Help with Cleaning?

My mom had a cleaning lady, she came once a week. My mom worked full time, had no children at home, but came home to take care of my very ill, dying father who was basically in hospice care, so she had a lot on her plate.

The cleaning lady came once a week, did things like, dust, vacuum, dishes, sweep, mop, windows, trash emptied, basic tidying, clutter and such put aside in a basket so my mom could go through everything.

My mom wasn't comfortable with her doing things like laundry, but she also didn't have young children and didn't have a lot of laundry. Some people choose to have help with some laundry but do their own themselves (like intimates).

If you have a cleaning lady, they usually charge more the first visit since the job will be more labor intensive, and then subsequent visits will be more maintenance.

If you just plan to do one thing a everyday (like wipe down bathroom counters, do one load of laundry) then you will eventually get on top of things until you have a day where you can tackle everything. For example, we wipe down bathroom counters every night, I sweep everyday. I usually do one load of laundry every few days.... much easier than letting it pile up to a massive mound of wrinkly clothes to fold (which sometimes happens!)

I know this is late but I will post an answer as well. I have 3br/2bath, 1500 sq foot house and I pay $60 every other week. I work half time. This is the first thing that I want to come out of my paycheck. It's a sanity and marriage saver. Unfortunately I am messy by nature, and my husband is much happier with a clean house. This works well for us. It's good to go around and declutter every couple of weeks, but sometimes it does add stress. Our finances our tight so I do envision letting this go as the kids are a little older. Right now I think to myself - clean house all year or a decent vacation for the family? And the house cleaner wins out. That might change once the kids are old enough to remember the vacations, and get more out of them (and we are less exhausted by them! LOL)

The only advice I have to add is: use word of mouth if at all possible. I think the likelihood of someone stealing would be far less if the person was also cleaning for your good friend/neighbor.

I have a person come every two weeks and it is $75. We have a 3 bedroom, 3 bath house--about 1700 sq. ft. and she dusts, vacuums, and cleans the kitchen and bathrooms. I work full-time and I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 year old. After I have taught all day, I am too exhausted to spend time worrying about cleaning. I pick up every night after the kids go to bed and other than that I do not worry about anything else for when she comes. I am really happy with the person that we have because she hand washes our floors :)

USE FLYLADY.NET... you will LOVE it... once you get going... it will take a while!

I used to pay $100 a week for my cousin to drive 50 miles twice a week to clean my house. It really was a bargain because I work, work, work and do EVERYTHING for my kids. We own our own businesses so I stay pretty hands on with that. I also have another part time job to help for slow times.
I am thinking of getting help again, but I am not the most trusting person. We had someone before, and she stole from us. We are in a small town, so I am not sure if there are any agencies out here, but I am going to look into it. The one we had before was so low as to steal gift cards from my daughter, so it put a bad taste in my mouth on having others in my house while I am not there. I was so excited when my cousin told me she would do it for me! It is a side job for her, she stays home mostly and cleans a few houses. But, the drive was too much for her anymore. :(
Oh, to answer what she did- she cleaned our bathrooms, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, washed and put away our laundry, kept our room tidy, and because I make my kids clean their own room, she would gently pick it up just to be nice. (They call her aunt, so, I guess that is what aunts do!) :) About once a month she would do the 'deep' cleaning. (Pulling stuff out to vacuum, etc.) And she was also always doing 'nice' things like organizing something that I had not had time to do. Love her!
The other lady we used, she did the same with the exception of the laundry. She only came once a week, and I paid her about $20 a visit. (We agreed to $10 an hour, and it would usually only take her an hour and a half to 2 hrs, as I had one less kid back then and we were never home to make much messes!)

I love your question as I have been thinking about having someone come into clean as well. My mom does cleaning for someone once a week, a few hours a day. I have a home daycare so I can claim a cleaning person, so I need to find someone who will give receipts. I can do the day to day stuff and laundry, it is the other stuff like cleaning out cupboards, pulling out the fridge cleaning behind etc. The stuff that most of us never does. I think you should look at what cleaning things you don't mind doing and what you hate! Definitely have someone do the things you find nasty. For me that is cleaning out the fridge and lately the floors, especially where gunk builds up. I get that you are behind on laundry, that doesn't happen much to me, but 15 loads wow. Perhaps you just throw clothes, sheets, towels etc in the wash too often. I have been known to look at my kids clothes and think, I just washed that or you only work it for a few hours, why is it in the wash?? I will simply put it back in my room to fold. When you shower, that towel you dry yourself with is really still clean enough to use 1-2 more times before being washed. My family all has their own bath towel, it gets hung to dry and used at least 2 times before being washed. I change our bed sheets every 2 weeks, unless someone has been sick. We are a family of 5, myself, hubby, 2 boys 16 and 8 and a girl 13. I do about 4-5 loads of laundry a week, socks get thrown in with both dark and light loads, everything else is separated. Folding laundry... do you watch the news, have a favorite show you watch or your family watches.... sit a load of clothing on the couch or a chair and fold while you watch. I try to talk on the phone and fold at the same time. I am home all day but with 3-7 kids here in my daycare, I don't get much cleaning done, in fact my house is much dirtier and messier with the kids here. Is laundry one of those things you hate to do? If so, this is something your cleaning person could do. Hope this helps some!

S.
www.LiveYourDreamsAtHome.com

I cleaned houses for 15 years so this is from the flip side of it. I had 22 regular clients. Some I cleaned weekly, bi-monthly and monthly. I had a few who would call when the needed extra help or were having company or their regular house cleaner was sick or on vacation. So speaking with experience I was always far priced but I can tell ou to look at it in the long run would you rather have some one come come every 2 months and charge you how much longer it take them to do it or have them come every 2 months pay the same amount and not have to stress over it. I only did the towel and the bedding while I was there. I had one customer who hired an extra person to just do there laundry and ironing because it wasn't something I had time to do. I made beds cleaned all the bathrooms did all the dusting, vacuuming, and cleaned the kitchen. Depending on if they had a dishwasher or had to do them by hand also made a difference in the price. I would also clean refrigerator that to depend on what the client wanted to have done and how often. I had some clients that I had an extra cleaning task each time I came and that task change in a rotational schedule. For those who I just did on occasion I had ones that would have me just clean certain things and those how simply didn't have the time to do it then. If you have someone who you regularly use just sit down with them and she what they would charge to do what see what you can fit into your budget. I will tell you that if I had a house I didn't do often and it was dirty I charged on how much extra time it was going to take me and in the long run they would have been better off to have me come more often and paid the same amount.

When I had a person come clean once a week (technically it was her and 2 helpers)... she came for 2 hours. The did all the "deep" cleaning.

- All the floors were washed or vacuumed.
- All the "fixtures" were cleaned (sinks, baths, toilets, appliances, etc.)
- All the surfaces were washed or dusted or vacuumed (counters, tables, furniture -like vacuuming under the cushions and beating rugs outside-, pictures and display items were also dusted as they did the surfaces they sat on)
- All the windows and mirrors were cleaned.
- All of the clutter was set aside for me ((I had a basket in each room where clutter was put, and then I'd deal with it later, books and papers at the end of the table were stacked neatly))
- If there was any garbage, recycling, or wastepaper baskets was taken out.

It cost me $60 a week for a 1500 foot space and it was HEAVEN ON EARTH. I took care of all the day to day picking up / cleaning, did dishes, laundry, etc... but with the blitz that would happen once a week to my home it was *always* warm and welcoming and good smelling.

When I got married I no longer had the money for my cleaner and my husband took over the bills from my accountant (I'm adhd I had an accountant who managed my money for me, making sure all my bills were paid on time she paid for herself in 2 overdraft or late fees that I would miss by using her).

I MISS THOSE WOMEN!!! Loved them, and the structure and order they gave my life dearly. The FIRST thing I'm going to do when I start making real money again is to hire a cleaner again. ((I wish I could convince my husband to use the accountant))

IMHO Stay at home parents need a housecleaner more than just about anyone else... because people are actually LIVING in the house (aka getting it dirty) day in and day out, unlike when I was single and working (or when both DH and I were working full time) and only home in the mornings, evenings, and weekends.

We used to have a company come and clean our house. They came every 2 weeks and this is what they did:
cleaned the bathrooms and shower
dusted
cleaned the kitchen (counter, sink, stove top, microwave, etc)
swept and mopped the floors and vacuumed the carpets
for a 1500 sq.ft. house it was $70 each time.
Every 2 weeks really helped me because I am really good at keeping the house picked up but have to a hard time getting the house cleaned.
Now that we don't have them come any more (cut-backs) I clean the kitchen and bathrooms on Wednesdays, my hubby vacuums and I dust on the weekends. So my house is more or less clean at any given time.
Oh! and I do laundry on Thursdays and Sundays (2-4 large loads at a time)
Hope this helps!
Suzy and her men

I work full time as a teacher and have a 2 & 4 year old. We have a housekeeper come every 2 weeks and they clean/straighten up everything. We pay her $60 every time she comes for - 3 bed/2 bath house (1800 sq. feet). I absolutely love having her. She comes in the morning when I'm at work, so the house is clean when I come home. Fridays are a good day, because if you are having company on the weekend- your house is spotless.

We have someone come in and clean our house 2 x's a month. They dust, vacuum, clean the bathrooms, shower, and Kitchen, mop all the floors. For a 2000 sq ft house I pay $90 each time. They come when my husband and I are at work. It has made such a huge difference. I vacuum and keep things clean in between, but this way I have more time for my family. I also do a load of laundry everyday. I throw a load in when I get home from work, put it in the dryer when we sit down to dinner and then fold and put it away after dinner dishes are cleaned up.

When I first hired my cleaning team it cost $200 for a deap clean. After that it was $100 every two weeks. I clean the house before they come - laundry, pick up and put away everything I can, beds made etc because I want them to do the stuff I hate - floors, dusting, bathrooms, kitchen, ceiling fans. I work out of the house 1 day a week and the rest of the time in my home office - so they come on the day I am not home. If I happen to be home they work around me and I work around them - they always do my office as soon as they get there in case I get home early. If I need anything extra done I just write a note and it is done - I let them know if I am having guests and they go the extra mile to make sure my 4 year old's fingerprints are off of EVERYTHING!!! They have even been known to touch up crayon marks on my walls, wash my deck furniture, remove sand from my porch after the grandkids came to visit...

Since you say that every room in your house is a mess you might want to work with whomever you choose to get all of the clutter and such on the first couple of visits. Also, when my older kids were young they knew that the housekeeper would not clean their rooms unless all toys and clothes were picked up - my 4 year old knows it now and we spend about 30 minutes in the evening before they come picking up everything and getting the room in order.

Hi N.! I had to answer because my girl is on vacation visiting her family in Brazil till Jan 15 & had to miss a cleaning (she comes every 2 weeks). She wanted her cleaning lady friend to fill in for her, but, I said I'd be fine!(She is so awesome, I will never have anyone else). Anyway, I'm NOT fine & can't wait till she's back!! I've tried cleaning companies, ladies with their own business & they are great @ beginning but then the excuses start. I have 3 businesses to run, dogs & ADD :) & she keeps me happy! She is 26yrs old, been with me for 2 yrs, taking classes to become a nurse. She has incredible pride in what she does & goes the extra mile for her clients. I have a 4 br..21/2 baths..about 2000sq ft home & pay her $90. For me, in between, I sweep & keep up with daily stuff, but that's it. A couple days before she comes, I do pick up, put things back, but that's what I need to do to keep ME organized! She just lost a client, so she might have an opening.Hope this helps! C.

I know that you have had some great answers from everyone but I just wanted to add my response. I am a SAHM but I still have a someone clean my house once a month. It is 2 sisters that come clean. I make sure everything is totally picked up so that they can just clean. If my kids don't clean their rooms then they will put everything on their beds and do the dusting and vacuuming plus clean their blinds. I have them come no matter what if I am not at home they know where the key is. It is such a piece of mind to know that once a month my house will be cleaned from top to bottom and it didn't take me all day to do. They charge me $90 a month and the 1st time it was double but they spent 7 hours cleaning the house from top to bottom and moved furnature. (All the stuff that we never have time to do) If there is a way that you can find someone that could come once a month you would feel better. I know that I do! I hope this helps and good like I know that it is tough.

You have kids, right? Put 'em to work ;)

I am so glad you posted this because just today my husband and I decided to find someone to clean our house once a week! I was told to make sure the individual is bonded so if anything goes missing (God forbid) you can track them down. My husband and I work opp shifts and we have 2 small kids and I CANNOT keep up on the house. I decided I want to find someone who will do it all, clean my kitchen, do my dishes, put away the laundry that I wash, pick up the clutter, vaccum and mop the floors. Right now I put up an add on craigslist and although I am a little nervous about it we are hoping for the best. My husband is home in the mornings until noon so we will have the cleaner come then. Hope it works out for you!