Maid to order

As a child, Maia Gibb hated chores. She balked at washing dishes, resisted cleaning her room and battled with her sister over their weekly rotation for scrubbing the family bathroom.

"Cleaning was used as a punishment," she recalls. "Some of my biggest fights with my mom were about cleaning."

In the last three years, however, Ms. Gibb has swept that youthful baggage aside. She's now the driving force behind Victoria, B.C.-based Dusting Divas, a company that offers organic cleaning services as well as a proprietary line of organic cleaning products. Charging clients an average of $75 per visit, the Divas use special air-purifying HEPA filter vacuum cleaners, dust-free microfibre cloths and solutions based on aromatherapeutic and natural disinfectants such as grapefruit seed extract and cinnamon.

Ms. Gibb's venture is a small part of a large shift that has seen domestic cleaning go from a discretionary luxury to essential service. These days, most Canadians get their homes professionally cleaned every other week on average. With both partners in a typical couple working full time, workplace demands growing and commutes getting longer, families are keen to outsource household chores. An ageing population, well-heeled but less able to scour the sink, has also contributed to soaring demand.

Even singles with busy careers are seeking household help. Catherine MacDonald, a Toronto television reporter, shares a cleaning lady with a friend, paying $70 every other week for a four-hour session that includes laundry, ironing and such extras as cleaning out the fridge and pressing the sheets. "I admit it: I'm busy and I've gotten to the point where I just don't want to look after all that stuff myself," she says. "It's totally worth it to me."

As the customer base gets more diverse, specialty services are proliferating. Dusting Divas, says Ms. Gibb, "started out with people who had allergies to chemical cleaners or [had] small children they didn't want to expose to toxins. But it's expanded to a much broader base." Demand has been so strong that she is currently working out a franchise deal that would see her company expand nationally. Her branded products are already sold in stores across the country. With the popularity of renovations, a number of cleaning companies now offer post-reno clean-up deals. One Ontario outfit even specializes in cleaning newly constructed homes.

Spending on help in keeping house is making an increasing contribution to the domestic economy as well. The most recent estimates from Statistics Canada point to the household cleaning business being worth about $1.5-billion about three years ago -- although industry participants say the real figure is much higher because of many individual and black-market players.

Molly Maid, the Mississauga, Ont.-based housecleaning company that has expanded internationally, recorded average annual growth of 11% for the past five years. Its cleaners wear uniforms and are chauffeured to clients' doorsteps by managers in decal-marked cars. Last year, according to general manager Kevin Hipkins, consumers spent $165-million on Molly Maid services.

Demand for reputable operations is such that Windsor Cleaning Services of Ottawa has a waiting list of up to six weeks for regularly scheduled household visits. "People are terribly stressed and short on time. The easiest thing for them to delegate is cleaning, which 90% of people hate doing anyway," says Patrick Irwin, who started Windsor 25 years ago. "It's one of the very few avenues for buying leisure time, which is at a huge premium."

He claims that over the three recessions his company has endured in the past quarter century, it's become increasingly common for families to cut back almost everything before their budget for cleaning help. That's all the more impressive considering that Windsor charges $34 an hour for a minimum gig of three hours' work. That compares with a starting price of $24 an hour from Rent-A-Wife in Toronto. Molly Maid franchisees charge a flat rate per visit that averages about $80.

Those requirements are growing more particular. While Molly Maid's two-person teams bring their own supplies and cleaning equipment to each job -- as do the Dusting Divas -- Windsor says the trend is for customers to supply those essentials. "There's a growing resistance to having brushes and cloths that had been used elsewhere come into the home," says Mr. Irwin. "And many people have preferences in cleaning products."

As demand for cleaning help has risen, the greatest challenge for the companies is finding employees. Both Molly Maid and Windsor pay new recruits $9 an hour, while the more experienced workers get $15 an hour. "It's more than a lot of retail or office jobs pay, but there's still a stigma attached to domestic work," Mr. Irwin notes. "North America doesn't have the same tradition of household service; it's cultural. And cleaning isn't valued for what it is: a skilled trade."

While Canada may not have a cadre of experienced valets and ladies' maids, there is an expanding range of options at the high end of the domestic service market. For example, professional household managers are available through Starkey Canada of Montreal, a division of an international placement service for top-flight help. You can have an experienced, university-educated manage your domestic affairs, including budgeting, entertainment planning and the supervision of cleaning and maintenance staff -- for about $85,000 a year.

"We typically deal with homes at least 10,000 square feet in size and, in most cases, multiple homes," says Linda Kivenko, owner of Starkey Canada. "This sort of assignment requires not just a thorough understanding of the art of serving but tremendous discretion."

She adds that because North Americans are relatively new to such arrangements, the relationship between employee and employer requires careful management of expectations. "It's not just a question of giving service," notes Ms. Kivenko. "It's a question of learning how to receive it, how to value it."

Harried Canadians are absorbing that lesson -- fast.

DON'T GET CLEANED OUT:

To get the best value and the smoothest service from a hired cleaner, mind these tips.

Follow the word: Personal references and word of mouth are crucial in finding a cleaner with whom you'll have a good comfort level. Don't ignore your instincts: this person may spend a good amount of time around your home and family.

Mutual legal obligations: Whether you use an individual or a service, check out their status with respect to social insurance, Worker's Compensation, bonding and liability insurance. Private, independent cleaners tend to cost about half as much ($15 to $18 per hour) as a service ($25 to $35 an hour), but you usually have no protection or recourse in case of theft or damage. Also, technically, you become an employer, which means you can be on the hook for injury claims and even Canada Pension Plan contributions. Review your own liability insurance to make sure it covers service people in case of injury, and notify your insurer of the relationship.

Prioritize: Write out a prioritized list of the jobs you want done every time the cleaner comes. If you're worried about fragile items or damage during silver polishing, say they're off limits or explain how you want the tasks done. Make a secondary list of "rotational" jobs, and prioritize those, too. These might include cleaning spare rooms or dusting picture frames. Discuss the prices for those extra services in advance. Devise a tertiary list of "special projects," such as cleaning out a closet.

Payment plan debate: Those who charge by the hour insist that arrangement allows clients to retain maximum control over establishing priorities and tasks. Those who charge a flat rate insist it's the best value: small unexpected extras are covered at no incremental cost.

Door policy: If you're not at home on cleaning days, what you're going to do with children and pets? The maid must know whether, for example, Fifi is allowed outside.

Use your own products: Provide the equipment and products used in cleaning. You don't want germs -- or fleas -- from someone else's house transferred to yours through brooms, vacuum bags and cloths. This way you can also retain some control over the quality and range of the supplies. Besides, you'll want all the gear around for touch-ups between appointments.

Mind the boundaries: Residential cleaners will typically not lift anything over 20 kilograms, climb higher than a step-ladder reaches, walk pets or undertake outside chores. Under Worker's Comp rules, they are classified as "indoor workers" and have to comply with the rules.

Quality check: Key areas on which to keep an eye include behind toilets, the edge of the floor under kitchen cupboard overhangs and under mats in entrance ways.

Deirdre McMurdy is co-host of Global TV's MoneyWise.; dmcmurdy@globaltv.ca; © National Post 2004

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