Do you have a housecleaner?

ajroemisch · April 2011

DH and I are interviewing a lady tomorrow who is an amazing housecleaner. My sister-in-law uses her and her grandson iis in my class. She is a very sweet lady and super meticulous. I'm curious as to what to ask her.

Wanna know dh's main concern? Where do I plan on hiding my "toys"????? ha!

oncoRN · April 2011

We are looking into getting a deep spring clean from a service for our baseboards, etc....never had one though! Too funny about DH's concern, I guess we would have to figure that out too haha

jillychris · April 2011

Oh I wish...we were just joking about how I asked our pretend housekeeper to come in tomorrow, on a Sunday to clean up our place. It's a mess right now, and rather than clean it up today, we laid on the couch watching movies all day.

I have contemplated hiring a one time service to do a spring clean though. All those things you never really get to, like oncoRN mentioned with the baseboards!

katekat8721 · April 2011

Yes, me.

Do you know exactly what she will and won't be cleaning? I wouldn't imagine her snooping through your closet, so you could put them in there when she comes over to clean.

orange_roses · April 2011

Ask her if you have to be at the home during cleanings. If not, how does she anonymize your key (one person we interviewed said, "Oh, I just put the address on each key." Next!)

How does she deal with holidays? Illness (hers and yours)? Do you have to pay even if it is cancelled because of illness? We had the flu for a week and had to cancel one of our cleanings - fortunately, they didn't charge us.

What products does she use? We had one cleaner that STRIPPED the coating on our sinks - faucets and drains. When I stayed one day to watch them, they didn't change products - they cleaned the ENTIRE house with stainless steel cleaner (I have NO stainless steel in my house).

How do you communicate if something has to be changed/recleaned?

OceanPearl2 · April 2011

We have a housecleaner come in once a month.

Definitely ask what she charges (ours is $60/4 hours). Her initial visit we did a walk through of the house and I told her what to do/not do (H's office is uncleanable). We also asked that she not clean any unclean surface - so it keeps DH and I on our toes controlling the clutter.

We don't have to be home, however if we are not we have come up with a common hiding spot for the key to be found outside our home.

Also, like mentioned ask if she uses her own cleaning proucts or if you have to supply them and ask if there is an organic option.

Honestly, best $60/month I spend.

emu0013 · April 2011

I would like one, but think I am just too picky with cleaning my house. DH thinks I am ridiculous with it, but I have always been this way!

Jenn478 · April 2011

emu0013:
I would like one, but think I am just too picky with cleaning my house. DH thinks I am ridiculous with it, but I have always been this way!

Me too! I am an OCD control freak when it comes to cleaning my house and where things go.

kitaangel · April 2011

I don't have a housecleaner (YET.) but that's on my list once the budget is re-done for the spring/summer season!

My ex's family had a house cleaner though, you can always ask them to just clean certain areas or everything, it's based on what they needed help with most.

As for the "toys", I have a stash of fun things in my top dresser drawer, with my undies. It's the NO-TOUCHIE drawer.

tkhrabs313 · April 2011

We just had a lady come yesterday to give a quote for a deep spring cleaning...which is what I asked for as birthday gift (yes, I'm lame!). I am so excited to have her come in and then come home to a wonderfully clean house!!

As for my "toys", they are in one of my to dresser drawers. She shouldn't be in that drawer, but if she goes snooping and finds them, she should be the one who is embarassed for snooping

ajroemisch · April 2011

Thanks everyone! She is gonna be here at 5:00! I do know she cleans baseboards weekly, everything on the walls is dusted, she does the fans weekly, the blinds monthly (we've lived here 2 years and I just dust them once a year! oops!), all the dusting, vacuuming, mopping, bathrooms, etc.

SIL had to go home the morning she was cleaning due to an early AF and she walked in on her on her hands and knees in the bathroom scrubbing the bottom of the toilet and grout lines in the tile.....She pulls everything out and cleans the floor and then cleans those items and puts them back. I'm already sold on her, just cant wait to meet with her! Curious to what she charges, but we just don't clean, so whatever it is, will be worth it! ha! SIL's house is almost twice as big as mine and she pays $60 a week! So, I'm "guessing" around $50! Can't wait! DH said this is my choice and it comes out of my paycheck (which I get to keep 100% for my $$!)!! Wish me luck! Still trying to pick stuff up! ha!

GraceInCA · April 2011

We've got a great housekeeper who comes one day every week. We still have to pick up stuff, keep up with laundry, dishes, etc. on a daily basis but she does all of the deep cleaning including tubs, toilets, floors, etc.

Good luck to you! The key to this relationship like any other is communication. If you're very specific about what you need (and don't need) it'll work out nicely.

SParkman80 · April 2011

Yes we have a great house keeper! She comes once a month to do a deep cleaning and I keep it up for the rest of the month.

I'd ask her what all she does for her price. I never thought to ask my cleaner that and later found out she doesn't do the kitchen at all. Well she does the floors but no counter tops or dishwasher stuff. She does an amazing job with everything else though! Good luck!

ETA- I forgot to say that I hid my prenatals in the top drawer of my bedside table. She put a card from DH in it and saw and asked if we were ttgp. So pick another place to hide your toys! Maybe under the mattress??

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