apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I keep my place sparkling clean, but after having a bad and busy few weeks and not keeping up with things as usual, I had someone come clean my place yesterday. It really improved my mood to walk in and have everything done for me. I usually do a few tasks daily, but having them done at once was the ultimate cure to my case of the blues.

I have them come do this every couple of months. I use Manic Maids in Chicago. It always inspires me to keep going with the projects I am working on, and this weekend my list is long! By May, my little nest will be complete!

I haven't yet hired anyone to help me with spring cleaning, but I'm seriously considering it. It pains me just a little to hear people saying "now that the economy's tanking..." they don't want to spend their money to employ others. I just got the The Ktchn eblast this morning about Giving Circle dinners and the importance of giving back. Don't forget that giving someone a job is a very giving act.

I have/will never hire a maid to clean anything. I barely have money to take care of myself as it is. Why would anyone pay for a maid if they can't afford it? I really don't get that arguement...

My place is so small that it's more by necessity than design that it stays pretty neat and clean. I do, ALWAYS, hire someone to help with any final move cleaning. It's hard enough to pack up and get settled elsewhere without also worrying about the final clean up. But by sort of scheduling a little bit to do each night after work, I'm never overwhelmed with the need to do a lot all at once. Bigger projects just wait for a weekend or holiday.

After 25 years of outsourcing house cleaning, we decided that if, once a week, my husband vacuums and I dust, clean the bathrooms and mop the kitchen floor, we can do without a housekeeper. This decision was helped by downsizing and reducing our workload.

I desperately want to hire someone to come in and do a big clean. I just moved in with my boyfriend and want things to be in order, but just don't have the energy to tackle it myself! I've never hired anyone in before, so I'm kind of going in blind. I've heard that some services are not terribly thorough...

with a toddler who is really trying hsi boundaries, I have to vacuum, wipe and mop a few times a day. But at the same time I find myself not so good with the rest of the housework (OK I admite even from before i had him) so we have a cleaner comes twice a week to clean everything else.
I am also allergic to dust and dustmites so it makes sense to having the place spotless without killing myself by *delegating* the job ;-)

We have someone come in every two weeks to clean our 2-bedroom apartment. We considered giving it up when my husband got laid off last fall, but I've discovered that a messy house raises my stress level to unexpected levels. I'm not a natural cleaner, so it's our one luxury that we're trying to keep.

Yep, every single week. Prior to the toddler it was every other week.

This allows me more time to play with my son. Totally worth it.

I read that a lot of house cleaning, maid service companies have a strict policy to not use water at all. Just a lot of chemicals but they hardly ever spray those chemicals directly on the surface to eliminate germs. They instead spray their sponges, rags etc which only serves to spread those germs from your toilet bowl onto your kitchen countertop. Their cleaning is more about making things look clean.

The hard part of cleaning, for me, is the stuff a maid cleans isn't what I'd actually need help with. Cleaning windows, vacuuming, scrubbing the bathroom - that stuff is practically fun.

What I would need is a maid who could clean out all my junk drawers, sort through my stuff to give things away to charity, and organize my boxes of paperwork into a filing cabinet. In other words, judgement calls your average maid can't do.

Sigh.

But AMLitt has a good point. If you could use a short term cleaner, and can afford it, someone out there would be thrilled to have the job. Cleaning is still an industry where many women without any other resources or training can help support their family.

I'm with maricha - my mood greatly improves whenever I walk in the house after having it cleaned. I used to have someone come in every 6 weeks to do a thorough cleaning, but now it's more like 4 or 5 times a year (basically around the change of seasons or holidays). I use the The Maids and they've always done a great job. I never do nearly as good of a job as they do and would greatly fail the Martha Stewart housekeeping test! (Probably a result of rebelling against a perfectionist mom who vacumned and dusted nearly every day.)

I have someone come in for around three hours about 2 times a month. She does the jobs I hate doing (washing bathrooms, kitchen, etc).
As others mentioned, she's thrilled to have the work. I would go crazy without her so I am doing it for me not for her, but it's nice that it's a win-win situation.
Knowing that she's coming gets me to put everything in it's proper place etc.

I used to have someone come in every week to do the bathroom, kitchen floor, etc. The thing is -- those are the (relatively) easy things to keep up with.

What I need done are the bigger spring cleaning jobs -- cleaning around the woodwork, moving all of the furniture and cleaning behind there, scrubbing the tile grout in the hall....all very time consuming and not something a service will do without more money than I'm willing to spend.

And, there is the point that another person made -- the idea of a service is to make the house look clean. Ew.

If only I could afford it.

What kind of toilet is that in the picture?

No, I have never hired a cleaning service to clean up after me. I can generally tolerate my messes until I have time to clean them up - having everything always spotless isn't something to which I aspire. When motivated, I can clean very well, so a cleaning person isn't likely to do a better job than I can do for myself. I have coworkers who hire cleaners and they seem happy with the arrangement.

I have hired lawn service companies to do yard work in the past. I still do outsource some yardwork from time to time. It takes me a while, but I actually do a better job than they do. Lawncare companies try to spend as little time possible doing the work, so they often gloss over the details.

I've considered it, but how much "tidying up" is needed before the cleaning person comes? If most of the clutter is contained and the flat surfaces are (mostly) available for dusting, is that OK? Do you have to have a pre-cleaning walk-through of the house to show them what you'd like done (and what can be left alone)?

I would love to have one big spring-cleaning done by a professional to kick-start things, and then I'd just try my best to keep it up after that.

My dad always hired my aunt and her family to help with the major clean ups we had once or twice a year. It was embarassing whenever her 10 year old daughter would come in and clean my room. He did it to shame us into being neater. Didn't work. Now that I live on my own, my apartment is small enough to clean myself - even the hardcore scrub the wall and baseboard clean ups.

Dumb question - how often do other people actually wash their walls (not just the baseboards)? This is not something I do, unless there is a spill/splash.

What do you use? Isn't this bad for the paint?

Nesagwa: that's a Philippe Starck wall-hung toilet. He has designed 3 versions -- that is the Duravit 2 (the one we have)

http://www.duravit.com/products/categories/toilets/starck-2--s-0175_useo6ptmaz.html

We have a biweekly housecleaning service. It's a great stress reducer. We provide the cleaning supplies (non-toxic).

Orangeblossom, we do "straighten up" before they come, so they can spend their time cleaning, rather than tidying.

I don't have any tests to see if they've done a good job. If I don't notice a problem, I just assume they've done as good a job as I would have done, or better.

I am getting a service this year. The one I think I'll pick charges $140 for 2 people for 4 hours. Does that sound like a good price?

I pay $60 for a 1300 sq foot, three bedroom. There are 3 folks that come for an hour and a half every 2 weeks. I'd cancel my cable before I'd cancel my cleaners. They are fantastic and totally trustworthy.

I have 2 women come in once a month. I live alone, so my place doesn't get really dirty and I try to keep things basically tidy. I can live with a little dust and maybe vacuum a little now and then, but I keep the kitchen and bathrooms clean. For my 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath home, they charge $75.00. It is totally worth it to me and they do a good job...better than the job I would do myself. I'm not a big fan of housework! :D

Spring cleaning? What's that? I thought I cleaned every week - LOL -- I would never let something clutter up for a year.

Both my husband and I are tidy, and currently vacuum and dust almost everyday because our cat is molting. We also have someone to come in once a week to properly clean the bathrooms, kitchen and do laundry. For a spring clean, we hire window cleaners to come, because it's just too dangerous for us or our cleaner to do them (floor to ceiling windows on an 8th floor).

I would hire someone to come in and clean my house, but since reading "Super Natural Home" by Beth Greer I am really finicky about the types of products that are used in cleaning my home- I do not want anyone using toxic chemicals to clean my house. I am all about having healthy space for my family to live and am afraid that a maid wouldn't honor my wishes.

I know AT has posted on this before, but check into services to make sure that their employees are paid fairly and treated well. Most of the major maid services don't, although many of the new companies, aside from offering green products, are also more sensitive to this issue, and tend to treat their employees fairly. Personally, I have always gone with a cleaner, who I have paid directly. I've never had problems with stealing or anything, and they have always come highly recommended (people move a lot in this town, as many people are rotational UN and Mission staff, freeing up desirable housekeepers).

Read Jan Wong's series "Maid for a Month" to understand how most cleaning services work:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/maidforamonth/

For my first two Mothers Days I asked to have the house professionally cleaned as my gift.
I loved it, but it is sooo not in the every day budget, especially when I'm a sahm.
The third year our son was old enough that the gift came from him not my husband so that was the end of my house cleaning, the start of sweet little boy gifts.

Now I'd have a hard time having someone come in and clean only because of the chemicals. We've been using norwex for over a year now and I can't even stand it when my husband wears deodorant. At this point nothing artificially scented is not a part of our world.

Anyone with a Vipp trash canister in their bathroom can still afford to hire help.