Cleaners - any advice?

aintshesweet

I'm sick of arguing about the state of the house and constantly being expected to clean everything. I'm seriously considering getting a cleaner, but don't know anyone who has one. Noticed quite a few posters do have cleaners. I know it's not very MSE but if it leaves us more time to enjoy living and spend more time together, and argue much less... then I'm for it. Do you have any advice on where to look and what to expect to pay for domestic cleaners? Any general advice on the topic very much welcomed.

Sambucus_Nigra

Depends on what you class as MSE - my cleaner does in 2 hours what it would take me all day to do as I am not good at cleaning!

Best thing to do is to ask around your local area.

BitterAndTwisted

Who are you arguing about the state of the house with and why should you be the one who looks for the cleaner to take over from you? Shouldn't it be the person or persons who are doing all this shirking and not puling their weight?

In some parts of the country cleaners charge more than a tenner an hour. How many hours a week do you think your house will need?

aintshesweet

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Who are you arguing about the state of the house with and why should you be the one who looks for the cleaner to take over from you? Shouldn't it be the person or persons who are doing all this shirking and not puling their weight?

In some parts of the country cleaners charge more than a tenner an hour. How many hours a week do you think your house will need?

Haha, my boyfriend. Not going to happen.

I'm in the South West/East border. It's a small 1 bed, 1 up 1 down so probably 2 hours a fortnight or 1 hour a week?

BitterAndTwisted

Well, if he's the lazy-@rse he should be looking for the cleaner and he should be paying for it as well. Does he think that he's still living at home with his Mum?

Penny-Pincher!!

The cleaner won't generally tidy up the mess though...they just clean.

General pay is £10+ph. Look on Netmums or Gumtree or place your own ad.

BitterAndTwisted

My own feeling is that getting a cleaner, however tempting, is actually taking the easy way out. Not doing your fare share of necessary but boring or unwelcome tasks is all part of sharing a life together.

Is this conflict arising because you have different standards or just that he has absolutely none?

daska

I pay £9 privately or £14 for agency. Don't underestimate how long it can take - try it for yourself and see how long you take to clean the bathroom and vacuum, remembering to pull out the furniture. And bear in mind that you have to find a cleaner who shares the same standards - if theirs are higher it might take a bit longer, if lower you might be dissatisfied.

Sambucus_Nigra

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

My own feeling is that getting a cleaner, however tempting, is actually taking the easy way out. Not doing your fare share of necessary but boring or unwelcome tasks is all part of sharing a life together.

Is this conflict arising because you have different standards or just that he has absolutely none?

So is deciding what you do want to do in life and what you don't mind paying for! For example, my OH was buying 1-2 bottles of wine a week, so if I spend the same amount [or less] of time making wine which I DO enjoy doing more than doing the cleaning, it saves me more than paying for the cleaner in the first place.

KateLiana27

My friend pays £10 an hour, and it takes 2.5 hours a week (so £25) for a smallish 2-bed city flat. I personally spend an hour a week on a 3-bed house, but then I get it "good enough" rather than perfect!

My own feeling is that the "tidying" part is time-consuming and annoying, while the actual "cleaning" part is quick and pleasant enough. As has been pointed out, you (and your lazy boyfriend) will still have to do the former in addition to paying the cleaner.

If you're doing it, though, I'd absolutely go through a trusted personal recommendation.

londonsurrey

I personally think it's rather odd to feel guilty about spending £40-£100 a month on a cleaner if you happily spend the same amount on games, DVDs, alcohol, eating out, and then spend time arguing about basic hygiene in the home. Just think how much is spent on a typical internet connection/tv subscription/phone bills every month.

If he wants to play at being a big man, he can stump out for paying for "little woman" chores. In the traditional role, a man had to pay quite a significant portion of his paypacket to get this service. It just so happens that in today's society, women work, and expect not to provide this service to their partners and so outsource it.

Just a straightforward financial transaction, the way you'd pay for any service, like a plumber, dentist, optician, hairdresser.

As for tidying, depending on the cleaner, you can have that too - it just costs more hours.

It's a matter of determining whether the man is able to finance the lifestyle and able to work enough to pay for it, or whether he's just a lazy pig that taking advantage of you because you can't stand the dirt and mess.