How do you clean your house?

[stillmovingforward]

I was prepping to get a house cleaner, I already had a guy who now the lawn. But then my DH got hurt. I figured he could slowly learn to do more housework and it would be good to keep him feeling useful. Plus we lost a lot of his income.
So the house isn't as clean as I'd like, but I only need to do the heavy lifting and bending over tasks (like cleaning the shower). I'm good with that. He's learning.

[buystoys]

I put an ad on Facebook and then interviewed current clients of the people I chose.  We used one person from that process for three years.  She was OK, but I had to ask her every time to clean the shower.  That irritated me.

Our current cleaning lady we found through our property management company.  She was hired to clean our rental and we loved the job she did.  We hired her immediately for our house.  She's amazing!  We've had her for three years now.

[raeoflyte]

My first 2 cleaning people were friends/recommended by friends.

My last crew I hired to do a move out clean of one of the rentals and then asked if they would clean our place too which they would but only monthly. They are great and I have to see if I can fit them back in the budget.

[jitterbug]

Feb 5, 2022 21:09:14 GMT -5 debthaven said:

This may be a really stupid question, but couldn't you just hire another cleaner? 

I've had a cleaner my entire adult life. My 4 kids are all out of the house too now, and frankly, I can't imagine having to start cleaning on a regular basis myself (or even with DH LOL). I do spend of lot of time organizing/decluttering. 

My house is also "company ready" at any time. It takes me about 5 min to "straighten up" every night before bed or before company. 

But I find myself curious why you decided not to replace the cleaner, if you don't mind me asking. 

We would love to!  But we can’t find one.  I don’t want to hire someone I don’t know or who doesn’t come with recommendations from someone I know…and it seems to be a dying profession!  One person, who cleans for my SIL, seemed very interested….even came out and looked the house over.  But then would never respond when I tried to pin her down.  Called my in-laws cleaners - they’re fully booked.  Our neighbors moved out of state and I tried to poach her cleaner….but she said the woman seems to be entering retirement and wasn’t being very reliable recently, so couldn’t recommend her anymore.  

To me, it seems like a good part time job for someone.  I’m sure it’s probably illegal, but everyone I know just writes them a check or pays in cash, so most of them are making $20/ hour tax free.  Plus your schedule could be pretty flexible and you can work around your kids school hours.  But I think the people like my mom, who was Susie Homemaker and was good at taking care of a house - are dying off!

[jitterbug]

Feb 6, 2022 13:47:20 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

jitterbug were any of our posts helpful? If you need more or different information, let us know.

Well, what I learned is that we all clean different ways!  And that some are way better at it than others!  Lol.

I like having the bulk of it done at once, as I always enjoyed coming home after my cleaner had been here and going “ahhh…a clean house!”  BUT, I’m also realizing that I actually keep everything in pretty good shape all the time at this stage of my life, so maybe just doing things as I see a need would be better?

BUT - I am still keeping my ears open for a permanent cleaner!

[raeoflyte]

Feb 7, 2022 15:16:04 GMT -5 jitterbug said:

Feb 5, 2022 21:09:14 GMT -5 debthaven said:

This may be a really stupid question, but couldn't you just hire another cleaner? 

I've had a cleaner my entire adult life. My 4 kids are all out of the house too now, and frankly, I can't imagine having to start cleaning on a regular basis myself (or even with DH LOL). I do spend of lot of time organizing/decluttering. 

My house is also "company ready" at any time. It takes me about 5 min to "straighten up" every night before bed or before company. 

But I find myself curious why you decided not to replace the cleaner, if you don't mind me asking. 

We would love to!  But we can’t find one.  I don’t want to hire someone I don’t know or who doesn’t come with recommendations from someone I know…and it seems to be a dying profession!  One person, who cleans for my SIL, seemed very interested….even came out and looked the house over.  But then would never respond when I tried to pin her down.  Called my in-laws cleaners - they’re fully booked.  Our neighbors moved out of state and I tried to poach her cleaner….but she said the woman seems to be entering retirement and wasn’t being very reliable recently, so couldn’t recommend her anymore.  

To me, it seems like a good part time job for someone.  I’m sure it’s probably illegal, but everyone I know just writes them a check or pays in cash, so most of them are making $20/ hour tax free.  Plus your schedule could be pretty flexible and you can work around your kids school hours.  But I think the people like my mom, who was Susie Homemaker and was good at taking care of a house - are dying off!

I think $20 an hour is a bit low. My last crew were $25 -$30 an hour each (I don't know how they split it up, and I expect that she ran her business above board with taxes).

Not that that helps when you can't find anyone, but something to keep in mind.

[stillmovingforward]

I looked a few days ago out of curiosity. There is no one advertising around me to clean houses. Wow!

[azucena]

FB is a good place to start.  If you have a neighborhood group, you can see pretty quickly which cleaners are recommended over and over.  Mine raised her rates from $20 to $25 Jan 1, and DH actually paused to consider if it was worth it.  Ahem, sir, happy wife, happy life and a clean house definitely makes me happy.

[TheOtherMe]

Mine pays the appropriate taxes and prefers checks over cash.  When she advertises for new employees, she puts in the ad that taxes will be withheld and you will be issued a W-2.

I have seen people ask for recommendations in the local FB groups.  Several people usually get recommended.  After a week or two, they usually come back and say that it worked out well.

I would pay an increased rate.  Everything else is going up like crazy.  Mine provides her own supplies and I'm sure that cost has increased.

[azucena]

With housework more under control, I've turned to tackle my other big struggle - putting healthy food on the table especially when we are busy with evening activities or I've had an awful day at work.  DH recently got a Sam's club membership which probably isn't great for our overall budget as he tends to go overboard on snacks and drinks there.  But, I read online about their prepaid meals in the deli section, so DD9 and I ventured there on Sun.  $170 later, I found a few frozen family meals and a couple deli meals ($10-15 each with 4-8 servings).  Last night was chicken alfredo - literally took it from package and put in oven for 50 mins.  DD9 completely approved.  I thought it was okay but am not an alfredo fan.  DH and DD13 ended up mtg friends for dinner.

[debthaven]

jitterbug I'm sorry you can't find anyone right now! I'm sorry to admit that hadn't occurred to me. 

It might be worth asking your SIL's cleaner and your MIL's cleaner if they can either recommend somebody else, or put you on their "waiting list". I know my cleaner has a "waiting list" and sometimes, depending on circumstances, things can go quite quickly! I also see lots of people asking and offering on my local FB group. Some people have several glowing recommendations! Others are ALWAYS available, and obviously that doesn't inspire much confidence...

Here there is no such thing as an every-other-week or monthly clean ... it's weekly or nothing. I can't speak to the rates because I'm in France.  

I hope you find someone soon! 

azucena you're a family of 4. We were 6 at home when the 4 kids were growing up. I'd cook for 8, and it would ALL be gone.

Once the 2 biggest kids moved out, and we were only 4 at home, I continued to cook for 8, and I froze half. BUT (this was crucial, because DH is a bottomless pit) I'd set aside half for the freezer BEFORE dinner. Even if you/your DH only cook 2-3 meals for 8 a week, within a few weeks, you'll end up with a bunch of home-cooked meals for 4 in the freezer. 

It took self-discipline but it worked, and it meant we could eat healthy, home-cooked meals most nights of the week. For us, the issue was also financial. 

Last thought ... could you ask both your DDs to learn how to cook their two favorite meals TOGETHER? You or your DH can teach them/supervise, with the goal of them eventually being able to do it together without too much adult help. The ideal would be if they could use the same ingredients, ie lasagne/chili/meatballs/bolognese. 

Good luck to you too! When my DS1 was a teen, he once said, if you could feed us pellets (we had a guinea pig at the time), you would. I said OH YES YOU BET I WOULD!!! With a home-cooked meal on Sundays!!! LOL

[Deleted]

Feb 7, 2022 15:29:12 GMT -5 jitterbug said:

Feb 6, 2022 13:47:20 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

jitterbug were any of our posts helpful? If you need more or different information, let us know.

Well, what I learned is that we all clean different ways!  And that some are way better at it than others!  Lol.

I like having the bulk of it done at once, as I always enjoyed coming home after my cleaner had been here and going “ahhh…a clean house!”  BUT, I’m also realizing that I actually keep everything in pretty good shape all the time at this stage of my life, so maybe just doing things as I see a need would be better?

BUT - I am still keeping my ears open for a permanent cleaner!

I much prefer to keep things tidy and clean by not making a mess in the first place, over having to “clean up”. So I take care of small tasks as I go, put things away when I’m done with them or before I go to bed when I’ve been lounging in the den, and clean up small messes like spills, as they happen.

That means I have much less to do when I do my weekly cleaning. So if I’m not overwhelmed by a messy, dirty house on cleaning day, I can handle details instead of spending hours just getting the house back in order.

That worked the best when I lived alone. My house was pretty much spotless most of the time. How well it works when you live with at least 1 other person depends on how much they cooperate with the small every day tasks of cleaning behind themselves.

”Just doing things as I see a need…” I do that too, for some things. If it’s something quick and easy, I do it right then. If not, I make a mental note to deal with it on my next cleaning day if I don’t get to it before then. Most of the time. Like now, I’ve noticed my blinds need cleaning, but I hate cleaning blinds, so I’m procrastinating. I might get a wild hair and tackle it sooner rather than later, but for now I’ve put that on my to do list for my spring cleaning. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

so I went on next door and saw good recommendations for a local person.

An estimate to the first floor only - kitchen, powder room, entry, LR, DR, parlor was $200 for first deep, $150 ongoing. I used to pay $80 for the whole house. New place had rave reviews about thoroughness but seems it is 50-75 an hour. I can't imaging what they could do that would make me think it was worth that money. Should I try it out and see what the deep clean looks like?

I wasn't super happy with our old cleaning person, but thinking of going back. 

[debthaven]

That sounds super expensive Rukh O'Rorke. 

[laterbloomer]

Feb 10, 2022 17:09:27 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

so I went on next door and saw good recommendations for a local person.

An estimate to the first floor only - kitchen, powder room, entry, LR, DR, parlor was $200 for first deep, $150 ongoing. I used to pay $80 for the whole house. New place had rave reviews about thoroughness but seems it is 50-75 an hour. I can't imaging what they could do that would make me think it was worth that money. Should I try it out and see what the deep clean looks like?

I wasn't super happy with our old cleaning person, but thinking of going back. 

How big is your house?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Feb 10, 2022 17:29:28 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Feb 10, 2022 17:09:27 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

so I went on next door and saw good recommendations for a local person.

An estimate to the first floor only - kitchen, powder room, entry, LR, DR, parlor was $200 for first deep, $150 ongoing. I used to pay $80 for the whole house. New place had rave reviews about thoroughness but seems it is 50-75 an hour. I can't imaging what they could do that would make me think it was worth that money. Should I try it out and see what the deep clean looks like?

I wasn't super happy with our old cleaning person, but thinking of going back. 

How big is your house?

I think it's 1600 the whole thing, and maybe 900 first floor, but I'm not sure.

The estimate did indicate that it may be revised after a walk through before the work. 

But while I might spring for it a few times, I'd rather have something that I could have continuous service on. The only reason I asked for an estimate on 1st floor only was that I need to do a fair amount of work to get it ready for a cleaner, and didn't feel like doing both floors beforehand.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

on the one hand, I'm a little suspicious of the great reviews - worried it is family and friends. Some called this reasonable competitive rates!!!

On the other I wonder I would be amazed at what they do?

I just don't know.

[finnime]

Well, a deep clean is not the same as regular housecleaning. I would expect scrubbing the floors, mopping and rinsing, stain removal, cleaning the refrigerator inside and out, washing windows, the whole nine yards. That said, that price would put me off.

[laterbloomer]

I got house cleaners when I was working full time outside of the house and fostering. But now that I work from home and it's just 3 fairly tidy adults living here I kind of enjoy taking care of stuff. Actually all 3 of us take care of it. It doesn't take long and I like the savings. I find I'm getting to a place in my life where I have a pretty good balance. It's nice.

[raeoflyte]

Pre pandemic I was paying $185 for the first cleaning and $145 monthly after that. About 6 hours total between 3 cleaners. I has rooms for them.to skip so probably 1600 square feet maybe?

[Deleted]

If their idea of deep cleaning is the same as or similar to mine, I might be willing to pay $200 for it. I paid $200 to get the Jeep detailed when we first bought it. It was dirty (we were just supposed to be Jeepsitting, owner did not plan on selling at first) and I didn’t like being surrounded by someone else’s dirt. Since I paid that much for that, I would probably pay similar for someone to “detail” my house lol.

I would not pay $150 for regular, ongoing cleaning though. If I had someone come clean regularly, I would really only want them to clean the hard floors and the bathrooms…. the things I dislike doing the most. I’m not paying $150 for that lol.

Ahhhh, I just remembered Rukh O'Rorke said her first floor is maybe 900sf. That’s less than half the size of this house, so maybe it would cost me even more? I usually deep clean at least every spring. I’ve scheduled 2 weeks vacation every May for about 15 years now. I don’t always take the full 2 weeks, but I still usually do my deep cleaning and other house related stuff during that time. Now that I’m thinking about it, 2 or maybe even 3 hundred dollars might be worth me being able to take deep cleaning off my to do list for that vacation time and have more time for fun and relaxation.

[TheOtherMe]

I live in a LCOL.  Until my current cleaner, I was paying $100 a month to have my house cleaned.  Of all the people who  have cleaned, I fired all except one because their cleaning standards were much lower than mine.

The one moved to San Francisco so that ended her being my cleaner.

The current one charged $125 for the deep clean.  I only have her clean the upstairs.  I don't have her clean the 2 bedrooms I don't use except to do a quick vacuum.  That may change as I use them more.  So about 900 sq ft.  I have 1600 sq ft and the rest are in the basement.

She charges $85 per month.  I would be willing to pay her more.  

I know Toronto is a much higher cost of living city than anywhere I have lived.  My nephew paid $300 Canadian for the first deep clean.   I think he said they now pay $250 Canadian every other week.  They think she is wonderful as they hate to clean.  She is employed by the building and cleans several apartments in the building.  They don't even have 900 sq ft.   

[Rukh O'Rorke]

so - I've been haunted about this cleaning situation, and I just had to know. I had to know! What could someone do for 200? And I thought the quote would surely be revised down when she saw the place, and I had had to do quite a bit of scrubbing before she came due to an unexpected guest situation this past week - someone in town form overseas - so I thought surely she will revise down, but she revised it up actually.

Not much out of the ordinary. And an expensive lesson. My gut said the rave reviews were by her friends and family, and now I'm sure of it. She worked very slowly, missed quite a few things and seemed to ignore a few as "not part of the job". I don't think she is really a professional housekeeper. Just someone who started cleaning houses and is making up her own rules? idk. I htink over the years here we've had 4 different cleaning crews, maybe 6-8 cleaners all said, including one agency crew, and the pace was just not there.

On the plus side, I had to do a lot to get ready (since we haven't had a cleaner since the pandemic), and now nearly my entire first floor is decluttered and reorganized a bit. Still a few pockets to work on but since a complete stranger was walking into the house I did a lot of little things that have been ignored for a while. Put some handles back on cabinet doors in the study that I took off to paint a few years ago, I want to get silver or nichle or pewter, or spray paint the ones we had so it got lost in the fog. I decided the gold would be ok anyway. Changed some lightbulbs in a high up fixture that had been burnt out a while (moved a lamp in to the hall to compensate), my desk has been getting inceasingly wobbly, finally got underneath and tightened the bolts on the legs, through out a few old chairs, moved a piece of furniture that had been out of lace for a while for some reason, and then all the decluttering. 

Thinking more about going back to our old person if we can, if she has room for us.

I didn't ask new person about their vax status. People can lie, even have phoney cards, so there is no telling. I guess maybe my expectations are just too high, and I need to be practical and pragmatic.

ETA: and for debthaven - a very large shitepile to work through!!

[debthaven]

At least it prompted you to get a bunch of stuff done Rukh O'Rorke !

I second trying your local Facebook group(s) if your old cleaner doesn't work out.  

[TheOtherMe]

My person puts right on her FB what she will and will not do.  There are things she will not do and some things she will do if you pay more.  

I am going to let her come this Friday.  Because it's been so long, I don't have a lot to do to get ready for her.

What I do to get ready for her is my own fault because I don't always put things back where they belong.  That's on me.

I do pick up cat toys before she comes and the cats do not like it.

My only complaint is that I never know what time she is coming.

[debthaven]

I was curious so I just calculated what we pay monthly. Our cleaner comes every Wednesday for 3 hours. She charges 15e/h. So we pay her either 180e or 225e/mo, depending on if there are 4 or 5 Wednesdays.

We also pay about half of her monthly salary to the government to declare her. 

So 270e or 337.5e/m. Ball park, that's $300-$375/mo total. We tip her one week's salary in the summer and at Christmas. 

Astonishing to realize that's our second most expensive monthly bill after property taxes!!!

WELL worth it (to us).

PS She has also done occasional "extras" for us, ie DH's 60th party and my 60th party, both of which were at home. We paid her generously for those. We were extremely grateful to have someone we trust helping out. She also sometimes took care of Bunny if we were away. 

[Tennesseer]

How do you clean your house?

With one eye closed.

[countrygirl2]

Only had someone clean when I had surgery one time.

Just never something I did, looking back I should have, the money got wasted anyway and that would have been a better use and I would not have been so exhausted.

But until I'm not able guess I will keep doing it, hubs would help if I couldn't.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

I finally reached out to our old cleaning person, she can't take us back

[azucena]

Mar 18, 2022 19:34:43 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

I finally reached out to our old cleaning person, she can't take us back

Can she recommend someone else?