$72 per hour? Ouch! The average maid service in Chicago is roughly $22 per hour. It would be much cheaper for you to hire a maid and provide her with green cleaning supplies.

Just in defense of GreenMaids pricing, green cleaning products are much more expensive than traditional cleaning products, so our services need to be priced higher to make up that difference. A ready-to-use bottle of the specialty product I use in my service is $10.00 compared to maybe $3.50 for a bottle of Lysol. The rate may also include two maids instead of one. The site didn't specify.

Also green cleaning services are really yet to come out to the suburbs...I have the only one that will service the Romeoville/Joliet area as far as I know! The lack of competition and demand for our services also brings a higher price.

Also, remember, when you hire a 'hobby maid' chances are she will not be insured. What happens if her vacuum shorts out and causes a scortch mark on your carpet? Or she knocks over a $200 vase and it shatters? Will your $12/hr maid pay for that? A professional service has insurance to cover those accidents...my service even carries medical insurance...if you slip on my newly mopped floor and break your ankle, it's paid for. Insurance is expensive to maintain, but no real service provider will operate without it. That warrants a higher cost as well.

Is she knowledgeable? Does she know better than to slop a bucket of sudsy water on your wood floors, or not to use vinegar and water on your marble sink? Does she use a different rag for the bathroom and kitchen? Or does she swipe your toilet with a rag and then wipe your faucet with the same rag? One of my new clients caught her '1/2 price' cleaner doing just that! Apparently she'd been doing that for awhile. gag!!

Also, are you sure that your maid isn't going to go through your jewelry or slip that $20 bill into her pocket? My clients leave video cameras, Rolex watches, and bank deposits out on the counter, comfortable with knowing they won't disappear after I have been in the home. I lift..dust...set it back down. The maid who is barely earning enough for gas and doesn't have a professional name to protect is going to be much more tempted to swipe these items. Cleaning clients trying to save a buck by hiring a 'cheap' maid are often the victims of theft instead..and it is impossible to prove.

There are some things you just shouldn't go 'cut rate' on and your cleaner is one of them. They are handling your most expensive investment..your home...and privy to your private details. Don't you want to know you are protected?

For those of you in the western suburbs, The Cleaning Bug provides green cleaning services for $30 an hour for one cleaner. www.thecleaningbug.net. We service areas between Caton Farm Rd to the south, Rt 59 to the west, Roosevelt to the north and Rt 83 to the east. All boundaries are approximate, not hard and fast limits.

If you want a dustpan and brush exactly the same but half the price go here:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=21608&name=dust&user_search=1&sfile=1&jump=44

It is actually an American product, but I do not have mine to hand to tell you who the manufacturer is.

amiencc, great job shilling. I hate to break this to you, but there are bonded and insured maid services out there, who can use the green cleaning products you provide, for less than $72. If you find home-owners who are willing to pay a premium for a greenwashed cleaning service like yours, then I'm honestly happy for you.

Your defensive explination which elaborated on how trustworthy your employees are makes it clear that your price isn't really about being green. And that's fine. But it seems to me that there's enough greenwashing across all industries.