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How To Prepare For A House Cleaning Service
Woohoo! You’ve just booked a cleaning with a maid service in Seattle. Now you get to sit back and relax while a team of cleaning professionals dolly up your home.
Before you relax there are a few things you should do before your cleaners arrive so you get the best possible service for your home.
If you take care of these small tasks you’ll make life a lot easier for you and your cleaners.
Tidy up
When you hire a professional cleaning company, ask them if they include tidying and organizing in their service. Many cleaning services do not offer this service. If they do, it’s usually an additional cost.
Tidying and organizing takes a lot of time, so don’t expect your cleaners to do this automatically when they arrive to do the cleaning. If tidying isn’t included in their offering, you should spend 15-30 minutes organizing your home before they arrive.
This makes it much easier for them to clean efficiently and your home will look better when they’re finished. If your home is not organized, the maids will need to spend more time putting items away and decluttering, and less time cleaning.
It’s normal to assume that a cleaning service will organize and declutter your home for you, but this isn’t always the case. Spending a bit of time before they arrive to tidy up goes a long way and will result in better cleaning results at the end of the day.
Figure out how your cleaners will enter your home
If you plan on being home when your cleaners arrive, let them know if you want them to knock on the door or call you when they arrive. The last thing you want is to leave your cleaners waiting outside for longer than 5-10 minutes.
If you’re planning on letting them inside, make sure you’re close enough to the front door to hear them knock or ring the doorbell. Most cleaning services will give you an arrival time so you can plan your day accordingly. It’s also a good idea to give the cleaning service your phone number in case you don’t hear them at the front door.
If you aren’t going to be home when your cleaners arrive, be sure to leave detailed instructions so there’s no confusion when they arrive. There are a few different ways you can let cleaners in securely when you aren’t home. We’ll list them here from most secure to least.
Keyless Security Lock (high security)
If you’re hiring a cleaning service and they will be returning regularly, consider installing a keyless entry to your home. Keyless entry locks are a great investment and the lockpads can be controlled remotely to lock and unlock the door even when you aren’t at the house. The passcode can be easily changed if you stop using your cleaning service too. Also, if you ever want to rent out your home as a short term rental, a keyless pad entry is essential for easy check-in and check-out. This is the most secure option, but is also the most expensive ranging from $250-$1000.
Lockbox (medium security)
Another great way to leave a key for your cleaners is to put it in a lockbox and leave it near the front door. Lockboxes are commonly used by property management companies and landlords who need to provide access to the home for various vendors to come and go. A lockbox is a cost effective way to keep your key in a secure location as they can be found for less than $50.
Hide your key (lowest security)
If you don’t have a keyless entry or a lockbox, another way you can let your cleaners in when you aren’t home is by hiding the key near the front door. This is the least secure option, but if you can find a good hiding place for your key it should work just fine. Make sure to inform your cleaning service with the exact location of the key to prevent any issues for them when they’re trying to find the key.
Secure your pets
Do you have pets? If you do, you’ll want to take the right precautions to protect them and your cleaners from any harm. If you have an indoor-only cat, inform the cleaning service that you have a cat and they can’t be let outside. That way, your cleaners will know not to leave any doors open in case your cat gets frightened and tries to escape.
If you have a dog consider sending them to daycare or taking them with you to work on your cleaning day. Even if your dog is friendly towards strangers, you don’t know if he or she will react differently to any cleaners that arrive. Also, your cleaners may not be comfortable around dogs so it’s always good to check in with the cleaning service beforehand to make sure if it’s ok to leave your dog inside the house. For your pets safety, it’s usually best to make other arrangements so that the dog isn’t inside the house during the cleaning process.
We hope you found these tips helpful. If you have any questions about the cleaning process at Seatown Cleaners, give us a call at (206) 880-3732. If you can take care of these simple steps before your cleaners arrive, you’ll get the best cleaning experience possible.
