Considering getting a cleaner for chaotic, busy house

[KellyanneConway]

Our house is rarely properly clean. I work full time, DH part time & doesn’t seem to be able to keep on top of stuff. Also living here are DS 23 student, DS’s gf working full time, DSC 16 & 14 in college & school, DbigDog, 2 Dcats. There is always someone in: eating, making a mess, friends shoes in hall, dog’s footprints if one of the kids have let him in without wiping his feet etc. We have so much laundry including sports kits, 4 sets of bedding, dog walking & outdoor stuff. DS does his & gfs, DH & me do the rest and when it rains there is not enough room in the utility for all of it so ends up dotted around the house to dry.

House was doer upper now finished but needs a good paint that we don’t have time for and can’t get a decorator to do it. We have a place for everything but there are so many people here it can get cluttered. I’m thinking of getting a cleaner to help us keep on top of things but realistically would any one touch us with a barge pole? People who I know who have cleaners live in show home type conditions and have small families who are out in the day.

Anyone on here a cleaner, would you take us on? Anyone live in similar circumstances but have a regular cleaner?

YABU no way would a cleaner take you on or last long
YANBU this is the kind of home that is part and parcel of a domestic cleaner’s normal workload

I'm a cleaner and love a house like yours. Infact,all eight of my weekly clients live in farms so there is a lot of mud and bits of straw etc around. Far nicer for me to get stuck in than go to a house where everything is minimal and pretty clean and tidy already.

I'm all for jobs being created, but all it would take is rotas and being responsible for your own stuff/what you use etc. Plus, life isn't just lesuire, housework needs doing and when you think about how long a cleaner is going to come in and decide that by six, that's around thirty minutes a week each. If you get a cleaner, you all pay a portion, you might find that one of the teens steps up for the money instead.

you Could get a cleaner, why not. But also, everyone needs to pull their weight - they’re not kids. That’s a household of 6 adults who all need to contribute equally relative to their time spent working or studying. Can you make a rota for cleaning, laundry, dishwasher etc? I hope your DS and GF are paying rent.

Yes ds’s gf pays rent and DS works 0 hours contracts and pays when he can. They buy & cook their own food.

I'm a cleaner and love a house like yours. Infact,all eight of my weekly clients live in farms so there is a lot of mud and bits of straw etc around. Far nicer for me to get stuck in than go to a house where everything is minimal and pretty clean and tidy already.

Thats good to hear! I think that a cleaners heart would sink if they saw our kitchen at the moment

This is definitely a problem with cleaners. I was amazed at how many think it's okay to cancel at the last minute! I am ruthless now and don't keep anyone on who's cancelled twice at very short notice, because in my experience it means they will do it regularly.
I also expect a cleaner to do some tidying before they start cleaning. Just ask them if they're fine with that - if they're not, you'll find someone else who is.

My cleaner does as much tidying as cleaning. This was made clear from the beginning, and I pay her for enough hours so that she can get it all done.

There is no way on god's sweet earth that I would run around getting my house 'ready' for the cleaner.

I'm not sure if I've been exceptionally lucky but my cleaners have been with me for years. You do have to tidy though.

I think it would help if you structured all the jobs around the house so that the person cant slip out of doing it. So

Everyone has 1 day a week when they are fully responsible for say the kitchen duties, so wiping, sweeping cooking dishwasher loading and unloading and moving people’s abandoned stuff into a named basket on the stairs kept for this purpose. Another person could be on dog duty (walking, feeding, wiping up mess made, poop scooping). Another one gardening and bins. Another one laundry and making beds, or cleaning the bathrooms, or vacuuming the downstairs. It doesnt have to be fair in terms of job size as everyone gets the easier days as well as the harder days

Or everyone has a job that they own the whole time, so dishwasher loading and unloading, cooking, laundry, bed changing, dog. This one can lead to more arguments about who has more to do..but that is manageable given time as you can switch around every month

Then get a cleaner for the every 2 week deep clean of kitchen bathrooms dusting vacuuming etc. (and the night before everyone has to spend 30 mins tidying their spaces and some of the communal spaces to prep)

This, exactly. Mn has a deeply weird attitude to cleaners, and the Unbreakable Commandment that you spend ages tidying before your cleaner comes, 'because I pay her to clean, not to have to waste time tidying'. Well, fine if that seems like a good use of your time, but it's not of mine. Plus I can't help feeling that there's some uninterrogated ideas about not wanting your cleaner (who is in these people's eyes a 'visitor') to see a messy, untidy house because that makes you a bad, careless slattern, and also a certain amount of pride in necessary suffering. ( fully believe these people exist, because they're here in significant numbers, but I don't know any in real life.)

When I hired our (lovely) cleaner, I explained our requirements, as part of what our priorities were in terms of the house, and she knew she would be tidying as much as cleaning. From the other people I know who live around who have the same cleaner, they are similar -- big, old houses with a lot of stuff and two parents working FT. No one is bustling about tidying before she arrives.

So, OP, what you ask is absolutely normal.

Oh and the standard to which job should be done and the elements it includes should be written out, agreed to by all and posted on the fridge..it prevents back sliding or ‘oh I didnt know that’!

We tidy before the cleaner comes as a) it's a good habit for the children to get into rather than growing up thinking they can leave their shit everywhere, b) I don't want to pay someone to tidy up their shit and c) tidying means putting things in places so you can't find them.

I don't want any more 'muuuum, I can't find my xxx!' than I already get.

I have a cleaner and a chaotic home. What I do is get her to only do some bits of it, also only once a fortnight. So I can make sure the hallways, bathrooms and kitchen/dining room are "clear" so she can give them a good clean but I don't bother with the bedrooms as thats more manageable and flexible. The night before she comes I say to everyone "get your stuff out of the common areas". Works for us.

Make sure your tumble dryer filter is free for lint and same for hose going outside if it has one as that can make it take ages to dry and is a fire risk.

Our cleaner (8 years and counting) tidies us up as well. Obviously we sweep round beforehand so there’s nothing grim (or easily hoovered up) but that takes 10 minutes. She does have lower standards about things like scrubbing corners of the bathroom than I would but it’s plenty good enough and she’s lovely.

I’m a cleaner. Show her around the house, let her look in cupboards, drawers etc so she knows where things belong and she can tidy up for you. You’d need to allow extra time for her to tidy. I clean a lot of messy homes that need a good tidy before I even start cleaning, no shame in it. We are all human and messy at times, cleaners don’t judge

I think it would be fine to get a cleaner.
Bit honestly, you shouldn’t have to. You have 3 other adults and 2 older teens in your house! Your husband only works part time? What does he do with the rest of the time? It’s shocking that five people can’t pick up after themselves and are leaving the bulk of it to fall to you. I really feel for you, OP.

Hiring a professional cleaner is a big help especially if you are busy like me. It is difficult to combine cleaning and taking care of the family. Avalon Services has been a great help to me and my family. My friend recommended it to me.

Of course you can pay for a service and get it - but you will need to pay a 'lot' for someone to tidy as well as clean. Like others said - a housekeeper as opposed to a cleaner. But I really think you have a DH and other adults in the house issue. If a teenager or adult lets a dog in without wiping its feet and it makes a mess... surely that person needs to clean it up? If your husband isn't working full time what else is he doing with his time?

I would do a rota to be honest like in a house share as you are inherently sharing your home with other adults. Of course the younger teenager has school and such as well so will have less but there needs to be specific responsibilities every day to keep the house together - it's not just your problem.

Make sure they are happy to do tidying/laundry. Some cleaning companies expect your house to be tidy and the cleaners do the deep cleaning.
A lady I worked for had a bedroom like my daughter's and a big basket of dry laundry I would put away and tidy her bedroom for her. Also book them for enough hours because as a cleaner I used to hate being booked for 2 hours and turn up to a huge pigsty that needed 4 hours work and I'd feel frustrated not getting enough done. A private cleaner is probably your best bet@

I have a cleaner but there is literally nothing out of place for her arrival. All she has to do is clean.
Single mum who works full-time …