How Much Should I Pay to Have Help with Ironing?

in response to some of the other posts...
there is a whole lot of truth to "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR". $80 is reasonable if you know she is honest and trustworthy. as a comparison....for bi-weekly visits I charge $75. If someone is having it done every week, I do drop it to $60 because it is less work for me when it is done more often.
but, to address your question... since you said the amounts would vary each visit, I would offer to pay $1/piece. If you consider how long it takes to iron a single blouse, lets say 3 minutes x 10 blouses = 30 minutes. So, in theory that puts her at making (for your ironing) $20/hour.

I agree with the other posts as far as checking with a local dry cleaning sevices. You should pay a little less per item than they charged as she will be using your electric and supplies. As far as $80 being too much for cleaning I totally disagree. When I first moved here in 1992 I worked for a cleaning company that was charging more than that then.
J.

Ask the dry cleaners how much per item they charge for press only. Also ask how much they charge for shirt laundry. Although it is convenient because she is in your home, you may be better off sending it all to the cleaners.

For $80 per visit unless she is staying eight hours she should do the ironing at no extra charge. I know several people that clean homes every other week doing light house cleaning for $50. When I had my house cleaning job I charged according to how dirty the home was. Normally I got $100 for the first visit and then $50 after that. I cleaned every other week. If she won't do the ironing for what you are paying already I would suggest getting a new house keeper. But then I enjoyed what I was doing. Actually considering getting back into housekeeping again. Good Luck!

You should definetely pay per piece. Just check out your local dry cleaning business to get their pricing for comparison and go from there.

I would offer her close to what you would pay to have them pressed at the dry cleaners...maybe $2 per item?

I agree with what someone else said....I wouldn't pay more for the additional service -- unless you have a very very messy or huge house! Seems like the $80 you are currently paying per visit is a reasonable rate to cover the additional request(s). However, to be fair, since it is additional and not part of the original agreement, maybe trade off doing ironing one of the visits for something that can wait until the next visit. Just my opinion.