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?

80sMum why would they want to go through your stuff? If I was a cleaner I wouldn’t be interested in trawling through people’s stuff, I’d just do my job and leave. Plus if they got found out they’d lose their job... wouldn’t really be worth the hassle would it?

I live in an affluent part of a deprived city. Everyone I know who works and has children has a cleaner. The only friends who don't, either don't have children or don't work full time. For £20pw I know my house is relatively clean all the time. One less thing to add to the never ending list!!

ChocorCheese - you were unlucky.
To me, it's like finding the right hairdresser or the right childcare. You've got to not only have a 'good' one, but one that frets about the same things you do and is more relaxed about the same things you are.
ilovechocolate - mine comes on a day when I'm at home. Obviously people that work FT out of the home don't have that choice. She is a far more experienced cleaner than I am at having a cleaner, so I said - 'Can i pay you for 2 hours, and I'm not sure how long things will take you, so this is my list of things I'd like doing, in order of priority, until we work out how long it takes.'. She did tell me that the first week or two will be slower, and she'd get through the same stuff much quicker once she was in routine / knew where sockets are, / what the reach of the vacuum cord is / etc. she was spot on.
80sMum - The only way I can think is either getting a personal recommendation, or being really thorough checking references. That said, not many people would do either of those - I just don't think my 'stuf'f' is that interesting.

I don’t want to spend my spare time cleaning. I feel like I can do the bigger jobs like sorting a full room out or doing the kitchen cupboards without having to do everything else.I’ve had a cleaner for the last 11 years. My latest one for about 6 years and she’s lovely and does a great job and I totally trust her

*Want2bSupermum Sun 22-Apr-18 05:27:53
Stroke I've got a humongous washing machine that came with our new home. I've gone from 10 loads of laundry a week to 3-4. I have a dryer so it's no big deal to get everything done quickly as there are 5 of us doing it together. If you can wear the clothes you can bloody well wash, fold and put them away. *

Goodness, well that's my wrist slapped Want2bSupermum - but I'm rich enough that I can pay someone else to put my laundry away, so I won't worry about instilling little competitions for my kids to get the laundry done, thanks. I have no desire to flagellate myself at the alter of sanctimommy thanks, nor do I have a desire 2bSupermum.

Cleaners, don't get me started. Work fill time 3 kids, husband works shifts including weekends. Tried cleaners and landed up having to so a lot myself. Didn't move anything to Hoover under, didn't even slide microwave along to wipe underneath, wipe a window just at eye level nope sticky finger mark, nope, move toilet brush holder to wipe floor, your joking, they were awful and certainly not cheap at £12 an hour cash in hand. Supposed to be 3 hours a week but I knew it was more like 1 - 2 hors. Do it all myself now and feel very self satisfied at least I know it is done properly.

We got a cleaner not long after having my first (only) LO. I am a tidy person and I was getting so stressed trying to keep the house clean as normal, for the million visitors, clean for the baby, we got a cleaner and it really helped my mental health at that point (very aggressive baby blues)

Now I am back at work we still have the cleaner (luxury I can no longer go without)

We cut back on other things, we are not well off, we don’t have a lot of takeaways, our cars are crap and we haven’t brought new clothes for ourselves in so long, but - we still have the cleaner as it means we have more time together, I am more relaxed and so that me and my DH don’t have to worry about changing the bedding or cleaning the bathroom as well as both working full time, cooking from scratch and a 10 month old who has NEVER slept through!

Meh - some other women for working and not spending all the time I can in the week with my children (use after school club). Then judge me for employing a cleaner so I CAN spend more of the weekend with them.
Whatever. Can’t win.

Because I have always worked full time and have driven myself almost loony before trying to keep it to an acceptable standard and I'm originally working class and wrestled with myself for years (emotionally) telling myself "I should be able to keep up as a woman I'm failing". But you sometimes gotta admit to yourself that you can't have it all so I employed one every 2 weeks for a few hours. It's like the fairies have been. We don't go out or spend huge amounts of money because we don't earn it. My son has adhd and is a whirlwind and my partner does too and I suffer from depression x

Many of us work over 40 hours a week with 10 hours travel on top of that and we have a number of children to parent and some of us lucky ones get to help out elderly parents as well.

That’s why....

It's because we all working for fricking long and hard these days. We don't earn much but a cleaner is a priority for me. I'd rather go hungry than spend every spare moment cleaning. I already spend a load of time doing it in between her visits!

I work, my husband does too plus he would never even notice or think to clean so it’s left to me. We have a toddler and to be honest £36 every fortnight is a bit of a sanity saver. My cleaner is amazing and does the house better than I ever could!

Our cleaner probably has an easier time now; DT’s are away at Uni and DH and I out at work all day (and we’re quite tidy) but although she still comes for two half days a week, I see that the less work she now has is my payback for when DT’s were little. One Christmas, DT’s were 18 months and both came down with a horrendous sick bug. It lasted days and our bedroom and both their rooms and bathroom were a disaster zone. We were running out of bedding and towels. DH and I hadn’t eaten, let along had any sleep or a shower.

Our cleaner came around (on a non work day) with her own spare bedding and towels. She got us on top of the washing, cleaned the bathroom and bedrooms and put on fresh bedding. She cuddled one of the DT’s so we could take it in turns to shower and she made us food we could eat whilst holding a baby. She’s amazing and I’ll never forget how she helped us then.

When I worked long hours I had a cleaner who came once a week, hoovered and dusted throughout and washed kitchen and bathroom floors. I cleaned the bathrooms. I couldn't have faced spending half the weekend doing the cleaning after a really full on week, but when I dropped to four days i dropped the cleaner too. She wasn't a luxury - she was an absolute necessity for my sanity and well being!

Because most people need 2 wages to get a mortgage, 2 wages equals no stay at home person to do the cleaning, who wants to clean on their weekends?

I'm 53. Throughout my adult working life I've never known anyone with a cleaner, not one. None of my circle of friends has one either. But on MN, there are tons who do. It really isn't that difficult to keep my own house clean and tidy in my view, even with a messy teen (who was once a messy toddler) and a full time job. Yes, my windows might only get done twice a year (did them today actually) and sometimes my skirting boards look dusty, but really it's mostly possible and as I sit on the sofa on MN this Sunday evening with DH in the bath and DD watching telly in her room, I can honestly say my home is really clean and tidy ready for the working week.
However, my biggest reason for not having a cleaner is the cost. Even if I had one for two hours a week (say for 46 out of 52 weeks) at say a tenner an hour (which is more than I earn an hour), I'd be spending nearly a grand a year. That grand could pay half my annual holiday so I'll stick to mopping my own floors.

I am self employed. The more hours I work, the more money I make. I earn more than a cleaner. Therefore, it makes most financial sense for me to work longer hours doing what I do, instead of spending that time cleaning and not earning any money for those hours. I pay the cleaner and then still make margin on those hours. That’s how I justify having a cleaner. But I don’t see why anyone has to justify having a cleaner. If you want one and can afford it, then go for it!
Although if we all spent less time reading pointless threads like this on MN we’d probably all have more spare time to do our own cleaning (if we wanted to!)

I don't have a cleaner OP but I don't work Mondays so do most of it then, including the ironing, but if I worked 5 days then I would want a cleaner to keep my weekends as free as possible to spend time with kids so I completely get why people have them. Money well spent if you can afford it.

I have a cleaner and I’m on mat leave!! I can afford it and have a baby and toddler so want to spend all my time with them. Life is too short and I love my life. That’s why I have a cleaner.

Because we both work full time and what little time we have off I would rather be doing something other then cleaning.

I like having a clean house and I hate cleaning. And my friend has the cleaning business so it’s giving her businsss.

If we could afford it we'd have one for sure!

I’m a single mum to one school aged child, work full time, have a dog and manage to find time to clean. I enjoy it. Me and my daughter do it together and it’s great family time along with everything else we do. I have thought about getting a cleaner but I actually enjoy ironing and making my house sparkle for me and her.

I don't have kids. I just don't like cleaning.