Anyone have a cleaning service?

[jess_g]

We are thinking of getting one to do a cleaning once every two weeks or so to realy get the house clean. My concern is that I will need to clean and tidy everything up first and it will be more work than just doing the deep cleaning on my own. Any experience with this? Do you clean up or tidy up before hand? And what does it cost? I know it will depend on a lot of things, but I am just wondeirng what others pay for this type of service. If its too expensive than I will just do it myself. I am guessing it will be about $100 per cleaning.

Thanks,

Jessica.

[almostmom]

We have someone come every 2 weeks to clean our house. It costs $78 per time. We live in the Boston suburbs, and my house is about 1600 square feet, 1.5 baths.

I do have to tidy up every time, and it is definitely a pain, and DH used to groan about it every time! But honestly, it gets me to tidy up everything at least every 2 weeks! It is amazing how quickly things get into disarray after they are gone, but it is SO nice to walk into the house on the cleaner days. Mostly, it's nice to know that behind and inside the toilets are clean, and that the corners are not full of dust bunnies. And though I love my vacuum, they just seem to do a fantastic job getting everything spic and span.

[Twoboos]

We have someone come every 2 weeks. It's $80 for about 3200sqft, 4br (but I don't have them do the guest room unless we're having guests) and 3.5ba. Honestly, it's a STEAL and I know it so I overtip at the holidays!! We're in Metrowest.

As almostmom said, it is a pain to pick up before the cleaners, but this seems to be the only time we do a complete pick up. Dh can't stand it, but if all our clutter is around, there would be no surface to clean!! :) It's totally worth it IMO. I can blame someone else for "needing" to tidy up.

[KBecks]

I make reasonable attempts to pick up toys but sometimes I don't get it all the way done. The cleaners may take their first 5 minutes to move toys if I have not done it well, and we do not have that many toys and clutter. It hasn't been a huge problem. If our dressers or dining room table is too full of junk, then they just don't get dusted that time and it's OK with me.

[ilfaith]

I know I find myself running around like a maniac every other Thursday night trying to put things away so that our cleaning lady can actually clean the house on alternate Fridays. Our previous cleaner came every week, which was more than we really needed. The woman who does our house now stays for about six hours, and we pay $120 for our 2800 square foot home.

[smiles33]

Every 2 weeks, a 3 member crew comes in for almost 2 hours for our 3,000 sq. ft. home for $75. It's cheap, I know! We also referred them to clean my in-laws' house and my husband's grandparents' condo (which isn't even 1500 sq ft but they charge $125 for the driving distance). I have to tidy up like crazy, putting away toys, clearing counters, etc. but it's worth it to come home to a clean house! Otherwise, I'm too lazy to tidy up regularly.....

[writermama]

We have cleaners come every 3 weeks. I do pick up the clutter -- we don't have them clean the whole house, so I usually shove my clutter into one of the rooms they don't clean. Yes, it's kind of a pain to clean before they come, but I actually find it helps more than anything else at keeping the clutter down. DDs help pick up their toys the night before or the morning of a cleaning, and knowing that the cleaners are coming is about the only thing that gets my DH to see his own clutter and do something about it.

I'm finding now, that after about a year of the habit, the girls seem to be getting better about the idea of keeping the toys reasonably put-away all the time, not just on cleaning days.

[HIU8]

WOW! I was having someone come in once a month to do a really good cleaning and it was costing me $125. Plus, she isn't that good, but the best I can find for the price. The lady who does a supurb job charges $180 once a month and is at my house for 5+ hours. I wish I could still afford her. I keep the house clean in between, but with our schedule it takes me 2 days to clean the house (and I do about 1/2 the house at night after the kids go to bed).

[lorinick]

We have a women come every other week. We do strighten up all clutter that built up from the week and pick up clothes in my oldest child's room. 3500 sq ft and we pay 95.00.

[jenmcadams]

We have 3200 square feet (4 bedroom, 3 bath -- although there's rarely much to do in the guest bedroom and all she has to do to the basement playroom is vacuum) and we pay $85 every two weeks (Denver Metro Area)

[jse107]

I pay $100 1x/month for 1900 sq.ft in a northern suburb of DC. I do a quick pick-up, but not much else! I wish I could have her come every week!

[wellyes]

Tidying once every two weeks is better than actually having to clean!

I have a cleaning lady and she usually brings 2-3 people with her to help. $90 every two weeks. Worth EVERY penny.

Once in a while I don't get a chance to tidy for the cleaning lady. The only consequence is that she gets less done on those days. But she always gets all the big stuff: floors, counters, toilets, windows, bedding changed, shower, sinks, inside the microwave. Oh, and if I leave dishes in the sink she will put them in the dishwasher and run it -- which is not always a good thing. I never leave knives dirty anymore on days she is coming!

I recommending getting an independent person rather than a service. I like that my money is going directly to the people doing the work, and I especially like that I have a direct relationship with one person who I am trusting with a key to my house.

[sste]

I have a cleaning lady come every week - - it costs around $60 per visit but I believe its less because she is able to devote less time since she is coming weekly. And our place is small and one-level. We do tidy up (or used to before our new nanny started tidying everything for us) and I ultimately found the weekly tidying very helpful to ensuring that our mail, crap, laundry, and general detritus doesn't take over!

I concluded that weekly cleaning help was cheaper than divorce. I hate cleaning and deep cleaning. Also, for DH and I it does not make financial sense for us to do stuff like cleaning on our own - - time better spent on our jobs or with DS. I would pay double the amount I currently pay and consider it worth every penny!

[brittone2]

Sigh. So jealous ;)

When we relocated for DH to get his PhD, my one request as part of the contract was that at the end of his 4.5-5 years I get a cleaning service. I don't need a huge house, etc. but I soooo want the cleaning off of my shoulders. I'm counting down....just over a year left to go now.

[salsah]

the tidying up before the cleaning is almost better than the cleaning!

[WatchingThemGrow]

I'm SOOOOO excited to have just gotten off the phone with the cleaning lady I am using for the next 2 mos!!!!!!!! My mom said she'd pay for 3 visits once the baby comes and my ILs gave us a check to hire her UNTIL the baby comes. I think she's about $18-20/hr for our 1400 sq ft house. I haven't had her do the bedrooms in the past, mainly just the kitchen and bathrooms.

Can't WAIT to "tidy up" before she comes, then head out the door to playgroup! :yay:

[arivecchi]

Yes - every other week. $115 for a 3200 sq ft townhome. I'm in Chicago.

[AJP]

We pay $95 weekly for a 3000 sq. foot house in the north of Boston suburbs. I do have to tidy up before she comes but it's a good thing for me! With 8 month old twins I tend to let things like mail & junk & folded laundry pile up. I prefer to pay for her time to actually clean and not for her to be organizng my stuff. Before my girls were born we had her every other week. When I went on bedrest we switched to every week. Honestly, I think weekly is a bit much again since some areas of our home remain untouched from week to week. Not to mention we have a dog, so I tend to vacuum a few times in between anyways! I'd like to go back to every other week but am too spoiled now!