If you had a housekeeper 5 hours a day

[Anonymous]

What would you have them do?

Tried to hire someone for 3 hours a day to do cleaning, loading dishwasher, light meal prep, laundry but they want 5 hours a day to make it worth their time. Trying to see if there is enough work to fill the 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Deep cleaning. Baseboards, move the fridge and oven to scrub behind it, stuff like that. I might ask if they're open to quick local errands like drycleaning, picking up cleaning supplies at Target (with a list), etc.

[Anonymous]

I would first suggest that you attempt to accomplish all of the tasks that you expect them to do in three of five hours. I suspect you might have unrealistic expectations.

[Anonymous]

5 hours a day, 5 days a week, every week? That's a lot--I could fill her time for a month or two, but eventually all the deep cleaning would be done and I'd run out of projects she could accomplish alone. (Like it would be nice to have someone organize my photo albums or clean out the attic, but that's not really something I'd ask of a housekeeper.) If they can sew, I might ask for help with some mending or small sewing projects like sewing badges on scout uniforms.

[Anonymous]

Is this for one day? How big is your house? My housekeepers work in a team of 3 and it takes them about 2.5 hours to clean my house, which is about 4k sq ft., and that's just a "standard" cleaning that happens every other week - not a deep cleaning. If you just have one person, a thorough cleaning plus laundry and meal prep will easily take 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

I would add grocery shopping, organizing, and deep cleaning to the list. That would get maybe 3 days of 5hours. Maybe more meal prep for a 4th day, and ask to compromise on Fridays being 3 hours only.

[Anonymous]

My mom had this and she ironed the sheets and honestly wasted a lot of time on the phone. That was ok because it was basically an employment program because her husband was a total douche. We still sent my dad’s shirts out for dry cleaning and starch though.

[Anonymous]

Download the weekly chores list - and have her do them all.

[Anonymous]

Our housekeeper works 5 hours/week. 2500 sq ft. 2 large bedrooms, 2 large bathrooms, large living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, entry foyer, entry hall, front door, small front porch. All floors are tile which she sweeps then mops. She vacuums all rugs and upholstered furniture, dusts all surfaces, mirrors, prints with glass, tops of frames.

Once a month I add an hour to do stairs and guest suite + 3rd bath upstairs which is another 600 sq ft. Sometimes I add an hour for a back wall of windows.

There is no laundry, changing sheets, making beds.

[Anonymous]

I dont think my house would have enough to clean and prep for 5h x 5 days, but if it were one or two days, maybe clean, prep multiple meals, grocery shop, put everything away, organize the pantry, etc.

[Anonymous]

It’s like you think meal prep doesn’t involve prep or cleanup, dishes, etc. Add in emptying dishwasher and refrigerator cleaning, etc.

Laundry would be wash, dry, iron/ steam, fold, put away I’m assuming.

You could add in meal prep for Lunches and breakfast.

Does the 5 hours include travel?

I guess I WAH and feel like I spend this much a day sorting all this stuff out. It’s probably longer as I’m doing it in between things, I think it’s easy to think that things take less time then they actually take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s like you think meal prep doesn’t involve prep or cleanup, dishes, etc. Add in emptying dishwasher and refrigerator cleaning, etc.

Laundry would be wash, dry, iron/ steam, fold, put away I’m assuming.

You could add in meal prep for Lunches and breakfast.

Does the 5 hours include travel?

I guess I WAH and feel like I spend this much a day sorting all this stuff out. It’s probably longer as I’m doing it in between things, I think it’s easy to think that things take less time then they actually take.

These lists are always crazy to me. How often are you really doing these things? Refrigerator cleaning is like a seasonal thing. Laundry is on maybe a 5-day cycle. What % of clothes really need to be ironed?

It feels like every time I read a thread like this, so much of the stuff is either make-work or is due to some OCD-like mental state.

[Anonymous]

She should be able to tell you what she can do. Especially since she’s the one asking for almost twice as many hours as you proposed, she needs to be able to explain how she can make your life easier. If you have to come up with the ideas, there’s a chance she’ll half ass them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s like you think meal prep doesn’t involve prep or cleanup, dishes, etc. Add in emptying dishwasher and refrigerator cleaning, etc.

Laundry would be wash, dry, iron/ steam, fold, put away I’m assuming.

You could add in meal prep for Lunches and breakfast.

Does the 5 hours include travel?

I guess I WAH and feel like I spend this much a day sorting all this stuff out. It’s probably longer as I’m doing it in between things, I think it’s easy to think that things take less time then they actually take.

These lists are always crazy to me. How often are you really doing these things? Refrigerator cleaning is like a seasonal thing. Laundry is on maybe a 5-day cycle. What % of clothes really need to be ironed?

It feels like every time I read a thread like this, so much of the stuff is either make-work or is due to some OCD-like mental state.

We have a pool so pool towels and the like get done almost every day, especially since we often have guest kids and towels end up on the floor.

DH wears dress clothes to work and in the heat his undershirts and shirts need done frequently, which includes ironing. We both exercise so there’s those clothes that are best on their own cycle.

Bedding needs to be done once a week. We have outdoor furniture that needs to be done every few weeks.

I guess because I’m home, I can flip a load or two of laundry in quickly. If I had to wait and do a “laundry day”
I would / could. That said, if there’s someone coming every day, it’s a task that can be done as part of it. OP can decide her needs.

My fridge doesn’t need a deep clean every day, but there sure are a lot is sticky spills and the like that could be dealt with faster.

I don’t even think we’re a particularly fussy household, and there’s all kinds of stuff to do. This doesn’t even address food.

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe people are scoffing at her asking to work more hours to make it worth her time, of course she could. Make a list of things you want her to help with, including shopping, meal prep, organizing, deep cleaning, etc, and don’t stress if sometimes you only fill 20 of the 25 hours or so. It’s worth it to have someone who is reliable, honest, and good at what they do.