Everything You Need to Know and Do Before Your First Cleaning

Before Booking

Understand the Service Options

Review the company’s offerings to ensure they meet your needs.

Ask about add-ons like deep cleaning, organizing, or specialized services (e.g., window cleaning).

Discuss Expectations.

It’s amazing how diverse peoples lives can be yet we all think everybody lives the same way we do. What you may think is obvious may not have even been noticed by your partner or cleaner. So make sure to verbally discuss expectations. Psychic communication isn’t always reliable! But it is improving as science improves. Pretty soon we might be able to read our robotic dogs mind! What a day that will be!

Be specific about areas or tasks you want prioritized.

Mention any areas you don’t want cleaned. With my clients usually having busy lives and not there the day of the clean, to make it easier, we use the open/close door rule. If the doors closed, I’ll text them to make sure I’m not supposed to clean that room if it’s a fairly new client. While I wait for a response, I continue cleaning. If they haven’t responded by time I finished, I skip the room and assume they remembered the closed door = no entry rule and assume they’re too busy at work to answer. It’s a respect rule too. They have hobbies and maybe they forgot to clean up their mess from the night before.

Then I, innocent and oblivious, walk into a room full of handmade figurines staring at me. I mean a FULL room-hours, days, weeks, months spent in here with a pocket knife. He could have gotten 2 PhD degrees in the time he spent making these.

I start question if I ever really knew my client. Does he have a basement? Because there might be a body in his basement. This is too many handmade figurines not to have a body in the basement situation.

I made a mental note that day to add to my rules:

Closed door = No entry.

I won’t even ask questions. I promise.

If the doors open, it’s definitely getting cleaned. It makes communicating easier when we have busy lives to implement similar rules.

A couple clients I’ve had, this rule didnt work for them since they had a small pet they didn’t want to get into 1 or 2 of the rooms. I just made a note to verify via text or verbally that all rooms would get cleaned the day before the clean to give them ample time to let me know if they did want a room skipped. Don’t assume everybody can text back right away.

Communicate Special Instructions

Let the company know about delicate items or areas requiring extra care.

Share any information about pets, alarms, or access codes.

Confirm if the cleaners bring their own supplies or if you need to provide anything. It’s typically industry standard for cleaners to provide their own but don’t assume. I’ve met a couple cleaners who were licensed but didn’t even own a vacuum. Their clients always provided supplies, which is odd to me but she seemed to always have a full schedule. So to each their own!

Ask about eco-friendly or allergen-free cleaning options if needed. Some cleaners swear by their holy grail-bleach. I personally have a huge disdain for bleach and absolutely hate it. If it’s always worked for somebody in the past and they have no reaction to it, they may not see a problem with how strong it could be to others.

Personally, I have a reaction to it (albeit minor but I never get sick so I’m a big baby if my nose starts running and eyes watering) and I’ve had a traumatic laundry incident involving my soccer uniform and bleach when I was 8 and I’m still not ready to forgive and forget yet. I’ve never played soccer since then. It was traumatizing.

Before the Cleaners Arrive

Tidy Up

Put away personal items like toys, dishes, or clothes to give cleaners full access to surfaces.

Secure valuables and important documents in a safe place.

Clear Clutter. Most cleaners will skip a counter/desk/furniture if it’s too cluttered and you asked for a basic cleaning only! The different tiers of cleaning mean different things to different people.

Move items off countertops, tables, and other surfaces.

Make space around high-priority areas like sinks, counters, and appliances.

Ensure someone is home to let the cleaners in or provide instructions for entry.

Test keys or codes to avoid last-minute issues. I can’t even count how many cleans were a no show only because I was waiting at the gate for over an hour and finally had to tell them I couldn’t wait any longer and to please provide access next time. They’d text a couple hours later, apologizing they either were busy at work, had bad signal, etc. I understand life gets busy but please respect a cleaners time.

Maybe make a short checklist you check every time just to be sure nothing gets forgotten. I use checklists at every single clean even though I’ve done over 3,000 move out cleans. There’s no shame in using tools to remind yourself! We’re human and have about a hundred thoughts running through our heads most days.

Sometimes the most obvious or important thought is the one our stupid brain decides it doesn’t need to keep track of and it let’s it leave the brain train station. Unattended. Irresponsibly leaving us with the shame of explaining.

Pets/Kids

Secure pets in a safe area to avoid distractions or safety concerns.

Let cleaners know if animals will be present. Also, be respectful of a cleaners time and work process and ensure kids who might be home are aware of the cleaner and stay out of her way. Some cleaners will not clean a home if there are unattended underage kids at home.

For other cleaners, it may not even be an issue at all. Maybe she’s a mom of 5 or CPR/First Aid trained and are confident they could handle anything that could happen.

I’ve had clients who had teenagers home during the clean and I’m fine with kids but it still needs to be discussed beforehand so I know what to expect. It’s a huge liability if a cleaner does clean and an underage child is there. If anything happens at all, it could be a risk for everybody if she isn’t prepared, doesn’t know CPR, or isn’t comfortable around kids.

I personally usually won’t clean if a child under 14 is home alone-it’s way too high risk. I’ve had one client be the exception but it was discussed beforehand and he stayed in his room playing video games so much I honestly forgot he was there. Kids under 14 tend to be high energy and high risk for injuries, which is why I prefer to nor be left alone with under 14. I have a weak stomach if somebody were to break a bone or get sick! But if your kid is more of a gamer and less of a skateboarding down the stairs kind of kid, I’m fine with that as long as I know beforehand!

So always check in with the cleaner first to make sure she knows what to expect and is comfortable with it. Most cleaners are parents so it usually isn’t a problem but you always want to double check when it involves the most important people in your life!

Optional Preparations

Trash: Empty full bins to prevent overflow during cleaning. Not all cleaners take out the trash.

Laundry: Remove clean or dirty laundry from floors and furniture. Most cleaners don’t touch laundry at all unless it’s added on.

After the Clean

Walk through the space and check priority areas to ensure satisfaction.

Point out any missed spots while the cleaners are still present if you are home. If you aren’t, simply check after work or after you get home and take pictures of any missed spots. Cleaners are human. It happens. Send the pictures so she can also document it in case it was one of her employees. She can discuss it and take appropriate actions.

Provide Feedback!

Share what you liked and any areas for improvement. Consider leaving a review to help the company grow. This is anecdotal and based primarily off my business’ experience but roughly only about 10% of clients remember to leave ANY review. I’ve had clients I cleaned for 1-3 years and they never left a review.

If it’s bad, maybe consider discussing it first with them so they can improve, especially if it’s a small thing or a few small areas they could improve on. There is a way to provide negative feedback without a fight or bad tensions! I’m always impressed when I find out something a client was having difficulty discussing with me for so long. It’s usually over something so small and so quick and easy to fix.

Seriously, even bad communication could reduce anxiety and heart attacks by up to 15%.***

Day of Cleaning

Ensure clear communication about preferences or problem areas.

Relax and enjoy your clean space!

Fine Print

***I’m not a doctor. I’m not even CPR/First Aid trained. I have no clue if bad communication improves your risk of a heart attack but I do know anxiety and stress are linked to heart disease. Anxiety and stress could be caused by not being able to communicate something bothering you so it makes sense to me that bad communication would reduce your risk of heart attacks.

So be safe.

Communicate.

Even if you suck at communicating.