what will a cleaning person do?

[singin'intherain]

I'm getting to the point where I think I'm going to try and find the money somewhere to hire some cleaning help. It's weird for me to ask this, because I've done cleaning for other people myself. But that was always for people who couldn't do their own cleaning because of age or disability- their messes were minimal and it was all about scrubbing the toilet and the floors. My messes are of the single mom- four kids- full time student variety, which means clothes and toys all over the floor, grunge in the kitchen, clutter everywhere, and fingerprinted walls. Will I have to clean before they come? Is it even worth it? I can't imagine any cleaning person would be willing to sort through my belongings and put them away. Anyone btdt have advice?

[RaeEllen]

In my experience, there are two types of cleaning help available: cleaning services and personal housekeepers.

Cleaning services can be large companies (Merry Maids, etc) or individuals who run their own business. They are very conveinant. Usually, you can get a quote and schedule someone on a weekly or biweekly basis. Their cleaners will normally bring all their own products and supplies. They usually have a standard set of cleaning that they do (often limited to surfaces, floors, and dusting), but may have a la carte extras (such as oven cleaning or, sometimes, laundry) They generally will /not/ straighten or organize your mess! They are also more expensive.

Personal housekeepers are individuals who are your employee. You can find them on websites like sittercity.com or craigslist. Because they are your employee, you have to do all the preemployment screening (references, background check, etc) You are also responsible for paying employer taxes and supplying them with tax forms if they earn over a certain threshold (I believe its $1700/ yr. It's a low threshhold) Generally, they cost less than a service becaue there is no overhead. Because they are your employee, you can contract for them to do whatever: laundry, straightening, plant watering, all that stuff. It's generally a good idea to sign a contract (usually informal) to detail duties, salary, vacation, notice periods, etc.

[JL83]

If you go with an agency, you will have to tidy first. They won't do your laundry or put away the papers on your kitchen table. They will clean everything, so if that's your trouble it might still be worth it. It wouldn't for me because once I tidy, the cleaning is no extra work.

If you hire someone privately, you might get a dud, or you might luck out. I houseshared with a couple who had an amazing housecleaner. She was awesome. I used to try to tidy everything before she came and one time my part of the house was a disaster and I was frantically trying to tidy (and very late for work) when she showed up. She figured out what was happening and told me that she really enjoyed seeing a disordered space and making it ordered. Then she told me to go to work!

For her it was effortless to keep the washing machine full and running, she magically knew which items to pull out to hang dry so that the dryer would end at the same time as the next load. She could fold clothes in 3 seconds flat and, while they often ended up in weird locations in my drawers, they were always put away. She was payed to come every 2 weeks with the understanding that there was a priority to how the house got cleaned (you know, kitchen first, then bathrooms, then living room...) and she did what she could in the hours she was there. Sometimes there were baskets of clean laundry left in my room, and other times it all got put away.

[DogwoodFairy]

I provide housekeeping services for two different working families with small children, so I am familiar with both sides (I am also a single mom to a 2 yr old, and going to school full time so I live in the midst of same said chaos usually)...

I agree with everything JL83 said. I do everything I can in my allotted 3 or 4 hours per week, or whatever my employer requests for time. One family I clean for varies with their financial situation, so when times are good, they like me there 2x/wk, for 3 hours each time, and now that holidays are approaching, they can only really afford me 1 day/wk, for about 4 hours.

In that time, I get done what I can, starting with the "prioritized" areas. Because their biggest challenge is laundry, I typically start by stripping beds, and starting laundry. Then pick up bedrooms, dust, vacuum, etc. Then bathrooms. Then I do the entryway/hallway. Then kitchen. When all is tidied up, vacuumed, etc, and if I have excess time, I try to clean sliding glass doors (or other glaringly obvious dirty areas), dust/clean blinds, vacuum/dust stone hearth, etc. Of course, as laundry cycles through, I drop everything to go change the loads into dryer, sort through quickly as I lay out on the couch. When I have about 30 minutes left before leaving, I fold it all (always fold it at least), and if I have time I put it away, starting with the kids clothes first. Most times I leave the parent's clothes in the basket in their room (its almost always there, untouched when I turn up the next week, lol).

As for being willing to sift through the clutter...lol! I wouldnt offer cleaning services if I wasnt well suited to sorting through, organizing, putting away and dusting off clutter! Sometimes I cant do anything with the "piles" of stuff (mail or kids schoolwork, or whatever), but I do try to pile it neatly, and cordon it into one small area, so its not spread all over the counter/island/entryway table.

Hope this helps, there are lots of "Moms for hire" like me who are not at all bothered by Legos underfoot, or sippy cups all over the house, or picking up toddler clothes that look a tad bit...crusty Probably anyone you find on craigslist, will provide about the same standard housekeeping services. And craigslist is a great place to search, but yes, you have to run your own background check.