Anybody Use A Cleaning Service?

[blandino]

I'll be the odd ball - I used to use someone, but found it to be more work than it was worth
I've been thinking about having someone come back, but am full M-F so I have no time when they could come. And weekends are out.

Ditto ! We actually had daycare clients who gave us a cleaning service as a gift (for our home, not te daycare). But after working such long hours, and then having to make sure that everything was picked up the night before they came wound up being so stressful. We wound uP dreading the days they came.

[Play Care]

Ditto ! We actually had daycare clients who gave us a cleaning service as a gift (for our home, not te daycare). But after working such long hours, and then having to make sure that everything was picked up the night before they came wound up being so stressful. We wound uP dreading the days they came.

YES! DH used to tease me about cleaning before the cleaners came!
But he is a "picker upper" and does not understand that true cleaning is much more than just picking up (I mean, it helps and all, but really!) In my case I am in my home for day care, so we would have to find something to do with the kids while they came to clean or have them come on weekends and have to get out and let them have at it. I will say that after they came for about a month or so, the house DID look better and was easier to maintain overall, but the stress of figuring out the logistics canceled that out, IMO.

[Michelle]

I have a cleaning girl come in 3 times a week and I found her on care.com I had to have someone come in after 6:30pm because they would have to be fingerprinted if they came before 6:30 .. so I just put an ad up that said house keeper needed 6:30-8:30 pm and I listed all the things I needed cleaned, and wrote "can pay $10 per hour"... I had over 100 responses ... so when I was ready to pick one I just payed $35 to care.com to communicate with them and I picked one... it's free to place an ad and I think care.com is safer than craigs list.

This is the smartest thing I have ever done!
We now spend our evenings going to my daughters softball games, shopping, goofing off instead of cleaning!
I can't believe I made it this far without this service! I love it..
I did feel guilty at first but my family comes first.

[KnoxMom]

I have a cleaning girl come in 3 times a week and I found her on care.com I had to have someone come in after 6:30pm because they would have to be fingerprinted if they came before 6:30 .. so I just put an ad up that said house keeper needed 6:30-8:30 pm and I listed all the things I needed cleaned, and wrote "can pay $10 per hour"... I had over 100 responses ... so when I was ready to pick one I just payed $35 to care.com to communicate with them and I picked one... it's free to place an ad and I think care.com is safer than craigs list.

This is the smartest thing I have ever done!
We now spend our evenings going to my daughters softball games, shopping, goofing off instead of cleaning!
I can't believe I made it this far without this service! I love it..
I did feel guilty at first but my family comes first.

Thanks for sharing; I am really considering this! Also, it's a tax write-off. I'm just wondering is it worth more to claim the time you work w/o children present vs. the expense of hiring a cleaning company..

[AmyKidsCo]

My own kids are 17, 14, 8 & 6 and I have them help out with the cleaning so I personally wouldn't get a cleaning service. (Not to mention we can't afford it...) My mom (a teacher) did for several years when she had some really rough classes and she was too worn out from teaching to clean, and said it was money well spent.

I say go for it if you can afford it and feel it's worth the money!

PS - I pay my older kids to do some of the more intensive jobs like clean out the refrigerator, clean/organize the pantry, scrub the stove, plus any of my usual chores that they want to do. It gives me extra help and they get a way to earn extra money when they need it.

[Meeko]

Does anyone use a cleaning service???

Yep...it's called "Husband" ::::::

[originalkat]

I am considering having someone come in once a month for deep cleaning. A provider friend of mine uses a lady that charges $70 for 3 hours. She said she is very thorough, but not all that fast. But I keep things pretty clean...I could just use the help with the deep cleaning.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

In my dreams.

[wdmmom]

I found a lady on Craigslist a few weeks ago looking for extra income. She comes in 1 night a week and charges me $10 per hour. It usually costs me about $25 or so a week and it's tax deductible. Very wise investment for me. Especially with summer coming. I'd much rather be enjoying the sun and gardening than cleaning.

[MamaBearCanada]

I have a team of 2 come for 2 hours every other week for me it is well worth the money. They were recommended by a relative and do a much better job than the professional companies we tried. They cost less too. If I could afford it I'd have them come every week.

[coolconfidentme]

Yep...it's called "Husband" ::::::

What she said!!! I am so fortunate to have him too. NONE of my friends hubsters mop. let alone know where it is...

[Little Buttons]

I personally love to clean, but if I could hire someone to come wash, dry, fold and put away the laundry...now that would be my own personal heaven on earth!!!

I think you have to weigh out the cost vs. the stress keeping up with the cleaning is causing and the value of your time for other things. For everyone that is a different answer.

If I were to have my house cleaned I would definately choose a private cleaning person! Cleaning chains are not very fair or kind to their employees :-\ I would ask around for reccomendations, but as long as you do your due diligence with a background check and calling references finding someone online can be safe.

[spud912]

I would love to but that is out of my budget.

With that being said, the few times I DID have a house cleaner, I thought it was not worth the expense. I am really OCD when it comes to cleaning and I just found that they do not meet my standards. For example, when I clean the bathrooms, I also wash the floor mats and towels; I scrub the walls, doors and baseboards; I hand scrub portions of the floor before I steam mop it; and I dust the light fixtures. Most companies do not go to that length unless they are significantly paid higher. It seems their main objective is to make everything look nice and tidy, not deep clean.

[Leigh]

I would love to but that is out of my budget.

With that being said, the few times I DID have a house cleaner, I thought it was not worth the expense. I am really OCD when it comes to cleaning and I just found that they do not meet my standards. For example, when I clean the bathrooms, I also wash the floor mats and towels; I scrub the walls, doors and baseboards; I hand scrub portions of the floor before I steam mop it; and I dust the light fixtures. Most companies do not go to that length unless they are significantly paid higher. It seems their main objective is to make everything look nice and tidy, not deep clean.

Agree 100%. I have hired cleaners to help me catch up a few times, and I have had to go behind them and redo EVERYTHING. One considered cleaning my oven to just turn on the self clean (I can do that myself in 5 seconds!). ALL of them have missed very obvious things that needed to be done even after I pointed out and provided a list of what needs to be done. It saves me a lot of heartache to just do it myself (then I don't have to obsess over the wasted money!). I know I COULD just have them come back and redo and actually clean the house, but I figure they'll just leave it messy and me more frustrated.