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

[Zamphina]

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?

Jeez people what's with all the accusations of laziness. OP just needs to advertise clearly what she wants and pay over the odds for a cleaner who agrees on tasks required at the outset. She either is successful in her recruitment or not. 26 pages my lord.

@LolaSmiles I read it in Freakonomics - it summarises it here:

https://econlife.com/2018/09/unintended-consequences-from-fines/

I actually think it’s kind of heartening that people are more discouraged by the idea of inconveniencing someone than by having to pay for something, which I guess is what’s happening here: the fine takes the guilt out of it, but at least the guilt was there in the first place. I suspect your book-hogging friend would have kept hold of the book whether the fine was in place or not.

It clearly doesn’t always work like that, though, because look at how much the 5p carrier bag charge reduced carrier bag usage. I suppose in that case the perception was that no harm was being caused by taking a carrier bag in the first place so a financial disincentive was the only thing that would work…?

That’s really interesting @milkywinterdisorder, and does make sense.

I mean, you can pay anyone to do literally anything - you’re basically buying their consent to do something they otherwise definitely would not want to do.

And that goes right up the line to selling your body. NOTE: I am not equating prostitution to cleaning before those with low comprehension skills pile on - it’s an analogy, showing a similarity between things at different ends of a spectrum.

That is, just because you can pay someone to do something - or throw money at a situation, as per the nursery late fine scenario - it doesn’t mean the person receiving the payment is happy / willing / genuinely enthusiastic / not inconvenienced and/or secretly judging you / etc. about doing it.

These erring-on-the-grim-side tasks that you have to pay people extra to do are usually (not always) picked up by people with fewer options / choices / skills / etc.

Anyway - the OP has had some constructive suggestions on here in amongst the vitriol, and is long gone anyway….

I think most cleaners/housekeepers would probably do this if you pay them enough. But more to the point (and I mean this in a kind way), if you don't have time to pick your clothes up off the floor then it might be worth addressing your work life balance before employing someone.

Look, people pay others to clean their skiddy toilet sad empty sanitary bins.

People voluntarily enter into a paid contract to provide services that you require. As long as you specify clearly what you want and pay the market rate for it, what OP is wanting isnt particularly strange unusual or shocking.

Why all the shock and horror. If OP wants to leave clothes on the floor and if someone is prepared to pick them up for money…that’s fine. There are far worse things you could be asked to do in a job.

Is the issue that people don’t like the thought that pretty much every task can be outsourced? I’m honestly not sure why there’s such an outcry and sense of disgust.

I have more than enough time to keep my house tidy, but I don't want to. I want to lounge around enjoying my free time. Lazy? Almost certainly. But so what?

If I could afford a housekeeper I'd bloody well have one. But I can't. So I don't.

I don’t think 10 Hours out of the house is unusual for full time work. As others have said, it is not that difficult to pick clothes off the floor and wash breakfast dishes (we can’t be talking much here, a cereal bowl, or plate and knife and and a mug? Literally under 3 mins to wash) - the a cleaner can manage the cleaning.

Ok read that wrong - out the house from 9am to 10pm is a lot. Why do
you need £300k per year if you can’t enjoy a life away from work? My husband and I earn about £90k combined and live in London, have a lovely life with holidays etc…I don’t see why you’d sacrifice your life for all that money. I know a couple on £400k pa and they are so wealthy now they have asked relatives if they can give them some money to be rid of it (relatives refused on the basis no such thing as a free lunch). My advice is think about your priorities

I think you’ve read it wrong again, still.

They’re on £60K each at the moment.

One day they’ll be on £150K each, with the idea being they’ve paid their pound of flesh early on, and will have more flexibility (and a better work/life balance) as they go up the pay scale.

This is perfect normal, even if not a choice some people would make.

Well, they get about two hours together. And they don't want emptying the dishwasher, clearing up and folding the laundry to eat into that time.

Wisely, I think.

Me too! Actually, I now have a disease that stops me doing it ... and no money to pay a helper. When I worked long hours and had plenty of money, I paid people to do it all. If I were healthy, not working much and still had money, I would still pay people to do it all. I hate housework and am not good at it. Professionals are brilliant at it and enjoy it!

Seems perfectly logical to me.

They’re clearly not lazy if they’re working 13 hour days

By pick up clothes, are you including used underwear? Surely not. So if you can manage the 2 second job to pick up your used underwear and throw it in the wash basket, then you can manage an additional 5 seconds to pick up the remaining items.

milkywinterdisorder
That's very interesting.

GodDammitCecil
You make a good point about people and choices, agreeing but still quietly judging/being inconvenienced.
It does seem to come down to how people perceive behaviour and attitudes.

I suspect that's why although there's generally an agreement that it's not unreasonable to outsource jobs, the act of leaving stuff lying around differs

Some people think a house should be totally tidy back to clean surfaces for a cleaner to come in.

Some people, like me, think it should be broadly neat unless you have included light tidying, but if you have a coffee mug or plate in the sink some days when you've rushed out it's not a big deal.

Some people think that it's fine to leave dishes to build up, drop clothes all over, and have a house in any state, just make sure that the cleaner knows what you're asking.

On the purely business transaction side of things, I'd agree with the last group. But I'd also say that 2 adults taking that attitude are lazy, regardless of how much money they earn. Whilst they're free to have whatever business transaction they want, the mentality of "I could put a wash basket here, but I won't, I'll throw it on the floor and pay someone to walk around and pick up after me" is an outlook I find lazy.

The amount of sanctimonious people on this thread wasn't surprising. If OP is willing to pay someone to do a job, what on earth is the problem? I don't employ a cleaner, but I wouldn't judge people who do! I often think I'd like to if I had more money! Lots of people considering it lazy but I wonder where that stops? I mean lots of jobs "take 2 seconds" to do, so by this kind of reasoning, you'd probably never employ anyone to do anything for you and a lot of people would be out of work. The idea that cleaning someone's actual dirt isn't as demeaning as picking up some clothes is just bizarre.

This. With bells on.

Get a decent set of laundry baskets - whites, darks, dry cleaning and if you both put stuff in the right place you or a housekeeper can get it sorted quickly. Lots of dry cleaning places will pick up if someone is in so again assuming lots of smart work gear/client entertaining etc then you need to turn that stuff around quickly. And hang it up when you get in if it’s still clean.

My partner works in London and is out of the house for 14 hours. I work 12 hour days. He still comes in and helps me cook tea and puts his dirty clothes in the wash basket and dishes in the dishwasher! I unload washer and do laundry and housework. We are in our fifties too. Not sure why Op and husband can’t manage. General laziness unless they have a disability, which before I get jumped on, my partner has. Just tidy as you go.

Genuine question: do people with cats expect cleaners to deal with their litterboxes? To me that’s a far worse job than picking up clothes off the floor…

I'm trying to conceptually understand why a cleaner picking up clothes off the floor is so much worse that asking a cleaner to get unload dirty clothes from a laundry basket?

I don't know why everyone piled on the op.
She's struggling to manage everything, for whatever reason, if someone is happy to do the work then that suits her and gives someone a job.

I agree. I'd rather pick clothes up than clean the toilet 😄 However I suppose it just feels unnecessary as you don't have to drop them on the floor in the first place.

It would have been a good idea to have stated in the contract with the cleaner what you want done exactly for whatever price. If you wanted extra jobs done such as picking clothes up off the floor and put in the washing machine, you should have been clear about that. Everything involves time and time is money so maybe you can renegotiate with the cleaner on this. However, I think it doesn't take much for you yourself to put your clothes in the washing basket.

Absolutely this.

People keep using this phrase, 'happy' that is a bit of a stretch isn't it however much you are paying. It maybe my upbringing as my Mum who was taught by her Mum and who have Nordic heritage don't have such individualistic view of living in a society, you were expected to give back to the family unit, community minded, certain word for it that slips my mind but essentially everyone has to clean up and you make a mess you clean it. It is set in stone and a mindset. It goes beyond paying your way out of something.

“Happy” may well be a bit of a stretch, but is it any more of a stretch than it is for any aspect of any job? Most of the people I know aren’t exactly “happy” about going to work at all…!

I wonder if all these posters who think it’s fine to dump your clothes on the floor for someone else to pick up are the same sort who leave their trays / leftovers on the table in a fast food restaurant (despite probably walking straight past the bin) and leave unwanted clothes in a mess in shop changing rooms.