I have a feeling that this will fall off the boards without getting a single response, but it’s worth a try.
How did you find your maid? How much does she (I’m using the feminine pronoun here, because I’m making an ass of U and ming) cost you? Ever had any problems with theft? Are you comfortable with a stranger having a key to your place? What gets cleaned, and how well? How long does it take (and how big is your home)? Does she bring her own supplies?
ETA: Do you clean before she comes over?
I don’t have a maid, although I was one for a while, as a college student. Here in San Diego, it’s pretty common to have one. Often, they live in Tijuana and commute to work every day by trolley and/or bus. They will typically do one or two days in a particular house. My impression is that they get recommended by word of mouth. Pay is frequently in cash and under the table. The people I’ve known who employed one provided their own supplies, so that the maid didn’t have to carry stuff.
I don’t have a housekeeper now - and haven’t for five or six years - but I did when my kids were little.
She would come over two days a week, Mondays to give the house a good clean, Thursdays to do a pre-weekend pick up. Mondays I paid her for three hours, Thursdays for one. I paid her $25 an hour. 3 bedroom+ office, 2 1/2 baths, kitchen, family room, living room. Nothing was ever missing. I was comfortable with her in my house (I was seldom home when she was there). She’d bring most of her own supplies but use my vacuum, and if I wanted something specific (use this on the floors) I needed to provide it.
She’d clean anything - she’d do my sheets and towels and rugs on a rotating basis (which often meant I came home to sheets in the dryer and would have to make the bed - that was fine - the sheets were getting washed!) Clean the fridge if I left a note. If it took longer, she charged me more. She didn’t typically clean the fridge or do baseboards. But she would wipe the fingerprints off the inside of the windows.
I didn’t pre-clean. I did have a large selection of “easy sort” baskets - kids toys, mail and paper…
ETA: I found her by looking in a local free paper. I interviewed three or four housekeepers, and hired the one that I liked the best - who didn’t have references because she had just moved back to the state.
Wow. That’s cheap.
Actually, that’s what my GF charges, but that’s a rate for a friend. The place I called yesterday wants $121/hour, and that’s for three people coming over. It sounds like I’ll get a lot of clean, but I’ll pay for it.
Used to run a cleaning service; assume about $20-30 an hour for most places, a bit more in more expensive places. Low end will be independent, once you get up around $30+ you’re talking about agencies/franchises. Places like Molly Maids or similar will typically work this into a charge that will vary by the size of your place, anything “extra” you want done beyond standard vacuum, dust, clean kitchen and bathrooms. Most places won’t do windows because the insurance companies screw them on that, but an independent might. If you’re talking a two bed, two bath place on the small side $100 every two weeks sounds about right. If they’re sending a team of three it’s because that’s what they always send, and they will be in and out in about 40 minutes to an hour. Agencies will charge more for the first cleaning, since most people have let crap and gunk build up for a while before they call.
You want to make sure they’re insured or that your insurance will cover you if they get hurt*. Bonded is okay but really doesn’t add much. Some people are going to steal stuff, most people won’t. This will be true for independents and agencies. Only one of my workers ever stole from a client that I know of, and it was dumb stuff that the client probably would have given to her if she’d asked. Not always the best and the brightest when they’re cleaning toilets for a living, although a lot of good, hard working folks out there, too.
If you go the independent route then check with your neighbors for recommendations.
*Most cleaning injuries are repetitive motion or back injuries, although falls are a concern. If you hire someone that’s not insured then you’re assuming a legal liability. Take that into account.
It was six years ago - and she never raised her rates for me and I had her for three years until she decided to get a real job. And it was in the Twin Cities.
The one I have now is my mother - I send $100 a month to my sister to help pay some medical bills incurred by my other sister, my mother cleans my house one day a week. So that’s $25 a week for a full cleaning - THAT’S cheap.
As ShibbOleth said, independents will be cheaper than firms.
My friends pay $50 a visit to have “Debbie from down the road” (ie not an agency) come clean their townhome. She dusts, vacuums, mops and cleans the 3 bathrooms. I’d say their house is about 1100sq ft. This is in a far-out Cleveland suburb.
Me, I let a friend stay here for free and he does dishes and vacuums. Not sure yet if he does bathrooms…
Find: My house cleaner was recommended by a friend who has used her services for a few years.
Pay: $65 dollars a visit. She comes every two weeks.
Theft: No. One broken object.
key: pretty comfortable. I don’t own much that’s worth anything to anyone else.
What gets cleaned: 2 Bathrooms (scrubbed toilets, showers, counters and mop floor), Kitchen (scrub counters and sink, mop floor), vacuums all carpets, sweeps and mops visible floors.
How well: Well enough I have no thought of firing her. I hate cleaning floors.
How long does it take (and how big is your home): No idea. she comes when I’m at work. My house is a modest 3bed/2ba.
Does she bring her own supplies: No. She uses all my stuff, and I have separate bucket of sponges/cleaners for each bathroom and the kitchen. If there’s something that needs special cleaning I leave a note on it.
Do you clean before she comes over: Sorta. I move things so she can access the countertops (for example). She does not move the furniture to clean under it.
My housekeeper comes every two weeks. She charged $100.00 up until yesterday, and she just raised it to $140.00.
I live in a three bedroom, three bathroom bungalow (about 1500 sq ft). She changes the sheets on the beds, cleans the bathrooms, dusts all surfaces, vacuums and mops the floors, and cleans the stove, microwave, stainless steel, etc. in the kitchen. She basically does everything except windows and baseboards. I’ve had her for about ten years.
She’s gotten a little less meticulous over the years as she’s gotten more comfortable with me. However, she’s completely trustworthy - I leave my kids with her if I have to go out and run errands, and my three year old son loves her. She’s at my house for about five or six hours, but some of that is spent talking on the phone and smoking outside. She basically stays until everything’s done.
She uses my supplies. I don’t really clean up before she comes over. I do strip the beds and make sure the dishwasher is empty before she gets here, but she’s been with me for so long that she knows where everything is and where everything goes.
My family has a group that comes over to clean the house. We’ve gone through a few of them actually and they all misplace everything they can get their hands on. You might save an hour of cleaning but you’ll spend two hours locating everything. 
Dutch in the Netherlands here.
My first cleaning lady was Dutch and came with the house; she had cleaned for the previous owner. She cost 9 euro’s per hour, under the table, ( We raised her salary) and she came in three hours a week on Thursday morning, when no-one was home. She had a commute of five minutes on bike. I did feel comfortable with giving her the key. She did a good job and nothing ever was stolen. We parted ways eventually because she skipped coming without notice more and more, untill she hadn’t come for three months. She didn’t respond to my notes, letters and calls to tell me what was wrong and could we work something out.
I found another lady through the Dutch version of Craigslist. She’s a peach.
Ooh by the way I forgot to mention that my friend and her parents had the same cleaning agency before “Debbie from down the road” and the maid did indeed steal some money hidden in a closet
For real? That’s a freakin’ huge bathroom to square foot ratio, but whatever tickles your friend’s pickle I guess.
I don’t have one but the maid at my parent’s house has been with them for almost 10 years. We have never had to worry about her stealing anything, she has always proven to be very honest. She does everything but laundry. Before us she had never cooked at the house she worked but she is actually a very good cook. She was referred by a friend of my mother’s she used to work for. I have no idea how much they pay her.
I have an aunt that used to be a maid in Mexico when she was a teenager and last year started working again at 45 as a housekeeper for some neighbors in Dallas, she gats paid 50 dollars a day. She says she laughs all the way back home because of just how much they pay her for 4 hours of work (“And I don’t even have to wash the dishes!”) she does just to keep busy in the mornings. The same work back in Mexico would have been 4 dollars tops.
We contracted with a small (possibly sole-proprietor) company, so as to avoid any issues of tax or immigration compliance. Found it through a local consumer magazine.
We pay $90 per cleaning for three bedrooms, two baths, and kitchen, once every two weeks. That fee includes changing the bed linen and emptying the dishwasher and the trash. If we want them to clean the basement rec room, the fridge, or the oven, it’s extra. We provide the vacuum cleaner and most supplies.
No issues of theft or breakage, and we left them a key after the first cleaning. Not sure how long it takes them, but I think they send three people. We straighten up but don’t pre-clean.
$25 an hour cheap? You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve known illegal immigrants around here to work as live-in housekeepers for well under minimum wage (which is $8/hour in California).
When I lived in Russia I had a housekeeper who came every day and would cook a meal and put it in the oven. It was great. Then I came back from the airport when my flight was cancelled and she was having a party.
I have a housekeeper lady who comes one morning a week for four hours, and costs me ¥800 per hour (about 8 dollars). She’s great. She doesn’t go upstairs unless I go with her which is very rare, but she totally goes over the kitchen, vaccuums through the living room, study and classroom, makes tea and coffee for my adult students who come while she’s there, cleans both toilets and sinks, and then if there’s time she does copying for me, or calls students, or occasionally goes to the bank or shopping on school business for me. I love her!
We use a 2-woman company we found from a flyer on our door. Tried a couple of others first and got half-ass work. These two are great.
We pay ~$20 / hour for a once-a-month all-over deep cleaning. It’s a big house, so that takes 6-8 woman-hours to complete.
We have a Philippino lady who comes twice a month, an charges 1,500 yen per hour (about $15). This is Tokyo, so it looks like we’re amost twice Hokkaido. Also being Tokyo, our place is small, so she gets it done in about 5 to 6 hours. This includes both toilets, the bath, kitchen, living room, doing the laundry and ironing if she has time. She only comes when we’re here, so we don’t give her a key.
We’ve had several different people and really miss our previous one, but unfortunatley she couldn’t continue with us.