After the COVID-19 pandemic, more people than ever are recognizing the value of cleaning services. In fact, the global home cleaning services industry is projected to grow by 9.6% from 2022 to 2026.
If you’ve made the decision to hire cleaning services for your home, you’re not alone. However, if you’ve never hired a maid service before, then you should know a few things about how to prepare for the first visit.
Here’s how you can prepare for first-time maid services.
Declutter and Organize Your Home
One of the main things that you should do when preparing for a maid service visit is to organize and declutter your home.
To allow cleaners to clean your house adequately, your belongings should be out of the way. Be sure that they’re able to reach countertops, floors, and all surfaces well enough. Clear away all dirty dishes and food before the maid arrives and also make sure that children’s toys and belongings are out of the way as well.
While you can pay a maid to help declutter your home as well, it’s better to move things out of the way yourself. By doing some preparatory housekeeping, your cleaners can spend time on the most important tasks such as cleaning your surfaces and getting rid of dust and grime.
Put Away Valuables
Before your cleaner arrives, it’s also a good idea to put away any valuables that you have.
Reputable cleaning companies will hire employees that have been checked and vetted thoroughly and they won’t be likely to steal from you. However, there are many reasons why it’s better not to leave valuables lying around.
Accidents happen and it’s possible that a cleaner could damage an item if it’s in the way. In addition to this, many cleaners feel uncomfortable when there are valuables around since missing items could cause problems with your relationship with them. Cleaners often get blamed when items go missing even if they didn’t have anything to do with it.
Be sure to avoid these issues altogether by simply clearing aware your valuables before a cleaner arrives.
Move Fragile Items
In addition to putting valuable items away before a house cleaner comes, you should also consider removing fragile items as well. Items such as vases, for example, could get broken by accident in some rare instances.
To play it safe, you might want to go ahead and remove some of these items from the areas where the cleaner will be cleaning. Particularly consider putting items away if they’re family heirlooms or are very important to you or valuable for some reason.
While a cleaner will typically do a good job and issues will be rare, it’s best to remove items such as these just to be extra careful.
Have a Plan for Your Kids and Pets
In addition to getting dirty dishes and belongings out of the way before a cleaner arrives, you should also have a plan for your kids and pets as well.
Be sure that you keep kids and pets away from any cleaning activities that are being done in your home. Ensure that they don’t have access to electric appliances such as vacuum cleaners.
It’s a good idea to have kids play in the bedroom or keep pets outside while the cleaner is around. Ideally, keep them out of the cleaner’s way by letting them focus on something else. This will help you keep your kids and pets safe while also allowing cleaners to be more productive as well.
Be Ready to Give Instructions
When you hire a house cleaner to clean your home, you need to make sure that you give them clear instructions to follow.
Every home is a bit different, so you need to be sure that your cleaners know about the specifics of your home. Help them understand what you’re looking for with cleaning services and ensure that they do everything that’s needed in your home.
Make sure to communicate with your maid and ask them any questions that you have. Make special requests if needed. The better you communicate your needs to them, the better job they’ll end up doing.
Be Honest With Your Feedback
Even though you should give your cleaner clear instructions in the first place, you should also be sure to offer additional feedback after the job is complete. If there’s something that doesn’t meet your expectations, then make sure that you bring it up to them. Give guidance on what you prefer instead.
While you should always be kind and courteous when speaking with your house cleaners, make sure that you’re honest with them and let them how they can improve. This will help them to do a better job as they continue coming back to your home.
With great guidance, cleaners will do a better job of meeting your needs. They’ll also feel more comfortable knowing exactly what you want.
Understand the Services You Requested
When hiring a maid, make sure that you know what to expect based on the services you requested.
Make sure that you understand the service offerings and that you requested the correct service for your needs. General house cleaning services will be different from deep cleaning or some other service options, for example.
You should understand what is included with each of the services the cleaner provides. This way, you won’t be disappointed if the service you requested doesn’t meet your expectations.
If you need special cleaning services, make sure that you communicate this to the cleaner beforehand.
Preparing for Maid Services With These Tips
If you’ve hired maid services for your home, make sure that you’re prepared for their first visit. Decluttering, having a plan for kids and pets, and communicating well with your cleaners will be essential.
Need maid services? Get your estimate now to learn more about how we can help keep your home clean.
