Open Thread: Keeping a Clean House
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What changes did you make to your cleaning routines after you had kids? Is a cleaning service essential to you as a working mother?
The last time we talked about hiring a cleaning service on Corporette, I was struck by how many readers agreed that a cleaning service became a necessity after having kids, and the same was true for me, so I thought we’d discuss. I was particularly intrigued to hear moms of older kids (I think among comments here) talk about how having a daily housekeeper in the post-school hours really helped them bridge the “too old for a nanny, too young to be home alone” time period.
{related: when to hire a cleaning service}
For my $.02.: Today is the most wonderful day of the fortnight: our beloved cleaning professional, Olga, is here at Casa Griffin. I was always highly (highly!) resistant to getting a professional to do our cleaning before we had kids, but it started to make more sense when Jack started crawling (and, um, throwing things like applesauce everywhere). It’s now become a non-negotiable for us, in that we will find room for it in our budget somewhere — I love the clean house, the sense of peace and calm that Olga leaves behind, and the fact that I can devote most of my time to either working or mom-ing.
{related: how to deep clean your house}
We still do a lot of organizing before she comes to make sure that she can focus on cleaning, and she generally does the floors (mopping, vacuuming), the surfaces (dusting, washing), the mirrors, the bathrooms, as well as changing our sheets, washing our towels, and working on specific tasks like cleaning the walls or windows. We got her number after a friend of mine was waxing poetic about Olga and how wonderful she was. She had such a busy schedule that we had to wait a while to get on her roster, but we’ve never looked back.
Psst: some of our favorite books on cleaning:
How did you find your cleaning service (or person)? What do you ask him/her/them to do? How often do they come? What do you and your partner (and kids) do in the interim? Did you have a cleaning service before you had kids, and did you make any changes after becoming a mom?
2020 updated images via Stencil. Originally pictured: Clean kitchen, originally uploaded to Flickr by Ben Sutherland.)
“What changes did you make to your cleaning routines after you had kids?”
I stopped having time to clean.
Well, sort of. I still clean, but have to cram it into my Sunday afternoon while SO watches the little one. And basically I do what needs to be done most. Floors are top priority. Bathrooms second priority. Kitchen kind of gets cleaned pretty much every time I cook. In general, standards are lower (except floors, where standards are higher).
Not to mention that this is a massive point of contention between me and Mr. Nonny. It never enters into Mr. Nonny’s head to help with the cleaning. He will do it if asked, and actually does a pretty good job, but will never take the initiative. It’s not like he doesn’t do anything else around the house – he is pretty responsible about other things – but still. I was away (with the baby) last weekend and asked him specifically to clean the oven (which hadn’t been done in eons). I came home to a beautifully clean oven, but did he think to vacuum, or clean the bathrooms, or anything else that has to be done as part of the regular weekly routine? No. I was super p*ssed off. I want to find a cleaner but can’t seem to get any recommendations for good cleaners who actually have time for another house.
We’re in need of hiring someone BUT I feel that there is so much organizing to do before-hand. We are very tight where we currently live and it feels like there is too much clutter for a professional to be able to actually clean. So how “clean” (clutter-free) does your home need to be for a professional to actually come and clean it? Christmas preparations are not helping the cause one bit.
I have a Roomba. It was a splurge but setting it up to vacuum more than once a week is a necessity at our place, with a dog, cat, 2 kids and no mud room. It is just so nice to set it to go when I leave and come home to a vacuumed house. Definitely worth it (and clears up more time for me to do other things since I am no longer dragging the vacuum out)
My cleaning person comes today, too!
I found my current team through my in-laws, who have used them for years. My in-laws are far more meticulous than I am about cleaning, so I knew they would be fine.
They mop or vaccum floors, clean bathrooms and the kitchen and dust. The put the clean sheets on the beds and empty the trash cans. Occasionally they do a bigger project, such as cleaning the hair out of the drain in the shower (yuck).
They come every other week, but I’m thinking about changing to every week. With two kids and two messy parents, the house gets away from us pretty quickly. We don’t do a whole lot in the interim – take out the trash, sweep the kitchen, wipe down the table and kitchen counters.
We had a service before we had kids because we are both seriously terrible at cleaning. Every other week was perfectly fine for the two of us, but our toddler makes a pretty big mess so I think every week would be better.
In summary, I LOVE having a cleaning service. I would cut many many things out of the budget before getting rid of cleaning!
I’ve had cleaning service on and off since before moving in with the now Mr. and having a baby (It started when my mom was visiting, and my place was even more of a mess than usual thanks to what felt like weeks of back to back travel).
The first few services I had I found through my apartment or on-line, my current person is an individual who was recommended by a friend. All but the first did a pretty good job cleaning, my only ‘complaint’ is that across the board it seemed the that first few cleanings were much more thorough than subsequent cleanings.
The Mr. was reluctant at first — claiming it was silly to pay someone to do what we should be doing ourselves, but really we weren’t doing it, and although he kept saying that he would do the cleaning, he never really did. I took that as what he really meant was it was silly to pay someone to do what he thought I should be doing (although he would never admit that). Anyway, my mom once advised me that if you can afford having someone come in to clean, it’s not worth fighting about who should do it. My ardent feminist side is still a little annoyed, but my practical, tired side really just wants clean bathrooms.
Cleaning is pretty standard — floors, kitchen, dusting, bathrooms, changing sheet, but no laundry.
Right now she comes every two weeks, the day before is a frantic picking-up spree so that she can clean. Even though I’m on maternity leave now, it takes a lot longer to pick up because of the baby (both stuff-wise and time-wise). The frantic picking up is annoying and sometimes stressful, but so worth it, because really, if we/I weren’t forced to do it, it wouldn’t happen. The Mr. even grumbles a bit about this, but I think he’s now realizing that if we didn’t have the service we’d have to pick up AND clean.
In theory we try to pick up and clean between cleanings, but really it’s pretty limited to a quick sweep/wipe down of things. There’s no carpet, just rugs, so that makes it a bit easier I think. I’ve thought about bumping it up to every week, but really that seems too frequent, especially when I go back to work and the house is empty the majority of the time. Maybe when the baby is bigger and starts generating her own mess.
Cleaning service, a roomba, and a shark steam mop! I do a load of laundry every day to stay on top of it; clothes, towels, sheets, whatever. That keeps it from piling up.
I got the best advice from a friend right before my son was born, she said to do dishes and laundry every day and don’t worry about the rest of it. That kept me sane during the early days.
For reference, 2 working adults, one 4 year old, two shedding dogs and sandy soil in our area that tracks everywhere. We have bi-weekly cleaning. We were doing weekly cleaning, but found that the decluttering before our housekeeper came was too time consuming and our house wasn’t that dirty. We really need cleaning every 10 days but that is another story. Between cleanings, we vacuum the kitchen/family room every 4-6 days and clean the kitchen Our declutter strategy is to clear all the countertops/furniture tops, pick up everything off the floor, and put out clean sheets. Similar to others, the declutter ritual is a necessary evil that prevents us from descending into chaotic clutter.
We first started with a cleaning service before kids and are really happier not to spend what little free time we have properly cleaning. There are plenty of other house chores/maintenance that we have to do and choose not to outsource.
So far my husband and I haven’t hired anyone. We have a 10 week old and two cats. My husband is almost compulsively tidy and clean. I’m more of a slob, but by no means is our house a wreck. I think what works for us is a combination of a few things:
1. a roomba
2. not having a lot of clutter
3. me repeating two mantras to myself: “put it away, not down” and “clutter is delayed decisions”
4. my husband is a consistent maintainer who religiously does daily chores while I’m a fast and efficient cleaner who does bigger cleaning projects in one big burst
5. lowered standards– the house is clean but not crazy clean
6. a small/moderately sized house
7. an addiction to the website unf*ck your habitat, which always provides me motivation
So what do you do when your spouse, not your kid, is the cause of the mess? My husband is on a multi-month-long business trip and I’ve noticed that I barely have to clean while he is gone. I wipe down the bathroom counter and mop the kitchen once a week, but otherwise the house stays spotless between my monthly professional cleanings. When he is here, I have to do a complete house cleaning twice a week. I know he is bad about clutter, but I have no idea why the floors and kitchen are so much dirtier when he is around.
We hired a cleaning service after our second child. The first year with a baby and 2 year old it felt impossible to keep clean, even with the cleaning service, but now that they are 2 and 4 it’s gotten much, much easier to keep everything clean. They bus their own plates and can play by themselves while I take 5 minutes to put things away after dinner. They can also put toys away (under the threat of losing them if they don’t) and that keeps clutter way, way down. I find that doing a little bit every day keeps things overall very manageable in between cleanings.
This is my main question about hiring a cleaning service — do you give them a key to your house? Do you have to be there when they are cleaning? I so want to hire someone, but don’t understand how I’m supposed to let them in. Is everyone else generally comfortable with giving out a key??