Do I really need a cleaner? (first world problem alert)

[brainonastick]

We have a cleaner for 3.5 hours a week (except she seems to only do about 2.5 hours, which could be part of the problem I suppose). Its fab (I work PT, DH FT, 2 young children, so time is scarce) but expensive, and I'm looking to see where we can make savings to afford holidays.

From what I can see, she does the loos and bathrooms, the kitchen, and hoovers. Changes our sheets as well, and a bit of ironing (DH's work shirts).

The actual cleaning she does I imagine wouldn't take me that long, and I could mostly do it as I go along rather than taking a 2 hour chunk of my week out. And I might do it better, if less frequently. And then I wouldn't have to tidy up like a lunatic every Monday.

I hate changing sheets, but I could live with it, and the ironing we could give to an ironing lady.

Am I being a bit rose-tinted specs? I remember how brilliant I thought having a cleaner was when we first got one years ago. Maybe I'm not remembering how boring and time consuming cleaning is. And maybe I would get more stressed with DH and the kids making mess. WWYD?

God, I sound like a right prat. Ignore me, I will go and remove my head from my nether regions.

Of course I don't need a cleaner, I should read before I post. I just can't decide if our lives are made better by the amount of money it costs. And only I can decide that I suppose.

What you should look at is getting a proper cleaner! She sounds a bit naff if she isn't doing the time she's paid for

Thank you for being kind , but I did sound like a bit of a prat.

I'm reluctant to ask DH to do any more, he does most of the cooking as it is, and has quite a long working day.

I think maybe the solution is to ask the cleaner to drop her hours down to 2 or 2.5, since she only takes that amount of time anyway. That way I get more cash, plus I can legitimately do the bits that she should be doing without getting cross about it.

Good point about the DCs, it is definitely time they started to help more, and they would love it as well.

You really don't sound like a prat ! I have had a cleaner for about 3 months, and it has made a huge difference to me -I can keep on top of everything by tidying up rather than cleaning IYSWIM. She only comes for 2 hours so does the kitchen, bathroom, utility and floors downstairs - bedrooms are down to me !

I think you would miss her. Our cleaner finished last week as she moved to a different area and I'm amazed at all of the things she did that I didn't really notice... water the house plants, empty the bins in the study, playroom & bathroom and other silly things which all add up. Whilst I am doing a bit each day, I really miss that feeling of coming home and it all being clean at the same time IYSWIM. I used to wash the floor a couple of times a week anyway but now I do it every other day and will do for the forseeable future, it feels much more like drudgery.

I think Murtette is right. Also you mention running around on a Monday tidying as a problem - presumably before she comes. Whilst this is a PITA it also encourages you and hopefully the rest of your family to get some tidying done in an effiicient manner so that she can clean. Do not undertimate this. If your house is like mine this tidying will be left for you to do before you can get to the cleanining - so 2 to 3 hours cleaning by a cleaner becomes 4 - 5 hrs tidying and cleaning for one person. Hope this makes sense x

I really think you would miss her. And while the tidying can be a PITA, at least it gets done. If you don't have that giving you a kick up the bum, it is easy to get really messy and then the actual cleaning takes ages.

My cleaner does 4 hours one week, 2 hours the next. On a 2 hour week she does the kitchen and bathroom including mopping the floors, hoovers upstairs and the stairs. On the 4 hour week she does all the above plus all the dusting, hoovers downstairs and cleans mirrors, windows, skirting. The sofas come out about once a month, the beds every couple of months.
So it does sound like yours could be doing more in her time.

This is only my opinion but I used to have a cleaner and we gave her the boot. Don't get me wrong, she did a great job. But was she expensive. I still had to clean (more than tidy for me, and I'm a neat nick). Really, she had it made.

Now we live in a smaller house and I do it all myself. I work PT as well, and it is a challenge, but I do a bit each day. When I take a shower, I clean the shower while I'm in it. Then I take a wet cloth and wipe down the bathroom floor with a mild cleaner. I then check the loo and see what the condition is. If it needs cleaning, I clean it. Wipe out the sink and the mirror and I'm done. I still have to do deep cleaning, but this goes a long way.

I do have one of those robotic vacuum cleaners, so I use it in every room, one room every day of the week. Again, it needs to be hoovered on a regular basis, but the robotic one does a pretty decent job in between.

Cooking I do all myself. All the shopping, planning, etc. too. I would rather use the $$ to go on holiday too. When I'm sick or our son is sick, yes things get behind. But eventually I get caught up and I love the extra $$. Again, just my opinion!

Brain on a stick, I think what you may have done is lose sight of the reason you employed a cleaner in the first place. Presumably because you haven't enough time and don't enjoy cleaning. Me neither. I have had several cleaners over the years and to be honest I often get to the point of thinking should I finish them as they don't do as good a job as I would ( if I had the time) but then I take a long hard look at the essential stuff, bathrooms and toilets and kitchen and remember how much I hated cleaning. I now appreciate that my two ladies do a great deep clean for two hours once a fortnight, in the time in between I clean round and vacuum to keep the general levels of muck acceptably low. I think reading several posts and polling friends, we all do that tidy up before the cleaner arrives, but then socks and pants disappearing up the vacuum is not a very clever way of sorting the laundry. Stick with it, grit your teeth, maybe have your cleaner come fortnightly for the same length of time for a while so you can compare the level of cleaning.

If you can afford it I'd keep her... I'd love a cleaner but we can't afford it!

But I would say you really don't need to iron anything apart from dhs shirts (or he does). Why do kids clothes and your clothes etc need ironing? Just buy things that tumble well and fold after tumble drying. If you give them a good shake as soon as they come out and fold them then ironing is just a waste of time just to look a little less crimped !

Might be possible to save a little money there.....

Listening to your complaints about her, I'd be tempted to get rid of her, try doing it yourself for a month or 2, and if you find it hard to fit in, look for a new cleaner - one who does her hours, and cleans as you want. Ours doesn't iron or change sheets, but does a 4 bed, 2 bath in 2 hrs a week. Can't see it taking 1.5 hrs to iron 5 work shirts, and change some sheets!

Wow, lots of replies and food for thought, thanks everyone.

I think you're right about having forgotten about life-before-cleaner, and yes, we are time poor as a family generally, and I don't like cleaning as a chore (quite like it when I do it, but hate knowing it needs doing all the time). And however much I hate having to tidy up to a timetable, yes, it makes it get done. We'd had a couple of weeks over Christmas without her, and it felt so relaxed not to have to do anything to schedule. But then we were all off work/school so it was pretty easy to drift around tidying and cleaning when I fancied it!

librarymum I would love a robotic Hoover, if only to see the cat's expression when it got going. Maybe when they bring out a robotic housekeeper we'll get one.

fairylea we don't iron anything, im crap at it and I think it's largely waste of time. I buy clothes that don't need ironing, and dry and fold things carefully. The only things that get ironed are dh's shirts. I'm always at those threads where people iron pants and sheets!

I think you're all right (again) that I need to address the hours she does. Hard as she's been with us for years and is lovely. She does seem to be taking the mickey especially lately though. Sigh, I hate confrontation.

My cleaner retired a year ago and I dreaded not having her.
However, I have developed my own routine and have included everyone in our home:
DH irons own shirts and clears up after every meal, packs online shop away.
Dc 1 - takes out rubbish, recycling, bins out
Dc 2 - tidies bedrooms
DC 3 - packs toys away
I online shop at work in lunch hour and do little and often.

I decided to put the £120 a month i was saving from not paying my cleaner into a savings account. So far I have 1.5k in there for a lovely summer holiday. Need I say more!
Personally I would get rid!

Brainonastick, you'd be surprised what a good baby minder that thing is. Our son is past the age but when younger he'd just sit and watch that thing. He'd put light stuffed animals on them and laugh (we would too) when they would scoot away on it.

The cat was terrified of it though!! But as a baby minder it was wonderful :)

Does she clean what you originally said you wanted cleaning in that time?

If she does and you are happy with the job she's doing, I'd leave things as they are.

If she doesn't I'd just say to her that you have noticed that xyz haven't been done and that she's cut back on the time she's there - so if it's a problem for her to do her full 3.5 hours and as many jobs as were agreed you are happy to re-look at what is being done and the time she has available to do it :)

I think it's easy to think 'I could do that in less time & better' - the reality is that it weighs on your mind, takes longer than you think and worst of all - you actually have to do it?! Wouldn't you rather be cuddling the kids or drinking a glass of wine?? Think of it as a mini holiday every week

Chipping, good thoughts. I would rather be drinking a glass of wine than doing practically anything .

It sounds like she isn't doing 3.5 hrs work. Happens a lot with cleaners they start off well then it goes downhill, must be hard to keep up enthusiasm for a job when you could slope off early if you wanted and you don't get much in the way of feedback.

OP I felt like you so we were making cut backs so I gave our 3 hr a week cleaner notice. I found I could do the stuff she did with concerted effort in about 2 hrs, but then DH talked about buying another huge waste of money car and I thought sod it so I got another cleaner. This one is great she only comes for 2 hours but gets more done in that time than the other one in 3.5.

I'd leave a list of jobs for your cleaner and see if it gets any better. Ironing shirts is time consuming so that could be taking up the time. If it doesn't get better then I'd think about getting a different cleaner or try a couple of months without and see how you get on.

we have a cleaner and she has been off over Christmas. She does 4 hours a week and I can't wait for her to be back. We both work FT and the £40 per week we pay is well worth it just to not have to think about the cleaning. We do our own ironing and sheets though.

We have decided to cancel our gym membership though to save some cash.

I had a cleaner for 3 hrs/wk up until about 6 months ago. In all honesty, I only notice the difference if I get behind. In many ways I prefer just doing it myself on a daily basis. There is a lot to be said for little and often! I did regret it a little initially but now my daily thing is a habit it really isn't a problem at all.

I am lending my moral support for you to confront her. You pay for 3.5 hours you should get 3.5 hours.

Love my cleaner! Even if she sometimes shaves 15 minutes off But I can live with that, I would give her a tea break if she stayed any longer anyway.

Have you spoken to your cleaner about what work housework she is doing? Have you given her particular instructions - for example oven needs a clean this week or the skirting boards need doing int he children's rooms?

I think one of the reasons that a cleaner goes down hill after around 4 months is due to the house becoming more like home to them and the person paying not giving clear instructions of what they want done.

Find two or three jobs per week to add to the work load so that you know it will take her 3.5 hours.

My mother used to hide laundry so her cleaner wouldn't iron. She wanted her to spend her two hours cleaning, not ironing in front of the telly which she could get me to do, or do herself.

If there are jobs she isn't doing - dusting? scrubbing? wiping down skirting? - then give her a list. I don't think cutting down to two hours for kitchen, bathroom and Hoovering is unreasonable.

If you are going to keep her, do confront her. MIL, in the 4yrs I've known her, has often talked about her useless cleaner but I was flabbergasted the other day when she referred to the cleaner coming when X happened and I realised she's had the same useless cleaner for 22 years! You have been warned!