I have used a cleaning service. I've never been asked to sign a contract and I wouldn't use a service that required one. I was only required to give 24 hours notice if I canceled my regular cleaning day. I used Merry Maids which is part of Service Master. For several years I used free lance house cleaners and their prices were more reasonable but my DH worried about liability so I switched to a company. Their cleaners are bonded and insured and they send 2 women at a time so I'm not stuck at home all day.

I do have a checklist showing exactly what they clean and I've found that they usually do everything on the list. Every now and then I would remind them that they've missed something. Even though they brought their own cleaning products I had them use my granite cleaner, and I didn't let them use any cleaner or polish on my wood furniture, just the microfiber dust cloths. They also used my Oxiclean on my porcelain floors. I'm about to start again because I'll be having surgery soon and won't be able to clean.

Thanks for the advice. I don't like the idea of signing a contract or letting them have my CC number on file. I'll look into a private cleaner. MY SIL has had a cleaning lady for years and she's very satisfied. SIL keeps her house clean all the time anyway, so her cleaning lady just has to dust, vacuum and mop a little. SIL gives her one "extra" job each week, such as clean the oven, clean the fridge, etc.

I wouldn't sign any contract either. I have an individual woman who cleans for me and has for nearly 20 years. I got a referral from a neighbor and I've been very satisfied - never had any problems at all. I pay $90 per cleaning every other week for my entire house which is about 2400 sq ft. Nothing is off limits.

I would not sign a contract either. You pay a lot more through a service.

Could you ask friends and get a reference to a person you find on your own? Is it possible you'll have different people each time with the service? I would not like that.

I have had an independent cleaning person for several years. Prior to that, I had a company retained to clean for me. Like others said, I wouldn't sign a contract if I were you. But I would definitely have them clean my whole home, and not leave out the bedrooms. I think for the price they charge they should do the whole home, and they usually do a thorough job anyway. Before long, you get used to the idea of someone in your home. I am so grateful to be able to manage to have this luxury. Funny, how it's often the men who balk at the idea of having a cleaner- even when they have never had a significant role in keeping the home up themselves (even when they were young and healthy).

I've had a cleaning woman for the past 20 years or so, had one for 18 years, she was like family! When she moved away we took a few years off but hired a new one 2 years ago. Even tho I work from home I don't have the time to clean the house like she does. She does our entire home (3800 sq feet) every other week, $100 a visit. She will do whatever I ask, brings her own rags, uses our cleaning supplies and vacuum.

Now that I think about it, I'm retired and feeling much better with my new kidney. Only I know exactly what I want, and I'm very picky. I can and should do my own cleaning. I have all the supplies, including a brand-new vacuum. DH will be very happy because he doesn't like the idea of a "stranger" in the house. I do need "something" to do. So I'll put cleaning lady onto my own plate!

I use a cleaning service, not regularly, but once or twice a year!

Mine is no a chain, but local run.

They come in as a team, each one has a specific job and go at it.

Top to bottom cleaning.

It's time for me to make a call :o)

I'm glad you ask that question, Jannie, because I am looking into having a cleaning service, too. I only need one once a month. Our house is never cluttered or messy. Just needs a good cleaning sometimes. And my knees and back just scream when I try to get down and scrub well. I printed out Merry Maid's list of what they do and it's pretty impressive so I was glad to read Marie Cate's post.

I mainly want the bathrooms and kitchen cleaned really well. The living room is barely used and neither is the guest bedroom/bathroom. The Florida room is small, and that's where we spend most of our time.

According to their website, Merry Maids comes to your home and gives an estimate. We have less than 1300 sqft., so I'm curious to know what the cost is.

Patti - I negotiated the price with Merry Maids - they don't advertise that but their estimate was very high. They also want to charge more for the first visit because they claim they're doing extra work. That might be true at some places but I simply told them that my house didn't need anything extra and insisted on paying the regular rate.

I use a local woman. She has worked for years at hotels etc and now on her own. She cleans my house top to bottom and comes every other week. She charges $70 and she keeps up with maintenance type stuff, ie blinds and windows as she cleans the regular stuff....I don't know why you wouldn't want her to do your bedroom. One of the hardest things for me is to change the sheets and vacuum and I'm certainly not going to do it knowing some one will do it for me.

I checked the local paper and the fliers and then interviewed several. I got plenty of references. My housekeeper's husband is a chef at one of the restaurants here. She is Mexican and her English leaves a lot to be desired but I believe she is very trust worthy. I am not worried to leave her alone. I think the company type groups are more expensive and you never know who will come to clean. They are usually bonded through but I like knowing who is going to show up every week.

Believe me that $70 is money well spent.....

I never used a service and will not. I have always had cleaning ladies that work on their own, some of them had worked for services and after the things I was told by them about the service companies I would not use them.
I would never sign any thing and darn sure not give credit card information.
I have been lucky I have had great ladies, usually recommended by a friend or neighbors. I only once had a problem and that was when one lady brought her little boy with her, I absolutely do not allow that ever.

I make a list of what I want done in the beginning and I tell what I am willing to pay no discussion.

Over the past 30 years we've used probably four different cleaning services. We've been in the middle of home remodel projects for the last five years so don't have a service coming in. Besides, I won't trust anyone with my new kitchen probably until the newness wears off. It's been four years and I'm still not ready to let anyone clean it even though the 'new kitchen smell' is long gone. :-)

I always worried about cleaners breaking things. And OMG, one service carried a drippy rag with bleach on it from one bathroom to the other, leaving a bleached trail of spots in our bedroom and hallway. I was not happy about that one at all as you might imagine. We had just had new carpet installed. Bleach is now no longer allowed to be used by cleaning services in my home.

Another issue for me is when they clean and then don't put stuff back with it originally was. It didn't matter how often I mentioned it to one service, I had to come home after a cleaning and move everything around. Grrrr.

And then there's the issue of DH cleaning the house before the service comes because, well, he's like that. :-)

So, after a 60 hour week at the office, I spend my many of my Saturdays and Sundays cleaning, using the evenings to medicate and recover from the allergies that are produced when I'm exposed to dust and mildew.

I really need to reconsider getting a service again...

Jodi-

Jannie, I hope you will rethink hiring a cleaner. Just because you are feeling better after the transplant does not mean you should do it all. I feel pretty certain that caring for your husband is strenuous and demanding. I notice you said your kids suggested getting help and I think you should listen to them. As you can tell by the responses, you can ask the cleaner(s) to do or not do anything you want.

I have a handyman that I just love. He can fix anything and is very reasonable. His wife has a house cleaning business and a few years ago when my knees were really bothering me, I decided to have her clean my house. She came out and looked at it and we decided on a price. She sent 2 of her workers out to clean while I was at work. They ran out of time before they even got to the bedrooms! I came home to find a plate holder that hangs in my kitchen must have gotten caught on a cleaning rag. Thank heaven the plate was not broken but the holder was. One light bulb over my bathroom mirror was broken. They cleaned only 2 shelves of a hutch and stopped right there. Left their cleaning rags and a pop can. I never had her clean again. Haven't had anyone clean but would like someone to come in 2 or 3 times a year.

I've always had help. When the kids were very young I had someone come twice a week. As they grew older, we cut it down to once a week and then every other week. I've never used a cleaning service but rather individuals that were recommended by friends or family. We've made some wonderful friends with the people who've worked for us. We've also had live-in help when living outside the country for a few years. Nice but a whole other set of problems. You lose a lot of privacy doing that.

We use Molly Maids- have for a number of years . They just recently increased the price to $115 for every two weeks. They don't do dishes but they do most other things. There's a lot of 'stuff' in our house and I'm sure they dislike having to dust it all. Only one thing has been broken and it was something unimportant. We don't let them do anything on our desks- one time mine was neatened up to the point I couldn't find anything. But we are unable to keep house the way we used to and with Molly Maids things get done that we wouldn't do anymore. We did not sign a contract.

I used to clean houses part time, word of mouth was enough to keep me working. I actually worked for Merry Maids for a
whole 4 days before I figured I could do a better job and make more money on my own..the main complaint I had was they wanted us to hurry...the faster we cleaned the sooner we were done and some of the women wanted to get home before the kids got home from school...things got broken, yes it was covered, but in all the years I cleaned on my own I broke 2 small items and covered the replacement cost myself. The girls at Merry Maids were constantly quitting so you didn't have a lot experienced cleaners.
I would say foremost be sure you can trust whomever you hire.

I am not a house cleaner, I do not like housework, with that being said, had one gal, ok, but she was local did not work out Waited awhile found another person. She is great. Comes once a week, floors, shelves etc about 3 hours has a key etc.
May I suggest you contact a nursing home in your area and find out if any of the nurses aids or house keepers want extra work. Some are ok, some not. Nurses at the home as the director will help you out. They do here.

I own a carpet cleaning business and I can tell you by the time I get home the last thing I want to do is clean my home. A good house cleaning service is priceless. I also agree that most of the best cleaners we have used were single person companies. They tend to care more.

I should mention also that it takes a time or two of cleaning your place for a person to get it down to the perfect rhythm. Once they do, you can just about wager on how long it will take them and what they get done. I was a little hesitant about the personal stuff but it didn't take me long to realize that it was a job to her and she was there to clean. Before she gets to the house, I make sure everything is put away in the kitchen and I strip the beds and put the sheets in the washer. I empty the bathroom wastebasket...and then she comes in and moves through the house like a dirt devil. She does a goof job...

After everything I read, I decided I would rather have an individual or someone with her own cleaning service rather than one of the larger services. I found a handy site called care.com and posted an ad there. I had 18 applicants over the past week and have narrowed it down to 4 that I'm interviewing in person this week. They also have categories for child care, housekeeping, elder and disabled care, etc. I paid $35 to place the ad, but I've been really pleased with the process so far. One of the applicants told me that she knows a lot of people in her industry who post there and rely on it. I never knew such a thing existed until last week.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.care.com/

So I wound up with 21 applicants and just hired someone today. Seems like a really good match - she starts tomorrow. Of course only time will tell, but I really liked that service. It made it easy to respond back to the applicants, and do background checks, etc. Plus it provided a list you could check off for your "ad" of what services you were looking for, then tells you which applicants seem to be the best fit.

Thanks for everyone's advice here in this thread on what to look for as well. Jannie, good luck if you decide to pursue it. Let us know your progress.