Housecleaning gift - Chicago area edition

November 28, 2017 11:30 AM

Hello! I would like to get my lovely mother a monthly housecleaning service for Christmas. What is the best way to go about this, and do you have any people or companies to recommend who serve the Chicago suburbs?

Ideally I would like to set her up with a service, have her schedule the cleanings when they work best for her, and pay the bill myself. But I've never hired a cleaner before, and have no idea what to look for in a company/individual, or how feasible my plan is.

She has two dogs, so a company or person who understands the ins and outs of removing pet hair from allllllllll the thiiiiiiiiiiings is a bonus!

All recommendations and tips for how to put this into place are welcome!

posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Angie's List is a really good place to look for vetted reviews of housecleaning businesses. I found some housecleaners on there when I moved to a new city a few years back.
posted by killdevil at 11:35 AM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Many house cleaners run discounts on Groupon or other such sites this time of year. My only caveat would be please try to seek out people who are in the business independently (the owner is the cleaner themselves), or as close to that as possible. Merry Maids and other such big companies employ house cleaners at very low wages and treat them atrociously in terms of rules, working hours, wage theft, etc.
posted by MiraK at 12:14 PM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Housecleaning coops are more of a thing now and are a far more ethical choice than big companies that exploit housecleaning employees (mostly immigrant women).
posted by quince at 12:59 PM on November 28, 2017

This kind of thing is perfect for Handy. Easy to have her schedule, but have it billed to you. (They have an Uber-like business model, which means the cleaners don't earn a ton of money. This may bother you. I tried the service, liked the cleaner, and offered to pay her directly if she was into it. She said yes.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:01 PM on November 28, 2017

I would look for facebook page for her suburb and request a local cleaner. So often those local pages are really invaluable for that kind of stuff.
posted by beccaj at 1:19 PM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Are you willing to specify a particular area of the suburbs? It may help you get some recommendations.
posted by freezer cake at 2:15 PM on November 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've used Maid Green several times and have been very happy with their service. I've recommended them to several friends who have also been happy with them. They serve the city and the suburbs.
posted by smich at 2:49 PM on November 28, 2017

Care.com is something to consider too, if other avenues don't pan out.
posted by acm at 2:54 PM on November 28, 2017

My local Nextdoor site ( Chicago suburbs neighborhood) often has both people advertising their services and people asking for recommendations and getting multiple responses.
posted by jacy at 5:33 PM on November 28, 2017