To be confused as to why hiring a cleaner is seen as an indulgence?

[Gahr]

This is something that I see time and again on this site, and it is SO WEIRD. People seem to think that it is the height of luxury to have a housecleaner, and also seem to be strangely apologetic about it, offering disclaimers as to why they need one. Also, I've noticed that on threads when someone has a problem with their cleaning service, they will get several posts telling them to 'clean their own house'. Nobody would tell someone to 'service their own boiler' or 'fix their own toilet'! I don't understand it at all. I have a cleaner and I wouldn't be without her.

You've really got no idea how having a cleaner could be seen as a luxury?

I really don't, no. All my friends have one, and while we are comfortable, we are not wealthy.
Also, even if it was a 'luxury' what of it? Everyone chooses to spend their money on different things,

I agree OP. No one would think anything of you getting a window cleaner or having your car washed, even though you could do both yourself in theory.

Servicing a boiler needs specific qualifications and fixing a toilet needs skills that not everyone has, nor are they expected to have.

Barring some disabilities, everyone is theoretically able to clean their own house - it’s a basic life skill.

So - assuming the aforementioned disabilities aren’t a factor - you are outsourcing something you can do yourself - that is definitely an indulgence / luxury that not everyone can afford.

The poll bears my point. 50% think I'm BU! Wild.

If all your friends have one, you're surrounded by affluent people and your perspective is very skewed. Of course having a cleaner is a luxury. Comparing unskilled work that anyone can do with a cloth and some detergent to a trade is an odd way to look at it.

Well, to put it plainly, some people are struggling to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads. Costs of living have gone up, wages have not.

As a result, many people can’t afford a cleaner, as it’s well above their means.

Hope that helps.

I absolutely see mr cleaner as a luxury! I hate cleaning! I’m very fortunate to be able to afford one. My mum
thinks I’m bonkers. But then she likes cleaning.

We don’t do either of those….

I think it’s a great wealth distributor, creates jobs and an industry. It also adds a clear value in your household to that work and those jobs.

I have recently started having a cleaner for two hours a week. I'm a carer for DH and it getting too much. Rather than pay for a carer I pay for a cleaner. People have lots of reasons for doing this and I would not judge. My father has one too.

It's not unskilled to be able to clean to a high standard. Believe me, I've tried it! I would rather take my chances with the toilet!

Well it was a heavily loaded statement. I don't think having a cleaner is an indulgence, I do think it's a luxury.

(I've had one at times, but not currently) .

Exactly. I think that there's a lot of misogyny at the root of it. I bet nobody would criticise a man for not cleaning his own house.

Again, both luxuries. Needed less regularly than indoor home cleaning, so more affordable maybe, bit still luxuries.

A home needs cleaning and management. Generations ago when families could survive on one income it was the at-home parents, predominantly female, who did this. I'm a single parent and the main breadwinner; why is it so controversial that if I can afford a cleaner, I want one? I'm not prepared to pick up this burden alone on top of everything else and shouldn't be expected to. I earn a good salary but not megabucks and I prioritise paying my cleaner over say, going out for meals.

Yes I've tried it and achieved it too, obviously. With ease. Don't like doing it but it is easy.

Of course it’s unskilled, it’s hardly highly paid. I used to have a cleaner, now I don’t because it was absolutely a luxury.

You have a very strange idea of luxury if you think a car wash and having your windows cleaned counts as it!

Of course it's a luxury, in the same way as being able to go out for coffee occasionally or not worry about what you put into your supermarket basket or getting your hair cut and coloured.

But for some reason, especially on Mumsnet, it is looked down on as a special case.

If someone has the money for a cleaner or a facial or a new pair of shoes when they already own a pair, that's really up to them. It's a completely neutral act that isn't deserving of any particular judgement either way.

It's not poorly paid. My cleaner gets 18.00 ph.

I would say I am lucky to be able to afford a cleaner, but wouldn't call it an indulgence. Our house just didn't regularly get cleaned before we paid for someone else to do it. We are buying a service, like any other, for example a painter decorator, we could do it ourselves but if would take forever for us to do it and we wouldn't do as good a job.

I think it's good for us to be putting something back into the local economy too.

The you’ve got more money than sense and she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

I think that I worded my thread poorly. It isn't even it being seen as a 'luxury' that's the problem, it's the idea that it's something to feel guilty about that annoys me.

I don't see it as a luxury but it would be an indulgence as I am capable and mainly find time to clean my own house, car and windows though admittedly not to a standard I would actually pay anyone to do.