I've never hired someone to clean my home but I am starting to consider it. If you have a hired housecleaner or a service, how often do they come and what tasks do they do (how "deep" is the clean?) How happy are you with the arrangement, and have you been happy with the first person/service you've tried or have you ever had to switch?
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I have someone come every 3 weeks. She dusts, does floors, bathroom, kitchen. She's done a deep clean once before that cost more where she did baseboards, etc. She's sort of a friend, and uses all natural cleaners which is why I went with her. I pay her $75 per visit and have a 1300-ish square foot home.
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I've hired three types of cleaners: a large company, a smaller company, and an individual. The large company required a charge-per-hour initial deep clean that was crazy expensive. Then they were pushing the hard sale to do a regular contract which I didn't want to commit to. So I found the smaller company which charged per hour but always came out significantly less than the large company's rates. Probably about half of the regular (not the initial deep clean). They didn't pressure me into a regular contract but the third time we used them, they forgot an entire room. The fourth time, they didn't clean the guest room-- the whole reason I ordered the clean was for overnight guests-- and they claimed that since the door was closed, they thought they didn't have to clean it. They ended up giving us $15 back but it didn't change the fact that I had to stay up late cleaning the room, changing the sheets, etc when I thought I would come home from work with everything done.
I just hired an individual for the first time and was very happy with the quality of the clean, and it was half of the small company's usual fee. I'll be hiring her again.
With every level there's always something missed, something broken, things put back in weird spots so I can't find them for weeks. But I think that's par for the course if you're not hiring someone on a regular basis. We get our house cleaned probably once every other month or once every three months... usually right before an overnight guest's visit.
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I have someone come twice a month. It's worked out perfectly and frees up about 3 hours of my time.
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I recently went through Handy (via Groupon). They contract local individuals for cleaning/handyman services. My experience was awful and I am going to find a new local company to go through.
The cleaner was supposedly at my house for 3 hours and the only evidence of cleaning was a little dirt moved around on my bathroom sink and a bunch of dishes shoved haphazardly into my dishwasher.
Good news is that I got a refund. Bad news is that left a lot of cleaning for me to do before my daughter's bday party.
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I just hired a small local company and my big deep clean is Monday! They will come once a month after that for a basic clean. They charge per hour and have 3 people come. I chose to do the deep clean since DH has bad allergies and baby is due in August. It wasn't required. I hope I like how they work!
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We've had two different individuals. I liked the first but she wasn't very thorough. It was good enough to keep her on for a while but eventually we moved and that was that.
Our second is amazing. In four hours she does a deep clean of the whole house (not incl. the basement). Even my two year old compliments her work. "Nice job Gina" we only have her once a month because her schedule is so crowded. I'd prefer twice a month. -
@Mrs. Microscope: that's what I'm hoping to do I think.. Deep clean and then once a month. Hope you like them!
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We used Handy and had experiences ranging from good to ok to bad. I think we used them about 6 times over 6 months and had 5 different people show up. There were a couple cleaners we liked and we kept trying to schedule them again but we'd always end up with someone new. It was really frustrating because you never knew how good a job the new person would do, and you had to explain everything all over again even though we were repeat clients. I would probably hire from a smaller company or individual next time.
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I have done Handy, craiglist individual, and a locally owned local franchise. I am beyond happy with the locally owned franchise though I did have a fairly good experience with Handy when I requested the same person. Craigslist was a joke, but if you can get an individual recommendation from a listserv or local FB group, I would try it out.
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I have someone come weekly for 4 hours. She was recommended by an acquaintance. Our apartment is generally pretty tidy (so there's not a lot of picking up and putting away) and she just cleans. She scrubs the kitchen, bathrooms, dusts, vacuums and mops the floor (all hardwood). She cleaned half of the windows last time and will do the other half next time. No laundry/ironing. I had one lady before for about a year, but I became unhappy with her over time so I let her go. So far, I'm very happy with the new lady.
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we've used small companies and individuals. the first individual we used was the bomb. if i could have taken her with me when we moved to another city, i would have. we tried a few small companies but feel like they really rushed (and there were more broken things than when we hired the individual), so now we've switched to an individual. she's not as awesome as the first, but she does a good job.
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Our service usually dispatches 2 people sometimes 3. We have them come every 4-5 weeks. They do all the things we would do if we cleaned our own home plus a few extras like vacuuming the sofa cushions. The house looks and smells clean when they leave. Once a year we have them wash the windows on the outside.
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I've only had one person clean for me. She used to clean the house for the previous owners so we just kept her on. I know we would never get around to replacing her and she's cheap. Honestly, I wish she did a better job. There are areas she misses and she doesn't get on step stools because she's not too steady so DH does the high up cleaning. Our house is still way cleaner than it was without her so I don't think we'll make any changes soon.
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I have someone every 2 weeks. I am happy with her, and it's cleaner that it would ever be with me (because I don't have the time/energy) but not perfect. My mom is a perfectionist and never is satisfied with the cleaner.
It's a regular cleaning- counters cleaned, sink cleaned, appliances wiped down, floors mopped and vacuumed, everything dusted (not baseboards), things straightened up, bathrooms cleaned, beds stripped, sheets washed and replaced... She doesn't do windows unless you pay extra but she does windex mirrors and the glass doors.
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We inherited our cleaning lady when we bought the house. She knows everything about our 120 year old home! She brings a crew and charges $20/hr. She has a rotation that she's been doing for years-- showers every other visit. Sheets every other visit, floor waxing four times/year, windows once a year, etc. they clean 3,500 sq ft in about four hours and she's willing to do things like clean the fridge and fold clothes if we ask. Right now I have her coming once a week for about three hours, skipping the guest suite unless guests are coming. We love her fiercely for all she does for us. It's the only splurge in my life and it's worth every penny.
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@Mrs. Jacks: that's great!
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We have a maid service come once a month. Not ideal, I'd prefer every other week. We will change to more often a little later in the year.
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We hired a company and they ce every other week. They deep clean a new area every time. Here's a snap of the sheet they leave me
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This makes me realize I'm paying too much for too little.
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We have an individual who comes every other week. The first time she did a super deep clean. Every subsequent time she still does a pretty thorough clean in my opinion....all appliances are cleaned inside and out, bathrooms, kitchen, floors, trash emptied, sheets changed, everything dusted, etc. but most importantly we trust her to be in our home. She was recommended to us by a friend....she now cleans for three of my other friends...a nice "insurance policy" in my opinion!
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We hired an individual (who also brings her mom) to come every two weeks. She does the floors, dusting, vacuuming, bathrooms, and kitchen every time, and usually changes the sheets and washes them and puts new ones on. If she has time she will tackle a big job; she did the oven once, the garage once, the windows and baseboards once. It's an awesome deal for $65, and I'm so happy.
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