I would absolutely love to sick (sp?) you neat freaks on my slob in laws and let you loose. Just for an hour. That would make my new year complete.

No way OP has kids. She'd be institutionalized.

OP -- I feel your pain. We are a shoe free house (no pets and 1 child) and I refuse to hire a cleaning person for the reasons you stated above. Disclaimer: in the earlier post about neuroses I was one of the people who wear special "hotel socks" -- essentially I don't like to have those germs transfer (and yes, I know this is flawed logic but it's mine nonetheless). And for those of you wondering, despite having a super neat house, the only time I make my bed is for company or when I change the sheets. Another flaw in my logic.

First thing though: contractor booties can be bought at Home Depot etc -- box of 10 or so. We keep them on hand. Of course I can't tell you how many times a contractor has walked out of the house with them on, but that's another issue all together.

As for cleaning folks, we hired Merry Maids once to clean a condo we rented for a short period and I watched what they brought in. Dirty mops. Mops used on OTHER PEOPLE'S floors. Nothing was disposable. Don't get me started on how the toilet gets cleaned by a rag and the same rag is used on the kitchen cabinet. Thankfully we were moving OUT and not in. Eeew.

I have a friend who has hired a person to "clean exactly the way she wants." But this means she fold the sheets and towels a certain way. I don't think it truly means they do the exact steps you'd expect and prevent germ and dirt transfer. That said, this friend has 2 dogs so there's a limit.

SO my answer has been to not hire someone b/c why pay money and be dissatisfied and potentially even more germ-infested? Do I complain about cleaning. Yes. DH is no slouch in this dept and it's still tough. Is my house as clean as it was pre-kid? Nope. Do I wish I had more free time to read a book? Yes, but then I'd just be freaking out about how dirty the place is.

Crazy? Absolutely! But it's the way I'm wired and I'm 35 and not changing. I will never have a house cleaner b/c I cannot let my control go, and I just have to get over it.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:I'm a bit of a control freak. I'd love to have a cleaning lady twice a month but I think I'm too much of a control freak for that. When we first moved into our house (1.5 years ago) we had a cleaning service come and they ignored certain of my instructions which really irritated me. For instance, I told them please do not touch the walls, the house was just freshly painted. And they touched the walls and now I have a stain on my master bedroom wall which irritates me. If we had a cleaning lady I'd want her to take off her shoes when she came in, only use our cleaning products and vacuum, not touch the walls, make sure not to stain our sofas, etc. with windex, cleaning products used on nearby things, etc. I feel like it would be more stressful to have a cleaning lady than not have one in some ways. On the other hand, I clean two hours a day and I feel like it is too much.

I also find that contractors often aren't respectful of one's house when they're there. A few months ago we had blinds installed, and we set up plastic tarps in the family room so the installer would stay on them (we don't wear shoes in the house). Well for some reason he goes and walks in another room with his filthy shoes, and on our new rug, to point out something. That is another example of something that really irritated me. We specifically told him to stay on the tarps.

Just wondered how others who are control freaks handle these kinds of stresses/annoyances.

A bit of a control freak? OP, you are a dictator. Get some help, now because you are going to screw up your children beyond belief.

I waited until I was 39 with 3 kids to finally make the decision to allow a housecleaner in my home. I think you have to be in the frame of mind that there is no other choice. If you're not in that frame of mind, you'll have a hard time with your decision to have a housecleaner. I resisted for years and now that I'm doing it, I love it and I wouldn't change it.

I'm a little neurotic about stuff like this (although not as bad as OP), and frankly I just don't have people come to clean in my house that often. I'd rather do it myself. On the few occasions where we have had someone come in to clean, I've tendered full control and left the house while they cleaned so that I wouldn't stress out too much about it.

I agree with PP (8:04).

OP, I think you really need to ask around in your area, to find other people who have similar standards/hangups as you do, and find wontractors and cleaning people who work for them. I'm sure that they are out there; they probably charge more but people find them worth it.

You might have to be upfront: I have OCD (even if you aren't that bad or haven't been diagnosed) and need to find people to work for me who are familiar with employers like me and can follow my instructions absolutely.

Once you find a cleaner who is used to your standards, pay him or her well and hang on to them! You could also just hire a few people to clean one room only and set up a lot of crazy specific tasks and see if they can follow them exactly.

The key is to realize that you are on the more extreme end and not to expect other people to think the way you do. Spell everything out and star them off small to see how they do.

Ummm. Okay, here I go.
OP, I am also a bit of a control freak, atlhough between the two of us, you take the cake.

Comment on the cleaning crew. I agree, if you have certain (hopefully just a few) requests they should honor that. I am curious though how a cleaning lady left a permanent stain on your wall? Last time my cleaners were here they left a black mark on my wall under a large picture. When they were dusting the picture, they knocked it off and the side of the picture scraped the wall. Anywho, I just used Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It is a wonderful product and works on stains on the wall.

Contractors and shoes. Some contractors wear booties over their shoes before they walk around in your house. I think it is a sign of respect and I really appreciate it. Many don't ear one. You could always buy some (or ask a friend who works in a hospital to get you a pair) and ask the contractors to put it over their shoes.

I also ended up buying a steam vac and use it about every 6 months to deep clean the carpet.

If it's muddy I will ask them to remove their shoes. I once had a plumber track mud all over my house, every level. It was a huge muddy mess.

OP. I know it's hard to let some stuff go. Are you planning on having children? After having my little ones I really had to change my ways and expectations of cleanliness and order but it has slowly let me to be more relaxed about this stuff. Good Luck!

If you are that much of a control freak, you need to do everything yourself. No one will live up to your standards

Wait, you clean for two hours a day, every day?

I assume you are very young. Hopefully, once you mature, you will realize that these things you hold on to aren't worth the stress they cause you and others in your life.

Anonymous wrote:This is unreal. At least you recognize your flaw.

Why so unreal? Is it unreasonable to not want people to touch your freshly painted walls? I don't want stains on my walls, and DH and I don't touch the walls. But thanks to this cleaning person, we now have an annoying, permanent stain on the wall, after I asked her specifically to not touch the walls. Very annoying.

And yes, we ask everyone (guests and contractors included) to take off their shoes before coming into the house. I don't want nasty crap tracked in from outside, that means more cleaning for me. Nothing wrong with that. DH and I both grew up in shoes off houses. It's much cleaner and healthier that way.

This is unreal. At least you recognize your flaw.

I'm a bit of a control freak. I'd love to have a cleaning lady twice a month but I think I'm too much of a control freak for that. When we first moved into our house (1.5 years ago) we had a cleaning service come and they ignored certain of my instructions which really irritated me. For instance, I told them please do not touch the walls, the house was just freshly painted. And they touched the walls and now I have a stain on my master bedroom wall which irritates me. If we had a cleaning lady I'd want her to take off her shoes when she came in, only use our cleaning products and vacuum, not touch the walls, make sure not to stain our sofas, etc. with windex, cleaning products used on nearby things, etc. I feel like it would be more stressful to have a cleaning lady than not have one in some ways. On the other hand, I clean two hours a day and I feel like it is too much.

I also find that contractors often aren't respectful of one's house when they're there. A few months ago we had blinds installed, and we set up plastic tarps in the family room so the installer would stay on them (we don't wear shoes in the house). Well for some reason he goes and walks in another room with his filthy shoes, and on our new rug, to point out something. That is another example of something that really irritated me. We specifically told him to stay on the tarps.

Just wondered how others who are control freaks handle these kinds of stresses/annoyances.