If you need someone to help you with household chores, one of your options is to get cleaning services either from a maid or a housekeeper. Both housekeepers and maids clean other people’s houses, but the range of the services they provide is different. In that case, identifying your needs is the way to tell which service is more appropriate for you.
If you can’t decide between hiring a maid or a housekeeper, don’t worry. It only takes a few minutes to learn the jobs and responsibilities of a maid vs a housekeeper.
What Is a Maid?
A maid is someone who offers a range of basic general cleaning services such as dusting, ironing, and vacuuming. They take care of cleaning and upkeep in private homes, although maids may also work in hotels.
During the early years, maids were typically hired for full-time work, according to Wikipedia. Today, however, it is more common to hire maids only as needed, although hiring full-time maids and even live-in maids is still possible.
Whether you’re hiring a full-time or part-time maid, it is important to know that some maids may have limits when it comes to the cleaning services they provide. At the same time, some maids are willing to extend their services by providing more in-depth cleaning and home management tasks.
Typical Maid Services
While some maids can also do other tasks that involve in-depth cleaning and home maintenance, you can expect most maids to only offer the following services:
- Dusting
- Sweeping
- Vacuuming
- Taking out the trash
- Cleaning the bathroom
- Making beds and replacing linens
- Ironing linens
- Changing towels
When hiring a maid, be as detailed as possible when it comes to the types of chores that you need help with. If a maid could not provide what you are looking for, then a housekeeper is probably what you need.
What Is a Housekeeper?
A housekeeper is similar to a maid in that they both provide home cleaning and upkeep services. However, the services of a housekeeper encompass a wider range and may even go as far as removing carpet stains, shopping for groceries, and preparing meals.
If you need someone who will work closely with home upkeep and maintenance, then hiring a housekeeper is the right approach. It is even possible to hire a live-in housekeeper.
Typical Housekeeper Services
A housekeeper offers more flexibility in job responsibilities. Aside from cleaning, a housekeeper may also be assigned to take care of other home management-related tasks.
Furthermore, since the knowledge of housekeeping is broader, a housekeeper may also be assigned to manage other cleaning staff —according to Wikipedia — which is often the case in larger homes. It is also a housekeeper’s responsibility to report any damages, disturbances, or issues that happened without your presence.
Here are the services a housekeeper can provide:
- Cleaning all rooms, including non-residential spaces
- Laundry and wardrobe care
- Grocery shopping
- Meal preparation
- Dishwashing
- Managing household staff
- Checking consumable levels and restocking
- Pet care
- Running errands, such as paying bills
Remember that the above examples are included in the typical job description of housekeepers, as stated on the Workable website. Some housekeepers can be more flexible, though, and even offer typical home maintenance jobs like changing the bulbs.
Choosing the Right Service for You
Choosing whether to get the services of a maid vs a housekeeper does not have to be difficult at all. However, as the homeowner, the most important thing to factor in is your needs.
List Down the Services You Need
To know which role is better to hire, you can begin by listing down the tasks that you need help with. This is also a good time to separate the tasks that come up with a more detailed list of duties.
Be Specific in Assigning Tasks
Then the next step is talking to the cleaning company. When discussing the types of services with them, try to be as specific as possible, so they can assign the right type of staff for you.
For example, do not just say you need someone who can run errands for you as this could mean so many things. You might end up with someone who doesn’t entirely know what you wanted done.
Final Thoughts
You can easily tell the difference between maid and housekeeper by the scope of job duties they offer. Although both domestic employees provide services in home cleaning and upkeep, housekeepers have a wider range of skills in the industry.
We know how it can be difficult to run a household and manage cleaning and maintenance. This is why our maids and housekeepers are ready to help. Our cleaning company ensures 100% customer satisfaction by providing customized job descriptions that best fit your needs.