What is normal when it comes to having a cleaning lady?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s best to be in the house to give clear instructions on what you need them to do, and to make sure everything is done before they live.
I had to enforce a no IPhones rule after seeing a lady taking pictures and chatting for 15 minutes.

I can understand this if a cleaner is there under 3-4 hours, but if they are there longer than that then a small break would be nice so they can eat, etc.

[Anonymous]

Usually people have a cleaning service come either 1x/wk or 2x/mo.

Most people prefer the same cleaner every time since that person is already familiar w/how they want their home cleaned.

Also - cleaners typically do not do laundry (though they may take linens out of the dryer to make beds,) or dust if you have a lot of knickknacks on shelves.

[Anonymous]

To give the cleaning crew a good clean slate to begin with.
Meaning = have the house picked up.
Floors and counters cleared off, beds stripped, etc.

And something not everyone does but should be common sense ->> make sure all toilets are flushed too.
You wouldn’t believe how many people do not do this. 😲

[Anonymous]

I always leave a snack out. Granola bar, candy, snack size chips, etc. and tell them to take a drink from our fridge. At Christmas, I leave a bonus. They really appreciate this and I can tell this is not the norm.

Agree with what others say. I make sure all the tables/counters/floors, etc. are clear so they can come in and clean. I don't expect them to tidy up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Normal is that you will find cleaning ladies who will do a good job the first couple of times and then they start to flake out on you.

I think everyone has a different take on what works and what does not work for them. My relationship with my cleaning lady did not follow a "norm" but I did everything to retain her because I found a gem after having gone through many cleaning ladies through the years. Was she the perfect worker? No. But she fitted well with what I wanted. I have had this lady for 17 years and I have been all shades of WOHM/WAHM/SAHM/PTWM in the meantime. She is no longer working for us since the pandemic but I have given her money, supplies and encouraged her to get other clients. She is working full time but she has called me and told me that whenever I want her back she will make time for me. Let's see.

She came twice a week. I got total of 6 manhours for $150 a week. 3000sqft home. 4 beds, 3.5 baths. No pets. Non-smokers. Family of 4. We are first owners. I obviously did not need her to clean my home so often - so we negotiated that she would do chores for me for $25 an hour. This meant that she was folding clothes, organizing, decluttering, chopping veggies, prepping for parties, putting up holiday decorations, recycling, cleaning pantry/fridge/freezer, taking care of my indoor plants, cleaning basement and garage, helping with yard work, vacuuming my cars, grocery shopping, picking and dropping my dry cleaning, warming and serving food and drinks during parties etc. I realized that this was the kind of help I needed to maintain my home, instead of just getting my house cleaned.

All of this was happening when I was home and I was supervising and at times training her. In 17 years she knew my house inside and out. And over the years a fondness and appreciation grew - I was giving her meals, doing her shopping using my warehouse membership, giving her generous gifts, being flexible with her days, tutoring her kid, loaning her money, connecting her with county services, going with her to court to get her child support, gifting her her child's back to school supplies and clothing every year, paying for her winter gear, paying for everyone in her family to get flu shots, letting her stay in my basement when she was between apartments, and giving her all the old clothes, shoes, household goods, tools, furniture that I would have donated otherwise. I was her easy, happy gig. She was my man friday. It was a win-win for us. She was efficient, creative, honest and had a ready smile and positive demeanor. She was also a fast learner and knew how I wanted things done. Obviously, she was also doing a lot of things to make life easier for me and pitching in when I needed more help. She could work and do projects for me during summer break because her kid could come to my house, hang around with my kids, eat meals, do homework etc...and she could save on childcare cost. As she was a working single mom, I made sure that I made life easier for her. Plus, I was paying her very well.

I miss her a lot but there was no way she could work for me because she is an essential worker at a local hospital. I am able to keep my house clean without her because everyone is pitching in, I am not entertaining at all and things have become simplified. My house was also pretty organized to begin with thanks to her.

Having a cleaning person at your home is a business transaction. Somehow, it is very rare to find a person who can do the work consistently, honestly and with a good attitude.You will go through a lot of people and if you are lucky you will find a good one. If you find a good worker, you must treat them with respect, pay them well and try and retain them for as long as you can.

This person clearly knows her stuff.
I would add that doing the work honestly, consistently and with a good attitude is a quality that makes one successful, therefore such people don’t clean houses forever. Well maybe they do for some celebrities.

Agree with you both.

Even our nanny was pointing out cob webs the day after a bimonthly cleaning visit.

And we also NeVER agree to provide the cleaning supplies. They’ll dump it everywhere and blow through so much a month it’s ludicrous. And no scrubbing. They need to bring their own- even if water & vinegar.

I insist in providing the cleaning supplies. I have specific products that I use. I don't want her to use duster and vacuum that she uses in other clients homes and brings it to our home. We are a no pet, no smoking, no shoes household. I don't want other people and their pets hair, dander, bodily fluids, mold, bacteria, shoe scum etc to come to our house in any form. I take care of my stuff. I clean my vacuum and wash the filters.

I have zero concerns about how much cleaning products she uses. I am not rationing that. I provide the microfiber cloths, the bounty etc. I have zero need to cut corners on that. If I need to lower the expense, I would rather reduce the frequency of the visits or clean myself. Besides I buy in bulk from costco, I am paying warehouse prices and buying warehouse sizes. She is welcome to take some for her household too and I won't care.

I think, if you cannot afford the supplies, you can certainly not afford the maid.

You’re weird. Hope you don’t lose your day job with all your misplaced anal energy and My Way or the Highway.

Wow! That certainly triggered you. Can't figure out if it is because you are envious, stingy, poor, filthy or disorganized?

[Anonymous]

We use a company for weekly cleaning. I work from home. Usually tip $20 x 2 every 3-4 weeks, and around $100 x 2 at Christmas and sometimes a small gift bag with lotion, soap. I check the toilets before they arrive and if gross, clean them — after reading Nickel and Dimed. I don’t offer food, but assume they use a toilet if they need it. I also usually let them look through the goodwill bag and offer Christmas gifts we won’t use, like a foot massager this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of anyone cooking meals for their cleaner.

I do. My cleaner eats what I am eating. I make lunch for myself, and she eats with me. When I fix my tea and coffee, I also make it for her. All my friends who have cleaners also do the same.

Lol whatever you say PP

LOL. Yes, this is what I say and do.

Obviously, you have never had domestic staff, have you? Part of managing people who work for you is to treat them like human beings. Pay them well, give clear instructions, give them breaks, provide them meals/snacks, and have good manners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We use a company for weekly cleaning. I work from home. Usually tip $20 x 2 every 3-4 weeks, and around $100 x 2 at Christmas and sometimes a small gift bag with lotion, soap. I check the toilets before they arrive and if gross, clean them — after reading Nickel and Dimed. I don’t offer food, but assume they use a toilet if they need it. I also usually let them look through the goodwill bag and offer Christmas gifts we won’t use, like a foot massager this year.

I do not tip for routine cleaning visits. My cleaner is independent gig worker
- I only pay her a bonus equal to 1 cleaning during Christmas.
- If I call her in addition to the regular cleaning for other tasks on hourly rates of $25-35 for ... extra cleaning, organizing, party help etc, then I pay her big tips - $50 or so.
- Food, snacks, tea. She is also welcome to take bottled beverage and snack packs for the road on her way out as well.
- I provide all supplies, and I have not asked to reduce the rate because of that.
- She takes away all goodwill bags. She is free to sell, donate or use. Same for stuff we won't use.

Before she comes, I do the following -

- Decluttering and getting things out of the way.

- I used to strip the beds for my previous cleaner, but now I mostly do the beds myself.

- Have cash ready in small bills.
I pay her in small bills now - $1s, $5, $10, $20. When I was venmo-ing her money or writing checks, I realized that I was only writing checks in her DH's name. I don't presume to know that she has access to bank, ATM or any funds. Small bills allow her to create a slush fund if she needs to.

[Anonymous]

No one can clean as well as you can!
After the cleaning lady leaves - expect to go over her work and clean a few times over.

[Anonymous]

We pick up the floors and clear off surfaces and strip the beds. We leave the clean sheets ready to put on and they make the beds.

We flag any rooms that need specific attention or that they can skip (I'm usually working from home so they do my office 1x per month instead of every time).

They generally don't clean windows or baseboards or really detailed stuff like that. I do that a few times a year and also stuff like cleaning out the oven and the fridge. I'm sure they'd help with that if we wanted but more important for the routine maintenance of dusting, vacuuming, mopping....

[Anonymous]

My sister has a cleaning person visit every two weeks to do a thorough clean of her entire house.
In between visits she does the bare minimum since she detests cleaning.
In her defense she also works full-time and is raising small kids too.
Since the cleaner only comes about 2x/month the house’s toilets only get scrubbed that often as well.
She has two bathrooms and five people in her family so her toilets should be scoured weekly but like I said my sister HATES cleaning house.

So if you have a bi-weekly cleaning service come, understand that there are also cleaning tasks that should be performed in between cleaning appointments.

[Anonymous]

They usually do not come at the exact time they are scheduled for unless you are their first client of the day.

This is due to the fact that sometimes it may be difficult to know exactly how long a previous client’s home may take to clean.

This is by no means a dealbreaker as long as they text me to let me know that they are still coming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister has a cleaning person visit every two weeks to do a thorough clean of her entire house.
In between visits she does the bare minimum since she detests cleaning.
In her defense she also works full-time and is raising small kids too.
Since the cleaner only comes about 2x/month the house’s toilets only get scrubbed that often as well.
She has two bathrooms and five people in her family so her toilets should be scoured weekly but like I said my sister HATES cleaning house.

So if you have a bi-weekly cleaning service come, understand that there are also cleaning tasks that should be performed in between cleaning appointments.

There are also daily cleaning chores that should be done to have a well functioning house. My 5 daily chores are - beds, laundry, dishes, paperwork, trash. It prevents my house from spiralling into total chaos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always leave a snack out. Granola bar, candy, snack size chips, etc. and tell them to take a drink from our fridge. At Christmas, I leave a bonus. They really appreciate this and I can tell this is not the norm.

Agree with what others say. I make sure all the tables/counters/floors, etc. are clear so they can come in and clean. I don't expect them to tidy up.

Bonus is not the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of anyone cooking meals for their cleaner.

I do. My cleaner eats what I am eating. I make lunch for myself, and she eats with me. When I fix my tea and coffee, I also make it for her. All my friends who have cleaners also do the same.

Lol whatever you say
PP

Cleaning houses, especially for other people is really physically grueling manual labor.
And the pay is very low.

A nice perk is a boss who provides lunch so the cleaner is fortified to clean an entire house.

My cleaners don't want to stop for lunch. They work straight through so they can be done by 3 pm at the latest.