S/O cleaning: If someone else cleans your house...

Jess.O · February 2011

If you pay someone to clean your house, what do they do?

I think that would be wonderful but I feel like so much of our mess is just clutter. I don't know if what they would do would help me as much as I'd like. (I don't care about dusting, etc. very much.)

L L CG · February 2011

Vacuum, dust, put away dishes (in the wrong places), wash dishes, as many loads of laundry as she can while she is there (about 4-5 hours), changes linens, vacuums couches (we have dogs who get on the couches), sweeps, mops, dusts, washes door windows, toilets, showers, baths, polish wood furniture...

what she doesn't do is put away stuff that we have out, which is my weakness. She just came yesterday and already I have the coffee table cluttered with my breast pump stuff, camera, phone, books, etc.

JayandJack · February 2011

She basically deep cleans the kitchen and bathrooms, makes the beds, vacuums, dusts, mops and sweeps, does the dishes by hand if they are in the sink (I didn't ask her to do that she just does) she also will change the sheets if I put the new ones on the bed but I rarely do that.

I'd love for her to do my laundry or at least start it but I'm weird and don't like anybody else touching my laundry. It took me about a year to not freak out when DH did it.

I pick up my house but she cleans if that makes sense. She'll straighten magazines that are on the coffee table but never moves them to where we keep the rest of them. I do pick up my house the night before she comes and DH thinks I'm weird but I don't want her to come to a messy house. It's easier for her to clean with it straightened up, KWIM?

ssinca · February 2011

we don't have a cleaning person but I know if we did, I'd spend the day before straightening up just so she/he wouldn't have to deal with our clutter/crap everywhere. I would do this when I lived with my parents when their cleaning lady would come.

which kind of defeats the purpose of having someone come over? I mean, I know he/she would vacuum, dust, and whatnot, but at that point, I might as well do it myself.

Emer · February 2011

ssinca:
we don't have a cleaning person but I know if we did, I'd spend the day before straightening up just so she/he wouldn't have to deal with our clutter/crap everywhere. I would do this when I lived with my parents when their cleaning lady would come.

which kind of defeats the purpose of having someone come over? I mean, I know he/she would vacuum, dust, and whatnot, but at that point, I might as well do it myself.

This is a huge benefit for us

We are terrible about picking up sometimes but we get everything put away before cleaning day and DH actually helps! Out gal does floors, changes linens, and completely cleans the bathrooms and the kitchen. I would love, love, love to have help with laundry, but I don't think she offers that.

Abrooks · February 2011

Our housekeeper does put away stuff. But - she's been with us almost three years; she knows our house - where things go, how we store stuff. As she's been with us longer, she's put away more since she knows where everything should go. And I don't pick up for her anymore either. She's seen it all by now - so no need. It's actually really nice. In addition to the picking up - she does all cleaning, some laundry, changes sheets, takes out trash, floors, bathrooms, blinds - all the stuff that needs to get done.

HSartteach · February 2011

Just out of curiosity...anyone willing to say how much they pay for their service? TIA

KittyFX · February 2011

Emer:
ssinca:

we don't have a cleaning person but I know if we did, I'd spend the day before straightening up just so she/he wouldn't have to deal with our clutter/crap everywhere. I would do this when I lived with my parents when their cleaning lady would come.

which kind of defeats the purpose of having someone come over? I mean, I know he/she would vacuum, dust, and whatnot, but at that point, I might as well do it myself.

This is a huge benefit for us We are terrible about picking up sometimes but we get everything put away before cleaning day and DH actually helps! Out gal does floors, changes linens, and completely cleans the bathrooms and the kitchen. I would love, love, love to have help with laundry, but I don't think she offers that.

Same here, I love being forced to "pick up". Who knows how cluttered it would be around here without the every 2 week cleaning day.

Ours do the basics, no laundry, no dishes. They clean the kitchen, bathrooms, vacuum, dust, mop floors, vacuum furniture, make beds, change sheets. I hate cleaning bathrooms. I do some cleaning in between but not the bathrooms unless we are having guests.

Taytee · February 2011

We had cleaners for the first year after Abby was born. I told him then - they're cleaners not straightners. There's a huge difference between a maid and a housekeeper.

I find that I have tons of brain energy left for putting away and organizing stuff before and after the cleaners as the weight of actually cleaning stuff is off my shoulders. And it's all done all at once instead of bathrooms one day, floors the next etc. It was so very wonderful to have them come clean the day before Emily's birthday party, which was our first scheduled cleaning. With all that nit picky work done, I could focus on food and decorations instead of taking a toothbrush to the guest bath sink.

Here's their detailed list of what they do. And dripping faucets aside, they do an awesome job (ie, I'm not going to fire them over the incident I posted about)

https://roundrock.thecleaningauthority.com/CleaningSystem.aspx

I don't like anyone fvcking with my laundry so I wouldn't let them touch it even if they offered that service!!!

Taytee · February 2011

Jess.O:

If you pay someone to clean your house, what do they do?

I think that would be wonderful but I feel like so much of our mess is just clutter. I don't know if what they would do would help me as much as I'd like. (I don't care about dusting, etc. very much.)

Maybe your money would be better spent on 1-2 meetings with a personal organizer? They could help you get to the bottom of all that clutter and give you that "wide open spaces" feeling. Worth a try anyway!

Jess.O · February 2011

Taytee:
Jess.O:

If you pay someone to clean your house, what do they do?

I think that would be wonderful but I feel like so much of our mess is just clutter. I don't know if what they would do would help me as much as I'd like. (I don't care about dusting, etc. very much.)

Maybe your money would be better spent on 1-2 meetings with a personal organizer? They could help you get to the bottom of all that clutter and give you that "wide open spaces" feeling. Worth a try anyway!

That might be a good idea. Lately, I feel like my whole life is cluttered! My house, my desk, my brain...If I could start with one area that would be great. I might look into that.

ssinca · February 2011

KittyFX:
Emer:
This is a huge benefit for us We are terrible about picking up sometimes but we get everything put away before cleaning day and DH actually helps! Out gal does floors, changes linens, and completely cleans the bathrooms and the kitchen. I would love, love, love to have help with laundry, but I don't think she offers that.

Same here, I love being forced to "pick up". Who knows how cluttered it would be around here without the every 2 week cleaning day.

this is true, I suppose it would be nice to have a cleaning person just so I'd get my act in gear and straighten up!

jakbtx · February 2011

we started using a cleaning person 1x/month when DH and I first got married, no kids. he's a neat freak and i couldn't keep up w/his cleanliness needs and neither could he, so it was something we both felt was worth the $$. now we've upped the frequency to 1x/week after having our third. we've had the same person over 5 yrs....she changes the linens, does dishes....pretty much everything (bathrooms! floors! under the couches! windows! and any special requests we have)...except laundry and she doesn't really pick up because we always do that ahead of time. she brings 2 other ladies with her and they are in/out in 45min-1hr. it is so worth it!!! we have a package deal w/her now bc she also cleans my DH's office and his bro's house too, weekly.

FeistyFille · February 2011

Before she comes I put away all the toys and load the dishes in the dishwasher so the house is relatively tidy. I do the laundry and wouldn't really want anyone else doing that for me. I'm stupidly particular about it. I don't want her spending her time doing that basic stuff when what I really need is deep cleaning.

She scrubs toilets, showers & sinks. She dusts everything. She doesn't tidy my piles of stuff (and again I wouldn't want her to), but she'll dust under, around and on them. She vacuums & mops. She takes out the trash & makes the bed. She cleans our appliances and washes any random dishes that I forgot to load. She does all the "big" jobs that take a lot of time and/or elbow grease, and I am so thankful that we have her.

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