I've had ENOUGH! How much do cleaners cost??

[Bigmerlin]

Hello
Had enough of doing all the bloody housework and working 3 days a week. Can't get dh to change, it's threatening our relationship. So... how much do cleaners cost [Berkshire] , and what's the best way to get one??

AND - why is it, if I drop just one of the many balls I am juggling, I am a bad mother, whereas if dh does even a TINY amount of housework, he is a fabulous new man and wonderful father???????

Don't know how much a cleaner would cost, as much as I would like a cleaner myself!
Have you spoken to him and explained that you can't do everything?

I can't do everything in my house either, I work 5 days a week, so as long as we have clean clothes and are fed, the housework isn't a priority

I think £7-£10/hour in your area. I live in the back of beyond in Norfolk & have paid £5/hour recently.

Mine started a month ago. 3hours per week seems to be enough for my 2 bed semi.

She hoovers/dusts/cleans floors upstairs and down. She cleans the cooker/sink and all the bathroom, makes the beds.

She then does a washing basket full of ironing.

Its through an Agency so its a bit more expensive than usual. £9.50 per hour. Works out at £114 per month. WELL WORTH IT!

If you don't go through an agency then £6,50 per hour is probably normal.

Hello
Kid - yes, have spoken to him / shouted at him / cried etc etc. See sentence about relationship threatened...

We have clean clothes and are fed, but dd is on 2nd virulent tummy bug this month, and I'm paranoid it's because my kitchen isn't clean...

I can only afford £10/ wk, I wonder if I could get sby to come round for that??

Don't think you'll get anyone for £10 a week tbh. What about getting someone to come once a fortnight? They could give a goold deep clean and in between you can wipe surfaces and run hoover over?

I am my own cleaner I pay for ds to go to nursery one morning a week so I can get it all done.

In those three hours (well, 2 and a half once I've taken him there and back) I can: properly clean bathroom & 2 toilets. Unload and reload dishwasher. Wipe down kitchen sides and cooker (not oven) properly. Hoover and mop kitchen floor. Hoover entire house inc stairs. Wash and hang a couple of loads of washing.

It's a lifesaver for me. It means that I'm not spending all my time either trying to clean with ds round my legs, or upset about the state of the place.

So I would say, go for it and hire a cleaner. I spent too long being miserable that dh didn't pull his weight. He just doesn't 'see' dirt in the way I do. I went away for 7 wks recently - he didn't clean the bathroom or toilets once

Think of alternative sources of cleaner - have you got friends with teenage kids that might like to have a go? I cleaned for people during my holidays from uni. I was very pleased with £5 an hour, and worked really hard.

Presumably if you are working your DD is in some sort of childcare - much more likely to have picked up germs there.

We live in central London and only pay £6ph. This is cash in hand, not through an agency.

Did try an agancy once. They charged double the amount, paid said cleaner less than half and sent a different person most weeks. This was a complete nightmare as nearly everyweek I had to show someone new the ropes - waste of my time and money.

Now I just put a card in newsagents window and always have a good response.

Hi
I was in EXACTLY the same situation as you.

I live in Berkshire too (Reading) and I finally took the bulet and decided to get a cleaner. I found her on www.ditchyourdomestics.com and I pay £7 an hour.
Good luck to you.

I pay mine £33 for 6 hours. She cleans the house, tidies up and does my ironing. I love her!

In Suffolk I've been paying £8.50 an hour but nobody wants to even TRY any more

You said you can only affort £10.00 per week, is there any economies you can make to push that up to say £17.00 which equates to £8.50 per hour for 2 hours.

I'd vote for going through an agency, that way if you get someone who is useless or unreliable, you ring them up and they get someone new in. You have to be hard nosed to do it this way, but the way I see it the agencies are getting money for old rope otherwise.

And yes, sigh.... I understand what you are saying about your DH. I work 4 days a week, and we have a cleaner on Fridays and there is quite enough to do in between, and yes I do end up doing the lions share of it.

However occasionally I go on strike, refuse to tidy up or do the washing and then it gets done for a while.

The secret is there is no point in arguing with your DH. Most men do understand what is intrinsically fair and we have a deal where if one of us is getting DS off to bed, the other one prepares dinner and so forth. Doesn't work all the time but I gave up fighting about it because life is too short.

I am a self employed cleaner (agency free) I usually respond to cards in newsagents windows.

I charge £6.50 an hour and one client I have had for 4 years. She say I'm part of her family!
For my hourly rate, most jobs are 2/3 hrs a week cash in hand. People expect me to tidy up, hoover, wash up, dusting, make the beds and a little bit of ironing, mop floors and such like.

It's very hard work, especially if I have 2 clients in one day, but the christmas perks are good. All I ask for in return, is a cup of coffee, a biccy and a quick fag break

If you can find the cash from somewhere I'd def say go for it. I work 4 days a week and ever since going back to work I have been pulling my hair out with frustration at my DH who does nothing. It had been causing massive rows at the weekend as he said he just didn't see what needed doing so I'd need to tell him. Which of course ended in a row as soon as I did. So, the way I see it is the reason we have one now is because HE won't pull his weight! We pay £8 an hour in London and she comes for 2 hours a week. Found card in local newsy, met her and checked out references. THE BEST MONEY I HAVE EVER SPENT. I was just spending my day off with DD cleaning which was just not the point to be honest. Honestly, its lifechanging.

Why don't you get a decent clean done once a fortnight. Say 3 hours if your house is not too big.

We now have a cleaner. Be warned though once that problem is solved you will find something else to be dissatisfied about. My cleaner does ALL the cleaning and ALL the ironing. I now complain about doing the laundry and having to load and unload the dishwasher and make all the beds every day. One is never satisfied!

Although am currently training 3 year old to make her own bed each morning and she is coming on very well.

Do you seriously only pay £6 per hour in central London goldenoldie? I would hang on to that person if I were you, or give her a much overdue pay rise before someone else snaps her up.
I get paid between £7.50 & £10 per hour & we live about 40 miles away from London. Theres no way id accept £6 per hour, I would expect to get that in Hastings, or Bexhill or somewhere like that. I do totally work my @rse off at the £10 an hour job though & think I earn every penny & more besides.

I pay £8 an hour for my cleaner and we live in north London. He comes for four hours a week and during that time, he cleans all the rooms, changes the beds, irons DH's shirts and any other jobs that he has time to do, such as cleaning the oven.

Hi Bigmerlin,
I pay £10 per hour to my cleaner who comes once a week for 1.75 hours (i.e. £17.50 to clean two bathrooms and downstairs loo, dust and polish living and dining room, dust and hoover hall, stairs and landing and hoover & mop through kitchen, dining room and living room). From what's on here, maybe I pay over the odds? I'm in Berkshire too (Reading) and pay cash in hand. Is well worth it to me too - DH is great but agree, doesn't see dirt and untidiness in the same way I do.

Oooh, there's one on there from Oxford, who lives in the same road as us, for £6.50 an hour. Now that's tempting. No references available though - shella, did that bother you, or did yours come with references?

I am looking for a cleaning job at the moment. Have just joined here so not sure what areas this covers but I am in Chessington in Surrey so can travel to surrounding areas. I do have a car.

Hi i am a domestic cleaner and earn £6.50 an hour but also run my own company cleaning lets. Firstly i would like to say that £6.50 is NOT a lot of money considering the work i'm expected to carry out at times, some of the houses ive cleaned are vile and a lot of the people would have you wiping their butt if you where daft enough, i am very thorough and good at my job so please think about what you pay your cleaner and make if fair for the work load you expect carried out and there is nothing worse than cleaning a house with someone at home i prefer to have the keys and get the job done instead of someone getting under your feet. Hence why i started my own company.

On a brighter note when working for my own company cleaning lets houses/flats that have to be cleaned when vacated for the next tenants moving in i earn a fortune £60 for a light clean and from £80 for a deep clean depending how big and dirty it is and some of the flats a light clean only takes me and my business partner half an hour which is £30 each an hour. We have the keys do the job and earn fantastic money and hopefully will be earning that much money soon that i can give up the domestic £6.50 an hour cleaning as it sucks because some of the people are so mean and rude so there rant over.

Oh god - round here (West Sussex) I am being quoted £18 (yes, £18) per hour. It's completely mad and I don't understand why. In London I paid £10 ph but the the cleaner was really good.

I pay £7 an hour