Sloppy people with housecleaners - a question

[Anonymous]

I think it's hard with kids. Every other Tuesday night, the kids and I are mad-rushing around tidying up the clutter and putting stuff away.

I try to keep things put away and sorted, but with kids (mine are 5.5 and 3...), it just doesn't happen.

[Anonymous]

I just did this yesterday for our every other week cleaning. As soon as DD is off to school, I dash through each room in the house ensuring that all surfaces are fairly clutter free. I put any dishes lying around into the dishwasher, clear off the counter, sort through old mail and newspapers accumulating on the dining room table, pick up an incredible number of shoes lying around the house, etc. This takes about 20 minutes, and then I'm off to work. I'm always amazed at how much better the house looks with this minimal effort, yet I just cannot bring myself to be doing this daily without a deadline like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I are both not the neatest people. We're trying to reform!

We hired a housecleaner to come every other week. She's been coming for about 3 months now and things are a little better but not a lot better.

I had hoped that knowing she was coming would force us to get better about tidying up at least before she came. It did help some but we still spend what seems like a LOT of time scurrying around the night before she is coming.

If you are like us -- about how long would you say you spend tidying up before a housecleaner comes? An hour? Three?

And does it help you stay more on top of things if you have the cleanner come weekly instead of every other week?

why would you cleanup BEFORE the housekeeper comes? Clean up the week in-between silly.

[Anonymous]

The same I do for the cleaners at work.

[Anonymous]

About half an hour, mostly picking up clothes and putting away my one year old's toys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny you should ask. I JUST spent about a half-hour on this very task. Threw the sheets in the wash, picked up toys and clothes, cleaned the litterbox and the fridge (stinky stuff all in one trash bag; rats are less likely to tear up the bag to get at the spoiled food if there's cat poop in there too).I really enjoy picking up before the housekeeper comes. I can focus on putting things away, and not get distracted by the dirt. She'll take care of that.

This is incorrect. My wife used to live at an apartment on the first floor where the trashbin was like 100 feet away from her apartment. She would leave bagged trashed on her balcony and the rats woudl come and eat through her bag and eat the poop in the dispossed liter. She was at a high dollar building too I think they built it over an old trash site or something.

Yes, animal feces (probably any fedes) attracts rodents

[Anonymous]

1/2 hour. It was 3 hours the first time. We are gradually getting better at keeping the clutter at bay. We have a small house so no matter what you do it gets cluttered. I bought 2 huge plastic bins from target and everything that can't be put away bc there is no place to put it away becasue we are still in need of some furniture (desk, DR buffet), these are things on table, papers on desk, bills, ipods, ipad, laptop etc. go in the bins and down in the basement. Glad to hear I am not the only one who cleans for the cleaners

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't pickup before the cleaners come, and I have them come weekly. What I have been trying to do is slowly de-clutter the house. That has helped a bunch.

I don't use a service, but wondered whether the service wouldn't clean your house anyway if you didn't "tidy up" first? Are you trying to make less work for them? Or are you trying to create an impression that you are not quite as sloppy as you really are?

OP here. The women I hire to clean the house just come for four hours. They clean -- vacuum, sweep, mop, scour, wipe, get rid of cobwebs, dust and polish. They don't tidy, pick up, or put things away in that time. So if I have books and papers stacked on my dressers or on the buffet table in the dining room, they will just dust around a little but nothing more there. If the living room has toys and shoes on the floor, they would pile them in a corner but not put them away.

Right now it takes us a good three to four hours to pick up around the house enough to feel it is ready to be cleaned.

[Anonymous]

We spend two hours arguing about cleaning and an hour actually cleaning. We need a live-in housekeeper to pick up after us and take care of our out-of-control mail problem. We would prefer to be mute so she can't discuss our slovenly ways.

[Anonymous]

I spend one hour tidying for the cleaners. We have them every other week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We spend two hours arguing about cleaning and an hour actually cleaning. We need a live-in housekeeper to pick up after us and take care of our out-of-control mail problem. We would prefer to be mute so she can't discuss our slovenly ways.

Mr. French!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We spend two hours arguing about cleaning and an hour actually cleaning. We need a live-in housekeeper to pick up after us and take care of our out-of-control mail problem. We would prefer to be mute so she can't discuss our slovenly ways.

Mr. French!

Yes, if only Mr. French was real because my little Buffy and Jody are unholy slobs!

[Anonymous]

I have a cleaning woman and I referred her to someone who is a slob. The next time she came to my house she told me that the woman's house was such a mess that she refused to clean for even one day. It is ridiculkous to be such slobs that yu have to clean for your cleaning person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a cleaning woman and I referred her to someone who is a slob. The next time she came to my house she told me that the woman's house was such a mess that she refused to clean for even one day. It is ridiculkous to be such slobs that yu have to clean for your cleaning person.

I totalky agkree! Ridiculkous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a cleaning woman and I referred her to someone who is a slob. The next time she came to my house she told me that the woman's house was such a mess that she refused to clean for even one day. It is ridiculkous to be such slobs that yu have to clean for your cleaning person.

I totalky agkree! Ridiculkous!

Smartass. Nevertheless, I don't have to clean up for the ckleaning woman or constantly apokolgize "sorry my house is such a mess."