How Many DU'ers have had a maid service?

[bleedingheart]

Years ago after the birth of my son my husband convinced me to try out the maid service to help me out as I transitioned back to my job.

They did a fairly good job, but I didn't like it.

I hated the idea of strangers in my house.

The expense bothered me.

My house isn't that big and I felt wrong having someone clean it.

Last but not least the biggest part of keeping a house clean and making it easy to clean is the part they don't do....Putting Stuff Away... so every night before they would come I would run around like a mad woman putting everything away...the house would look clean and then they would come in and do the cleaning...and in about 15 minutes of normal living it was back to a mess.

ps...the idea for this poll came from the Merry Maids post which made me remember this.

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. I am caregiver to my 91-year-old mother.

Because I work full-time, we have a woman who comes to stay with her. Also does cleaning. Otherwise, I would do it myself.

[bleedingheart]

2. that is a good reason

I am not against them as much as I am kinda uncomfortable about the whole thing...then again my house is a pig sty right now...

[Bunny]

3. I've always said that I'll know I've arrived when I can afford

a cleaning lady (no sexism intended). But I would feel weird having strangers in my house if I wasn't here. And I would not want to be here while they were here, so I guess it would not really work. Plus I would feel compelled to clean before they got here, so my inner slob wouldn't be quite so obvious!

[bleedingheart]

4. oh you are so right about cleaning before they come

that is exactly what happened to me...

I only had them come once a month because anything else was too expensive so I ended up having to clean anyways... I realize mr_bleedingheart meant well but it just wasn't for me...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. I hired a cleaning service after I had back surgery

If I was going to end up back in the hospital it was going to be over something fun.

I pay them 45 dollars every week and they do all the heavy cleaning plus a deep cleaning including steam cleaning the walls and blinds twice a year.

During the week all I do are the dishes.

[bleedingheart]

6. wow 45 a week!

Here in PA the service I had charged $69 a week..however I have heard that there are some private cleaning people who are cheaper and they are the owner/cleaner/operator deals...

[SOteric]

7. Abso-frickin-lutely.

I have used maid services, especially when moving, before parties and in general 4 or 5 times a year.

I keep a fairly tidy home, but let's be real. I work 3 jobs and have a host of causes and personal ambitions that I devote my time to. Every 3 or 4 months I have a maid service send someone over for 5 hours to do the things I never get to. I have someone move and clean behind the fridge, scrub down and polish the tiles in the bathroom, steam the carpets, drapes and upholstery...whatever. I keep a running list of things that need looking into on a white board on my fridge. When it's long enough, I hire in the cavalry.

Now that my mother's passed on, I hire people in to clean my father's house as well, and always before he throws a business party. (I usually coordinate and act as hostess on his behalf.)

I never feel badly or embarrased about it. Often the maid I have in is an immigrant and badly in need of honest work. I don't sit on my arse eating bonbons saying 'fiddle dee dee,' so I don't feel particularly guilty in paying someone to help me clean.

[Clete]

8. My parents always did,

but not me. I felt that if keeping my trash clean and organized was too much for me then I probably had more than I needed. Although, I did go to work as a housekeeper for a friend of mine, who was pregnant, because she knew if the family hired a new housekeeper, she wouldn't get her job back. So I worked for her for four months and then quit. She dropped by to show off her new baby and of course was rehired.

I have to tell you though it was the most miserable job I ever had and I hated it. It was the longest four months of my life. I vowed then that I wouldn't put any other woman through that ever as long as I could do it myself. Even mopping out the pit toilets in the forest service campgrounds wasn't as bad, just maybe the second most unpleasant job I have done, but at least it was outside in the woods with no one leaning over me to make sure I did it right.

[arcane1]

9. I wish!!

do you have any idea how much trouble I'm having finding drugs on my own??

:crazy:

[Clete]

11. LOL

eom

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. LOL!! Good one!

n/t

[GregW]

10. Yep! Maid service AND landscaper

Landscaper comes every week, Julie Ann shows up every second Tuesday and cleans the house. I'm a successful, single guy, and don't have time for the house and yard. I'd rather gainfully employ people in my town that live like a slob.

[stanwyck]

13. Yes. Until my kids were old enough

to learn how to clean. I didn't like paying for the service but since my husband and I work full-time, I liked having a clean house and more time with the kids. As the kids got older, I started teaching them how to clean: vacuuming, laundry, dusting, the works. I grew up in farm country in the Midwest and hiring someone to clean my house was never easy for me. I always figured we should do that work and save the money. Now my poor house is so beat up after two kids, two dogs, two cats, and numerous ferrets, that it's hard to tell when it's been cleaned. I need new everything.

[wickerwoman]

14. Nope.

I kind of see both sides though. I have bad allergies and the first symptom of my dust allergy is feeling really exhausted and light headed so I stop dusting and get into a really vicious downward cycle. So I can see having a cleaning service if you're disabled or have allergies.

On the other hand, I'd hate having someone going through my stuff- especially someone underpaid and trained by one of those McCleaning organizations like Merry Maids. Barbara Ehrenreich talks about them in Nickle and Dimed and describes how superficial their "cleaning" method is. Plus, some part of me believes that at the point where you have more things than you can maintain yourself, there's a problem.

Of course, I move every two or three years and can fit everything I own in three suitcases. The allergies have given me a real appreciation of not accumulating crap I'm just going to have to dust anyway.

I wouldn't judge anyone who did have a cleaning service, but they are definitly not for me.

[cally]

15. Yes

Whenever business is good which means I'm working much longer hours, then I hire someone to clean the house. I love it. I don't use a cleaning service because they pay their workers too little, but I find an individual person.