People who hire everything out- who notices and takes care of deep cleaning/one-offs?

[Anonymous]

I frequently hear the advice “just hire everything out!”. That makes sense if you live overseas and have 2-3 people on staff, but how does it work here? For example, I was thinking about this when I realized that the LL Bean water hog mat under my dog’s food and water dish stinks. So I had to go outside and scrub it with oxyclean and hose it down, and now I have to remember to bring it in before it rains.

Do weekly cleaners notice this stuff if you find the right ones? Do you have to list all possible one-offs or deep cleans and they rotate through them? Are there special cleaners who do this? Or do you have another method for managing the intermittent things that need to get done but aren’t obvious?

I’m fine managing it on my own now, but I never see any of my neighbors doing this kind of stuff and I’m wondering what secret I’m missing.

[Anonymous]

I think something like the dog mat is the domain of part or full time staff. If you have a housekeeper who is working for you idk, at least 20 hours a week? That’s the kind of thing you could add to their list. A good one might notice it themselves. A biweekly or weekly housecleaner probably can’t stop and add that kind of thing.

The way to “outsource” that particular problem would be to order a new one and toss the old one. I’m not saying you should do that, but that’s the clear way to buy your way out of the task. You could also switch to something easier to clean for that.

[Anonymous]

I'm just a person who naturally doesn't like stinky or dirty things, so I try to do things from time to time - like hose down the kitchen trash can. I get motivated by nice dry weather, and go on a frenzy a couple of times a year for the non-regular stuff.

Ultimately, I think you need to have a home you can manage - not a huge house. Then you can notice things pretty regularly and stay on top of the one-offs, since you interact with those things regularly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think something like the dog mat is the domain of part or full time staff. If you have a housekeeper who is working for you idk, at least 20 hours a week? That’s the kind of thing you could add to their list. A good one might notice it themselves. A biweekly or weekly housecleaner probably can’t stop and add that kind of thing.

The way to “outsource” that particular problem would be to order a new one and toss the old one. I’m not saying you should do that, but that’s the clear way to buy your way out of the task. You could also switch to something easier to clean for that.

Thanks, I think that answers my question. I hadn’t thought about the possibility of just replacing certain things instead of cleaning them and I think that’s what I’m missing. My neighbors throw out a lot of stuff and I assume it’s things that are more time-consuming to clean than they are expensive to replace.

[Anonymous]

My relatives just add the one-offs to the list of chores for the house cleaner to do that week. If there's too much, she can't do it all, and will spread it out over several visits (over several weeks), unless the homeowner wants to do it themselves. Some people do it themselves, because they're not the type to wait around while something curdles, but others are fine living with the problem until it's fixed by someone else (and disabled or elderly persons are also in that category).

I can't afford to outsource anything, so either it sits undone, or I muster up the courage to do it: this week I cleaned the walls and baseboards that my fluffy dog likes to brush against, because after several months he ends up leaving an oily deposit that contributes to "old house smell". I have a keen sense of smell, like PP, so anything smelly bothers me until it's taken care of.

But I'm not good with clutter. My space is small and the piles of books and papers never go away. I just dust them...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My relatives just add the one-offs to the list of chores for the house cleaner to do that week. If there's too much, she can't do it all, and will spread it out over several visits (over several weeks), unless the homeowner wants to do it themselves. Some people do it themselves, because they're not the type to wait around while something curdles, but others are fine living with the problem until it's fixed by someone else (and disabled or elderly persons are also in that category).

I can't afford to outsource anything, so either it sits undone, or I muster up the courage to do it: this week I cleaned the walls and baseboards that my fluffy dog likes to brush against, because after several months he ends up leaving an oily deposit that contributes to "old house smell". I have a keen sense of smell, like PP, so anything smelly bothers me until it's taken care of.

But I'm not good with clutter. My space is small and the piles of books and papers never go away. I just dust them...

OP here and I think my DH is in the “until something curdles” category. He was raised in a family from a colonial country where all but the most impoverished had multiple helpers at home. I don’t think his parents knew how to manage cleaning once they moved here so he always seems flummoxed by my projects and maintenance worries.

I’m sensing that there isn’t a shortcut to the “noticing” part, but it feels better to do the work if there isn’t an easy way out.

[Anonymous]

My weekly cleaners would handle that yes. I don't know that it would get done weekly unless it were super smelly, but it would get done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My relatives just add the one-offs to the list of chores for the house cleaner to do that week. If there's too much, she can't do it all, and will spread it out over several visits (over several weeks), unless the homeowner wants to do it themselves. Some people do it themselves, because they're not the type to wait around while something curdles, but others are fine living with the problem until it's fixed by someone else (and disabled or elderly persons are also in that category).

I can't afford to outsource anything, so either it sits undone, or I muster up the courage to do it: this week I cleaned the walls and baseboards that my fluffy dog likes to brush against, because after several months he ends up leaving an oily deposit that contributes to "old house smell". I have a keen sense of smell, like PP, so anything smelly bothers me until it's taken care of.

But I'm not good with clutter. My space is small and the piles of books and papers never go away. I just dust them...

OP here and I think my DH is in the “until something curdles” category. He was raised in a family from a colonial country where all but the most impoverished had multiple helpers at home. I don’t think his parents knew how to manage cleaning once they moved here so he always seems flummoxed by my projects and maintenance worries.

I’m sensing that there isn’t a shortcut to the “noticing” part, but it feels better to do the work if there isn’t an easy way out.

I think you're talking about something different here, OP. People with inattentive ADHD don't notice problems that aren't in their areas of interest and have difficulty organizing their lives and belongings. It's likely your husband (and perhaps his parents) have inattentive ADHD and just don't notice cleaning issues immediately and then don't know how to sort and triage. My husband and son have inattentive ADHD and have great difficulty noticing clutter, dust, and grime. My young adult son can dust, vacuum and mop, because I taught him, but he NEVER notices the problems. He needs them pointed out to him, which is really maddening. My husband is a lost cause, and hasn't noticed messes or picked up the vacuum in years.

[Anonymous]

A good housekeeper (someone who comes at least two days a week) will notice this and clean it as often as needed.

[Anonymous]

You do the one-off things unless you have a full time housekeeper.

I have the time and attention to fix the wiggly towel ring or replace the doormat at the back door precisely because I am not dusting Knick knacks or mopping floors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My relatives just add the one-offs to the list of chores for the house cleaner to do that week. If there's too much, she can't do it all, and will spread it out over several visits (over several weeks), unless the homeowner wants to do it themselves. Some people do it themselves, because they're not the type to wait around while something curdles, but others are fine living with the problem until it's fixed by someone else (and disabled or elderly persons are also in that category).

I can't afford to outsource anything, so either it sits undone, or I muster up the courage to do it: this week I cleaned the walls and baseboards that my fluffy dog likes to brush against, because after several months he ends up leaving an oily deposit that contributes to "old house smell". I have a keen sense of smell, like PP, so anything smelly bothers me until it's taken care of.

But I'm not good with clutter. My space is small and the piles of books and papers never go away. I just dust them...

For the dog walls: try a spin mop in a bucket of hot water and a cleaner that cuts oil, like Mr clean or ammonia. Just a quick swipe with the spin mop isn’t as thorough as scrubbing all the baseboards by hand, but you’ll get 80% of the result in like 10% of the effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do the one-off things unless you have a full time housekeeper.

I have the time and attention to fix the wiggly towel ring or replace the doormat at the back door precisely because I am not dusting Knick knacks or mopping floors.

Yup, this. most of us don't have the money to hire out literally everything, but the once every week or every other week house cleaner takes care of the consistent stuff so that I can spend time doing the one-offs as needed without being totally overwhelmed.

And as a PP said, I'd probably just toss the dog bowl mat and get a new one that's just rubber and easier to clean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My relatives just add the one-offs to the list of chores for the house cleaner to do that week. If there's too much, she can't do it all, and will spread it out over several visits (over several weeks), unless the homeowner wants to do it themselves. Some people do it themselves, because they're not the type to wait around while something curdles, but others are fine living with the problem until it's fixed by someone else (and disabled or elderly persons are also in that category).

I can't afford to outsource anything, so either it sits undone, or I muster up the courage to do it: this week I cleaned the walls and baseboards that my fluffy dog likes to brush against, because after several months he ends up leaving an oily deposit that contributes to "old house smell". I have a keen sense of smell, like PP, so anything smelly bothers me until it's taken care of.

But I'm not good with clutter. My space is small and the piles of books and papers never go away. I just dust them...

For the dog walls: try a spin mop in a bucket of hot water and a cleaner that cuts oil, like Mr clean or ammonia. Just a quick swipe with the spin mop isn’t as thorough as scrubbing all the baseboards by hand, but you’ll get 80% of the result in like 10% of the effort.

Thanks, PP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I frequently hear the advice “just hire everything out!”. That makes sense if you live overseas and have 2-3 people on staff, but how does it work here? For example, I was thinking about this when I realized that the LL Bean water hog mat under my dog’s food and water dish stinks. So I had to go outside and scrub it with oxyclean and hose it down, and now I have to remember to bring it in before it rains.

Do weekly cleaners notice this stuff if you find the right ones? Do you have to list all possible one-offs or deep cleans and they rotate through them? Are there special cleaners who do this? Or do you have another method for managing the intermittent things that need to get done but aren’t obvious?

I’m fine managing it on my own now, but I never see any of my neighbors doing this kind of stuff and I’m wondering what secret I’m missing.

You don't see my DH scrubbing the car mats? You don't see us taking all porch furniture outside to clean the room 1x per year? Maybe you're just not paying attention?

[Anonymous]

Our housekeeper comes 2x/week, but we do all the one-offs and deep cleaning.