Comfort with housekeeper?

[Deleted]

I've been wanting to get someone in once or twice a month to clean our house. My H is okay with the financial aspect of it, but he's uncomfortable with someone going through our stuff.

I guess I can see his point of view, although I grew up with housekeepers so I'm less bothered.

Have any of you dealt with this and what did you do, and what helped? I really want to get someone in to clean, the company I want to use has amazing yelp reviews, and my plan is to schedule for a Saturday when I can be here so they won't be alone in our house.

[Deleted]

I'm pretty trusting. I let my housekeeper go wild in my house... she even sorts my mail into junk and important.

[pamela]

Ours doesn't go through our stuff, that I know of. She definitely isn't sorting our mail. Other than actual cleaning, all she does is straighten up any piles of stuff. Doesn't sort them or put them away. She will unload the dishwasher so sometimes I have to find where she put something like a can opener that is different from where I would keep it.

[chessie]

DH has the same issue, hence why we havent pulled the trigger..hoping one day he will be comfortable with it. I assured him we would get one that is licensed, insured, bonded, etc, whatever he needed so I could get some help.. Neither of us grew up with them, it was sorta our mom's job to clean the entire house daily, but with my long hours can't always do that.. When we have kids I see no choice of some sort of assistance like this since DH doesn't clean the house anyway.

[Deleted]

My housekeeper comes 4 days a week for 4 hours. She keeps me organized and decluttered

[w2w]

I think planning on being there for the first few cleanings is a good idea. I try not to think about it much. We have insurance of something really goes wrong and I like not cleaning, so I just hope for the best.

[Pom]

Our cleaners don't touch our desks, I try to put things away that I do not want disturbed. I always left my last 2 housekeepers alone in the house. Now I have a company with 3 rotating ladies (one is the owner) and I finally left them alone this last week for the first time.

[ijack]

Mine basically organizes everything for me. I specifically wanted a cleaner that was more hands on - that's where I need the most help!

[Deleted]

DH had this problem until his brother started to use someone who another friend had used for years. So he agreed and I think it saved our marriage. We rarely fight now because most fights started due to the messy house.

She doesn't sort through anything, doesn't pick up (I put everything that I consider clutter away the night before), she just moves what she has to for vacuuming and dusting and puts it right back.

I'd ask people you know if they have someone they recommend to start. That's the best way to get over the "don't want someone touching my stuff" worry imo.

[Deleted]

I agree with randomcdn....go with the recommendation of someone you trust. If they have had this person clean for them with no problems, then thats a start.
I would never use a service even tho they are insured and bonded. That does diddly squat for you when a family treasure goes missing! Yeah, you might get $ for it, but it doesnt get the item back.

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2013 12:46:12 GMT -5 @susan3589 said:

I would never use a service even tho they are insured and bonded. That does diddly squat for you when a family treasure goes missing! Yeah, you might get $ for it, but it doesnt get the item back.

Huh? Why would someone from a service be more likely to steal from you than someone who works solo?

We have used 2 licensed, bonded, insured companies. Never had a problem. I am sure there are bad apples out there but you reduce your risk significantly (whether going through a company or not) if you hire based on personal recommendations, which we do. Both companies have sent the same people every time so we get to know our housekeepers the same as if they did not work for a company.

In my experience a reliable and trustworthy company is also a busy one. The housekeepers don't have time to be going through all of your drawers, etc. If you have something of particular monetary value, put it in a safe. Maybe schedule the service on a day when your husband can be around, or at least do so for the initial sessions until he is comfortable with it.

Maybe I'm too trusting, I don't know, but I just don't have fears of my housekeepers trying to look through our financial papers or wedding album or the bottom drawer of my nightstand... LOL. Plus if something did go missing it would be pretty obvious who did it. For most people who count on you for long term employment that's not a risk worth taking.

[insominac]

I hate house cleaners lol I view them as a necessary evil. What helps is getting everything I dont want them to touch out of their way. Also I don't want to be there when they are cleaning. Mr. Insom deals with them.

[imojoebunny]

I had a housekeeper for 14 years. 2 different ones. One a lady for 10 years, who is great and I still have coffee with a few times a year, and another a service for 4 years, bonded and insured. The service stole my wedding set. If I had left it on the counter, I could understand, but I didn't, it was hidden underneath a number of receipts and papers in a drawer they had no business being in, filled with mostly bills and receipts for our rental houses. To find it, the one and only time I left it there, they had to rifle through a lot of papers. They pretty much admitted that they took it to the owner of the company. They said they were looking for chapstick (gross!) and came across it. The police did nothing and would not even talk to them, even after one of them practically admitted to the owner that the other one stole the rings.

I don't think I will ever have a housekeeper again. I suspected them of stealing DS's social security card about 3.5 years ago, but thought, it must have just gotten stuffed in a magazine or something when they straightened up the pile and accidentally thrown away. He was only about a month old, so I was too tired to remember clearly where I put it. Don't overlook the risk of stolen personal information. If I had it to do over again, I would have locked up all our papers in the office. If they were going through the drawer with the receipts, they were going through the drawers with the other papers and personal information. It was not an accident that they found the rings the one and only time they were there.

[Nonny]

The people from my service didn't even move my toaster to clean under it the last time they were here, so I really don't worry about them digging through my drawers.

[hulley]

I was hesitant when they first started, but honestly I value their service more than my worry over them rifling through my stuff. That being said, I do lock up my nice jewelry in our small safe when it isn't being worn. Everything else would be very obviously missing (TV, electronics, etc), and the agency is bonded/insured so I don't worry about those things. We don't have anything that is irreplaceable. We also don't keep cash in the house. I have my rarely used CCs in a drawer in the office, but they are all protected so nothing to worry about there either.

[gt7301b]

Our housekeeper came from a referral from DH's aunt. The aunt had used the housekeeper for 10+ years and DH was home the first couple of times she came. I feel completely comfortable with her in my house.

[perkyderky]

In my experience a reliable and trustworthy company is also a busy one. The housekeepers don't have time to be going through all of your drawers, etc. If you have something of particular monetary value, put it in a safe. Maybe schedule the service on a day when your husband can be around, or at least do so for the initial sessions until he is comfortable with it.
[/quote]

Ditto. I know that's the case with ours. Ours won't even go into our linen closet--if I want our sheets and towels changed, I have to leave them out for them. We don't have expensive electronics, and the few expensive things we do have are generally not available for our housekeepers to take anyway. I use the cash rule--I only leave out what I can afford to lose.