Anyone have a cleaner?
Discussion
We're thinking of getting a cleaner for a 4 bedroom house in Scotland. Probably one visit a week.
What kind of cost will that be?
Also, what are the chances of them stealing our stuff / beating up our baby / putting poison in our dogs' food / generally raping, burning and pillaging us?
And how do we find a good one?
What kind of cost will that be?
Also, what are the chances of them stealing our stuff / beating up our baby / putting poison in our dogs' food / generally raping, burning and pillaging us?
And how do we find a good one?
I did, for a while.
The good ones, will be happy to show you they are insured against breakages etc, and will come with a good reputation or recommendation from a friend or local Facebook site.
It would not be too difficult to track down who had unfettered access to your property if anything were to go missing if you've entrusted them with a set of keys and they are a legitimate cleaner.
We then moved away from using this cleaner, when one of our neighbours mentioned they did cleaning and so we used him instead, and we trusted him.
ETA this was at £12 per hour, they supplied most of their own cleaning shizz but used my vacuum cleaner
The good ones, will be happy to show you they are insured against breakages etc, and will come with a good reputation or recommendation from a friend or local Facebook site.
It would not be too difficult to track down who had unfettered access to your property if anything were to go missing if you've entrusted them with a set of keys and they are a legitimate cleaner.
We then moved away from using this cleaner, when one of our neighbours mentioned they did cleaning and so we used him instead, and we trusted him.
ETA this was at £12 per hour, they supplied most of their own cleaning shizz but used my vacuum cleaner
Edited by Shakermaker on Friday 29th July 16:01
I've got a three-bed, two-reception, three-bath place in the central belt and I have a cleaner come in for three hours every fortnight. Cost is £10 per hour.
However, it has been difficult to find someone to do a quality job and turn up as agreed. I'd happily pay a bit more for a better job but that seems difficult to achieve.
I take the view that the job might not be perfect (streaks in the shower glass etc) but it's pretty good and much preferable to my wife or i doing it.
Why don't you start with every fortnight and if that's not enough you can always get them in every week. £30 per week is a significant amount of cash.
However, it has been difficult to find someone to do a quality job and turn up as agreed. I'd happily pay a bit more for a better job but that seems difficult to achieve.
I take the view that the job might not be perfect (streaks in the shower glass etc) but it's pretty good and much preferable to my wife or i doing it.
Why don't you start with every fortnight and if that's not enough you can always get them in every week. £30 per week is a significant amount of cash.
I'm single and have a two-bed semi detached and I've recently employed a cleaner for a fortnightly clean @ £15 a visit. Best thing I've ever done!
My mates and colleagues take the piss but they all agree that it's money well spent, especially when I tell them what she does.
£10-15 per hour seems to be the norm. I'd recommend finding one that's been recommended to you by someone else - this way you should have a better idea of what to expect.
My mates and colleagues take the piss but they all agree that it's money well spent, especially when I tell them what she does.
£10-15 per hour seems to be the norm. I'd recommend finding one that's been recommended to you by someone else - this way you should have a better idea of what to expect.
Expect to pay min £10.00 per hour. It is hard to get a good cleaner, so if you do get a good one, be generous. They don't steal, since they are obviously the first suspect if they were daft enough.
If you use an agency, check their recruitment procedures and insurance cover.
If you employ directly, check with your insurers re cover for damage/injury.
Recommendations are the best way to get someone good, but only from people you actually know in real life.
Once you get one there's no going back - you'll never put your hand round the U-bend again
If you use an agency, check their recruitment procedures and insurance cover.
If you employ directly, check with your insurers re cover for damage/injury.
Recommendations are the best way to get someone good, but only from people you actually know in real life.
Once you get one there's no going back - you'll never put your hand round the U-bend again
We've found our cleaners mostly through word of mouth, but once did use the ads in the local shop. The biggest problem, as others have mentioned, is finding a good one, not stealing or other criminal stuff. When we've had a new cleaner starting, one of us would always be around for the first few cleans to go through the house and what needs doing; then they know what you want and how you want it done, as well as the other way round, e.g. tidying a room if you want it cleaned or get them to tidy up as well but that obviously takes more time. We've never tried the agencies as we like the personal connection of having the same person and getting to know them over time.
Having said that, our current one is a nanny-housekeeper, which is a slightly different role, and we found her through a nanny placement agency. She is a permanent employee though, she's not employed through the agency; they only found a number of candidates for us to choose from.
Having said that, our current one is a nanny-housekeeper, which is a slightly different role, and we found her through a nanny placement agency. She is a permanent employee though, she's not employed through the agency; they only found a number of candidates for us to choose from.
Patch1875 said:
Like a dishwasher once you get one you can't do without.
The previous owners of our house left their dishwasher, which I was very happy to acquire. My beloved was almost incredulous: "We don't need a dishwasher/they use so much electricity and water/you still have to give everything a rinse before you put in, so there's barely any point using it" etc. Within a fortnight she was happily putting it on a full cycle with two mugs and a plate in it.We having a similar discussion over getting a cleaner in at the moment, but she's slowly coming round to it.
We have a woman who lives in a nearby village clean for us, we pay her £15 a hour as she's very reliable and meticulously clean, she does 4 hours a week over 2 visits, between times she cares for a disabled husband.
I would avoid the bigger companies, we used to have them clean our office years ago, staff come and ago quickly and there was forever something missing.
I would avoid the bigger companies, we used to have them clean our office years ago, staff come and ago quickly and there was forever something missing.
R E S T E C P said:
Triumph Man said:
We supply the cleaning products that she recommends though.
Lemon Pledge?https://youtu.be/zbZzlIUTqdI
3 bed detached. £10/hr and supplies all her own equipment etc. Its the 2nd cleaner i have had and she is not as good as the first but she gets round the house in about an hour and it saves me doing it. Its great finishing work and its all done for you. Once a fortnight so £20 a month. Bargain.
Also in Scotland but fairly rural and 4 miles to the nearest village but are lucky to have settled on on someone who stays in the village so that works well.
We pay £50 for 4hrs every fortnight. The house is too big for her to do everything in every room in each visit but she has her own rota for the less frequently used rooms and it works well. We wouldn't want to be tied to a weekly visit. Previously we had a mum & daughter team who did a 3 hr stint, so 6 hrs of cleaning at £10/hr and that was probably ideal but alas the daughter got married.
We pay £50 for 4hrs every fortnight. The house is too big for her to do everything in every room in each visit but she has her own rota for the less frequently used rooms and it works well. We wouldn't want to be tied to a weekly visit. Previously we had a mum & daughter team who did a 3 hr stint, so 6 hrs of cleaning at £10/hr and that was probably ideal but alas the daughter got married.
We had a cleaner who was very good. Found her through word of mouth.
We paid £10/ hour and she visited once a fortnight for three hours (four bed/ two bathroom/ two reception type place)
If they are not good, I don't think they typically tie you into a long term contract
So just cut your losses and find another. Some of our friends managed to find a work colleague who needed some extra cash and hired her..... that seems to have worked out well.
We paid £10/ hour and she visited once a fortnight for three hours (four bed/ two bathroom/ two reception type place)
If they are not good, I don't think they typically tie you into a long term contract
So just cut your losses and find another. Some of our friends managed to find a work colleague who needed some extra cash and hired her..... that seems to have worked out well.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff