s/o Do you clean your own house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before Covid, we had cleaners come twice a week. It was great - they did all the things I really hated to do - scrub the bathrooms, scrub the stove and sinks, and wiped/dusted throughout the house. They also vacuum and wipe down visible surfaces. My kids and husband are cleaning and organization impaired, so it just felt like a huge weight off my shoulders and a big lift to have at least one other person to assist me with keeping the house clean.

^ I meant they come once every two weeks, not twice a week! And to answer OP's question, it was $100 per cleaning, for a 2000 sq ft home with 3br, 1.5ba.

[Anonymous]

No, I clean my own house. I know this sounds crazy, but I just don't want someone else cleaning in my house when they've been cleaning up after other people all day. It's my germaphobe tendencies and this was pre-COVID. Once my friend told me her cleaner was coming over to clean their house after her kids had norovirus and the first thing I thought of was, great and then that cleaner is going to someone else's house right after that. gross-no thank you.

[Anonymous]

No, because DH is deeply uncomfortable having people come into the "private" areas of our place and clean. He is both suspicious that they will take stuff or they will be nosy looking at our papers or other stuff? He thinks if we did, someone should watch them at all times? None of us grew up with having our houses cleaned. I can't deal with his anxieties about it so we have not so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, because DH is deeply uncomfortable having people come into the "private" areas of our place and clean. He is both suspicious that they will take stuff or they will be nosy looking at our papers or other stuff? He thinks if we did, someone should watch them at all times? None of us grew up with having our houses cleaned. I can't deal with his anxieties about it so we have not so far.

I mean, yes, we clean our own house for the reasons stated. No to the cleaners.

[Anonymous]

I used to and we have a large house with six bedrooms and 7 bathrooms and many kids! Now post a covid I do most but kids clean their own rooms and bathrooms. I do not think I will hire cleaners again. I do a better job and the reality that I have saved 12 grand a year that could go to college is overwhelming. It is not as bad as you think. I spend maybe half hour to an hour a day doing something like main floor one day, dusting another. I put on my music and tune everyone out. I know get why Pat Benator says she loves
to clean. Very zen.

[Anonymous]

yes, i clean it myself.
We had cleaners for years but i always found myself spending hours straightening and then the house got dirty again very quickly anyway.

my kids are now teenagers and i give them tasks and chores to do and things stay reasonably clean between what my husband and I do and the small items I have them do.

[Anonymous]

Daily housekeeper. Large multigenerational house with 7 people in it and could not be more worth it for us. House is always clean, laundry done, etc. I grew up like this too and would give up a lot before I give up this.

[Anonymous]

Also--previous poster again---

We will have 3 college tuitions right around the corner and saving $12K a year (or more) is also worth it to us. And we have two in private high school ($100K yearly in tuition) so we save money when we can!

[Anonymous]

I am my own cleaner but I don't clean it much. Maybe straighten things out, throw some stuff away after it sits in one place for a few weeks. I'm just lazy.

[Anonymous]

We live in a condo and clean it ourselves. I find it hilarious when I see a entire cleaning crew coming in and out our milenial, childless-with-dog, working-from-home neighbors' one bedroom.

[Anonymous]

We need cleaners but I can’t bring myself to spend the money. Even $300 per month would be $3600 per year that I can use for travel or something else.

[Anonymous]

I have both used cleaners and done it myself.

In all honesty, cleaning services always seem to specialize in “superficial clean” - looks great until you look closer. At some points in my life I have been so busy, I rarely looked closer until I suddenly would see what hadn’t been cleaned for months. Even supposed “deep cleaning” didn’t seem that thorough to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I clean my own house. I know this sounds crazy, but I just don't want someone else cleaning in my house when they've been cleaning up after other people all day. It's my germaphobe tendencies and this was pre-COVID. Once my friend told me her cleaner was coming over to clean their house after her kids had norovirus and the first thing I thought of was, great and then that cleaner is going to someone else's house right after that. gross-no thank you.

I've always cleaned my own house. We had cleaners sent by our construction company to clean up after our renovation. I was watching them out of the corner of my eye (sure they knew) and it cemented it for me. Watching the way they did stuff grossed me out. No one will clean my house as well as I do. I'm thorough and efficient at it. I get satisfaction from it.

[Anonymous]

Do you have cleaners? Yes
How frequently do they come? Every other week
What do they do? Everything but inside the appliances, outside windows and laundry
How much do you pay? $170 (company) for 4000 SF house. I tip the two ladies $20 for every cleaning and $300 bonus at Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. No cleaners either. Our house is just kind of dirty.

I think this is the case with most people who don't have cleaners TBH.

Nope, some of us just know how to clean.

I have been really surprised as an adult to discover how many people just have no idea how to clean. If you know how to do it and are reasonably diligent, it’s really not that hard unless you have a job with really long hours, more than a couple kids, or a huge house. But many people don’t have the knowledge or skill set. They don’t know which cleaning supplies are most effective for which job, or the most efficient way to clean.

I like having cleaners come now and then to give me a break, but my house is CLEAN without them. Plus, most cleaners do not do the stuff that makes a home truly clean. Or that stuff is extra (like cleaning the oven, the fridge, etc. — stuff you don’t do every week but must be done).

The other thing is that if you always have cleaners, your kids also won’t learn how to clean. Better hope they can afford cleaners, I guess.