who insisted, as I just wasn't coping, and he is blind, so he can't help. Best thing I ever done, so worth the money. My stress levels are dramatically reduced.

It doesn't matter if you just want the wood floors mopped, it's a job that you can get someone else to do, even if technically you could do it yourself. But there are so many things that you could do yourself, and if add them all up, it's a full-time job. If you can afford, do it.

Most cleaners or cleaning services have a service minimum of 2 hours to make it worth the journey etc.

I would have a couple more rooms done too to fill a decent time-frame otherwise they will have to charge their minimum in any case and you won;t get your money's worth.

We are a cleaning service and a few clients just have us do all the 'wet work' ie kitchens and bathrooms as these seem to be their most hated chores and then they do the other rooms themselves because they don't mind doing those.

Would you like them to do a bathroom as well or maybe the kitchen and living room? Or whatever rooms you like doing least, but 'wet' work takes longer than 'dry' as more details need attention and sometimes a bit of scrubbing, so bathrooms/kitchens are a more detailed job to do than living rooms/bedrooms.

Just get a section of the house you think that a cleaner could manage regularly within two hours and ask around for quotes on this work. Make sure they are insured and operating professionally and then you will be covered for any damage plus they are less likely to cause this damage or be erratic if they are professional cleaners and not just a nearby lady/man who wants some pocket money. it pays to hire someone running a business as they will value their word-of-mouth reputation and act accordingly.

Well I'm sure you are both capable of cutting your own hair, but I guess you pay someone else to do it ?

So why not get a cleaner if you can afford one? Just treat them well and pay a fair rate for the job.

The rest of the house isn't too bad but I'm sure it could be dusted more and I could get rid of weekend bathroom cleaning to a cleaner as well. I'm just going to do it and we can enjoy sparkly clean floors together once he's done complaining! I did offer to pay him to wash the floors every week as that is how much I hate mopping the floors but he didn't seem too keen on that (because he still wouldn't bloody do it!)

I am single, no kids, 50hr working week. I have a 2 bed bungalow....and 2 hours cleaning a fortnight. I love my cleaner. He cleans kitchen and bathroom and Hoover's, and what takes him 2 hours would take me 4 plus the procrastination time he comes on a Friday and it's so nice those Fridays to come home to a sparkly house... I just wish I could afford it every week. Or twice a week. Do it!!

Do it!

Tell DH you're doing it for a 3 month trial run, to see how you feel having a cleaner weighs up against the cost.

After 3 months you and DH will both be sold on the idea.

I love the comparison to a hair cut, Kr1stina! As I would prefer a cleaner over a hair cut ;) I cut my hair myself (DIY hair cut/pony tail hair cut as described om MN), as I have a bit of a phobia about hair dressers, I hate hair dressers with shop windows, and I never seem to be able to articulate what hair style I want.

The issue is not what the cleaner does, it's the hours. Most won't do less than two or three hours on a given visit. It's just not worth their while. So the question is how long does it take to mop the floors.