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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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.