AIBU to wonder why everyone has cleaners these days!

[Storm4star]

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?

It seems quite a new phenomenon in my circles - 10 years ago I knew no one with a cleaner, now about half my friends have one.

We dont have a cleaner, and with 2dc and a big house, there's a lot to do. We could afford it if we cut back. Personally I'd rather spend the money on socialising with friends, cinema etc. That makes me happier than a clean house! I totally get the attraction of a cleaner though!

We are a big, busy family.

If I didn't have help to keep things ticking over it just wouldn't get done.

@mandieleeinatree * I think what it is that irks some people on MN, is that people who claim to have a cleaner, say they have one because they work 12-14 hour days (with a long commute,) in 'highly-stressful,' professional, demanding, top-of-the-pyramid jobs, and they deserve a cleaner, they NEED a cleaner, and they can afford a cleaner.

Have u rtft? Cos there's quite a few not like this - most probably- just normal working women stating that they're working full time and commuting 2 hrs a day so therefore possibly out of the noise for 10 hrs a day. Also several sahm who by ops standards (and yours?) really have time to do it themselves and must be lazy selfish and entitled to employ a cleaner.
I haven't read a single comment that reflects your mean post

I don't have a cleaner, mainly because I don't want someone traipsing round my house with shoes on and I don't want to have to tidy before the cleaner comes etc.
However, I find it totally bizarre that you think having a cleaner is something to "rip the pee" out of someone about. Why do you think that someone who chooses to spend money on having clean house should be mocked? Do you ever spend money on anything that is non-essential OP e.g. takeaway food, coffee, alcohol, restaurants? How is that any different? You would really get on my nerves if you were my colleague.

@Woshambo are u doing it all yourself then? If I had a DH who remotely pulled his weight in that dept perhaps we'd have done it and not outsourced but he didn't care as much as me and couldn't be arsed so we agreed it wasn't fair to expect me to do it

@stopfuckingshoutingatme

there is reason why cleaners are so affordable compared to gardeners /plumbers / decorators - and it begins with a T

The fact it's unskilled with few to no barriers to entry?

@FreeMantle * those can afford it wank on about deserving it and the rest that work just as hard, can't afford one.
Not one person here has said they deserve it? And who is wanking on about it? I've never discussed it with anyone irl and wouldn't care either way but people here are answering a question asked

I genuinely don't know what the T word is 🤔

is thick

Some cleaners are exploited and badly paid.

However, it doesn’t therefore follow that all cleaners are exploited and badly paid and that paying somebody to do cleaning is a bad thing

Usually on here I assume the T word is trans, but that doesn't seem to fit in this instance?

My parents had a cleaner in the 70s because they could afford it and because my mother worked full time in a professional job as well as having four children. For some reason, people thought she should clean her house as well as if cleaning is some sort of worthy activity that everyone should aspire to... Many of those people could afford a cleaner but they preferred to spend their money on other non-essential things. Others were just jealous, I think. Some things never change...

@gluteustothemaximus * So basically everyone hates cleaning.

Except the cleaners?* id be ok cleaning my house if someone was paying me for my time
But on the other hand it is someone's job. I don't particularly love my own job but I'm providing a service and earning money my family
You seem to assume a cleaner is of a lower "grade" ?

I don’t anyone in real life with a cleaner, it’s very common on MN though, but there’s a few things I’ve seen on here that I’ve never seen or heard in RL.

Don’t KNOW*

@Carouselfish I see that it's an obvious result of a whole working household with very little spare time but there's an undercurrent of presumed class divide between employer and cleaner that makes it uncomfortable. see I think you're wrong because any great cleaner is in high demand and charging a decent rate. I also don't believe the cleaning profession as a whole is "looked down upon" on the contrary they are providing a much needed service that their clients are extremely grateful and appreciative of. You're the one in fact that is classifying it as a lowly "master servant" scenario

Are cleaners more common on MN? A lot of people post on MN about alot of different things. Doesn’t it just depend which threads you click on?

I don’t anyone in real life with a cleaner, it’s very common on MN though, but there’s a few things I’ve seen on here that I’ve never seen or heard in RL

It is probably because there is a wider cross-section of society on MN than the people you meet in RL. I know a lot of people with cleaners because my friends are quite high earners so they can afford one. I presume that if you don't know anyone with a cleaner you are probably quite young and/or in a non-professional job. It comes down to earnings and/or priorities.

You can spend your time and energy, or you can spend your money - I prefer the latter!

I imagine that reason was probably vagina possession dungeon. We can't have the bitches getting above themselves after all.

Thanks Freudian!

I don't have one. I would like one. Please would someone come clean my house. I will bake you shortbread

@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?

We have a (gasp) two bed terrace and both work full-time. Cleaning takes maybe thirty minutes a day between us? Hardly taxing and martyrdom!*
But the real question is why the fuck do u care so much ?

I presume that if you don't know anyone with a cleaner you are probably quite young and/or in a non-professional job. It comes down to earnings and/or priorities.

Not true. Our job is professional, though public sector so not big business bucks! But yes, I could afford a cleaner if I wanted, as could all my colleagues. Maybe it’s to do with the fact we come from working class upbringings but we were shocked when this guy said he had a cleaner.

It makes economic sense for me to pay a cleaner because I make more money working than I do cleaning.