There’s no way of telling when we’re all going to be vaccinated against COVID-19, so all we can do for now is follow the safety measures, maintain appropriate social distance, and disinfect our houses regularly. When you can’t do the latter as often as you’d like, you’ll have to find a trusted cleaning service to do the job for you. Most cleaning services are made up of professionals who’ll ensure that your safety, and that of their employees, is well maintained. Still, to ensure that you’re not hiring non-professionals, you’ll need to set up criteria for choosing a competent and trustworthy company. Read on to find out more about what you can do.
Ask Friends and Neighbors
Ideally, the first thing you should start with is to ask around. If you haven’t hired a cleaning service before, then most probably one of your friends, neighbors, or family members who live nearby knows of or have hired a local service that they trust. You can also try out some apps, such as MyNeighborhood or NextDoor, which will allow you to search for the top-rated cleaning services in your area, but make sure that you read people’s reviews first before hiring anyone.
Referrals
Another way you can go about this is through referrals. While you can use reliable apps to search for local cleaning services, you can get referrals through them as well. Simply make a post on any of these apps, enter your zip code or neighborhood location in your post, and type that you’re looking for a cleaning service. That way, cleaning services will reply directly to you and provide you with their contact information, website page, and so on. This is a good method for those who would like to get in touch directly with cleaning services and not just read reviews.
Interviews
Interviews are a good way of finding out how cleaning services normally operate. Before you make up your mind, be sure that you interview three cleaning services at least. You can write down the type of questions you’ll be asking beforehand to answer all of your concerns. After all, you’re hiring people to have access to your house, so you should be comfortable working with them, and this can only be achieved once you have thoroughly inquired about their credibility and services. Here are some things you can ask about during these interviews:
Schedule, availability, and punctuality.
The types of properties this service usually clean.
Work ethic.
Sanitization and Disinfection.
Counter Covid-19 measures.
No Extra or Hidden Charges
One good criterion to base your search on is asking if there are any extra or hidden charges. Unfortunately, not all cleaning services will be honest about hidden fees before you pay them. For example, a cleaning service might tell you the amount you’ll have to pay in exchange for cleaning your property. Still, they won’t explain that cleaning fans, for instance, or kitchen appliances, requires extra fees, not until you hire them anyway.
The cleaning specialists at Elite Home Cleaners explain that one of the factors that make a great cleaning service is transparency. If the service you hire is not clear on these points in the first place, it’s best that you ask them about their cleaning routine and the total fees they’ll charge you when they’re done. You might as well ask them whether or not there are hidden fees in the future to be sure.
Every Nook and Cranny
A competent cleaning service should at least be able to clean every nook and cranny of your house. You’ll pay a good sum so that your house is dust, bacteria, and virus-free, so you must ensure that the service you’re hiring is good enough to do just that. It’s true that you’ll know the quality of a service’s work only when you see it with your own eyes, but you can still get a rough idea of how they work through people’s reviews on third-party websites. For example, suppose you find several reviews explaining that individual cleaning service neglects cleaning rugs or the corners of the room. In that case, this is probably a red flag, so it’s best that you find alternatives in these cases.
Know Who Will Supply the Equipment
This factor won’t exactly determine whether a cleaning service is good or not, but you can use this to narrow down your options. Normally, cleaning services will come to your home with all the essential equipment, supplies, products, and whatnot, so you won’t have to worry about getting the equipment yourself. However, in some cases, the cleaners ask you to provide your own cleaning supplies. This doesn’t indicate unprofessionalism by any means, but it’s an important aspect to consider, especially if you don’t want cleaners to use your supplies.
Top-of-the-Line Products
In case the professionals you’re hiring are bringing their own equipment and cleaning products, you might want to ask them what type of products they use. If you have a family member who suffers from allergies, for example, using allergy-inducing products is undoubtedly out of the question. There is a high possibility that unprofessional cleaning service might not be using antibacterial or bleach products. Instead, they might be using only fruity or sweet-scented products. To ensure this won’t happen, you’ll have to discuss the types of products the cleaners will use before hiring them. You should also ensure that the products they’re using are CDC approved for optimal sanitization.
Expectations and Boundaries
Cleaning services usually have a standard cleaning routine, so if you have any additional chores you want to add to that routine, it’s important to know whether or not they’ll be able to perform them. So, be sure that you inform them of your expectations or boundaries by co-creating a list of responsibilities and tasks you’re expecting cleaners to perform. This will also give you an idea of how much you’ll pay at the end.
With that said, finding a trusted cleaning service in your town shouldn’t be a problem. Ensure that you’re clear about your requests, and never shy away from asking about the small details, like how they will clean your kitchen appliances or clean your fans, for instance. Finally, be sure to discuss a payment to know what to expect at the end.
These are all good tips. My daughter-in-law found a good cleaning service, but is no longer using them because of the pandemic. She would clean up after them so it made no sense!