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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to wonder why everyone has cleaners these days!

648 replies

Storm4star · 20/04/2018 21:49

Ok, please don’t take offence, I say this somewhat in jest. But my goodness how many of you have cleaners?? I have been utterly ripping the pee out of a male colleague at work because he and his wife have a cleaner but I hadn’t realised how common it’s become until I joined MN!

I personally struggle to justify spending my hard earned cash on things I could do myself (also do most of my own decorating and DIY). But have I missed something? Is a cleaner now the new must have?

OP posts:
merrymouse · 21/04/2018 07:03

Everyone has the same 24 hours every day and we all make choices about how to use them. Unless you are completely self sufficient and living off grid, at some point you are making a choice between doing something yourself and paying somebody else to do it. That is how the economy works.

BuggerLumpsAnnoyed · 21/04/2018 07:12

I think the money I spend on a cleaner is the best money I spend ! It just got to the point where nothing was getting cleaned properly as I was always rushing. I don’t have much time with the kids and I’d rather play with them than mop the floor

Stormy76 · 21/04/2018 07:13

I don't have one my dh is too tight....I want one though because I can't do all that much with my right arm.

restingbemusedface · 21/04/2018 07:13

I have a cleaner because a) I can afford to b) because I don’t want to spend my time off cleaning c)because I honestly believe that if you can afford to you should employ people and keep people in employment

Also, I saw another good point on here once. It’s seen as lazy to have a cleaner, but cleaning is generally seen by society as a women’s job. People get angry that the women aren’t using their spare time to clean up after the family. However if a man were to hire a Gardener or a decorater people probably wouldn’t bat an eye

donajimena · 21/04/2018 07:18

I work as a cleaner self employed. I have a cleaner so its not only people who work 12 hours a day in a high pressure environment.
I love cleaning in other people's houses because I'm good at it and efficient. In my own home less so. I get side tracked by mumsnet or sorting out stuff etc. Also even though I only work 6 hours a day I'm knackered by the time I get home and I like to sit on my arse. Much easier to get someone in so I can enjoy my free time. I'm studying too so it helps free up study time.

BuggerLumpsAnnoyed · 21/04/2018 07:20

figmentofmyimagination makes a good point as well. We moved into a new build house last year and having someone properly clean it is a bit of an investment. Where I’m always rushing and a bit shit at cleaning, it’s good to know it’ll get done properly

vampirethriller · 21/04/2018 07:23

I don't have a cleaner. I am one.Grin

vampirethriller · 21/04/2018 07:23

I don't have a cleaner. I am one.Grin

Sunafterstorm · 21/04/2018 07:27

I am with resting. If you can afford it why not keep someone else in employment. We long ago gave up doing our own decorating for similar reasons.

silverpenguin · 21/04/2018 07:27

Thanks vast majority of people I know have a cleaner, including people with no children and families where one parent is a SAHP.

We don't have a cleaner because I honestly don't mind doing the cleaning myself so don't want to spend money on it. We do get those meal delivery boxes once a fortnight though and we get some ironing sent out too. Swings and roundabouts!

falang · 21/04/2018 07:27

It's not common at all. I don't know anyone who has one.

TheGrumpySquirrel · 21/04/2018 07:28

@adaline
"Eh? How long do you think cleaning takes? And if you're out of the house on your long 12 hour days, why does it require hours of upkeep?"

Well once you get home at 7pm and you've cooked and eaten a meal and tidied up the kitchen, loaded the dishes etc and put DC to bed it's easily 9-9:30pm and then we get up at 6am so I'm not going to spend 30 minutes cleaning the bathroom at that point, or even doing a load of laundry, as I'm exhausted. So the laundry would almost always get saved for the weekend as would cleaning the kitchen and bathroom and sweeping/mopping floors (which is necessary to do once a week even if you aren't at home during the weekday daytime). Which all takes a lot longer than 30 minutes!

Isetan · 21/04/2018 07:28

Come on Op you really can’t be as naive as you’re making out. I don’t have a cleaner because I have things more pressing that need paying for but if I could have one I’d bloody would. I suspect that the bar to most people not having one is cost and not the missing out on the de stressing work out.

coconuttella · 21/04/2018 07:30

umpireStrikesBack

Sounds more like a housekeeper than a cleaner! Do you call her a nanny/cleaner because it seems less pretentious to do so?

Ivegotfamilyandidrinkcupsoftea · 21/04/2018 07:31

We dont have one
Both BILS do though

Walkaboutwendy · 21/04/2018 07:31

We had a cleaner until recently due to moving. It was great!

If you have the money then why does it need to be justified Confused I really don't understand this self flagulation over fairly mundane things. People love to find an excuse to look down their noses at others. Very odd.

By the way I'm 100% sure your colleague pretty much thinks you are a twat.

fia101 · 21/04/2018 07:32

Work full time with additional hours in evening and weekends. 3 hour round commute and 2 small kids with one due any day. Would go part time or wfh but not permitted by my work. Evenings (like others have said) are seeing kids for half an hour putting them to bed and getting stuff ready for next day. I maintain house between cleans. Weekends I want to watch kids at swimming lessons and park etc not clean.

I don't drink, eat out or socialise much due to work and kids so I justify a cleaner every 2 weeks that way.

clumsyduck · 21/04/2018 07:33

I don't have one as there are other things I need / want to spend at the moment . But if money was no object I would . It would be amazing !!

NukaColaGirl · 21/04/2018 07:35

Because I’m a single parent with 3 DC who works 20 hours a week and is it at college 50 hours a week, so when I am home I’d rather relax and play with my DC than be doing more grunt work. My cleaner is an absolute gem, she’s become one of my closest friends.

Travelharder · 21/04/2018 07:36

We don't have children and we are both contractors so don't always work (by choice, we take breaks), we have a cleaner even when we are not working. I don't really feel the need to justify myself. Even if i stopped working permanently i'd have a cleaner if I could still afford it...

twinnywinny14 · 21/04/2018 07:36

We only have £150 spare cash a month so nowhere near enough to have a cleaner but if I could I would! We both work 50-60hrs a week and really don’t want to spend weekends cleaning!

summerinthecountry · 21/04/2018 07:37

We have a housekeeper, she is utterly amazing. I could not be without her.

My lady would not be able to work in another job due to lack of education and opportunity in her home country, she has learnt English, enjoyed her life here (A far higher quality of life) has learnt to drive and bought a car. I feel we as a family have been very kind to her, and the arrangement is mutually beneficial.

I have a clean and happy home, and we can spend more time with our children. I like cleaning, so I also do my far share of housework.

Itsallpropaganda · 21/04/2018 07:38

We don't. We can afford one, but because I have the time to clean I do it myself, even though I'm crap at it and hate it. I would feel guilty having someone clean my house when I have the time to do it...and one friend of mine did have a cleaner and used to come round here for coffee while her cleaner came round as she didn't like to be lounging around her own house watching someone else clean it!

MummyCuddlesSolveEverything · 21/04/2018 07:39

If I could afford it I'd have a cleaner, to do the jobs I hate and don't do very often like hoovering and dusting.

adaline · 21/04/2018 07:47

I don't see it @TheGrumpySquirrel (fab name by the way)

I don't see laundry as being an effort? I shove a load on before I leave and then it's ready when I get home - there's not exactly much work involved in it.

I don't know. I read threads on here where it takes people half an hour to clean a bathroom or two hours to deep clean and I wonder what on earth they're doing to make it so messy!

I'm a big believer in little and often and I'd rather do thirty minutes everyday and keep on top of it than leave it all and have to spend my Saturday morning on housework.

Each to their own though. I wouldn't get a cleaner but I'd love a personal chef!