S/O of What household chore do dread the most? thread. Do you have a cleaning person?

[SirDuff]

I now have a weekly cleaner but I live in South-East Asia where it is pretty much expected (my apartment, as with most I looked at, includes a "maid's bedroom" (I'm using as storage) and "maid's bathroom" (mainly unused but sometimes leave some of the cleaning products there). My cleaner also costs about $30/day (and that is on the high side because I have a big apartment and, generally, cleaners working for ex-pats charge more).

I don't really clean-up for her (but she's basically here for a full day so don't feel the need to "save time"). She'll even change my sheets (I had been washing the sheets and leaving for her, but she said to just leave it all to her ). Heck, she'll do the dishes if I leave any in the sink (usually just my breakfast dishes but occasionally, if I've had a long day, my dinner dishes too) - dishwashers are not a thing here.

 

[LoveDaisy]

I had one for an about 8 months while going through chemo. I lived alone and didn’t have the energy to clean. The dirtier my house was the less likely I was to have someone over and I started to feel isolated. Some wonderful friends chipped in and hired a housekeeper for me. It was by far the most amazing and helpful thing anyone did while going through chemo.

 

[barkley]

We have a lawn/yard service too.

we have one too. they don't mow but do all the lawn and shrub/flower bed treatments. i'm on 10 acres that are full of every possible weed and invasive plant-that the company we use manages to keep the smallish areas they treat completly devoid of these, lush and green is well worth the cost (and provides a safety componant-a neighbor's home was in the direct path of a large fire, fire officials attributed his well maintained lawn with preventing the fire from burning down his home).

 

[YachtClubWoman]

Yes - absolutely worth it for my husband and I
Every 2 weeks - $130/cleaning
I have had a housecleaner since we bought this house in 1999

 

[John VN]

DW hired the cleaning/maintenance crew 51 years ago this June -- Me, Myself and I with a combined age of 222 years in July.

 

[kymom99]

My goal is to get someone to come maybe once a month. Our new house has vaulted ceilings and no way are we climbing up there to clean. I can dust mop and wipe things down, but I need someone to do some of the more difficult tasks.

 

[CGB]

No cleaning service here. Saturdays are our grocery shopping, meal prepping, cleaning, laundry, mowing, whatever-chores-need-done day. It's an all-hands-on-deck kinda deal in this house.

 

[TCRAIG]

I have a woman come in every other week - $75. to dust, mop and vacuum the living room, dining room, foyer and stairs and clean the little 1/2 bath. I’ll also pay her another $75. - $100. every once in a while to dust and vacuum the 3 upstairs guest bedrooms, loft and clean 2 guest baths…all of which only get used a few times each year when company comes. I don’t ‘clean’ prior to her coming per se but I do pickup.

 

[luvthatduke]

I do not have a house cleaner but I probably should.

I am struggling with mobility and stamina issues and a huge dirty house. I find the bathrooms to be my biggest challenge right now.

My main reasons for not having a house cleaner are:

1. embarrassed to have them over for the first time to discover how dirty my house is

2. paranoia about having strangers in my house around my valuables

3. inherit cheapness - which I have to get over because we have enough money so why not spend it on something that would make my life better.

We did have Merry Maids a long long time ago when our house was on the market and needed to be clean. They require you have everything off the floor, no dishes out and nothing loose on the counter (everything had to be in baskets or on trays). while I did love how clean my house was, I nearly broke my back tidying and preparing for their arrival each time.

I'm sorry to read this, but glad to meet you .
I thought I was the only one!
You're post is identical to what I could have written.

 

[RedAngie]

we have one too. they don't mow but do all the lawn and shrub/flower bed treatments. i'm on 10 acres that are full of every possible weed and invasive plant-that the company we use manages to keep the smallish areas they treat completly devoid of these, lush and green is well worth the cost (and provides a safety componant-a neighbor's home was in the direct path of a large fire, fire officials attributed his well maintained lawn with preventing the fire from burning down his home).

My yard service mows the lawn, applies fertilizer and weed control at appropriate times, rakes leaves, replaces mulch as needed, and does a general fall and spring cleanup.

I had them build the foundations for several gardens and plant a few things, but I like to add perennials and annuals on my own. They do yank out the dead annuals after frost and cut down the perennials.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We have had someone come every two weeks for the past 10 or 12 years. She cleans the the main floor, upstairs, and sunroom. We take care of the basement.

 

[Moliphino]

No housecleaner. We do have a lawn service that mows and cleans up leaves.

 

[mjkacmom]

Don't have one, never did. Strangers in the house? It would have to be someone highly recommended. Have heard stories.......(obviously things happen/and not all bad).

Some day in the future - maybe - a few times a year/every other month for hard to clean/get to places. Windows/tubs/cabinets/floors/etc. I am sure the day will come when I physically can't do certain things.

When the kids (3/two boys/one girl) were small/home - I would have needed a cleaning lady every day. There was no way I was waiting once a week to do laundry or clean bathrooms. Laundry was almost daily. Weekend more loads with sheets. Bathrooms? Constantly touching them up. Company? Kids/grandchildren over? I do a quick clean before they come and I can't go to bed until floors are swept, vacuumed and mopped. Windex certain spots, a quick wiping in the bathroom and trash out. I like to start my morning fresh and clean.

I had to do all that when I had them, laundry (daily, family of 7), counters/table/roomba daily, swiffer, Clorox wipes in bathrooms…

 

[RangerPooh]

We don't have a housekeeper but would gladly pay for one to clean my kitchen, living room, dining room, and downstairs bath once a week. Sadly with four big dogs it won't happen.

Chores I hate: Picking up dog poop, doing the dishes, taking out the trash.

Sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping are relaxing for me.

 

[3rd_time_the_charm]

As a kid we had a maid that was there daily - cleaned, cooked, etc. She went home at night. As an adult, we have one come periodically.

 

[AppleDumpling]

No, have never had a cleaning person/service. My house is generally clean and neat, but we prefer it more “lived in” and don’t sweat it when it’s not immaculate. Always do a more intensive cleaning before we go away or have people over. My DS jokes that we should go away more and throw more parties, LOL.

My parents hired someone to clean their house when they were in their 70’s and both had health issues. I would consider the same when I am older and no longer able to physically keep up with it.

 

[mjkacmom]

No, have never had a cleaning person/service. My house is generally clean and neat, but we prefer it more “lived in” and don’t sweat it when it’s not immaculate. Always do a more intensive cleaning before we go away or have people over. My DS jokes that we should go away more and throw more parties, LOL.

My parents hired someone to clean their house when they were in their 70’s and both had health issues. I would consider the same when I am older and no longer able to physically keep up with it.

Over the holidays we had a lot of overnight guests, family and friends of our college kids. My house was cleaned top to bottom a lot!

 

[disykat]

In general I'm too cheap and I have the time so I don't have an excuse. I always said I would hire one during the years I had kids at home and worked full time, but I never had the nerve. If I had a personal recommendation from someone I probably would have done it, but it's hard to call a random stranger and trust them to do it while you're at work!

I still would love to have someone in for a deep clean a few times a year but have never done it. It's odd when the reason you don't have a house cleaner is because you're too lazy, but that's the truth of it.

I had my car detailed a few years ago after a long road trip and it was great! I told my husband that's what I wanted for my birthday and he took care of the details. I would totally ask for a house cleaning for my birthday, but again, I'd want a personal recommendation.

 

[tvguy]

My yard service mows the lawn, applies fertilizer and weed control at appropriate times, rakes leaves, replaces mulch as needed, and does a general fall and spring cleanup.

I had them build the foundations for several gardens and plant a few things, but I like to add perennials and annuals on my own. They do yank out the dead annuals after frost and cut down the perennials.

I used to have a company that did fertilizing and weed control, but because of the chemicals, that is a whole different service because it requires state licenses that most "mow and blow" companies don't have.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I clean and cook since I am retired. DH trudges off to work each day. I bought a robovac for the first floor after we moved into our new construction home in the fall.

It is hilarious to watch. It really likes to get tangled in lamp cords and has a "thing" for certain corners but that was an easy fix (don't let them dangle). I only let it work when I am home. I let it do the main floor closing off the BR suite and then lock it in the BR suite so I can keep an eye on it.

It actually works really great for $108 including shipping (saw it on tv and ordered last summer). I still do upstairs manually for now. I used to vac three times a week so it saves me about ten hours a month...do the math. It takes about 2 hours to do 1500 sf and picks up stuff I struggled to reach.

Do yourself a favor and buy one! I wish it knew how to do laundry!