Sage

I've cleaned house for a good long while, and I'm ready to let someone else do it for me Martel and I are interested in hiring someone to come clean our house for 2-3 hours a week, and were wondering about the way to go about doing it.

I am VERY exact about how I like the house to be cleaned. I'm not the cleaning nazi I used to be, but I still have pretty high standards. The two avenues that are open to us are 1) Hire someone from an already established cleaning service and 2) Hire a college student.

I like option #2. Personally, all the cleaning services I've ever seen are either too expensive, don't pay their workers enough, don't train their workers well, or are generally lackluster in their performance. Also, what college student wouldn't want to make an extra $35 a week? I feel that, by hiring a college student, we would be getting someone closer to us in age and mindset, and it would be easier to motivate them to do a really good job (them knowing that if they impress us we would reward them in the form of tips, food, etc).

We were thinking of paying somewhere in the $12-15/hr range and have them come for two to three hours each week; cleaning to be- vaccuming carpet, sweep/mop kitchen/bathroom, scrub shower and shower curtain, scrub toilet, clean bathroom sink/counter, empty/fill dishwasher, clean counters and stovetop, dust, empty trash/take all trash to dumpster, wash towels and washcloths. They wouldn't be cleaning our bedroom or washing our clothes (too personal). Our apartment, without the bedroom, is about 700 square feet or so. We'd provide all cleaning supplies- vaccum, mop, cleaners, gloves, that kinda thing.

We've never done anything like this before, and are wondering the best way to go about doing it. Are there any legal issues with this, or is it OK for us to just say "sure we'll hire you" and hand over the money every week? We would always have one of us at home while they were there so we wouldn't be concerned about them stealing or about doing a crappy job and leaving. Have any of you ever hired someone you didn't initially know to clean/paint/nanny your house/car/baby/whatever? Any advice would be appreciated!

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Sultana

I've gone through spurts of this, and the best time was when I hired a friend (mostly to help her through a tight financial time) who had the same or higher standards (of cleaning) then we did. Honestly, I felt she did to much, but she's a crazy motivated woman.

The not-so-great time was when we did the same thing with a relative who doesn't have personal (cleaning) standards anywhere near ours, and well, it didn't go well.

If I were to do this again, I'd only go through personal recommendations. Whether for a business or for a freelancer, personal recs. only for me from now on.

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"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
At night, the ice weasels come." -

Matt Groening

My goal? To fulfill my potential.

hambone

My mother in law used to clean houses for people quite a bit. I say you are correct and if you can find someone (college age or not) outside of a service, go that route. It's sorta like babysitting in that there are services and whatnot to call, but there are also enough people available on their own to do it as well.

That is cool about providing the supplies too, though depending on who you hire, they may have their own and prefer to use them (my mother-in-law always swore her vaccuum was the best).

I also have a good friend who does this for her living as well. She also is not with a service and they just pay her themselves. She also has become good friends with some of them since they usually have someone at home when she cleans.

So I guess I say go with someone independent and try to find someone who is personable, so its not all weird with them cleaning up around you when you are home. If the person can carry on a conversation, it will make it less awkward for you and a more enjoyable experience for them.

Best of luck!

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"Like liquid white from fallen glass,
Nothing to cry over"

maleficent

If you're that fussy- don't hire one.. you'll never be satisfied and it will be more trouble than it's worth... Hire someone to do errands or other stuff that take the time when you could be cleaning

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StormBerlin

I agree with Mal, if you're that picky don't hire anyone. And come on, you're talking 700 sq ft, it's not going to take 2-3 hours. If you really are willing to let someone else do it, why not get Martel to alternate weeks with you?

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"if anal sex could get a girl pregnant i'd be tits deep in child support" Arcane

Deltona Couple

For SOME reason I am getting this mental picture of an attractive, 24 year old hot female in a French Maid outfit......I hope I am not the only one!

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"It is not that I have failed, but that I have found 10,000 ways that it DOESN'T work!" --Thomas Edison