A large number of our customers haven’t used a cleaner before – or maybe those who did have seen their lives and needs change since they last employed someone.

When you book a regular cleaner you will usually have your allocated slot in which to make the most of their time and get the best results. So how can you ensure that this is money well spent?

1. BE REALISTIC
Think about what you want them to achieve in your home… If you are a family of six with five dogs and three cat’s then two hours every-other week is probably not going to be enough time for anyone to clean thoroughly. But if this is what your budget dictates then consider asking them to prioritise on the rooms that need the most attention; communal areas like the hallways and sitting room and family high-use areas like the bathroom and kitchen.

if your home is large and you are on a budget then perhaps a weekly clean with a rota of upstairs one week and downstairs the other week. This does work very well. Always ask.

Consider booking additional hours ‘as and when’ to clean other rooms.

If it is a ‘one off clean’ it is best to ask for specific areas to be focussed on as a priority, if any additional time is allowed then more can be carried out.

As a general rule a good home clean of a 3-bed family home can be achieved in 3hours each week. This means that the cleaner can keep on top of things and, develop a routine for ‘rotating’ rooms and concentrating extra time on different areas each week as needed.

2. COMMUNICATE
We always discuss the customers needs before we start (and when possible attend for a ‘meet and greet’ visit so that both client and team members can start the right way). But ongoing communication is key – whilst a professional cleaner will know which areas need the most attention (and those that will take the longest) they don’t know how you ‘live’ in your home and the things that are important to you. Maybe you rarely use the sitting room but spend lots of time in the kitchen. Would you like the dining room left but ‘freshened up’ at Christmas? If a ‘spare room’ is rarely used it won’t need a weekly clean. Let the cleaner know, then you can be sure that their time is better spent.

Perhaps think about a rota system, for example, downstairs focussed on one week, upstairs focussed on the next week. This system does work very well.

And that cobweb that you’ve noticed if you lay at a certain angle on the sofa with all the lights on…. At different times of the day and from different angles it may be missed – speak up!

3. CLEANING BEFORE THE CLEANER….
This is a ‘hot topic’ amongst customers, should you or shouldn’t you ‘clean’ before the cleaner comes? Maybe cleaning is unnecessary but anything you can do to allow them to concentrate on cleaning means their time (and your money) is better spent. If you can tidy items away or clear floor surfaces then valuable minutes wont be wasted clearing a path for the hoover.
The same applies to washing up – unless you’d rather not – but washing up last nights plates so that we can access a sink takes valuable minutes away from elsewhere.

4. BE FAIR
If you find a good cleaner then treat them well! The Sort and Sparkle girls are hardworking and diligent and will often go the extra mile; but expecting them to clean up human vomit or other bodily fluids is out of their remit! (And yes, they have been asked) Maybe in this instance you should ‘clean before the cleaner’……

Why having a cleaner is unlikely to change your life!

I know, I know, that sounds really negative! And I’m sure that as the boss of a cleaning company I should be telling you how employing a cleaner will free up lots of your spare time and will therefore revolutionise your life…… but the truth is that most of our customers fall into one of two groups. On the one hand there are those who regularly and thoroughly clean their own home. They have a routine of their own and expectations, quite rightly, that a cleaner will step into their shoes and take over – thereby freeing up all the time that they are currently spending cleaning themselves. The only problem is that, exactly for all the aforementioned reasons, these customers often find themselves cleaning BEFORE the cleaner arrives and then continuing with their own cleaning routine in between visits (not a bad thing if you only have a clean every other week). But not exactly assigning the cleaning routine to the ‘completed’ pile!
The other type of customer can be found at the other end of the cleaning spectrum and has minimal time or inclination to clean their house themselves – so employing a regular cleaner isn’t going to impact greatly on their time constraints or change their routine.
So, you are probably wondering why anyone should actually employ a cleaning service and what are the additional benefits? (other than coming home to a clean house!)
A lot of our customers mention the psychological benefits of employing our services – and, as well as the obvious lifestyle and health perks of living in a clean home, the mental health benefits and peace of mind greatly outweigh the perception of additional free time.
So if you’re considering hiring a cleaner because you have dreams of freeing up lots of spare time the chances are you really won’t notice (and if you do then its an added bonus!) – but, if you can embrace the psychological benefits then, as the saying goes “tidy house, tidy mind”.