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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think having a cleaner should make life easier?

88 replies

thehourwaslate · 23/12/2022 01:21

Every Wednesday night we dedicate an hour - or more likely 2 or 3 - in preparation. Clothes must be neatly tidied away, no washing baskets full of yet-to-be-folded clothes, and all toys are returned to their resting places. Skid marks removed, toothbrushes tidied, once-worn jumpers folded and piled up in hope of being worn again soon. For tomorrow the cleaner will come, and make our lives easier, but before that we must rush, rush to be tidy.

I know I cannot complain, because we are very lucky to afford such a luxury, but AIBU to have thought having a cleaner would have made life easier? I feel I stress out every week, getting the house to a pretty good standard, then pay someone to do the finishes touches.

AIBU to think paying a cleaner should make things easier?!

OP posts:
FelicityFlops · 23/12/2022 01:39

You are paying your cleaner to clean, not tidy up after you. That means you need to clear the decks for them to do their job properly. Why wait until the evening before they come? Surely it would be good to get into the habit of having a tidy up every evening, for less time?

MakeItADouble2 · 23/12/2022 01:43

I also do run around the morning she comes tidying up.
It is stressful, I agree but it does make life easier as she cleans the bathrooms, the kitchen, floors throughout the house. So, it's definitely worth it

Oblahdeeoblahdoe · 23/12/2022 01:43

My DD and her family do this and I think it's almost their mindset that they don't have to do any tidying until the night the cleaner comes. Better to have tidy habits through the week in my opinion.

Christinestrawberrygirl · 23/12/2022 03:29

Sounds like it is a personal maid yer after OP. Good luck with that.

harrassedmumto3 · 23/12/2022 03:35

I know what you mean, OP! Stressful but worth it.

harrassedmumto3 · 23/12/2022 03:35

I'm glad mine is fortnightly. I couldn't cope with weekly pre-cleaning preparations!

Iizzyb · 23/12/2022 03:45

I find it gives me a really good push to tidy up otherwise we would live on absolute chaos/drown. I love knowing that on Thursdays we are tidy after our cleaner has been!

ruthbush · 23/12/2022 03:47

I know what you mean. I don't have a problem with tidying away personal stuff or things that would be difficult for them to organise, and I understand that if they do some tidying they will have less time to clean, but I do wonder why we can't hire someone who can just come for x hours a week to help with a bit of both. Sometimes the bathroom/ kitchen are actually quite clean and what I really need is someone to unload and fold the sheets from the laundry or pack away the toys...

magma32 · 23/12/2022 03:56

i know what you mean op, my sister has a cleaner and it’s put me off getting one although she swears it is worth it despite the stress.
I would find a cleaner more stress as I’d have to tidy up and I really struggle with that due to some issues I have (have been been referred by gp) that affect my organisation.
I really could do with a cleaner though as it would save myself and Dh time and we can afford one which is what makes it all the more frustrating but I just can’t bring myself to do all that tidying/organising beforehand.

For me tidying and organising is harder than cleaning, so once I’ve done that I personally would enjoy the cleaning side as there isn’t that clutter there fogging up my brain. 😣

Quitelikeacatslife · 23/12/2022 04:13

I find every other week is good, washing can be in baskets (do you have spare room you can ask them not to clean so can pop stuff in there?) but yes to picking things up off floor. It's worth it to know everywhere gets hoovered and bathrooms done mainly,

MiddleParking · 23/12/2022 04:20

Totally! I love having a cleaner but it’s such a treat if they cancel 😂

Phillipa12 · 23/12/2022 04:21

I clean and tidy and sort washing for my friend. She says paying me to do all of it is worth every penny. Could this be an option?

Nanalisa60 · 23/12/2022 04:21

You could leave it all but then the cleaner would have to tidy you stuff away then she would have less time to clean. She is there to clean not tidy.

soupmaker · 23/12/2022 04:28

We used to be like this. One of the reasons I got our cleaner was to help keep our place a lot tidier and clutter free. It's taken years but now a quick 20 minute sort is all we need to do.

Whatthediddlyfeck · 23/12/2022 04:34

We were never so tidy as we were when we had a cleaner-she was worth it for how disciplined she made us about tidying up after ourselves. We made it ongoing and actually got into good habits so no manic stress the nights before she came

AcrossthePond55 · 23/12/2022 04:47

If I have to run round to tidy up before the cleaner, I'm fine with that. I want their time to be spent on the 'heavy lifting' cleaning duties that I hate; scrubbing and scouring and getting well into all the nooks and crannies. Not tidying magazine piles or picking up after us.

Morestrangethings · 23/12/2022 05:13

ruthbush · 23/12/2022 03:47

I know what you mean. I don't have a problem with tidying away personal stuff or things that would be difficult for them to organise, and I understand that if they do some tidying they will have less time to clean, but I do wonder why we can't hire someone who can just come for x hours a week to help with a bit of both. Sometimes the bathroom/ kitchen are actually quite clean and what I really need is someone to unload and fold the sheets from the laundry or pack away the toys...

yeah, it’s a pain. But better than diy cleaning. I can’t afford a cleaner now, but did have one for a while, and it wasn’t so hard to spend an hour or so tidying up in anticipation of clean kitchen and scrubbed bathroom etc..

Much better than doing the whole lot.

Morestrangethings · 23/12/2022 05:14

Whoops sorry, meant to quote the OP original post.

poefaced · 23/12/2022 05:17

I don’t have a cleaner. The most onerous bit is tidying up, after that cleaning seems easier.

handbagsandholidays · 23/12/2022 05:27

I think I've been ignorant to the fact that cleaning and tidying are totally different. Our cleaner thankfully does both. She will fold away all our laundry, hang my washing out for me etc. I don't make a point of cleaning up but I do try to make sure it's not a complete mess before she comes!

Samjamm · 23/12/2022 05:29

I know what you mean OP.

Like PP my cleaner does both. She's quite flexible and will do whatever I ask as long as she can get it done in the time.

So sometimes instead of doing the kitchen or bathroom I'll ask her to clean upholstery, do the skirting, or do some ironing etc.

Livedandlearned · 23/12/2022 05:31

When your cleaner has been on a Thursday why don't you keep it tidy til the next Thursday? Ten minutes every evening to sort it all out.

Theala · 23/12/2022 05:38

Skid marks removed? If the cleaner wasn't coming around, they would have been left? That's a bit gross.

Morestrangethings · 23/12/2022 05:44

Theala · 23/12/2022 05:38

Skid marks removed? If the cleaner wasn't coming around, they would have been left? That's a bit gross.

No, op didn’t say they would have been left. It just one thing to do amongst many things on a single night.

starrynight21 · 23/12/2022 05:45

Keep your house tidy every day and it won't be a big deal on that one evening. I have a cleaner weekly, and it's never been a chore to tidy up before he comes.

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