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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Who has a cleaner? How much do you pay? and other questions....

47 replies

dirtydirtysucker · 23/04/2011 20:46

This is very nosy but I'd like to know:

How often do they come?
Just one cleaner or a team?
How long do they come for?
How much do you pay?
What do they do during that time?
Is it worth what you are paying?
and What do YOU do round the house yourself?

Thank you!

OP posts:
whomovedmychocolate · 23/04/2011 20:52

Twice a week - six hours in total £50. She cleans everything and tidies too. We bugger off out otherwise the kid undo her good work in five seconds flat. We got ours from Gumtree, she's lovely. I'll be very sad when we move and she goes onto the new owners of the house.

Ilovemangoes · 24/04/2011 18:44

They come once a week on Fridays (inc bank holidays)
Normally 2, sometimes 3 of them
I pay £199 every month
They dust everywhere, empty bins, clean bathrooms and kitchen, polish, tidy the lounge, hoover everywhere and mop everywhere
Definitely worth it
I have a 14m old, so I hoover the play area downstairs probably twice a week on top as well, and if it's wet weather and we are in and out with the pram, I mop the porch and downstairs hallway a couple of times a week on top as well

ragged · 24/04/2011 19:50

Indeed nosy! But here goes:

How often do they come? Once a week
Just one cleaner or a team? Just one
How long do they come for? 3 hrs
How much do you pay? 8 quid/hr, that includes cleaning supplies she brings
What do they do during that time? Kitchen counters & dishes, floors in all communal rooms, toilets & bathroom surfaces, occasionally a bit extra like windows, dusting, bringing laundry in or peeling potatoes
Is it worth what you are paying? Yes, though she's slower than I think I would be
and What do YOU do round the house yourself? A huge amount! But I don't mop/vacuum/tackle bathroom surfaces myself very often

I'm a sahm, so is quite a luxury, but we'd live in squalor without her Wink.

CMOTdibbler · 24/04/2011 19:54

Mine comes once a week for 4 hours - £7.50 an hour and she does the whole house inc tidying as she goes.

In the week, all we do is wipe the kitchen sides, clean toilets and sweep if things are really bad downstairs

KristinaM · 24/04/2011 19:58

Twice a week, 3 hours each time

I pay £9 an hour. She cleans only, no tidying ( my choice)

Yes it's worth it or I would fire her!

I do everything else around the house, including all the rest of the cleaning

wednesday13 · 24/04/2011 20:02

2 hrs @ £10 per hour. One person. She does kitchen, bathroom, hoover/mop, dust and polish, empties bins. Very much a once-over for a 3 bedroom house. But it's worth it as it keeps the house reasonably clean week to week.

We do tidying (mainly just before she comes), recycling, washing up, laundry, changing beds, anything more specific like cleaning out fridge or dusting inaccessible places.

Original poster
dirtydirtysucker · 24/04/2011 20:04

thank you, i really appreciate people answering.
i have been thinking about whether it is possible to get a cleaner but I know so little about it. It seems like people pay between £25 to £50 a week - that's more than we could afford, so perhaps it's not feasible.

OP posts:
wednesday13 · 25/04/2011 11:23

Mine is only £20 a week. There is nothing to stop you having a month's trial and seeing how you get on, it's not a permanent commitment on either side.

myhouseWILLbecleanthisyear · 25/04/2011 20:01

Thanks for starting this thread. It was something I was considering looking into when I went back to work after DC3 and I have got my house sorted so I can not feel embarrassed about the state of my house. [bublush]

Anyway it has been good to have a couple of experiences (not sure if that is the right word, but I couldnt think of anything else) to look at.

veg2grow · 25/04/2011 20:20

How often do they come? twice a week
Just one cleaner or a team? Husband & Wife Team
How long do they come for? 3 hours each time, total of 12 hours a week
How much do you pay? £8.50 /hr
What do they do during that time? hoovering, mopping all rooms, dusting, bathrooms, emptying bins, mirrors and windows adhoc. When we are on hols they will do a spring clean
Is it worth what you are paying? Yes they are not perfect but imo it means that there is less for me to do
and What do YOU do round the house yourself? I hoover kitchen and mop the days they are not here, wash and iron clothes & any other bits that they've not done

Pancakeflipper · 25/04/2011 20:25

I pay £10 per hour. She does 2 hrs.
She only comes fortnightly.

She does a general clean of the kitchen/dining area, lounge, hall, 1 of the bathrooms, 3 of the bedrooms. Sometimes I might ask her to concentrate and deep clean a particular room.

I do have to clean obviously in-between her visits but it really stops me nagging my DP who never does any housework.

jimswifein1964 · 25/04/2011 20:30

Aside from my Shock and Envy at those of you spending £30-£50 a week on a cleaner, I have another initial thought, which I' love to get some responses to. Many posters have listed hoovering as one of the cleaner's jobs. But here, I hoover daily, I need to with the mess the kids make - dont you feel you're paying for something that will only last a day or two? If I had a xleaner, I think I would get him/her to only do the deep clean hideous things like windows, skirting boards, ovens etc? I'm intrigued!

Pancakeflipper · 25/04/2011 20:37

In my mansion Jimswifein1964, when I go off to vac up I can disappear for weeks. I need a back up team Wink.

Reality is I have a lovely DP but obviously he is flawed and his main flaw is he likes tidy but doesn't do anything himself. As he's away alot, it's down to me. I did have an illness (hopefully staying in remission) that made it hard for me to keep juggling everything ( kids/work/having fun). So we got a cleaner. It buys me time.

madcatlaydee · 25/04/2011 20:38

How often do they come? once a week
Just one cleaner or a team? one cleaner
How long do they come for? 4 hours
How much do you pay? £7.50 an hour
What do they do during that time? hoover, dust, floors, kitchen, bathroom,bedrooms, tidying as she goes, empties dishwasher & washing machine too.

Is it worth what you are paying? absolutely worth it & she's lovely and will do babysitting too
and What do YOU do round the house yourself? i hoover a lot due to messy dcs and cats.clean toilet daily too,kitchen worktops etc

Pagwatch · 25/04/2011 20:43

Jimswife
I think you might be assuming that your life/needs will be the same as everyone Smile

I only have carpets upstairs. I would never Hoover everyday. But my house is far too big for one person to clean. So cleaners come twice a week for 3 hours. Otherwise house would get very messy

PiaThreeTimes · 25/04/2011 20:47

How often do they come? once a week
Just one cleaner or a team? one cleaner
How long do they come for? two hours
How much do you pay? £7 per hour
What do they do during that time? bathrooms and kitchen
Is it worth what you are paying? Yes. She doesn't do a thorough job in that time, but it's enough so that the house is always "clean enough"
and What do YOU do round the house yourself? Daily: sweet downstairs; hoover sofas; mop floors downstairs, clean kitchen, dust briefly downstairs; weekly: clean bedrooms, office and hall

The window cleaner comes bi-monthly and charges £25.

PiaThreeTimes · 25/04/2011 20:48

Sorry, I meant "SWEEP" downstairs, not "SWEET"!

headfairy · 25/04/2011 20:48

Once a week, 3 hours in total. One cleaner, She gets £9.50 ph.

In that time she hoovers throughout, cleans the downstairs floors, cleans the bathroom, cleans the kitchen, dusts throughout, cleans the downstairs loo, cleans a couple of glass doors we have.

She's not brilliant, doesn't really move furniture to hoover under or anything like that, she doesn't even move the kitchen table to clean under it. But she does a better job than I'd manage.

During the week I'll have to clean the kitchen floor at least once. I might wipe down the bathroom if it's particularly bad, or dd does a poo in the bath :o I usually clean the kitchen surfaces every day. Not much else.

Fleecy · 25/04/2011 21:05

We have one lady once a week for three hours at £10ph. It's through an agency so if she's not able to come, we get someone in her place.

She does the dusting, hoovering, mops kitchen floor, cleans sink and oven, washes up, wipes down worktops, cleans the bathrooms and cloakroom and changes the beds. If there's any time left she'll wipe down the kitchen cupboard fronts/wash windows.

We have to hoover downstairs another couple of times a week and I dust the living room if we have people coming round but that's about it.

I think it's worth it - as someone else said, the house is now always clean enough and I never have to worry about it. I love it so much we're now getting a gardener for a couple of hours a week too - I hate gardening and would much rather work a bit extra (I love my job) to pay for someone to do the things I don't like.

Marlinspike · 25/04/2011 21:14

I had a lovely cleaner who is unable to come at present. She spent 5 hrs here and she hoovered / mopped / dusted / tidied / cleaned bathrooms. She worked bloody hard, and was paid £8 per hour. I provided cleaning equipment and supplies.

I have had a few horror stories with cleaners; IMHO if you find a good one HOLD ON TO THEM!

Prinnie · 25/04/2011 21:20

I have a lady who comes once a week for 2.5 hours - I pay her £8 per hour so £20 per week.
She cleans in every room, and hoovers etc and then I leave an extra job each week or ironing.
It's completely worth it and means I do very little the rest of the time other than laundry/washing up.

nannyl · 26/04/2011 10:13

My cleaner does 2 hours every friday. £10 / hour (£20 / week)
I supply the hoover /mop / cleaning fluids etc etc, but she has special cloths that she likes and brings those with her (but mine are there if needed)

we have a normal-ish size 3 bed house.

she hoovers and dusts everywhere (but not under the main furniture)
cleans and mops family bathroom and en suite
changes our bedlinen
thoroughly cleans the kitchen (sink / hob / surfaces etc etc)
and washes kitchen floor
empties all the bins

basicaly the whole house is clean and tidy when she leaves (and we try and get it tidy-ish before she arrives too!)

superv1xen · 26/04/2011 10:16

i have my own cleaning business.

i charge £10 per hour. i dust, hoover all floors, mop hard floors, thoroughly clean kitchens and bathrooms and also polish things like mirrors etc.

i don't tidy :o (see my post a few weeks ago) Wink

jimswifein1964 · 26/04/2011 12:28

pagwatch yes, you might be right. Our house is small! Having said that, we also only have carpet upstairs - but I hoover the downstairs too, it's just easier. Is this a terrible housekeeping error?!

KristinaM · 26/04/2011 12:41

Jims wife -I don't understand why it's ok for me to do housework that will be messed up but a waste to pay the cleaner to do the same? Why is her time wore worthwhile or valuable than mine?

And lots of people spend £50 a week on cigarettes, alcohol, hobbies, clothes or going out. Why do you find it shocking that others spend that on their house?

Lots of people can earn more than £10 an hour. If they would rather work an extra few hours and pay someone to clean, why shouldn't they?