Do you have a cleaner?

[Shortie]

Hmmm... been watching this with interest as I've been thinking on and off to get a cleaner for years and have finally decided to conceed tot he fact that I'm not a tidy person by nature so it's worth it to stop me getting stressed about the mess I leave behind etc..

Anyhow, I've got MollyMaid coming round to quote me this Wednesday - anyone know roughly how much they charge?

Am also wondering if it's worth having a 2 hr good clean up once a week and a second 1 hr wash floors and bathroom once a week or that might be complete overkill....??

[HeyWayne]

If it's any help Shortie, the lady we had quoted us £25 a week, which includes cleaning 2 bathrooms, kitchen, vacuuming all upstairs (3 bedrooms) and the stairs. Sweeping and cleaning all floors downstairs (lounge, dining room, kitchen, study, utility room), dusting everywhere upstairs and down. If we want anything else, we leave a note and she'll charge accordingly.

We're going to give it a go for 4 weeks and see how it works out.

[Two_Sheds]

Mr Sheds has a cleaner.
I don't.

[The Doctor]

[sallyw]

we had a cleaner for a while but the teenage daughters didnt like them going in their bedrooms so they werent done i used to tidy up (not clean) before they got there and they used their own hoover (not as good as my dyson) i suppose i started getting a bit picky about it and let them go what i really need is to be cloned so that i can go to work but stay at home at the same time and clean the house!!

[sallyw]

i phoned molly maids after we had a lot of work done in the house to quote for a spring clean she gave a rough estimate over the phone and admittedly they were going to do absolutely everything but the cost was £200 !!! so i got up at 6.30 and went through the house as if on a mission and by the time i finished at 8pm i was chuffed that i'd saved myself the money mind you i was totally knackered but there you go !!

[Novice Gardener]

i phoned molly maids after we had a lot of work done in the house to quote for a spring clean she gave a rough estimate over the phone and admittedly they were going to do absolutely everything but the cost was £200 !!! so i got up at 6.30 and went through the house as if on a mission and by the time i finished at 8pm i was chuffed that i'd saved myself the money mind you i was totally knackered but there you go !!

Although we don't usually do domestics, we do take on cleans after building works. I think that sounded like a fair price if you ask me (which you didn't!! LOL) The last one we did was just before christmas. It was a 400 year old 5 bedroomed, 3 storey farmhouse with 3 bathrooms, 3 reception rooms plus kitchen and utility. I charged £350 + VAT & they didn't even blink an eye (which makes me wonder if I should've charged more!!)

[sallyw]

i suppose when you work out the hours they were going to spend and what they were going to do it was a fair price but i didnt feel i could justify spending £200 on getting the house cleaned!! i know the going raye is about £10 an hour now for a cleaner and i think they are quite hard to come by a good one tends to be snapped up

[HeyWayne]

Well, cleaner was booked in for yesterday, so I drove home with some trepidation, opened the door and noticed that the post was still on the doormat. Ok I thought, maybe the postie didn't deliver until late in the day (as can often be the case). I deactivated the alarm, opened the door to the dining room - money was still on the sideboard. I thought maybe she'd forgotten it. Walked through to the kitchen, nope, she hasn't been - the hob still had some splatter on it from the night before's cooking.

At ten to six, the doorbell rang. Two ladies stood at the door armed with sawn-off vacuum cleaners, bucket grenades and all manner of chemical warfare items. She looked apologetic and said/asked if it was a bit too late. Given that I had just started to wind down, and that I was about to start preparing dinner, it was a bit late yes.

She said she should be able to fit us in today - not the best of starts. However, if she does manage to squeeze us in today, it means it's nearer to the Friday slot we'd originally hoped for.

Here's hoping.

[Sunbeam]

we have a lady come in once a fortnight for a couple of hours - at £10 per hour I actually pay her £3 per hour more than I earn as a chef - BUT for me it is worth it! She gets the house cleaner than ever could and it means I can walk in from work, make a cuppa and walk back out to the veg plot!

[ironed out]

HeyWayne.
Did your cleaners turn up today? Hope they were worth the wait

[OverWyreGrower]

I'd like a cleaner, but with us having 2 large dogs, it's impossible...

My mum does offer to come and clean for us (read: have a nosey round, read all our papers etc and tell me I don't wipe my skirting boards enough ) and we've taken her up on the offer a couple of times

[HeyWayne]

She did turn up, and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't blown away - and we have to buy our own cleaning products...

Everywhere is clean, don't get me wrong, but no cleaner than when we do it ourselves. I guess we'll see the true benefit of it this weekend when we don't have to do it.

Let the 4 week trial commence.

[OverWyreGrower]

Everywhere is clean, don't get me wrong, but no cleaner than when we do it ourselves. I guess we'll see the true benefit of it this weekend when we don't have to do it.

Hhhhmmm, one of the only reasons I'd like a cleaner is that they would do a better job than I did....

[Catrina]

I clean for two people and I think that the most important thing if you have a cleaner coming in is that she is a CLEANER not a TIDIER. If you leave washing up in the sink, loads of shoes on the floor with clothes everywhere, if you leave the bathroom in a mess, and stuff all over the place, she has to move it all before she can clean. Therefore you get less cleaning done. My advice is leave her a tidy house, put all your stuff away and then she can get on with doing what you are paying her for. Leave notes on jobs you would really like doing but at the end of the day if she is any good at her job she should be on top of what jobs she has done every week and will be aware what needs doing and will get on with it. Good cleaners are worth their weight in gold and the best way to get a good one is by word of mouth. The people I clean for are very happy with what I do, they leave me to get on with it and if I see something needs doing I do it. I would certainly not do the laundry as in underware etc. I do wash any towels and bedding in the time I have and I do make or change beds, I put any washing that is wet out on the washing line and bring it in when it is dry, if I am able to. I am fully insured, which I think is very important, and I provide all my own cleaning products because I know what I am using and only use eco friendly products for my own health anyway. Personally I would not employ a frriend or neighbour because it spoils relationships. Hope you managed to find a good cleaner HeyWayne.