Do you have / would you get a cleaner?

meeeeh

I get her in every so often, once or twice per month. Simply because I couldn't be bothered to do it myself. Plus the house is big enough. And oh is working late during week and wrecked on weekends.

BurpsyMcWindyPops

I think why not if you can afford one. Unfortunately many can't but get one anyway choosing to pay them pittance for their work. I teach a lot of women working as "home help" on a voluntary basis and they're completely exploited - treated absolutely abysmally from what they tell me. Granted this is not in Ireland though I don't doubt it doesn't happen there too. My brother in the States has a nanny who's been treated terribly by previous employers but my bro and his family are quite well off and can afford the luxury...because it is a luxury, IMO.

The Backwards Man

I live on my own and I have the time to do it myself (mostly!) I love cleaning too so it suits me, but at the same time I don't see any reason why anybody shouldn't have one

Permabear

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DEFTLEFTHAND

We had them growing up. My mother was stay at home so I always thought it was strange that she needed one.

whiskeyman

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

We had them growing up. My mother was stay at home so I always thought it was strange that she needed one.

Well for her!

I guess that since many of our mothers were all stay at home, there was really (?) no need for one.
But now where both parents are likely to be working, it's nowhere near the luxury it once used to be.

Lia_lia

No, don't have a cleaner. Actually none of my friends or family do as far as I'm aware.

At the moment I live in small house with my boyfriend and don't have kids, so don't see the need for a cleaner. Maybe in the future though. I hate cleaning!

DavyD_83

Both working here too;
If I'm honest, I'm generally not arsed with cleaning.
Would never even think of dusting if left to my own devices and would be more likely to clean something that I notice is very dirty than give it a clean because it's been x number of days.
Which is all well and good for me, but my wife would be much more active on cleaning and regularly gets upset at "the state of the place", which I still genuinely don't see, apart from it being untidy, but we have a 1 year old so tidying only gets so far. I do get that with her down at floor level constantly things probably should be kept cleaner too.

Have been debating a cleaner for a while now, although still not sure if my wife would accept the stranger in the house element of things.
I know hassle.com seems ok, but from other threads on here I understand Hassle take a cut, and in many cases the cleaners after a couple of visits just ask to book directly and cut out the middle-man. I'd also prefer to bypass the trial and error phase if possible. For every person I read about who gets the perfect cleaner, there's at least 3 who say the first 1 or 2 they got were terrible.

Would anybody have recommendation of somebody they are happy with in South Dublin (D14) area?

PLL

YES, I'D LOVE ONE! But I also have a back injury, a four year old, my oh works long hours and now I'm pregnant and a full time student.

My oh hates the idea of us getting one, says it is lazy. I honestly couldn't give a damn what anyone thinks of it. My oh is a clean freak and if the place isn't spotless when he finishes work he starts cleaning whilst wrecked and he moans and we bicker. He doesn't see why the house shouldn't be spotless even with a child???! Even his Mammy has tried to explain it's near impossible but no he wants it like the industrial level of clean he works in.

You cannot put a price on spending time with loved ones, in my case not straining an injury and not having pointless bickering. Worth every penny.

Any Galway city recommendations?

whiskeyman

PLL wrote: »

YES, I'D LOVE ONE! But I also have a back injury, a four year old, my oh works long hours and now I'm pregnant and a full time student.

My oh hates the idea of us getting one, says it is lazy. I honestly couldn't give a damn what anyone thinks of it. My oh is a clean freak and if the place isn't spotless when he finishes work he starts cleaning whilst wrecked and he moans and we bicker. He doesn't see why the house shouldn't be spotless even with a child???! Even his Mammy has tried to explain it's near impossible but no he wants it like the industrial level of clean he works in.

You cannot put a price on spending time with loved ones, in my case not straining an injury and not having pointless bickering. Worth every penny.

If money is ok, you definitely sound like someone who needs one!
Your OH needs to understand it's not laziness, but better use of resources and time.

I had a cleaner for a long time when I was a student/working and didn't have a spare minute. I was living rent-free in a generous relatives vacant apartment and just didn't have the time to keep it in the pristine condition it was given to me in otherwise.

Worth every cent.

I currently live in a tiny grace and favor apartment that is very easy (and fast) to keep clean, and have much more free time, so I don't have one now.

Permabear

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hullaballoo

I have a cleaner and the reason I have one is because it makes financial sense.

If I was to clean the house, I would have to take time off work to do it. It would take 4-6* hours to clean every room and I would obviously lose out on 4-6 hours of work and money.

My cleaner can get my 4-6 hours' work done in 2.5-3 hours and she gets €35 for it. She does all the floors, dusting, windows, bathroom, kitchen and then irons all of our clothes.

It would be madness not to have a cleaner for me!

*I tend to get carried away and I am liable to end up with a toothbrush cleaning the grout between the floor tiles.

Rezident

I want a cleaner but could not find one. The agencies are a comical rip-off so forget about them. So I contacted a few on some cleaner site, the responses were either non-existant or bizarre. Got close to one agreeing about €12 an hour but then she started going on about how she did not provide sexual services! WTF!? I just want someone to clean the house so I don't have to, can't be dealing with that lark.

Anyone know a hassle-free way to get a cheap cleaner?

boobar

Think I'll have to look into this.

Myself and the Mrs both work full time. If a cleaner can do the weekly clean at the prices being mentions here, it would mean an extra half day per week of free time for us.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Nope, no need. Cleaning is my favourite thing to do. Love when the house smells fresh and clean, love lighting scented candles knowing that it's not masking anything musty or nasty. I love getting up in the morning and walking into a spotless kitchen. I love the satisfaction of doing a really deep clean and then feeling justified in flaking out on the couch afterwards. So relaxing

Permabear

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HeidiHeidi

josip wrote: »

Cleaner comes in once a fortnight and it's great because it forces us to tidy the house before they come in.

This! I tidy so she can clean. Means I don't live in an ever-growing pile of stuff in every room, because once every fortnight I have to put it all away.

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

My time is precious to me, so I'd definitely consider it. The bit that puts me off is having a randomer in the place, most likely while I'm at work or otherwise out and about.

I long since decided that life is just too short for cleaning bathrooms and kitchens. And I'm in the fortunate position of being able to afford someone to come in once every two weeks to do a blitz on the house.

I make a point of being out whenever she's here though! Couldn't possibly sit on the sofa reading a book or painting my nails while someone cleaned around me.

Son Of A Vidic

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

And ye all lived happily ever after in a place called Bel Air.....:pac:

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwTjVWphn3c

What I thought this thread would be about.

ProudDUB

We had a cleaning lady when I was in college. My mother was recuperating from a bad dose of the shingles and couldn't do heavy house work for about 6 months. So she had a woman come in, once a week from 11-4. She did the hoovering, changed the beds, gave the kitchen and bathrooms a good clean, polished the furniture/mirrors/surfaces etc etc. There was a set list of jobs that she did every week. She didn't do general cleaning & tidying, so we kids had to tidy up our rooms the night before she came. The mammy was quite strict about that.

She did similar work for a couple of friends of my mother & came highly recommended. Mum had met her a few times, when she was over in her friends houses, so she wasn't worried about having a "stranger" in her house.

After the six months were up, mum was so happy about having so much time freed up, to spend out working in her garden, or doing her charity work, that she kept Maura on. I remember the Da thinking it was a terrible waste of money, but then he would, wouldn't he? He never did an hours house work in his life. :rolleyes:

Rogueish

Yup we have one (she's actually our second one). The first lady came personally recommended from a friend. She was polish and worked for €10 per hour. She was with us for 3 years. She came in once per week and did floors, windows, bathrooms, general tidy up.

We had thought about it for a long time before we went ahead with it. But we were both working full time jobs and getting a business up and going and hubby was studying for his MSc at the same time. The house was in a sorry state we genuinely did not have the time to do housework and it caused serious friction. My tolerance was lower than his regarding the state of the house so when I would start to clean and he was oblivious up to his eyeballs in his own work/study I was ready to murder him.

Anyway fast forward 5+years (a successful business and 2 children, still working nutso hours) the way we look at it is that what we spend on a cleaner we have saved on couples counselling and/or divorce.

My cleaner is actually due tomorrow and she will hoover, do floors, bathroom, general clean/ tidy up, change beds, iron, load the dishwasher and washing machine before she leaves and if she has extra time she has been known to clean out my fridge (yea!) /rearrange the presses (not so yea!) too. She gets paid €12 per hour and is worth every penny!!

PARlance

I too have a cleaner.
No Irish guilt filled shame about it.
I'm proud of it.

God, I feel liberated after admitting that.
(Sorry for not cleaning my own house God)

ProudDUB

PARlance wrote: »

I too have a cleaner.
No Irish guilt filled shame about it.
I'm proud of it.

God, I feel liberated after admitting that.
(Sorry for not cleaning my own house God)

Sorry, but God doesn't really care how you clean your house. It could be an utter kip for all he cares.

However, having a cleaner now means that you now "have notions about yourself."

That is a far, far worse sin ! :P

MarkAnthony

No need...

Pac1Man

hullaballoo wrote: »

If I was to clean the house, I would have to take time off work to do it. It would take 4-6* hours to clean every room and I would obviously lose out on 4-6 hours of work and money.

But you wouldn't leave work to go clean the house.

€30 a week, has place looking spotless, frees up all our Saturday to do stuff, no more hours moaning about who has to do what.

Only doing this a year or so. Our only regret is not getting one in over all the years.

Squeeonline

It's a equation to figure out if it's worth it for you.

How much do you value your time vs how much do you value the money saved by cleaning.

If you can spend that time better than cleaning, at a better "return" i.e. with family or earning more money than it costs.

I live with two other guys and we were considering it for a while to reduce the stress of always chasing after the one guy who never does any cleaning.

Permabear

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Shrap

seamus wrote: »

No. Because now rather than having my wife freaking out about getting the cleaning done during the day, she'd be freaking out trying to get the house cleaned during the evening before the cleaner arrived the next day.

This. Was the thing. That drove me bleedin mental.

I was a cleaner for years (I know I've said it before here someplace) and I HATED cleaning a house that was already spotless! What an utter waste of money, and actually it felt like I was wasting my time too, even though I still got paid. I would clean the already clean bathrooms, hoover the already hoovered carpets, sweep the already swept windowsills, dust the already.....you get the picture. I would go away every week feeling like they mustn't notice if I've done anything at all, and be a bit paranoid that they'd think I did nothing In fact, I spent time trying to make it look like I'd done something by slightly rearranging the pictures on the cabinet after polishing the (already polished) frames!

The way I see it is that a cleaner for 3 solid hours a week will do a job that you'd rarely do on your own house, ie. have the whole place spotless in one go. At home, I would only do 3 straight hours if I had guests coming to stay - I usually only do the bits that badly need doing, alongside the general tidying. It's worth 12 - 15 euro an hour to have that full on spring-cleaned feeling once a week! And for those of you saying it's not possible to thoroughly clean a whole house in 3 hrs, well it is, but only after you've had a cleaner for at least a month. That way, the house will be brought up to a standard that is easier to maintain and keep that way in just 3hrs a week.

VisibleGorilla

No, I keep my place quite clean and uncluttered, no need for a cleaner at all.

Unnecessary expense.

Shrap

VisibleGorilla wrote: »

Unnecessary expense.

For you, yes. For others, no. Jaysus, I'd cheerfully pay for a cleaner if I could afford one. The monotony of starting one end of the house and eventually getting to the other end, cleaning up after two kids and myself, and starting it all again the next day is more than enough to breed some serious resentment if time is at a premium and if one person pulls more weight than the other.

Besides, it's back breaking and not in a good way. Healthier excercise options are lifting weights in a gym, not bending double a thousand times. Know why hanging up washing is the majority of people's favourite housework? Because it's the only one where you get to straighten your back

Easca Peasca

We've never had one at home and I don't think I'd consider one. The mammy managed to balance housework and raising four young uns so I couldn't see myself justifying one. I can understand why someone might, but me? Nah thanks

Maximus Alexander

Easca Peasca wrote: »

We've never had one at home and I don't think I'd consider one. The mammy managed to balance housework and raising four young uns so I couldn't see myself justifying one. I can understand why someone might, but me? Nah thanks

It's okay for you to have a better quality of life than your mother had, if it's within your reach. You don't have to be a martyr.

SAMTALK

Rogueish wrote: »

She came in once per week and did floors, windows, bathrooms, general tidy up.
own work/study I was ready to murder him.

My cleaner is actually due tomorrow and she will hoover, do floors, bathroom, general clean/ tidy up, change beds, iron, load the dishwasher and washing machine before she leaves and if she has extra time she has been known to clean out my fridge (yea!) /rearrange the presses (not so yea!) too. She gets paid €12 per hour and is worth every penny!!

I am so jealous. I am in two minds about getting a cleaner but I have to say its looking very likely at the minute:D

Easca Peasca

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

It's okay for you to have a better quality of life than your mother had, if it's within your reach. You don't have to be a martyr.

I'll use the money I save on not having a cleaner in to be able to afford that better quality of life

andekwarhola

It's a little OTT to view employing an occasional cleaner as some kind of bourgeois indulgence. At the average costs I've heard, you could get your place cleaned for a month for what most people spend on a night on the beer.

2forjoy

theres times when we could do with one

thattequilagirl

I had one in Dubai and it was brilliant, especially when sharing an apartment with four or five others - who cleans the kitchen floor? Saves so many small, petty arguments and it's not very expensive. I don't have one right now, but if I was moving in with an OH I definitely would.

I work 8.30-5, Monday to Friday. My weekday evenings are quite busy. The last thing I want to spend my weekend doing is cleaning if I can afford not to!

Easca Peasca

Easca Peasca wrote: »

We've never had one at home and I don't think I'd consider one. The mammy managed to balance housework and raising four young uns so I couldn't see myself justifying one. I can understand why someone might, but me? Nah thanks

The only justification required is that it makes your life easier, there's no glory in working when you could be enjoying your family. There's a lot to be said for giving someone else gainful employment too, everyone wins (provided you don't try to cheap out on what you pay your cleaner!).

You don't need to justify something like a cleaner, if you can afford one and want one, that's all the justification you need.

hullaballoo

Pac1Man wrote: »

But you wouldn't leave work to go clean the house.

I'm self-employed so every minute spent doing something that isn't work effectively costs money. So, I prefer to use time I'm willing to lose money with family or friends etc. instead of doing the cleaning.

Bear in mind that the rest of the housework still needs to be done like cooking, washing, dishes, bins, garden etc.

Tbh, €35 every week is pittance for the relief of not having to clean the house and iron!

Ice Maiden

I don't need to have the place regularly cleaned as it's easy to keep on top of and I don't mind cleaning, but I do pay for a one-off deep clean when the days get brighter and the dust shows up more easily. As is often the case, I give the place a pretty good clean beforehand.
I wonder does that make professional cleaners complacent ("This place is grand and clean anyway") or up their standards.

Ironically it was at the height of the recession that I got my home cleaned several times - two of my friends, who are great cleaners and enjoy cleaning, were on reduced work hours and the dole respectively so they did cleaning for me on numerous occasions for something to do, and of course for cash.

Shrap

Ice Maiden wrote: »

As is often the case, I give the place a pretty good clean beforehand.
I wonder does that make professional cleaners complacent ("This place is grand and clean anyway") or up their standards.

Like I said previously, in my experience it made me paranoid (rather than complacent)! If a place is sparkling, then it's not possible to up your cleaning standards - you just end up cleaning something twice. If you want the standards "upped", then tell the cleaner what you have done, and what you want done. There's no use in a cleaner having to look at everyday surfaces to identify if they need polishing, when the only places left are under/top of the fridge, inside the oven, over the extractor fan, and behind the toilet! Ages will be wasted in examining a room to see what you missed. Tell them what you want done!!

Shrap

Shrap wrote: »

Like I said previously, in my experience it made me paranoid (rather than complacent)! If a place is sparkling, then it's not possible to up your cleaning standards - you just end up cleaning something twice. If you want the standards "upped", then tell the cleaner what you have done, and what you want done. There's no use in a cleaner having to look at everyday surfaces to identify if they need polishing, when the only places left are under/top of the fridge, inside the oven, over the extractor fan, and behind the toilet! Ages will be wasted in examining a room to see what you missed. Tell them what you want done!!

I used to leave a list, but I would sometimes worry that the cleaner would feel insulted that it insinuated she'd overlook some of the things if not explicitly stated.

I just felt it was fair to spell out what I expected though, people aren't psychic.

Shrap

Candie wrote: »

I used to leave a list, but I would sometimes worry that the cleaner would feel insulted that it insinuated she'd overlook some of the things if not explicitly stated.

I just felt it was fair to spell out what I expected though, people aren't psychic.

No, totally cool thing to do (although I think a lot of my clients felt the same as you and would do the "if you don't mind" and "hope it's alright if I ask" notes!). Very helpful and also a real pleasure to know that these are jobs that mean a lot and have been left on the long finger, so when they're done, both client and cleaner have a sense of achievement! Sometimes a client would text later and say I was a magic cleaning fairy and she could put her feet up in joy, without an ounce of guilt! I got a real kick out of that

Shrap

Shrap wrote: »

No, totally cool thing to do (although I think a lot of my clients felt the same as you and would do the "if you don't mind" and "hope it's alright if I ask" notes!). Very helpful and also a real pleasure to know that these are jobs that mean a lot and have been left on the long finger, so when they're done, both client and cleaner have a sense of achievement! Sometimes a client would text later and say I was a magic cleaning fairy and she could put her feet up in joy, without an ounce of guilt! I got a real kick out of that

I practically used to leave love notes for the cleaner I had, I genuinely felt such gratitude because I was so short on time and so full of stress that she really was a lifesaver taking that burden off me. It's an underrated job.

seamus

Shrap wrote: »

I was a cleaner for years (I know I've said it before here someplace) and I HATED cleaning a house that was already spotless! What an utter waste of money, and actually it felt like I was wasting my time too, even though I still got paid.

We've even had the conversation - "should we get a cleaner in". And I said yes, if she agreed that she wouldn't try to clean the house before the cleaner arrived. And her response was, "well, I'll have to tidy up a bit". So I put my foot down and said no.
I don't think that's an Irish thing, she keeps the house immaculate while constantly apologising to visitors about the state of the place. Some people have a strange paranoia that other people are judging them by the tidyness of their house.

The way I see it is that a cleaner for 3 solid hours a week will do a job that you'd rarely do on your own house, ie. have the whole place spotless in one go.

This is it. If I had 3 hours on my own in the house with nothing else to do, the thing would be gleaming. So it makes no sense to pay for 3 hours of cleaning when you've already done 2 hours of cleaning the previous night!

Penny Dreadful

I was against the idea of a cleaner for ages then I got one in to do a deep clean in the house when I was heavily pregnant with my first child. Thanks to chronic SPD and back pain I wasn't able to get stuck into any of the mad nesting stuff you hear pregnant women get on with.
It was the best money ever. The house looked like it was brand new.

After the baby was born I continued to have her come once a fortnight and I have to say I have never once regretted the spend. I had some serious issues post delivery and developed Rheumatoid Arthritis a few months after the baby was born and having the cleaner has certainly made my life much easier and my husband's too. He works crazy hours and the last thing I'd want for him to be doing is cleaning the house when he gets home and at the weekends I think its important for us to spend time together as a family. Having the cleaner gives me a break physically too.
Now I'm pregnant with my second baby there isn't a hope in hell that I'd give up the cleaner. A spend of €40 every fortnight is well worth it.

The lady who comes is really lovely too. My little girl thinks she is the best thing ever and loves to see her. One thing I do find quite sad is that we are one of the few families that actually talks to her and she said that many other people don't let her talk to their children:eek: I think thats shocking.
When I was on maternity leave and she came we'd have a chat when she was finished and was waiting for her lift to come and take her to the next house. Now that I'm back at work we just get to chat for a few minutes in the morning before I leave for work so its not as though she is spending all of her time chatting and not working.

Ice Maiden

"One thing I do find quite sad is that we are one of the few families that actually talks to her and she said that many other people don't let her talk to their children" - that is horrible.

ProudDUB

Easca Peasca wrote: »

We've never had one at home and I don't think I'd consider one. The mammy managed to balance housework and raising four young uns so I couldn't see myself justifying one. I can understand why someone might, but me? Nah thanks

Why don't you ask the mammy what she thinks of the idea of someone coming in to give her a dig out with the housework, when she was up to her oxters in dirty nappies, pureed carrots mashed into the carpets & baby vomit on all of her clothes?

Just because someone 'manages' to do something, it doesn't mean that their day to day tasks won't be rendered easier and more enjoyable if they have someone giving them a hand.


Some women I know, (not directed at the above poster btw) seem to think its a slur on them as women, or housewives (God, I hate that word :rolleyes: ) or parents, if they have someone in giving them a hand, around the house, or with the kids. That the world will judge them harshly, if they don't do everything themselves. It really won't.

All having a cleaner in does, is free up more time to spend doing other things - like spending quality time with your partner and kids. No more, no less. It doesn't need to be massively over though or analyzed. But because we're Irish and there is this concept of the long suffering Irish Mammy being a martyr towards everything to do with her home or her kids, we do over analyze it imo.