Know of a cleaning lady for me for 1 hour per week?

amother

Geranium

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 1:52 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Your best bet is to approach a neighbor and ask if her cleaning help would be interested in working for you an hour before, or after, leaving her house.

Because otherwise, WADR, is someone seriously going to travel to your home, and from your home, on a weekly basis for, how much is it you're going to pay?

amother

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 1:59 pm

amother [ Geranium ] wrote:

Sounds simpler than it is. In my neighborhood it’s an extremely sensitive topic-AFAIK there is only one cleaning lady and whoever was lucky enough to snatch her (before I moved in) are extremely possessive of her and wouldn’t dare spare one hour a week for a struggling someone else….
I actually think that if u need honest shidduch info about someone- pretend to be a new neighbor needing a cleaning lady and see how they deal with it:)

amother

Turquoise

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 2:09 pm

I feel so bad for you! For the first few years of marriage I was in the same position needing minimal help but really still needing it.
You’re gonna have a very hard time. The ladies don’t like small jobs. They don’t want to clean toilets in 8 houses a day. They much prefer 1-3 houses. It’s not always the neighbors it’s the cleaning lady’s preferences too and we all need to keep them happy.
A year or so back I took someone full time who also worked as a babysitter for me and I’ve never been so happy to opt out of all the neighborhood cleaning lady politics ... and no my lady won’t go to u for that hour even when I’m able to and want to spare her (to save the money)

Chayalle

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 2:09 pm

Honestly it's a cleaning lady's market. Mine left me before Y"T after four years and I haven't found anyone else yet. But I remember a neighbor asked me if she would come to her after she was done by me, and when I asked her she was outraged at my request. She would only go for a minimum of four hours.

So consider that it's just not an option with your neighbors. They risk her wrath. At the moment, having been cleaningladyless for over almost 2 months, I'm starting to wonder if the stress of catering to my cleaning lady was worth it (my kids think it is and I MUST get someone, but so far I'm actually not missing her that much.)

amother

Apricot

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 2:11 pm

amother [ Turquoise ] wrote:

My sister was telling me she has someone for 6 hours, and she asked her if she could do 4 hours by her and 2 by the neighbor next door, and she said NO WAY. And you know why? Because my sister is not home during that time, and she likely leaves early.....there are perks to not having to go to not splitting the time.

amother

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 2:14 pm

I know. I am having a hard time already.
Since when did we give these ladies such a sense of entitlement?? Their getting paid fortunes to do minimal cleaning. Can’t dare ask them to do something that a drop too demanding or you risk having them go to your neighbor instead chas vishalom.
Plus you gotta give them lunch - a better lunch than u prepare for your own self.
And the list goes on … but I’m getting side tracked here. FIRST GET ME A CLEANING LADY and then I’ll continue my rant on how entitled they are

amother

Grape

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 3:58 pm

I get why a cleaning lady would prefer 8 hours in one house instead of four in two houses. Imagine going from house to house cleaning bathroom after bathroom! I wouldn’t want to. Lol

(My cleaning lady that I had for 3 hours a week left me after Yom tov because she’s cutting her hours and only staying with those who give her more hours... haven’t bothered to look for one cuz I know how brutal it is. So for now I clean what I can by myself and the rest .... happens when it happens, or doesn’t happen.)

amother

Geranium

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 4:18 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Tell me what that "fortune" you're willing to pay for an hour's worth of work is. Maybe I can find someone. Maybe I'll do it myself.

amother

Aubergine

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 4:45 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Are you for real? YOU reek of entitlement. I wouldn’t want to work for you for any amount of money as you come across as demanding and obnoxious. Maybe because it is in writing and you are in a bad mood.
Are they less human than you?
How much do office workers with no actual college experience make in Lakewood per hour? Do they work harder than someone who bends down all day and scrubs toilets?

amother

Azure

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 5:29 pm

If I were a cleaning lady I would not travel to and form your house for one hour of work. Even if you pay on the high end (range now is $15-$20), that means with travel time it’s not really worth it.

Your expectations for what gets done in an hour is not realistic.

Also these people are human beings and you need to treat them as such. If I called you right now and asked you to come to my house and fold my laundry for an hour for $20, would you do it? If you say no, does that make you entitled or ridiculous? I don’t think so. You’re allowed to decline work that doesn’t work for you. They aren’t slaves.

amother

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 6:16 pm

amother [ Aubergine ] wrote:

Wow! You worded that pretty disgusting.
Do you realize I’m a person behind this post?

amother

Hunter

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 6:46 pm

I used to have a cleaning lady around 9-10 hours - spread out during the week.
Then came Covid and like most people, I cleaned myself or just let things go.
When people were starting with cleaning help again it became increasingly more difficult to find someone. I was lucky to find someone who came every Friday for 5 hours. The thing is- often she didn’t show up. She usually didn’t show up when I needed her the most- like the times I was having guests. Eventually after a few months she just stopped coming.
I haven’t had cleaning help since August because there’s a whole thing going on now with them. They are demanding a very high salary plus most only want to work at one house.
My house is pretty big. (Not fancy, just big.) It’s hard to do everything myself but I cannot find help. I’m willing to hire someone for a few hours a week but I just can’t find anyone. It’s not just me. It’s lots of my neighbors.
So, linen doesn’t always get changed as often as I would like. Bathrooms… forget about it! I can’t keep up. I have 4 bathrooms and kids who aren’t neat while using. At this point I’m happy for rooms not to look messy, laundry washed and folded, garbages taken out, dishes washed….
I’ve had various cleaning ladies over the last 17 years I lived here. It was never like this. I’m hoping that soon things will go back to the way they were with the cleaning help. For now, many of us are in the same boat. I doubt you’ll find anyone for 1 hour a week at this time.

Amarante

Tue, Nov 23 2021, 7:17 pm

As others have posted, no one is going to come for one hour. Perhaps you can hire a neighborhood teen to do it.

You would have better luck having someone come for more hours every other week or even every three weeks.

Why wouid a cleaning lady want to shlep to a home where they are expected to do the hardest most unpleasant jobs in a short period of time.

Labor costs are going up everywhere and if you want a worker, whether it is for a restaurant or as a cleaning lady, you need to pay the going rate. There was recently a thread in which the equities of thinking one is owed cheap labor were discussed.

I would suspect that those who are paying the current going rate and treat their hired help respectfully have no trouble finding quality help. Those who view them as somehow not entitled to a living wage for whatever reason will have trouble finding help and will be probably wind up cycling through numerous cleaning help who leave at the first opportunity for someone who is willing to pay for high quality reliable help.

ETA And not singling out imamother Hunter, but no reliable cleaning lady is going to want to be expected to clean a house with four bathrooms and many rooms coming in a few hours once a week. That is considered to be a full day or even a twice weekly job by most people. Of course your cleaning ladies are fleeing at the first opportunity because someone with a smaller home will use them for the same number of hours and the work is easier. Why do people think cleaning ladies are not smart enough to want the best jobs they can find. It doesn’t mean they are sneaky or lazy but just that they are normal employees.

Last edited by Amarante on Tue, Nov 23 2021, 7:44 pm; edited 5 times in total