How Do You Prepare for House Cleaning?
A great solution to have a clean and spotless home is by hiring a house cleaning service. This can save you from being stressed about cleaning the house yourself. Professional house cleaners are generally well-equipped and trained to be able to consistently deliver excellent results. You can even personalize the cleaning package, either from light basic clean to heavy deep clean, based on your needs.
Getting a house cleaner has been proven to be cost-effective as well. It can save you from the cost of buying expensive products and equipment as most cleaning companies bring their own cleaning supplies. Moreover, they are sufficiently knowledgeable about the right cleaning tools and agents to use on the different kinds of surfaces. You can likewise have more free time to spend with your family and to enjoy doing the things you love.
The first step is to look for cleaning services that offer professional cleaners with the best qualities. After searching for a trusted and reliable house cleaner to hire, the next step would be to prepare your house on the cleaning day. Before the house cleaner arrives, you may need to do a little preparation to give you that satisfactory cleaning experience.
Here are a few tips that you can do to prepare for house cleaning:
⭐️ Give clear and concise instructions on problem areas that need to be worked on.
Professional house cleaners know by heart that their main task is to give the house a sparkly clean. However, as no two houses are the same and each family is unique, the cleaning needs and requirements differ. As homeowners, you may want to share a set of rules or boundaries that you would like the house cleaners to follow.
You should always give clear and detailed instructions beforehand or upon their arrival. When you have some specific preferences concerning the home cleaning service, e.g. request to use eco-friendly cleaning products, be sure to communicate it with them. The same goes when you have certain problem areas in the house that you would like the cleaners to pay extra attention to. With effective communication, the cleaners can acknowledge and understand what you are expecting them to do.
⭐️ Pick up the clutters or household items that may be getting the way.
Clutters or household items like books, clothing, dishes, or toys scattered around the house may slow down or hinder the cleaning process. Tidying up and organizing the house rooms before a house cleaner arrives ensures that they can focus most of their time to do the actual cleaning, i.e. dusting the furniture, mopping the floors, vacuuming the carpets, scrubbing the surfaces, etc. Picking up the household items and properly storing them inside the cabinets or drawers can prevent them from being misplaced during a cleaning.
⭐️ Don’t leave important documents lying around.
Keep safe any important documents including birth certificates, property deeds, tax returns, insurance paperwork, financial accounts, bank statements, or bills. If you leave pertinent papers just lying about, they may end up mixing with junk mails or magazines that are likely to get trashed while the cleaner is tidying up your home.
The documents should be kept properly in a safety box, a secure file, or spot in your home. You can put a “do not touch” note on them prior to the house cleaner’s arrival. This way you can avoid the trouble of tracking down any vital records from being mislaid or lost.
⭐️ Secure any valuables away from the areas to be cleaned.
Although most house cleaning companies put their employees through comprehensive background check procedures as well as being bonded and insured, this doesn’t guarantee that theft won’t occur. Secure your valuables such as loose cash, jewelry, small electronics, and gadgets, by placing them in a locked room, safety box, or inside your vehicle’s trunk.
On the other hand, from a cleaner’s perspective, they may find it uneasy working in a house where money or valuables are left unattended. They would not like to be falsely accused when something of value is missing. This is particularly true if you hire house cleaners for the first time and you haven’t built up a high level of trust with them. Protect you and your house cleaner’s peace of mind by securing your valuables away.
⭐️ Keep the kids safe and occupied.
Having kids that are constantly running around and standing in the way can be rather difficult and distracting to the house cleaner. More importantly, it can be dangerous when your children are playing around the heavy electrical appliances such as a vacuum cleaner with wires lying across the floors.
Keeping your kids occupied is one of the ideal ways to keep them away from the cleaning equipment and solutions that can cause some accidents. Have your kids play in the yard or in another room which can then be cleaned last. This can assuredly help your kids stay safe while the cleaners do their best in making your house clean.
⭐️ Put away the pets on a cleaning day.
If your pet dogs and cats may feel stressed or do not like having strangers in the house, it is a good idea to keep them somewhere out of harm’s way on the cleaning day. You can put your pets in the crate, leave them in the backyard, treat them to the park, or send them to animal daycare centers.
Although pets are often one of the happiest additions in the family, they can also be the messiest. House cleaning services for homes with pets may require more cleaning time so that they can do a thorough job in removing pet dander or stains.
⭐️ Ensure that the cleaners can get in the house.
When you are at work or you plan to be away during the home cleaning day, make sure that the cleaning company has access to the garage code or a spare key. You can even leave any special instructions for turning off a home security system. But if you are not comfortable with this set-up, you can have someone home during the scheduled cleaning time to let the house cleaners in.
If there are any unavoidable situations causing conflict in the cleaning schedule, the homeowners can always call back to the company to notify them. Most cleaning companies would appreciate being informed a few days in advance so that they may be able to adjust or reschedule new appointments. Do keep in mind though of the additional fee for the short notice, late cancellation, or if no access is otherwise provided or arranged for house cleaners on the scheduled date and time.
⭐️ Be polite and patient to the house cleaners.
About 1 in 5 house cleaners have experienced being mistreated by homeowners and hence, they are often afraid of making any small mistakes. Inevitably, even the most skilled and experienced cleaning professionals are bound to make a mistake at some point.
Treat your house cleaners with respect and compassion the same way as you would treat any of your friends and loved ones. Be as patient and understanding as you can, they are just humans after all.
If there are places that may have been missed or if you think was done poorly, don’t be afraid to politely ask the cleaner to redo that area. Also, being kind and building rapport can go a long way if you are looking for recurring home cleaning services.
After going through the above tips in preparing your house for the cleaning day, you are now all set to let the cleaners in. The house cleaners appreciate you taking the time and effort to make sure that they can fully put their heart and mind into their work. Just sit back and relax while the cleaners do their magic. And before you know it, your house is sparkling in no time!