Do you have a cleaner?

[AnyDream]

Do you have a cleaner?

How long are they there for (and how often) and what do they do? How much do you pay?

[Ryatha]

yep - DH and I both hate cleaning. DH is a lazy cleaner and I am never satisfied that I have cleaned enough so it is safer to use a cleaner. We have a new cleaner, he comes once every two weeks is here for about 1-2 hours and we pay $60. Our cleaner does the floors, vac and mop, dust and cleans the wet areas, so kitchen, bathrooms and laundry.

[black_rose]

Yes twice a week because dh can't be bothered helping anymore! (he works king hours though)

One day the cleaner does the kitchen - wiping down the benches, stove, microwave and the floor us cleaned along with the loungeroom. The second day all the house is vacuumed, dusted and the bathroom, toilet us cleaned too. We 25 p/h and I think it's about 3 hours a week.

[Oorki Galoorki]

wow 2 weeks between floor cleaning? do you clean it in meantime?
i have thought about hiring some one to do the bathroom, toilet, floors and kitchen.. but i dont know if i can justify it to DH

[appletree]

Yep, its me I wish we had one though, i am not very good at cleaning and would love to pay someone just to show me how to do it and help me set up a routine i can stick too!

[Miss E]

Yep, and I don't think I could ever turn back since I've had one. It took us awhile to find someone really good, but now that we've got her I'm never going to let you go.

She comes every fortnight and does 3.5 hours and we pay her $70. We were paying her $60 and she was only meant to be doing 3 hours but was always staying longer so I just started giving her more money. She basically does everything, dusts (including my venetians), cleans, vaccums, mops etc. I usually give the living area a quick vaccum the week that she's not here cos it does get a little grimy in between, but that's all that I do these days.

Mind you, it took us a long time to find someone good. We started off with a guy who had his own business and were paying him $80 for three hours, but he was a terrible duster and I hate dust. Then we got another woman who had her own business, she wanted to charge $125 but we talked her down to $100. She came once and then left after 2 hours cos her parking was running out (why she couldn't move her car), so we never had her back. And then we found the fabulous lady we have now!

If you're looking for someone I think it is best to go by word of mouth, at least that's what I've found. At the end of the day I see it that you are buying time. When DH and I were both working full time the cleaning took a big chunk of our weekend, we decided that it was worth paying for so that we could have that half a day iykwim? Since we've had DS money is a bit tighter, but we're not willing to risk loosing a wonder woman just so we can save a few bucks for a few months iykwim?

[wysiwyg]

Not yet but when I go back to work we will so I am following this thread with interest, I hate cleaning and never really know what needs doing anyway we are very dirt tolerant :-) Two weeks between floor cleaning is not unusual here (since have had DD definitely clean more often but still not enough). The way I see it DH is going part time so can spend time with DD and is pointless if he is going to spend the time doing housework, and when I am back fulltime no way will I be prepared to spend any time on weekend cleaning - I put a dollar value on my time and then a cleaner seems cheap. Had a cleaner once in a shared house worked out 15 dollars a week each and she did all the ironing and then no arguments over cleaning either - was heaven.

[Jennifer13]

I take longer than two hours too, but I'm nowhere near as efficient as my cleaners (and for some reason I can't seem to get more than 15 mins without interruption when I'm at home ).

I have to admit, we need the weekly floor clean, which is why mine come every week. But it only ever stays 'clean' for the first two days, max. I get my house cleaned at the end of the week, at least my visitors might see it clean then!

[CC11]

Yep, and I don't think I could ever turn back since I've had one. It took us awhile to find someone really good, but now that we've got her I'm never going to let you go.

She comes every fortnight and does 3.5 hours and we pay her $70. We were paying her $60 and she was only meant to be doing 3 hours but was always staying longer so I just started giving her more money. She basically does everything, dusts (including my venetians), cleans, vaccums, mops etc. I usually give the living area a quick vaccum the week that she's not here cos it does get a little grimy in between, but that's all that I do these days.

Mind you, it took us a long time to find someone good. We started off with a guy who had his own business and were paying him $80 for three hours, but he was a terrible duster and I hate dust. Then we got another woman who had her own business, she wanted to charge $125 but we talked her down to $100. She came once and then left after 2 hours cos her parking was running out (why she couldn't move her car), so we never had her back. And then we found the fabulous lady we have now!

If you're looking for someone I think it is best to go by word of mouth, at least that's what I've found. At the end of the day I see it that you are buying time. When DH and I were both working full time the cleaning took a big chunk of our weekend, we decided that it was worth paying for so that we could have that half a day iykwim? Since we've had DS money is a bit tighter, but we're not willing to risk loosing a wonder woman just so we can save a few bucks for a few months iykwim?

she sounds fantastic Miss E! If it's alright, would you mind giving me her details?
Otherwise if there are other Melbourne mummies with fantastic cleaners I would love recommendations - I am in eastern subs - kew, balwyn etc

Thanks!!

[Floweryfields]

wow 2 weeks between floor cleaning? do you clean it in meantime?
i have thought about hiring some one to do the bathroom, toilet, floors and kitchen.. but i dont know if i can justify it to DH

Yeah that's what I was wondering too - my house would not remain clean for two weeks with just me here and I would take more than 2 hours to clean every week myself.

[FabFiona]

Indeed. We live in an apartment with two cats. Mitchell is not a great sleeper especially during the day. I'd have no time to clean at all. On the weekend we wanted family time so the place was getting pretty gross.

We pay $45 for 2 hours and she comes weekly. We supply the cleaning products. She is the best! She does floors, bathrooms, surfaces, kitchen stove and dusting. She is also able to do other stuff eg oven if I let her know something that can wait a week like the bathroom.

I too used word of mouth. I'm pretty sure she now cleans for most of my mothers group.

Every Friday night we look around our clean home and declare our love for our cleaner.

[Mak]

We have one once a week for 2.5hours and it costs $50. He does all the mopping/vacing, dusts and cleans 2 bathrooms. He also plays with the dog and brings in my washing and mail if necessary. We have come home to the odd job fixed as well - like leaking taps, doorknobs fixed etc.
I would definitely ask around as recommendations are much better than companies IME. This chap is a retiree who has a week full of jobs and is really keen to see himself as part of the family in terms of us getting out to work etc. It has been a lifesaver when I went back to work and we LOVE him!!!! xx

[Jennifer13]

We have one who comes with two helpers. We pay $25 for each of them for an hour (so kinda like three hours equivalent, all at once - which is great because we don't have to stay out of their way for as long!), $75 in total. I get them once a week. They do everything they can fit into the hour (cleaning only though).

We got ours through a company but pay them directly, so no ongoing mgt fee. The company seemed more like a placement service. The first ones they sent around were dreadful and didn't follow my instructions at all. So we asked to change and got the ones we have now, who are great.

[AnyDream]

I'm pretty surprised by the range in responses, esp the price people pay. The private cleaner I had from the paper was cheaper but hopelessly slow and therefore inefficient. We then got a husband-wife team, but they whipped thru really quickly, no attention to detail so after 2-3 cleans the house was just getting dirtier and dirtier. Then we went thru the agency. Ok so it cost a bit more but the beauty of it is if you're not happy, you can let the agency know & they mediate with the cleaner. We've had some better ones and some not so good ones but the better ones tend to stick around. My last cleaner that I had in the ACT was fantastic, really thorough & hardworking, and plus I really appreciated the person she was.

I've got one booked to come next week...we'll see how that goes.

[lizh]

We had a cleaner until recently. We decided not to continue because she was more into tidying then actual cleaning. I would tidy the house before she came so that she could get stuck into the cleaning but then she'd turn up and reckon there was nothing to do and go. Hopeless...

[BellyBelly]

I do - I have two I use, one main one and when she can't come due to family issues or other, I use the back-up one, both of which are great cleaners. The main one can only spare 2 hours and brings all her own stuff for $25 an hour. She gets so much done for me, like bathroom, toilet, kitchen, all the floors. Makes me feel great as a single mum not having the pressure to do it all, so I feel like its just buying someone else's time and giving someone else a job - a mother herself. I also think I am worth more than that doing other things like working on BB or being with my kids for $50 a week. My second cleaner charges $20 per hour but uses my things. He will happily stay as long as I need or do other things. But its just a great thing to look forward to once a week.

[EdisonCheug]

yep, i've got one. and it is absolutely a must for my house, cause my dear pet dogs.
their hairs go everywhere everyday!
cleaner works well for dust. esp. if you have carpet in your house.