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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you have a cleaner?

84 replies

kjvjfknv · 22/04/2025 19:30

We are both professionals, live in London in a two bed flat with two kids. We've never had a cleaner, everyone else seems to but Dh thinks it's a total waste of money to pay £60 per to clean what is ostensibly not a large dwelling. He does do stuff around the house but it never feels totally 'clean' in one go. Yes, this is a first world problem ...is getting a cleaner a waste of money?

OP posts:
BCBird · 25/04/2025 19:34

Yes. I live alone, work full time (stupid hours) and hate cleaning. Prefer to.pay someone to.do it

Overtheatlantic · 25/04/2025 19:49

Yes, my husband got one when we got married and he’s never been willing to get rid of her even when times were a bit lean. Neither of us are big on cleaning, and it’s a relief knowing she comes every fortnight to clean the kitchen, bathroom, living room, and floors.

CiaoMeow · 25/04/2025 19:56

No. But I would love one and often consider it. After all, it's win-win.

Seahorsesplendour · 25/04/2025 19:57

100% worth it! We’ve only had one recently as I increased my hours so lost cleaning time and had bit extra cash! If ever reduce my hours again will let something else go to keep the cleaner!! Massive game changer for us!

Used to get so stressed fitting in everything and no way I’d manage it now!!

We are lucky as she was recommended and in demand but we asked at the right time & could be flexible around her life. The days she comes are my favourite days!!

So nice to go home to a tidied & clean house! 3 hours once a fortnight for a 2 bed house

TheeNotoriousPIG · 25/04/2025 21:26

If having a cleaner (and a clean house) would make you happy, and you could afford it, then why not?

I work 70+ hours a week, and usually have something academic going on in addition to this. Cleaning is not exactly the top priority when I come home, so if I could afford to make my life easier, I would!

littlepurplerose · 25/04/2025 21:27

Yes I have one. It's an incredible mood booster for me knowing that one day a week I come home and it's all done.....

Would never not have one again.

nannyl · 25/04/2025 21:29

Yes
4 hours a week (I have a large house with 4 bathrooms + a downstairs loo)
Love my cleaners and they are worth every penny.

Summertimeblahness · 25/04/2025 21:36

No, we live in a small house (3 beds) with no children. I can afford it but I have other things that I prefer to spend on (gym, clothes, nights out, treatments, holidays). I clean as I go so we never have much mess.

Couldnotthinkofausername · 25/04/2025 21:43

Yes, but I use my disability payment. She keeps on top of my kitchen, bathroom and floors and has helped me organise cupboards and storage. It's such a blessing and I'm aware that I'm fortunate. I'm in Scotland and pay £15 ph. She's private though so nothing goes to an agency.

AliBaliBee1234 · 25/04/2025 21:44

If you can afford it, do it! The house cleanliness is a huge stress, at least for me.

Rollofrockandsand · 25/04/2025 21:56

Yes, I have a wonderful cleaner 4 hours a week, she also changes all the beds. It is worth every penny,

Gettingbysomehow · 25/04/2025 21:58

I'm a single professional woman and I have a male cleaner through a cleaning agency. He's great. It's the first time I've had a clean and tidy house for quite a long time. The bathroom is spotless after he's been as is the kitchen. I hate bathroom cleaning. It's worth that alone.

BennyBee · 25/04/2025 21:59

Those with a good cleaner, how did you find one? I have tried to get one a couple of times but they are either fully booked or don't turn up. It is very frustrating!

TheKeatingFive · 25/04/2025 22:00

I resisted for years but then I got one - life changing. Do it.

NorthernGirlie · 25/04/2025 22:00

Yes. Just once a fortnight but it means we do very little. They do the bathroom and kitchen thoroughly plus all floors and surfaces.

It means we keep on top of mess, have a full tidy the night before she comes and just do little bits and pieces in between visits.

Best £35 I spend per fortnight.

familyornot · 25/04/2025 22:23

A good cleaner is definitely worth it but only time will tell on this one. Our first cleaner was amazing, she did everything thoroughly and the house always felt clean. When she changed jobs we started with a different company. They focused more on folding the end of the toilet paper and having a bowl of hot water and zoflora so it smelt nice. Once a few days had past it was clear the cleaner just hadn’t done the basics like the floors and wiped the paintwork, over a few weeks it looked grim even after she’d been. We got rid of the her after this and just did it ourselves, finances were a bit tight anyway and we just weren’t getting value for money.

shrunkenhead · 25/04/2025 22:30

I don't have a cleaner, personally, as only have a small house that's quite manageable. My sister is a cleaner and loves her job, she does advise people to avoid companies though and go for the local cleaner usually recommended via word of mouth. Companies charge more, you never know who's in your house and they don't get paid enough to care to do a proper job and she hears a lot of horror stories! One of her clients had previously used a company that brought their own hoover, cleaning products etc and she ended up with fleas in her house! Via the hoover as had been used previously in a house with dogs! (And this family didn't have ANY pets!)

TimeForABreak4 · 25/04/2025 22:33

The only reason we haven't is because I know id end up cleaning before the cleaner came so would be pointless! If I wasn't like that I'd definitely get one and don't think it's a waste of money if you want one.

QuizzlyBears · 25/04/2025 22:45

Yes, once a week and I also have a twice monthly gardener. Worth every penny!

thatsalad · 25/04/2025 22:47

Yes

Eyesopenwideawake · 25/04/2025 22:53

Yes - actually a combined horse poo picker and cleaner twice a week. For 13 years I've done it all (with the help of volunteers along the way) but I love what I do now so something had to give. Happy to pay well for taking the burden off me.

Motheranddaughter · 25/04/2025 22:57

Have had a cleaner for over 30 years ( not the same one )
Don’t enjoy cleaning, and my chargeout rate for the work I do means it makes sense for me to spend the time I would spend cleaning working

daffodilandtulip · 25/04/2025 22:58

I'm a single parent and work 50 hours. I had a cleaner for years and she was worth every penny. Then she retired and after a succession of surface cleans, early finishes, don't do toilets, don't do high dusting, that's for a deep clean, cobwebs still in corners; I gave up. I miss her.

MsNevermore · 25/04/2025 22:58

It’s categorically NOT a waste of money.

When we were still in the U.K., DH and I both worked full time - I was pulling about 60 hours a week at one point.
2 primary school aged DC’s and one toddler at the time.
With school runs, nursery, wrap around childcare, work etc, we simply needed help with the bigger jobs.
I’d sweep the kitchen floor after the DCs had dinner, and keep the bathrooms and kitchen surfaces hygienic, and whip the hoover round the living room….but I had a cleaner come in once a week to do a full vacuum of the whole house and a proper kitchen & bathroom clean. Every couple of months she’d also do a deep oven clean for me.
Just to take the pressure off and be able to spend more time with my DCs, I think it was money well spent! (And I wasn’t in London, but prices in my area were more than reasonable!! Especially considering it only took my cleaner about 90 mins to do a great job!)

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 25/04/2025 23:07

I know my limits and I can’t cope without a cleaner for more than a few weeks. It’s an essential to me. I’m a single parent with a very busy full time job and I already feel I don’t have the time to look after my health. So without a cleaner I’d have even less!

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