For those of you who have cleaning ladies..

**la la la**

Do you trust them alone in your home? and if they clean while you are at work, how do you go about having them lock up the house?

I've narrowed my search to a few and now I dont know at what time of the day I would have them come in.

bisabelm

The lady I have been using to clean my house only comes when I am home. She is fairly new so I don't really trust her too much just yet. I am planning on getting a new one soon since I am not too happy with her work and I feel like I am paying too much and the level of quality is not up to par. One of the ladies i am thinking of using is the one my mom uses and I would let her in the house without me no questions asked. She has been with my mom for a long time and she is always alone in their house so I trust her. I also have friends who use a maid service (Tailor Maid I believe) and they let them in the house alone all the time.

 In regards to having them lock up- I would say that if you really trust them then you should give them a copy of the key to take with them. Or I guess you could always have them leave the key under a flower pot or something. If you have never used them before then maybe for the first few times you should schedule them to come while you are home so you can feel them out and see if get the right sort of vibes from them. If you live in an apartment or condo that has a main office you could always do a Key Release. My community has this option and basically I fill out a form that states that such and such person will be coming over at such time on such day and to give them a key. The office then holds on to their license and gives them the key. Once they return the key they get their license back.  

cocojack10

Our cleaning lady came highly recommended by a family friend.  He actually gave her a key to his home to keep so she can come and go when she did her thing.  So, we trusted her 100% too.  She usually arrives before we leave in AM, and we leave her a key for her to use to exit.  She leaves the key in a designated place outside, which we always make sure to bring inside when we get home.

We have considered giving her a key to the front of the house, and even an alarm code (special code so we can even monitor her comings and goings) but have actually been too lazy to make a copy of the key!  LOL

**la la la**

Thank you so much for your responses ladies. Jackie, what a great idea! My alarm company does offer different codes. That would make me feel much better. I just feel like even if the front office gives them a key which they have to return, who's to say they won't run off make a copy and come back while we're sleeping ( ok, I've been watching too many movies!). Except for entertainment items an some jewelry, we don't have much worth the effort of stealing. I am more concerned with safety

behapy2day

The lady we use also has cleaned my husband's offices for the last four years so we trust her. We normally just hide a key for her. More often than not, DH will come home and check on things while she's at the house since his office it like a mile away.

 

I would definitely go with someone that has strong referrals. I like the different alarm code too. We should probably give her a different code than our own.

MrsMichiBolooki

The alarm code is a great idea! 

My cleaning lady has been cleaning 3 houses in my family for many years. Plus she cleans my company's office as well.  I know her and trust her so she has a key to our place.  It's great because she comes and goes on her own and we don't have to worry about it at all.  I love her!

I honestly would be a little wary about hiding a key outside the house, but that's because I'm a little bit of a freak.  I know a lot of robberies occur by the robber watching the house for a while to find out things like where the secret key is hidden, when nobody is home, etc.  

Ultimately, time is just what's going to build that trust.  Good luck!