Hiring a cleaner?!

[livvyanddaisymummy]

For anyone who has a cleaner,
can anyone tell me the pros
and cons please?

I would love a cleaner, maybe just once
or twice a week to do jobs like
clean the bathroom, floors,
hoover, dust etc.

DH is paranoid that the cleaner
will go through paperwork, steal
things etc and has said i can't
have one!! I think he is being
ridiculous.

please give me some positives
so i can show this to DH
and persuade him that a cleaner
would be a good idea!!

Give in to him. No cleaner.

Then tell him to do it.

I have one, in fact due to moving to different areas am on my third. I had huge "you're getting up yourself" guilt at first but so not any more.

My tips are:

1. Accept that having a cleaner doesn't mean your house will always be sparkling. There will be certain things they always do. And certain things they never get round to.

1. Don't be shy of leaving a note asking them to do something in particular (eg could you wash down the skirting boards this week, don't worry too much if it means something else has to be left)

1. Tell them from the start what you want done most, ask them what cleaning products they'd like to do the job (don't scrimp with cheap own-brand stuff you wouldn't use yourself, you're just making jobs take longer and making his/her life miserable), and arrange how they should let you know more stuff is needed (in my case the shopping list is always on the notice board and I just tell my cleaner to add to it).

1. Get a recommendation from a neighbour if possible.

Point out to DH that if the cleaner stole from you the police wouldn't need to look very far, would they? Perhaps invest in a lockable filing cabinet if he's really concerned.

Have had several cleaners - unfortunately all back in the pre-children days when I was working full time and rolling in cash (well, relatively...)

Will definitely be getting one again when am back working post DS2.

Pros = your house is cleaned and you didn't do it.

Cons = it might not be cleaned exactly the way you would have done it.

Also, you'll still have to tidy and almost certainly do some in-between cleaning if they only come once a week and you have small children.

I'd give them a list of jobs you want done and agree with Longtalljosie's points.

I don't think any cleaner has ever stolen anything or, to my knowledge, been interested in any of my paperwork. I've always given them a set of keys and usually been out at work while they were in the house. The vast majority of people are perfectly honest, and it would be pretty obvious if your cleaner was nicking stuff, so foolish for them to do, no?

If I wanted to change dhs mind, I just would not clean. I would not wash any dishes, no washing done, no beds made.

This might work?

Also I found it was most useful for them to prioritise 'once a week' type tasks, such as hoovering upstairs, changing sheets, scrub bath, wash floors, ironing etc. Even clean windows, oven etc sometimes. Nice to have them clean the kitchen, for example, but realistically I need to wipe kitchen surfaces everyday and sweep floor most days anyway so less additional benefit from a weekly cleaner spending time doing this. IYSWIM.

Mine is lethal (in a good way), things are tidied away (we calling it being 'Jadziaed') and has made us more tidy as a result. She even handed me an envelope that had money in it and told me to put it away. She leaves me the empty cleaning products so I know what to replace. She is a godsend and it is wonderful knowing I don't have to do the hoovering on a Saturday morning!

It is quite hard to find a good cleaner in some areas though - those that your friend's use they will probably guard jealously! You can pay more and go through an agency. I'm actually thinking of starting up my own cleaning and ironing agency because frankly, I can earn more doing that than I would doing a part time job - round here the going rate is £15 an hour! £25 an hour for ironing!!!!

Do write a list of what you want doing and pin it up on the inside of a kitchen cupboard - preferably not the one with the tea in it! If you put it in the tea cupboard your cleaner will be finished and having a cuppa before she/he sees it.

Don't feel the need to fuss round your cleaner, let him/her get on with it. Unless they are actively juggling your La Croix crystal glasses, they will not actually be doing anything wrong, but they may doing things differently from you.

If your cleaner says 'I don't do X' think whether you can live with it or not. If it will niggle away at you and she really won't do it, then she's not the cleaner for you. We had one who said 'I don't clear up after cats'. Which was a bit because we have two and yes they create hair on sofas etc. That was a dealbreaker for me so I let her go. I don't quite understand why she would scrub the bog but not run the hoover over the sofa but there you go.

Personally if I was being paid to clean someones house I would do the best job I could and take extra special care. But then I'd expect to be paid a proper wage - you do get the level of service you pay for in this area!

Last thought from me - having a cleaner reduces relationship stress with DH too. Which should be a positive for both of you.

Why have I got so excited about cleaners? Oh yes, it's because I don't have one...

thanks everyone. Have shown this thread to DH and he seems to be coming around to the idea

If you're really worried about theft, then get your cleaner through an agency.

My tip would be to make sure that you are upfront about what you want them to do for you - have a list and make sure that they understand it, and that it can be achieved in the time that they are there for you.

Don't expect them to do jobs that aren't on the list (although you may be surprised by this!) but make sure that the jobs on the list are done, and point it out immediately - don't sit and fester about it.

Can anyone recommend an agency - or indie cleaner - for a one-off deep clean in south london?
(Or can you assume that all agencies are pretty much ok?)