When I was young we had a house cleaner for a few weeks. I was too young to know if she was an independent house cleaner or someone from a professional service, but I do remember my mom rushing around to pre-clean the home before she came. “I don’t want her seeing the house this messy!” she told me.
I don’t know why the relationship didn’t work out (I was around age five, so I was focused on issues of greater magnitude), but if she chooses to hire a professional service in the future, here are the tips I would give her on how to have her home professionally cleaned:
1.) Let the employer manage the employees. If you have concerns about your service or service provider, contact the office! Let them be the intermediary between you and your service provider so all you have to focus on is enjoying your clean home…and the other 100 things on your to-d0 list!
2.) Pre-clean according to your budget by determining on which part of the home you would like your service provider to focus. For example, if you usually don’t have your guest bedroom cleaned but would like to add it to your clean without a cost increase, do most of the heavy cleaning in another room yourself so the service provider can focus his/her time elsewhere.
3.) Leave the home. Following a service provider as they clean may make them nervous or uncomfortable. If you do have specifications on how to clean a special item, such as an antique piece of furniture, call the office before your clean and the manager will make sure the service provider is prepared for the special circumstance.
4.) Give lots of feedback. Call the office after your first clean and communicate what you did and did not like. Because every home is different, it may take more than once to have your home cleaned just as you like it. The more feedback you give the closer you are to your picture perfect home!
5.) Enjoy your newfound free time! Because that is why you got professional house cleaning services – to spend time you previously spent cleaning doing that which you really love.
