Do you have a cleaner, if so how often, how much, what do they do???

[fannyannie]

Just wondering really as now DS3 is here I'm toying with an idea that DH suggested when DS2 was little..........getting a cleaner in.

BUT - I have NO idea how much they cost, how often they should come, how long for (on each visit) and what sort of 'cleaning' they do.....

So tell me about yours (and where you are in the country so I get an idea of costs).

Before everyone gets in with their twice a week cleaners and makes me all ... once every four weeks, just to keep things under control. There are two of them, they're in for about three hours in total. Do the whole house, or at least those bits that are accessible (I was off studying last time so let them off the dining room/study, and I've let them off the impenetrable spare room before). Emphasis on kitchen and bathroom, hoovering, dusting, general stuff in the other rooms. They're surprisingly good at tidying - they're not employed to do this, but if the house is a tip there's not a lot they can do without at least piling stuff on top of other stuff. £66 a visit; North Glos.

Mine cleans all the bathrooms & toilets (we have a lot!!), cleans the kitchen, mops all the wood/tile floors.
dusts in each room and hoovers.
She will also clean the inside windows in a room each week, and every other month will clean the insides of the kitchen cupboards.
She also irons - 5 shirts, 4 t-shirts/tops and 3or4 pairs of trousers.

We have her for about 5 hours a week and I pay £50 a week. (sometimes she takes 4.5 hours other times she takes 5.5 hours but more often than not it is slightly over 5 hours)
The hourly rate around here (surrey) is £8-10 per hour.

yes

3 hours a week £7.11 an hour. London.

she does all ironing and surface cleans the kitchen, downstairs loo, bathroom and mops all wet surfaces (including hall and dining room floor). Sometimes tidies and hoovers the lounge. WIll do special jobs when asked (but have to giveway on other things) .. like cleaning fridge / oven etc

not for much longer as we are about to move, im going part time and she is preggers!

But she does 2 hours a week, cleans whole house (2up 2down) and irons husbands work shirts. £18 for session. South Yorkshire.

3 hours a week £8 per hour. Outer London. Hoovers, cleans 3 bathrooms plus downstairs loo, dust and polish living room, wet wash kitchen floor, hoover 3 bedrooms, irons for approx 1 hour. If the house is untidy beforehand she tends to heap it in random corners which isn't good but at least I don't spend all weekend hoovering and cleaning (I recently returned to office life)

Good luck.

We have a 3 bed flat in London and I have 2 ladies who come for 2.5 hours once a week. I can't tell you what a difference it makes, not just to the state of the house, but to my mental wellbeing!

I know it takes me 5 hours to clean everything and they do the same. Some jobs don't get done every week - under the sofas, top of the bookcases, are all every 2 or 3. They change the beds and basically do what I do. I tidy up before they come so they can spend their time cleaning rather than tidying.

They charge £8 an hour, which is very reasonable for around here.

Midlands - £7ph, she does a 3hr stint each week.

Generally she tidies (although obv this is haphazard because she doesn't know where everything goes - so try and ensure it's relatively tidy beforehand), cleans 2 bathrooms, hoovers throughout, wet washes hard floors, clean/polish furniture, change beds and does other ad hoc stuff when she feels like it, such as cleans windows, sweeps leaves up outside, clears kitchen cupboards and cleans oven.

Can I hijack slightly please? I'd love to have a cleaner but want one on personal recommendation - I have a bit of a problem letting a total stranger loose in the house without this. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who has a cleaner so I'm a bit stuck.
How did you find your cleaners?

Recommended by a friend who lives close by. Best thing to do is ask around
I know some au pairs who take on extra cleaning jobs too.

Hi

I have a cleaner who cleans my sisters house too. She comes for 2 hours and cleans all the main living areas and does the ironing. I do the bedrooms myself.

I live in Cheshire and pay her £6ph. I'd actually like to pay her more as she's worked for me for over 3 years and never had a payrise, but she won't accept one.... so I buy her stupidly extravagant pressies at Christmas....

Mine is my teenage niece - I pay her £5 an hour, and she comes about 3 weekends a month, usually for 2.5 - 3 hours. Sometimes if she's not been a while, or we're doing a specific clearout of somewhere she'll come for 4 hours. I have a big and very messy house, and when she comes a lot of it is tidying. What she does varies each time. I also work at housework alongside her while she is here. Can't list all we do, but I don't do a huge amount when she's not here, so that gets it all done IYSWIM.
A couple of years ago after an operation, I borrowed a firend's cleaner for a 'one off'. She charged £8 per hour, but it was fantastic what she got done in 3 hours. She really, made the house feel so much better - I can't tell you what a lift it gave me.
I guess what I'm saying is, if you get a good, professional cleaner in occassionally, that can make a real difference too, if youre not certain about having someone in each week.
Oh, am in the Midlands.

Oops Just realised I've replied to a very old thread.
I've reported the advertising to MNHQ though - you need to pay to advertise on the site.

Tip is to do your research and ask around, word of mouth goes a long way these days.

I love my cleaner. I would be more disappointed if she left than if OH left. She cleans all rooms...vacuums, dusts, polishes, cleans bathroom, changes bed linen. The only things she wont do is clean inside the oven, move furniture to vacuum and clean outside windows. I pay 12 per hour, through a cleaning company. She comes in every Monday for 2 hours.