This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ladies, let’s just discuss: have you hired a cleaning service or cleaning professional to help clean your home? Did you hire a cleaning service BEFORE kids, or was it only something you investigated once you became a parent? (Or, did you ramp up from, say, a quarterly cleaning to a biweekly cleaning?) When would you advise other working moms to hire a cleaning service?
On the flip side, is the cost of daycare (or nanny or other childcare) so great that you can’t get behind the idea of hiring a cleaning service — and then have you gotten into the Flylady system or some other cleaning schedule for yourself (even if it’s just a last-minute cleaning system when company’s coming)?
I still remember when I realized it was time for my family to use a cleaning service — it happened when my older son had just upgraded from the baby tub to the regular tub. For some reason, when I took my own showers I never noticed all the mold and soap scum on the tub, but sitting on the floor next to my son who was happily licking the walls and toys and drinking the dirty bathwater (WHY?), I was horrified.
Up until then, my routine for keeping a “clean house” involved 15 minutes every day when I wiped down counters, scrubbed toilets, dusted something, or organized something — but I realized that with a small, crawling, growing little man (who was licking weird stuff) that I needed to raise my game. I had no particular interest in spending more than 15 minutes a day cleaning — or even to scrub the tub on a regular basis! — so this kind of depressed me.
Around the same time, as luck would have it, we went out for a date night with another married couple, and they started talking about how AMAZING their cleaning professional was. “She’s like the housekeeper I had when I was in London,” the husband, A, gushed. The wife, my friend N, piped up: “Yes! She asked if she could organize A’s closet and then did a great job!”
Psst: some of our favorite books on cleaning:
We expressed interest, and so they asked, and soon their cleaning professional, O, was cleaning our home once every two weeks. My home quickly became WAY cleaner than with my own cleaning method — not just cleaner, but more organized. There was at least ONE DAY every two weeks where I felt a sense of peace and calm coming from a 100% clean home. There is no way I could go back to the way things were before!
Some tips from someone who’s had a cleaning professional for a while:
- Ask your friends and neighbors for recommendations. A Facebook group for your child’s school, a hyperlocal listserv, or a site like Nextdoor are great places to ask for recommendations. I’ve never worked with a cleaning service, just single-woman operations — I prefer knowing exactly who will be coming to clean my house and what the quality of work will be.
- Specify if you want particular products used. Some cleaning professionals bring everything, while others will use what you have. (O even asked us to buy about $100 in products the first time she came to clean, including a fancy mop.) If you have definite opinions about whether you want green cleaning in your home, or you prefer unscented products or things like that, it’s a good idea to be very clear with them about that preference.
- Do the pre-clean until you know them better. Some cleaning professionals will organize your stuff if you ask — but some won’t. I once hired someone who I thought could handle working “around” a few dirty dishes in the sink, but days later I found sharp knives sticking UP in the big canister we use to hold spatulas. Um, no thank you. I kind of love the pre-clean anyway, because I feel like my time is best spent organizing — almost anyone can clean the countertops, but only I can put the stuff away in the drawers underneath them. (And not to get into too much about emotional labor, but my experience 80% of the time is that my husband moves stuff from one solid surface to another in order to clear up the surface to be cleared, versus my usual attempt to actually return things to their rightful home. E.g., regular toys mixed with bath toys stay in the bathroom when he precleans the bathroom, whereas I try to put the regular toys back in the living room or wherever they belong.)
- Have your house cleaned as regularly as you can. I tend to prefer a once-every-two-weeks cleaning because we can stand the mess until then, and we don’t have to commit hours every week to doing a pre-clean. I know one stay-at-home mom of three who prefers to get a weekly housekeeper rather than hire a mother’s helper or babysitter to take some of the pressure off herself.
- Bask in the glory of your clean house. I like to host friends for dinner or schedule playdates during weeks after we’ve had our house cleaned — it feels like it gives us an “excuse” to socialize.
Readers who have already decided to hire a cleaning service, maid service, housekeeper or other cleaning professional — how did you find them? What are your best tips for other working moms who may be just starting to consider a housekeeper? What do you say to your kids about the situation?
Pictured: Shutterstock / I_B.
M says
1. I started the service while I was on leave with my first.
2. The cost is reasonable. $125 per month for a three floor townhouse (DC area). And it is worth every penny. I would suggest finding ways to cut back on other things to find the month. It is better than paying for therapy sometimes.
I still do the 15 minutes per evening wipedown, but that is more for organization and topical clean purposes. The service gets things sparkling, which I don’t have time to do between baby and law firm job.
Whooo? says
Hey M, who do you use? I just started looking this week for DC cleaners- thanks!
shortperson says
i’m a messy person and my husband is extremely neat but hates to clean. so we’ve long had cleaning help. after baby ramped up to three times per week. she obviously deep cleans, also does all laundry including folding and putting everythign away, and most dishes. she also unpacks when we get home from trips, takes out garbage/recycling, and other random cleanups. she also tidies and makes beds, which i personally think is a waste of money, but my husband appreciates. definitely no precleaning here.
i’m in biglaw and my husband works a lot of hours (although with more flexibility) for less than half of what i make. we both frequently work evenings after kid bedtime. we have savings etc but it’s definitely a noticeable expense, comes out to about $900/month. occasionally it grates on me that if our genders were reversed the female in his situation would do a lot more and we would save a lot of that money. but it makes our house pleasant and our relationship peaceful so it’s fine. plus we both hate doing all that stuff so we both think it’s a good use of money.
Spirograph says
This sounds glorious! I would love laundry help, but I don’t think I can get over the mental block of paying for it right now. Someday. Maybe when public school starts alleviating our daycare bill.
Did you same cleaner just start coming a lot more frequently, or did you have to find someone different for these extra services?
shortperson says
we have one person. it took a while to find someone up to my husband’s standards on deep cleaning gunky things and folding laundry just so (i am fine with anything really). she charges $20/hour which IMO is a lot, plus we have her on the books and pay taxes etc. she’s been with us for four years.
it is wonderful when i’m not working to not think about chores at all. when i’m not working it’s all fun. (i think cooking is fun.) of course, i work a lot. right now my child is small but we will eventually need to figure out how to raise an unspoiled child who is raised with a housecleaner. i dont clean but i work hard to pay for it so i dont feel guilty at all but my daughter is getting off easy. we had bi weekly cleaning when i was a kid but i had a lot of chores on a daily basis. perhaps this led me to where i am today.
L.M.B. says
We had a similar concern when my son was younger (only child, we do well, help every other week). Start them young, or ASAP if they’re older now, helping with simpler tasks, and make it fun if possible. Just doing things together and chatting can be fun! Some family scoffed when I had him making his own lunch and snacks by third grade, but he takes pride in his independence. He is 13 now and takes out all of the trash and recycling at least twice a week, takes the bins to the curb, walks the dog at least 3 times a day, helps with party prep when we as a family entertain, empties the dishwasher, keeps his room “clean” (basically picked up), helps keep the interior of the cars clean, and various other things as needed. Hopefully these responsibilities will help him grow into a self sufficient, helpful, considerate man.
Spirograph says
We hired an independent house-cleaner when I was pregnant with my first child. I had a long commute, a full time job, I was tired, we’d just moved out of our small apartment to a house and had yard work to do, too. She comes every other week (we ramped up to once a week for a while, but it was too stressful to tidy for her every week) I have never looked back. imho, the answer to “when should you hire a cleaning service” is “as soon as you can afford it and have things you’d rather do than clean your house.”
I actually really enjoy tidying and cleaning when 1. I’m home alone and 2. I don’t have any pressing to-dos hanging over my head. But that happens exactly never in my life right now. I “swish and swipe the bathroom, flylady-style a couple times a week, I make my bed and tackle my clutter “hot spots” daily, and we spot-vacuum/sweep regularly, and do normal post-dinner kitchen cleanup, but otherwise I don’t do maintenance cleaning. I do mountains of laundry and nit-picky stuff like washing the ceilings in the bathroom and wiping the shelves in the medicine cabinet that I notice because I see it every day, and all my own organizing, and I have time for that because I don’t mop, change sheets, scrub showers, dust, etc
We definitely try to plan our social calendar around when our house will be the cleanest. The weekend after the cleaner comes is prime time to have dinner guests!
anon says
Honestly, I would love a cleaning person but we don’t feel like we can afford one right now. (I work at a nonprofit arts organization, my husband is a public school teacher). We just kind of keep standards low. I would like our house to be cleaner, but I love my job and love doing things other than cleaning with my free time.
It’s funny, I had kind of the opposite experience as Kat – pre-baby I used to clean my shower pretty regularly and was sort of horrified at how dirty my friends with kids’ houses were. Then after I had my son I was like, why would I spend time cleaning the shower?! It’s clean BY DEFINITION – all we do is wash in it! We recently bought our own place and now that we no longer are renting a bathroom with hopelessly stained, cracking grout, I do try to clean ours more often since it rewards my effort better. But I don’t think soap scum is a health hazard by any means.
Midwest says
We’ve had a company do biweekly cleaning for two and a half years now. It’s something I’ve wanted for years as I despise cleaning and a lot of the arguments my husband and I had involved cleaning or the lack thereof. I actually had the corporette post about a cleaning service bookmarked for two years to motivate me to bite the bullet and set something up. Now, if something happened to make us need to cut back, the cleaner is one of the last things we’d get rid of – it’s just too convenient and saves so much stress and gives us more time with our three kids and with each other.
I found our company on Angie’s list because I didn’t know anyone local who had a cleaner who could recommend one to us. We’re relatively satisfied, but I would prefer to have one person I know and trust. We have a “regular” cleaner from the (locally owned) service, but that changes every couple of months and it seems like some of the cleaners call in/are replaced at the last minute more often than not. That being said, it hasn’t been annoying enough to start looking elsewhere – and I’m still in the position of not knowing anyone who could recommend someone better.
We’re in the Midwest and pay $125 every two weeks for 3.5 hours of cleaning. That includes four bathrooms, kitchen, floors, dusting, etc but no laundry or dishes. We declutter the night before – a task I loathe (I say facetiously there is a real market for someone to clean for the cleaning person). But if not for the cleaning schedule, the clutter would pile up beyond control – so it’s nice to have that making us do it.
I am the type of person to second guess major expenses, but the cleaning service is maybe the one thing I’ve never questioned or regretted.
Our oldest is 5, and the kids know we have a cleaner (I work from home, so they’re usually here when the cleaner comes). It hasn’t caused any weirdness or awkward questions or conversations yet – when they’ve asked about why so-and-so cleans the house, I’ve just said that I hired them to do it so I could spend more time with the kids. That answer has satisfied them so far.
anon says
We finally got a monthly cleaning service after our second baby was born and I went back to work. I really wish we’d done it sooner, but my stubborn pride totally got in the way. TODAY is our cleaning day, and I can tell you that one of the best moments of my week will be walking into a sparkling clean house and knowing that I can take it easy for a few days.
I’d add the caveat: A cleaning service only goes so far. There is still quite a bit of daily cleanup that has to happen in our house. But, it’s cut way down on the resentment I’ve felt about being the only adult who sees when the deeper cleaning needs to happen.
Anon says
We got a monthly cleaning service once my husband and I moved into our house together – I was tired of spending my limited free time (BigLaw) cleaning, and as his standards are far lower, he didn’t see why I needed to spend all day on a weekend cleaning. It’s funny in that I don’t mind clutter but hate dirt – he doesn’t see dirt but clutter drives him crazy. I tried a few small (1-3 woman) services via groupon and living social until I found one at a reasonable price that I like. We’re pretty far out in the DC suburbs and pay $130 for once a month, 3 BR/2.5 baths. Our house is 4 BR, but the fourth bedroom only recently got cleaned out from being a storage room, so I was cleaning that sporadically as needed.
We’ve had our current housekeeper for 2 years now. Baby is coming in 3 weeks, and I think I might upgrade to twice a month given that she will eventually be crawling/licking/mouthing things, as well as to the 4th bedroom. If we ever get our office fully unpacked/unboxed (2 years later!!!) we will include that in the mopping and vacuuming but not the organizing because I would lose it if someone upended my very messy but organized to me desk. Housekeeper currently comes on Saturdays (I have trust issues with strangers in my home when I’m not there). Given that my husband will be staying home with the baby once I am off leave, we might also switch to weekdays which will free up weekend time for me.
I do the pre-clean in that I do the pre-clutter removal (usually a mad dash around the house for 2 hours or so Saturday morning putting stuff back where it belongs and folding all the laundry I haven’t folded in the last month). Husband does some, but he doesn’t really leave clutter everywhere (but will help me fold “joint” laundry that gets piled on the spare bed when I am too lazy to fold it before they come). We each do our own laundry and then I wash/dry the sheets and towels – folding happens sporadically, usually when the housekeeper or company is coming. Housekeeper strips and makes the beds but doesn’t do laundry.
AIMS says
I am debating this right now. I’ve used a service like Handy in the past but didn’t love it either in terms of result (hit or miss, one very nice woman did a nice job on everything but said she didn’t believe in vacuuming) or the uncertainty of having a different stranger come to your home. Another smaller service I used for a ‘deep clean’ was much better about both (they promise you the same person) and I’m considering calling them for a bimonthly visit. I’d love to have an individual person come directly but I’m not sure I want to deal with all the taxes, etc., or how that even works.
AIMS says
I do totally agree though that it is a serious joy to come home to a clean house. My ex used to have a person come once a week and it was the best day of our week, seriously. I still have positive associations with that day even now.
Anon says
We built it in to the monthly expenses of having a house – we estimated it would be $150/month (it’s about $120 to come biweekly right now) and factored that in when deciding how much of a monthly house payment we could afford.
We both work full time. I am not interested in spending my weekends cleaning the toilet, and neither is my husband. This was a way to still have a clean house, but be able to enjoy our non-working time and not fight about whether the shower grout is sufficiently white.
AuntE says
We hired one a few months ago, when I was about 5 months pregnant with our second child. It’s a mom-owned small business; the owner has been twice and we’ve had or will have the same cleaner-employee every time. We found it through Amazon home services; I had a discount for buying one bundle of three visits, and then we booked her directly after that. She’s $150/visit for about 3500 square feet (2 floors). Because I do a pre-clean/declutter and then have a cleaner house when she’s done, I feel like I’ve kept our house cleaner since we’ve hired her. She comes monthly; I would love to have her come 2x a month, but it feels like too much of a luxury expense. To compromise, I bought a Roomba from Amazon warehouse deals for about $200 and “vacuum” upstairs three times a week. Now I’m eyeing the Braava mop for downstairs.
I will say that hiring the cleaning service has brought some more peace to my marriage (no more daily squabbling about cleaning! No resenting that I spent LO’s naptime cleaning the bathroom while DH relaxed!) and eased my working parent guilt, because I spend time with her on the weekends without thinking I should be deep cleaning. For that, it’s worth $150 a month.
BabyBoom says
I hired a cleaner when I moved in with my spouse. I figured the savings for combining households offset the increase in cost. Also eliminated the question of who was cleaning/ what standard of cleaning should prevail. At the time I had a coworker that very adamantly insisted only couples with children should hire cleaners. I think that ridiculous, but apparently not an uncommon belief.
I would like to know how find these awesome cleaners that also do your laundry/make beds/ organize closets. I love my current housekeeper, but she only cleans the house. Once the kids are older, I would like to consider a weekly cleaner that provides more services, but I am not sure how I find this service.
AIMS says
Why not ask your current housekeeper if she would be willing to do these things?
hmm says
So I am a bit of a germaphobe (an ironic thing for me to say considering all the cat hair and dust in our house right now…), so I would worry about whether the cleaning person is doing a good enough job and, for example, NOT doing what Barbara Ehrenreich was taught to do when she worked undercover with a big house-cleaning chain in her book Nickel and Dimed, which was to keep using the same rag/sponge all around the house, including after it got dirty/germy… Gross.
Sabba says
Completely agree. We have had a housekeeper service and I have very mixed feelings on it. No one cleans as well as I do. I’m very picky about cleaning, I have methods that I have honed over the years (think Monica on Friends), and I have a long list of things that should or should not happen when cleaning. I hate it when my floor has been “cleaned” but I can take a wet paper towel and swipe the floor and it comes back tinged brown or grey. To me, you scrub the floor until it comes back clean, even if it takes four times mopping with three buckets of water with bleach. With our housekeeper, I would usually re-clean things, but it would be much easier than starting from scratch. I would pay dearly for someone who cleans as well as I do, but I don’t think that such a person exists or is interested in cleaning other people’s homes if he/she does exist.
Anon says
Answer: always.
We pay $100 for every two weeks. Our home is 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and about 3,000 ft. Our cleaners don’t usually do the guest room or the dining room. Two young kids (lots of food on the floor….)
DH and I spend Wednesday nights cleaning clutter (or…putting clutter in baskets). Cleaning service is 2-3 people for 1-2 hours. They vacuum, mop floors, clean bathrooms, clean kitchen. They don’t do windows or the inside of the fridge or empty dishes or do laundry.
I love it and if push came to shove and finances were an issue, I would consider the cleaning service my Christmas, birthday, and anniversary presents. I love it that much.
avocado says
We are on the Cinderella plan–I am teaching my 10-year-old to clean her own room and bathroom and help with some other cleaning tasks. Right now it doesn’t save much time because she requires some supervision and assistance, but pretty soon it should.
ThatGirl says
Ha, love this! This was my mom’s method. There were four of us kids, so everything but cooking and laundry was split more or less evenly between us. Now I’m a neat freak and don’t trust anyone else to clean my house except maybe Hubs. Wamp wamp.
Anonanonanon says
I have my seven-year-old son scrub the toothpaste out of his sink once a week before I give the bathroom an actual clean. Does he leave it spotless? no, but it certainly saves me time when I don’t have to scrape up all those giant globs of bright blue toothpaste
October says
Love this. I rarely had to do chores as a kid, and while I don’t exactly “blame” my parents for the semi-slob I’ve turned into, I will certainly be making my children help around the house. Since getting married to a clutter-phobe and owning my own home I’ve gotten much better about making myself clean, but mess still doesn’t bother me the way it does other people.
anon dot gov says
We don’t have a cleaner yet. I just started back at work. My problem is that I don’t mind the surface wiping type cleaning but HATE organizing/picking up stuff. I wish there was someone we could hire to pick the kids toys off the floor everyday and organize them, but not dice. Once the place is tidy enough I don’t mind cleaning so much. I use lots of essential oils in my cleaners so it smells nice and relaxing. I’m also a stickler for cleaning things properly, not just making things look clean.
My other fear is that I’ve lived with people who didn’t have to clean anything growing up and I ended up having to do it all because they didn’t even know how to scrub a bathtub for example. I don’t want my kids growing up like that.
Acting Up says
We’ve had a biweekly cleaning service for 9 years – married 10 years. During my two pregnancies, briefly had weekly cleaning service. Figured out in the first year of marriage that we had two options: 1) Continue fighting about chores and cleaning and different expectations, or 2) get some help. Picked door #2 and this is one of the best decisions we’ve made.
On a different topic, what advice do you wise women have to help my 5-year old who’s clearly going through too much change and some separation anxiety? Context: We recently moved to another city (in another state), she’s alternating between different summer camps before she starts KG in September, I had another baby 5 months ago, my husband has a new job, we’re still unpacking and doing work on our new house, and I went back to work 6 weeks ago and am starting to do some work-related travel. (About a week away every 4-6 weeks)
My daughter is usually very talkative and opinionated and active and independent and I love that. But lately, everything is a STRUGGLE. Brushing her teeth, getting ready for camp, eating dinner…EVERYTHING. She loves her baby bro and I know she’s going through a lot of change, and the stubbornness and temper tantrums and screaming are her way of expressing her feelings. She was mad at my MIL this morning (who’s helping us out for a few days) and scratched her arm with her nails. How do I help her feel calm and safe and secure amidst all this change? Will that help with her mood swings? I’m lost.
E says
Try posting on the moms site early tomorrow morning!
Kim says
This is late, but maybe you’ll read it – when I don’t have much consistency, I prepare my kids for the days ahead, about 2 days at a time. Like, tomorrow we’re going to Nana’s, and Monday you go to camp. It’s hard to not give too much information, but that overwhelms them. Can you keep weekends as downtime? that might help. Good luck!
Anonanonanon says
I actually prefer a service to a single individual, it costs more but they’re in and out so much faster, and they’re very specific about what they do and do not offer. (maids.com for anyone in Northern Virginia). My experience with more independent operations has not been positive (cleaning the bathroom but not behind the toilet, leaving dust on the windowsills, etc.)
I’ve been using them sporadically but am going to start having them come once every two weeks to just do our 2.5 bathrooms and our main floor (we have a 3 story townhouse). I clean pretty well/fairly deep in between, but I definitely do not scrub the showers or tubs (we use tilex every day, though) and I hate climbing behind the toilet to get the floor there or do the toilet hinges. I don’t mind swiffering, vacuuming, dusting, tidying, wiping down the bathrooms etc. every couple of days, and I’ll run over the wood floors with a swiffer wet pad, and my husband wipes down the kitchen and does the dishes every night. But I want someone else to:
-clean the sliding door track
-vacuum furniture, vacuum under beds
-vacuum the stairs
-scrub showers/tubs
-scrub toilet hinges, do the floors in the bathroom by hand
-do the baseboards/corners of the floors on the main floor by hand
-clean inside the oven and fridge
And this company has consistently done all of that very well. I’ve brought them in to do the whole house (which I think was around $300) twice, once before the holidays (we were hosting a large get together) and once when I got a new job and wanted a treat for myself.
EB0220 says
This is fascinating! The first thing I did when I got a job after grad school was hire a cleaning service. My husband and I are both messy. We usually have the cleaners come every other week. We’ve done once a week when we had our house on the market and after our 2nd baby was born. That was almost too much because I constantly felt like I was tidying up. I guess that’s not a bad thing, but I felt like I couldn’t do things that took some time, like sorting too-small/out of season kids’ clothes. Between cleaning, I wipe down counters and kitchen table, sweep floor under kitchen table and that’s about it.
Outsourcersanonymous says
Literally every single woman in leadership at my company (big 3 consulting firm) advises up and coming women to “work your life”, as literally the ONLY way to be able to work 70-80 hrs/week, primarily on the road, and have a family. The first thing to go was cleaning (since then, just about everything else has been outsourced, too). I’m not going to lie, it’s not a reasonable cost. If I did the math I’m sure I could retire a couple years earlier if I didn’t have a cleaning lady. But, I live in a top 3 HCOL place and nothing is reasonable. I did it pre-kids, but we have dogs which is really the biggest cleanliness demerit. I think if you’re type A it can prove challenging to let go of control even of menial tasks (for instance I had to count to 10 last night after coming home from being on the road to find out the nanny used a laundry detergent with a strong scent on my son’s clothes / pajamas… guess what, he’s still alive and well even after wearing strongly scented clothes ;), so it hasn’t always been easy for me to let go of everything being the control freak I am. But, I am an adamant believer that time is way way way way more valuable than money. I think if money is too tight, don’t clean your house; and/or splurge on a deep clean ever quarter/half year/year depending on what your budget allows. Bein exposed to germs and dirt are better for your overall health, anyway. Just let go… and let God (or insert whatever is applicable to what you believe/don’t believe)
Midwest says
YES to time being way more valuable.
Emma says
I’m in big law (7th year) and finding it harder and harder to clean. Husband won’t do it, but works from home (not full time!) and doesn’t like someone coming in while he’s there. Or even when he’s not there. So the house is just dirty. Which I hate. And I get complaints from home that I don’t do enough around the house, even though I cook dinner and do the dishes every night while he watches tv, and even though he doesn’t clean either and has way more free time. Ugh.
Ohio is NASTY says
I married a man from SE Ohio where apparently, they do not use toilet brushes. Did not realize til I , yes I, because he could not afford shit on his own, bought the family home. Thus, years in after the kids came, it was me or a service. I did pay a service for very long, against my better judgement. As my girls got older it turned out that it was not just bathroom duty he didn’t believe it, but most of the rest of the house.
I was paying a hispanic woman to pick up after him and my 2 girls because he wouldn’t back me up and make them pick up their shit. I was bringing in the big money, benefits and conveniences.
We divorced last year. That house smells nasty.
Do what you need to do——
Kari says
I’ve never had a cleaning person, though I’ve considered it several times. We are the “clean but cluttered” house. I’d love someone to come and do a deep clean, but we always have tons of stuff sitting out on surfaces that never seem to find a home. It would be so much work for me to pre-clean that I might as well just do it myself. I’ve tried the Konmari thing and just wasn’t committed enough, but I have been in major de-stash mode, trying to live with less “stuff.” Truly hoping for a cleaning service at some point. Really wondering if I can justify the cost. For a couple hundred bucks…I always wonder if I should be doing something else with that money. Yep, the guilt is real.
Cinderella on duty says
You ALL would love me! I started my own natural cleaning business and I do all of it! Organize, redesign, laundry, scrub on my hands and knees….i see things out of place and dirt no one else would know is there. I’m not the cheapest…but we’ll worth it. For an event hire price, I’ll travel (wink)
It’s hard work, I physically hurt every day. Kind words go a long way. Tip, give a small gift just to say thank you. I love my clients and they me. I have one employee and my hubby now helps ad well as we expanded to offer handy man services. 5 star service so you feel like you are at s resort. We conquer chaos to bring peace in your home. Now…if I can just have one if me for my house!
Kelly says
Before we had a child, we had a cleaning service once every two weeks. When I was pregnant, my first Mother’s Day present was to increase our cleaning service to once per week. Yes, my husband is amazing ????! We have used a few different cleaners over the years. I love the lady who owns the service we use now more than I love a few of my blood relatives. One thing I highly recommend is finding someone who will change all the bed linen. I leave clean sheets and they change every bed in the house. The previous week’s bed linen is washed when I get home from work and I toss it in the dryer. Doesn’t seem like much, but it is life changing.
Lisa says
I have been a Secretary/office manager for most of my life. I have also been cleaning vacation rental homes and offices part time evenings and weekends for almost 20 years. As a single mom, I did what was necessary to provide. About 2 years ago I lost my full time desk job without warning. After weeks of interviews and job searches I started to give up hope. I began to pray even harder. It wasn’t long before the phone began to ring, with opportunities to work. But not sitting behind a desk all day, CLEANING HOUSES. I started out with about 4 clients and within a years time I had more than 20 houses to clean on a regular basis. My business was built solely on word of mouth referrals. I actually enjoy cleaning much more than being stuck in an office all day. I use essential oils in every way possible and I even make most of the cleaning products I use with non toxic ingredients like vinegar and baking soda. I feel accomplished at the end of the day knowing that the work I’ve done has made my client’s day and given them the opportunity to spend more time enjoying the things they love. I always say “A clean home is a happy home” My personal recommendation for hiring a cleaner is to ask friends and family or neighbors. A good cleaner listens to what you are looking for and helps design a plan that works within your budget. (at least that’s what I do) and I base my prices on the individual job as opposed to an hourly rate. This allows me the freedom to take my time and thoroughly clean your home from top to bottom. Every clean is a deep clean!
lil says
wow i want to hire you. You sound amazing, And I love that you make your cleaning products.
Cat says
Does anyone have any recommendations or experience hiring a cleaning service in the NYC area? We are looking for someone and would appreciate any recommendations or more information on just what the market pricing is. Thank you in advance!
M says
Sorry for the late reply. I use Merry Maids.
Anonymous says
I have had a cleaning service since I was 26 years old. (First child at 28) I will never give it up- I will eat dog food first. I’ve usually used service since I do not want to worry about taxes, social security etc. We now use an individual who was recommended. We are in a two bedroom condo- empty nesters and pay $80 every other week.
Angela Waterford says
I’m tired of cleaning all the soap scum on my bathtub. I think I’ll hire a maid service and ask my friends for recommendations on where to find one. Thanks for the tip that I should let them pre-clean before I hire them so I’ll know how clean they can clean.
Elisabeth Southgate says
I like how you said it is okay to ask that they use particular products. I am thinking of getting a cleaning service. My children are very sensitive to smells. Knowing that I can request products that don’t have strong smells might be the incentive I need to get some help around the house.
Daphne Gilpin says
Thanks for the suggestion to have friends over after having our house cleaned so we can bask in the glory of the clean house. My husband and I both work full time, and I been thinking about hiring a residential cleaning service to take some of the pressure off of us at home. I’m glad I read your article because using the clean house as an reason to socialize makes me feel excited about finding a service to hire!