I'm on my second housekeeper in maybe 3 months. It took me having a very dusty and dirty house for 2 years before I broke down and got a housekeeper I'm picky and never thought anyone would clean my house as good as I did. It got to the point that however someone else would clean my house was going to be better than what I was doing because I wasn't cleaning it (I couldn't keep up after hading my 2nd baby and working full-time plus other responsibilities).
The first lady I had for about 10 weeks, did a very thorough job but she was breaking things and took it upon herself to cut up my towels for rags (they were towels from the garage but we have a ton of small towels there was no need to cut them up). She did a thorough job but she was somewhat sloppy. For example, pictures she dusted were always crooked, she would move things out of the way to dust but didn't put them back in place.
The second lady is not as thorough and does less cleaning for the same money. She broke a light in the master bath the first time she cleaned and uses half a bottle of cleaner and almost a whole roll of paper towel in one visit. I can't afford to keep her stocked in supplies at that rate. Both ladies cleanred my house every other week.
I'm really considering going back to cleaning my house myself again. The issue is I will soon be working 50+ hours a week, have two very active kids, tutor my son 4 days a week and hate dusting and just don't have the energy or the time at the end of the day. I have even considered seeing if the first lady was interesting in coming back because she did such a thorough job. It's kind of the lesser of two evils, deal with my complaints or clean the house myself.
Am I being too picky? Do I expect too much? I live in the east valley (Phoenix), does anyone have a housekeeper they would recommend?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts and comments.
I say keep looking. My mom cleans and I have helped her a few times and she leaves that house sparkling! And doesn't use an overabundance of cleaners either, there is no need...all those chemicals are really not good all the time!
You are paying for a service and you expect it to be done properly! Things will get broken, and not done always exactly the way you want, but someone who cares about what they do will show it in their work!
to me that's just one of those things i will never look back and say. "gee i wish i had really spent more time cleaning my house"...or "gee i sure wish i had spent more time finding the PERFECT housekeeper..." just my perspective. as you can tell i do not have a perfectly clean house. but i sure do love hanging out with my family in my imperfect house :)
I have someone clean my house every week! Love it!!! Personally, I wouldn't care if my pictures were crooked, I would straighten them. We laugh sometimes because my clothes end up in my daughters room and hers in mine. Sometimes we have to "hunt" for things. But that is the life of a cleaning lady who doesn't live in my home. Our cleaning lady has been with us for 6 years. I had to let her go when the economy went down and I was sick. I told my husband I was willing to give up one of the kids instead of her but he shot that one down!!! :) I got a promotion and she was back the next day!!!! My cleaning lady has not broken anything in the six years she has been with us. So, I think yours are not paying attention like they should be. That would bother me. Again, the crooked pictures is not a big deal but the breakage is. Keep looking, your perfect person is out there!!!
I forget how many people DH tried before I suggested our current lady that a coworker used. Ask around and find out who is happy with their service or person. DH took one company to task to actually clean what they checked off and THEY fired US. Our current lady does a good job and while we don't get our baseboards washed (I'll do it when they bother me) for example, she gives us a good base clean 2x a month and she is timely, trustworthy and listens to our concerns. I'll take that over a company that says they'll do x and doesn't. What you might consider is someone you get along with that does a good base job (scrubs out those toilets) and on weekends you clean the things that you are really picky about. Breaking things would depend on what is broken.
I wouldn't call it picky, but I am a details person myself so... :) Did you go through the house with them and explain what needed to be done and precisely how? The only thing I can think of is that you should do certain things yourself and hire someone to come every other week to pick up the slack. Best wishes.
Bummer. Cleaning is really an art, when you think about it. It's about cleaning the home and beautifying it at the same time. Then you have the cleaner who is a clutz? The next one leaves crooked pictures. I would want to come home and find my home 'lovely'. So, look, a good housekeeper is out there. 'Can' the one you have and ask around, be determined, be willing to fork over the dough because a good one is likely at a premium, both in her time and scheduling.
Your not being too picky. Think about it. The first one is a clutz and you can't have the clutzy cleaner breaking your stuff. The next one can't remember to move stuff back after she dusts it? How hard could it be? If you had a table full of those teeny figurines, I could see it. But when you move a vase to dust, move it back, and, who doesn't like straight pictures? LOL.
I don't live in Phoenix, so can't help you. But I support you in getting a good one.
If you are picky then I say just clean it yourself, and then have a cleaning service come in once every two months or so for a full overhaul. As a busy full-time working mother of two small kids myself, I know that time is of great importance. However, I still clean my own house. It may not be the most spotless in the world, but it's cleaner than most I've seen. I also have a husband that helps out a lot with the housework.
In the past I used Maids of Honor. They always did a great job. I didn't always have the same two person crew, but I got to know who they all were. They use their own supplies and have great customer service. It has been a few years since I have used them but if I were able to get a maid service again I would call them in a heart beat.
We had a groupon for "pretty in pink" cleaners, they were awesome. Crazy thorough, they even wiped out our dog bowls. No idea how much they cost normally though. I think it's fair to expect a thorough, professional job done, you are paying, make sure you get what you want.
i think i have never been able to find the perfect housekeeper and talking to others i have come to conclusion that there is not such thing. first of all, if i had the entire time to dedicate to cleaning (which i don't), and if i had the energy to do it (which i don't) and if i had the will to do it (which i don't) i would still be a sloppy cleaner. i don't think i could be as thorough as i would want to be. i have a cleaning lady who comes once in two weeks and does an ok job. i provide her with supplies (from trash bags, bags for trash cans in bathrooms, cleaning supplies, vacuum, cleaning stuff for floors, wyndex, lysol, and paper towels). she had offered to bring her own supplies but i like certain products and not knowing what she uses and whether they are watered down i opted to supply them myself. like i said she does an ok job, and what she doesn't do or does poorly, it's easier for me to redo, rather than clean the entire house myself. so i am not picky. i feel like for a home which isn't hers she does an ok job. her cleaning my house twice a month allows me to do the cleaning i want to do more often which are bathrooms and floors.
