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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want a cleaner that will pick my clothes up off the floor?

770 replies

Zamphina · 03/10/2023 22:19

Dp and I work very long hours during the week. We’re out of the house 9-10 minimum. We eat dinner in the office. When we get home we’re exhausted and just want to sleep. So often the kitchen has our breakfast stuff. We’ve left clothes on the floor. There might be sunday’s dishes on the table. The laundry has been left out drying.

We earn an OK salary and have a tiny flat to save money, so a cleaner coming 2-3 times a week for two hours a time won’t be an issue.

But obviously I’m slightly embarrassed for someone to see my home in such a mess. Are there any cleaners who will sort all of this? Pick up the clothes, put them on to wash, load the dishwasher, and clean the bathroom etc?

OP posts:
00100001 · 03/10/2023 22:29

I still can't see why you haven't got time to put the clothes in the laundry basket, which you can easily have in the place you drop your clothes (or very close to).

TiredMamOfTwo · 03/10/2023 22:29

I think I'd cry if someone expected me to pick up their crusty knickers off the floor. 😂

Alittlebitofthat1 · 03/10/2023 22:30

Get a few cleaners in for meetings and show them the house as is. Don’t tidy up for them. Explain the situation and ask if they’d be prepared to. Show them where clothes go, where dishes go etc.
im a cleaner, I’d do this

zozueme · 03/10/2023 22:30

As others have said, you need a housekeeper rather than a cleaner.

But you could still put your own clothes in the laundry basket surely? If there are only two of you, you're hardly there and don't cook I'm surprised there's much dirt and mess to be honest Confused

Merrymouse · 03/10/2023 22:31

How will they know which clothes need washing and which clothes just need to be put away? Can’t you throw dirty washing in a laundry basket?

How difficult is it to put a plate in a dishwasher?

There is no reason why shouldn’t be able to find somebody to do tasks like dealing with laundry and emptying your dishwasher, but it sounds as though you are making things more difficult than necessary.

whatthehelldowecare · 03/10/2023 22:31

Me and DH have a similar working hours and also my DSD and two dogs to look after. Occasionally we can let the house get into the same kind of state with dirty clothes laying around or dishes not done, however we can always find 20 minutes each the night before our cleaner comes to do the basics so she can focus on the cleaning

Justcallmebebes · 03/10/2023 22:31

9-10 hours out of the house is normal, surely? I leave at 7am and return by 5pm. My bed is made, dishes washed and place generally tidy when I leave. I also have a load of washing hung out on a nice day. That's normal in my world

You sound like a couple of teenagers, but I'm sure you'll find someone to pick up after you and clean, if you're paying them

Fallenangelofthenorth · 03/10/2023 22:32

Zamphina · 03/10/2023 22:27

Sorry 9am-10pm. And often it’s 6:45AM-10PM or even later.

I thought you probably meant that tbh.

I had a cleaner who did tidying but not clothes. Can't you just shove them in a laundry basket? You can probably pay someone to do everything else though.

HongKongGarden · 03/10/2023 22:32

Zamphina · 03/10/2023 22:27

Sorry 9am-10pm. And often it’s 6:45AM-10PM or even later.

You’ll be bankers or lawyers or similar then, hopefully on a mid six-figure salary between you?

Get a housekeeper.

But even if you do, for god’s sake don’t leave a week’s lot of dirty knickers on the floor, that’s just grim.

DH and I have always worked long hours in investment banking but have never left dirty underwear and clothes lying out all week.

Redglitter · 03/10/2023 22:33

Buy a laundry basket & dump your clothes in there. Dumping them on the floor is just un necessary.

I'd be embarrassed to have someone pick up my dirty clothes

If you've got a dishwasher there's no need for dirty dishes to be lying out either. It takes seconds to stick them in.

You just sound really lazy

vodkaredbullgirl · 03/10/2023 22:33

Lazy, pick your clothes up or even better don't drop them on the floor.

Marblessolveeverything · 03/10/2023 22:33

That would not be usual. Surely you can put dishes in dishwasher or rinse and put in sink?

And please explain how an adult can't manage to throw clothes in a hamper ? My kids have managed from about 3! Seriously that would be so disrespectful.

Anyfeckinusername · 03/10/2023 22:33

Of course you can get a cleaner who does this, mine does. Sometimes she arrives in the morning at 9, I've left for the school run and she tidies up after the breakfast. This very prescriptive approach to having a cleaner, I do floors, but not beds etc isn't for me at all.

My cleaner, plus the lovely lady before her, tidy and clean my house. They also chat away to me if I'm working from home ... or let the dog out if I'm away for the day... it's just common sense stuff. That's what I need, that's what I pay for. You can find people like this.

RoomOfRequirement · 03/10/2023 22:34

Clothes on the floor is just the epitome of lazy. How does it take anymore time to throw them in a washing basket or chair/closet? Do you literally take them off where you stand? I can't imagine ever doing this on a regular basis. Even if you're too tired at 10pm, you have the morning to then put them in a basket. I wouldn't accept a 'cleaning' job of being your servant.

HongKongGarden · 03/10/2023 22:35

DH used a laundry service for a while. He’d drop everything off on the way to work and it’d be ready at the end of the day, cleaned, ironed, and with the shirts in individual packets as though they were brand new.

His staff thought he was wearing (and presumably then throwing away) two shirts per day.

Againstmachine · 03/10/2023 22:35

You aren't out anymore than anyone doing a full time job.

Clear your pots away and put your clothes in a wash basket.

It seems you want to behave like children and don't want to be a adult yet.

AlltheFs · 03/10/2023 22:37

You aren’t ever there, how can it need that much cleaning to need someone that often?!

It really not hard to put clothes in a basket for washing.

TCMcK · 03/10/2023 22:37

I am a cleaner and I would not pick your clothes up off the floor. I don’t wash pots either. A lot of us cleaners are busy working Mums too and I still don’t leave my clothes on the kitchen floor! I would never expect someone to do that for me. I have had to let people go because of situations like this. Set a timer for 30 mins each evening and work together, you’ll be amazed how much you can get done.

Louloulouenna · 03/10/2023 22:37

@Anyfeckinusername are you happy for your cleaner to pick up dirty underwear from your bedroom floor? Or your children's?

ssd · 03/10/2023 22:38

For christs sake op its not a cleaner you want its a slave, pick your own shit up and grow up

dayofcheese · 03/10/2023 22:39

Stop putting your clothes on the floor. Why are you doing that? Where are they meant to live? The cupboard? The wash basket? The bin? The sad lonely chair in the cornet?

HongKongGarden · 03/10/2023 22:39

Againstmachine · 03/10/2023 22:35

You aren't out anymore than anyone doing a full time job.

Clear your pots away and put your clothes in a wash basket.

It seems you want to behave like children and don't want to be a adult yet.

I wonder if it’s a bit performative; a young couple in new high-flying jobs wanting to show each other how hard they are working.

If this is how they want to live of course there’ll be cleaners and housekeepers who’ll be happy to help, but I can’t imagine coming home from the big shiny office after a sweaty, stressful day and a hot commute to the last six days’ discarded smelly clothes scattered around the bedroom.

VeryGoodVeryNice · 03/10/2023 22:40

Pro tip (that I had to learn because the puppy will chew up ANY item of clothing left on the floor). Take your clothes off next to the dirty linen basket. And then put them in there rather than throw them on the floor 👍🏻

TheresaBouvey · 03/10/2023 22:40

You need a wife

or at the least a laundry basket

Applesandpears23 · 03/10/2023 22:41

Sometimes cleaners will take clean clothes out of a washing machine and hang them for you. It is unlikely you will find someone who is willing to pick up dirty pants off the floor.