What To Do Before A House Cleaner Comes
Hiring a cleaning service can make it much easier to keep your home tidy and comfortable. It’s a luxury, but in many cases, you can’t simply leave your house as is and expect them to clean it. Understandably, you may wonder what to do before a house cleaner comes.
Remove clutter, clothes, shoes, and your child's or pet’s toys from the floor before your house cleaner comes. It’s also important to hide your cash and valuable items that could fall and break or get stolen during the process. Put your dishes away and clear your countertops to make it easy for them to clean.
Let your cleaning service know about any specific instructions that could make their job easier. Keep in mind that you must put your pets away somewhere they can’t get out. Otherwise, the cleaners may be unwilling to enter your home. Follow along as we explore what to do before a house cleaner comes.
How To Get Ready For A House Cleaner
1. Clear The Floors
Cluttered floors make it hard for professional cleaners to vacuum and mop surfaces. This can add to how long it takes, make their jobs harder, and even mess up their schedule. The last thing you should do is leave clothes, shoes, and toys on the ground before cleaners come.
Walk through your home room-by-room and pick up everything you see. Granted, you don’t need to vacuum if that’s included with your cleaning service. However, you should at least pick up anything that they would need to grab before they could vacuum.
2. Put Your Dishes Away
The average cleaning service doesn’t handle dishes, at least not without charging extra money. Professional cleaners cannot clean your countertops if they are covered with dirty dishes. Ideally, you should run your dishwasher or hand-wash your dishes the day before they arrive.
That way, you will have had time to dry them and put them away. It’s not their job to pick your dirty dishes up, wash your counters, and put the dirty dishes back down. Doing so can also ensure they have more time to focus on tough stains and details.
3. Hide Sensitive Items
It’s all too easy to leave sensitive items out in the open without thinking about anyone seeing them. After all, it’s your home, so there’s no reason to hide anything potentially embarrassing unless you’re having a party. However, you risk making your cleaning service workers feel uncomfortable if you leave sensitive items, like underwear, out.
Simply check your floors, laundry bin, bed, and countertops to make sure you don’t leave sensitive items out. This can even include sentimental items, such as family heirlooms or a loved one’s ashes.
4. Conceal Your Valuables
In a perfect world, we could all trust strangers to clean our homes without worrying about theft. Unfortunately, that is unrealistic, and it’s much better to be safe than sorry. It’s essential to hide your valuable belongings before the cleaning service arrives.
Of course, you should put away cash and valuable jewelry. Many people also have nice vases and pieces of art that aren’t at risk of theft but may break. It’s all too easy to knock over a vase while dusting, vacuuming, and mopping.
Primarily, you must put away anything that you would be upset about getting stolen. Gradually, you can be less guarded as you get to know your cleaning service staff and avoid problems.
5. Disable Your Alarm
Do you plan to leave the house when your cleaning service comes over? If so, then it’s important to turn off your security alarm before you leave if you have one. The only alternative is to give the cleaners your security alarm code, but that’s a bad idea.
This is understandably nerve-wracking for some homeowners. However, you must weigh the possible outcomes of giving your security alarm to strangers. The safest alternative is to disable the alarm, wait for the cleaners to arrive, and return when they are done.
Otherwise, you can simply stay at home while they clean your house. The latter option comes in handy if you have pets.
6. Put Your Pets Away
Many cleaning services simply won’t clean houses when pets are present. However, others are willing to clean houses with pets if they are safely concealed. “Safe” is the key word, as you face a lawsuit if your dog gets out and bites one of the cleaners.
Ideally, you should designate a room for your pet to stay in while the cleaning service is there. Granted, that means that the professional cleaners cannot clean that room, but it’s a small sacrifice. Make the room as comfortable as possible to ensure your pet doesn't get stressed.
Fill bowls with food and water and put their favorite toys in the room. Some homeowners even use white noise machines to keep their pet calm. Keep in mind that they likely will get stressed, especially when the vacuum runs, but it’s temporary.
7. Set Expectations
It’s a good idea to discuss with your cleaning service what they will do days ahead of their arrival. This gives you the chance to figure out what you should do around the house. For example, some services wash bedding, whereas others won’t touch your sheets.
Finding out what their routine is lets you check chores off your list and leave them for the cleaning service. After all, you are paying for the service, so why not let them do everything that’s included? Even still, you can wash your bedding before they arrive if you prefer that others don’t touch it.
8. Write Instructions
The average cleaning service has a list of protocols they follow when cleaning homes. However, some services leave leeway to accommodate special requests from their customers. For example, you may request they ignore one of the rooms in your home.
It’s also important to let them know about problems, such as plumbing problems, that may affect their performance. Make sure to put the note in a spot where they can easily find your instructions, like the counter or door.
9. Understand What You’re Paying For
Did you incur some unexpected charges the last time someone cleaned your house? If so, it’s important to understand what you’re paying for before a cleaning service arrives. For example, you can typically find a list of chores they include as part of a package.
They may also list extra charges that apply to some situations, such as pets. Some cleaning services charge extra to clean houses with pets in them. That’s because of the extra workload of cleaning up stubborn stains and pet hair.
If this becomes unmanageable, it may be worth switching to a cleaning service that doesn’t include extra charges. Otherwise, you may want to request switching to a package that isn’t as expensive, even if it includes fewer chores.
Is My House Too Dirty For A Cleaning Service?
Your house isn’t likely too dirty for a cleaning service to clean. However, environmental hazards, like mold, mildew, animal waste, and pests may deter a cleaning service. It’s essential to be honest and let your cleaning service know about any of the aforementioned red flags.
This can help them save time from driving to your home only to find out they cannot clean your home. Don’t take it personally, as this is typically a matter of policy. Cleaning services must protect their employees, and it’s unsafe to clean a home that is full of mold.
Summing It Up
Before your house cleaner comes, it’s a good idea to clear your counters and floors so they can clean them. Put away sensitive items and valuable belongings that could easily break or get stolen. Let your cleaning service know if you have pets, and hide them in a room with food and water so they don’t disturb the cleaners.
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Nick Durante is a professional writer with a primary focus on home improvement. When he is not writing about home improvement or taking on projects around the house, he likes to read and create art. He is always looking towards the newest trends in home improvement.
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