Let’s talk about cleaning services!

Sometimes, our homes can be so messy and look like they’re all over the place that the last thing we want to do is start cleaning them. Some people say that calling a cleaning service to take care of this process for you is pointless because with the right products and enough patience, you can make your home sparkle all by yourself.

Even though they might be a little right, as much as we might hate to admit it, when you’re a retiree, it’s quite hard to have the same strength you did when you were younger. So reaching tight spots, bending, and squatting in every single room is not the smartest idea, especially if you have some joint issues or get tired pretty fast.

So that’s when cleaning services come in handy, especially if your home needs a deep cleaning session. When pros are done doing their job, you can simply maintain it, which will make things a lot easier for you.

But looking for the perfect house cleaning service is not exactly straightforward because you can get overwhelmed with so much information. You have to look at different websites, compare prices, read people’s reviews, look at what things they have, schedule an appointment, and so on.

That’s why we did our research for you! We know that you want to get the most for your money, so in today’s article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about home cleaning services. From the best time to book to how to get discounts, you’ll find out everything, so keep reading!

1. What exactly do you need?

Before you decide to call any companies and ask them for an offer, you have to take a moment and really think about what you really need help with.

What exactly do you want them to do? That’s a really important question to ask yourself before anything else because not all cleaning services perform the same tasks. For instance, some of them might take care of your laundry, some might do the dishes or make the beds, while others might dust and vacuum.

It’s really important to know exactly what you’re expecting so that you know what you should be looking for. Besides that, this also helps them a lot, since you don’t come home and tell them that you expected to have your laundry folded when they simply don’t deal with such things.

Are you on a budget?

Another important reason why you should ask them about the kinds of services they perform is your budget. If you’re tight on money but still want to enjoy all the benefits of a cleaning service, you should decide what you want to get done and customize their services so that you can stay within your budget.

For instance, maybe you need help dealing with the bathrooms and the kitchen since these 2 rooms are typically harder to clean. There are companies that allow you to select the parts of your home you want them to clean for you, but not all of them have this option available, so ask them before you book an appointment.

2. Frequency is important

What exactly are you looking for? Do you want them to clean your home just once, for a big change like moving out? Or do you want a cleaning service that will take care of your tidy-up sessions each week or month? Think about how often you need professionals to clean up your home, so you can know exactly how you’re going to deal with this process.

You should know that generally speaking, the more frequently you ask them to help you, the more affordable the final price will be. That’s understandable because it means you’re one of their regular customers, so they want to treat you right.

This means that weekly cleaning services will be cheaper per visit compared to monthly visits, and the price difference can actually be only a couple of dollars more per month.

Whatever frequency you try the first time, you can always change the recurrence if you feel like it’s too often or too late. If you only need them to come once, you should know that the service is going to be a little more expensive due to 2 main reasons: they’ll have to put more effort into it and you’re not a regular customer.

3. Flat rate is a good choice

You’re probably checking out services and offers, and you notice that one cleaning service is way cheaper than others. So yes, you’re more likely to be interested in that one, right?

But before you do that, you should check whether it’s a flat rate or not. It might not be, and you risk ending up with a surprise bill that is worth way more money than you were expecting. Not only that, but you also risk not getting a professional result.

Long story short, it’s better to consider a flat rate because it’s actually more stable, it assures you that the quality of the service is going to be worth your money, and you’re also not going to be shocked when they hand you the bill.

4. What about a walk-through?

This one is very important, so read it carefully! It might sound like I’m advising you to turn into an annoying customer, but I’m not talking in vain. When your home is neat and clean, you should consider doing a walk-through with the cleaner so you can make sure that everything is taken care of.

It might seem irritating at first, but it will give you the chance to see if anything was missed or if there are any areas in your home where you or they, if you want to continue with their services, need to pay extra attention.

As you can probably guess, if you discover that they forgot about a particular area, it might be hard to bring them back on the same day, so make sure you do this before they go.

If you’re away while the cleaning service company is doing their job, make sure you do a walk-through as soon as you get home. There are many popular cleaning companies that have a cleaning service guarantee, but in order to benefit from it, you have to let them know about any issues within 24 hours.

5. More maids

Are you one of those people who think that more cleaners equal a shiny and fresh home? Well, that rule doesn’t always apply. Don’t get me wrong; it makes perfect sense to think that if there are more people doing something at once, they’ll get the job done a lot faster and more effectively.

With the risk of sounding annoying, I’ll tell you that this way of thinking is actually based on assumptions. Not everyone’s good at cleaning, and the more maids you ask the cleaning service to send to your home, the more likely they’ll be to chit-chat and waste a bit of time.

Taking a break and talking to other people is perfectly fine, but if somehow they get involved in something, they might forget to pay attention to specific details or properly do their work.

Again, these are speculative ideas, and they do not imply that something similar will occur to you. If you want to make sure that you’ll like this cleaning service, make sure you do your research before contacting them!

6. Man-hours

Pay attention to this one because many people make mistakes when it comes to “man-hours”! Customers see that there’s a price per hour, but they don’t realize that this price is actually both per hour and per cleaner.

So let’s say that the cleaning services tell you that they’ll charge $20 per man-hour and that they’ll send you 3 employees. You won’t pay only $20 for all of the cleaners, but you’ll actually be charged $60 per hour (3x$20).

Another thing you should take into consideration when you think about charging by the hour is that the cleaners won’t be motivated to move faster but rather slower. The more time it takes them to do their job, the more money they’ll get at the end of the day.

Speaking of that, there are cleaning services that want to avoid these sorts of issues, so they come up with a solution: they started to charge a flat rate, and they also give their employees a bonus if customers are happy with the results, so you have nothing to worry about.

If you’re looking for a great product that is going to help you maintain your home nice and fresh after all the work the cleaning service has put in, here’s one that goes beyond your expectations!

And if you have no idea how you’re going to use the product that we previously talked about, I’m going to teach you all the tips and tricks! Check out this article to find out: NEWS: Cleaning Pros Now Use Vinegar to Save Money (4 Hacks)!