Fifteen minutes well spent, and one thing people do that wastes the visit.
Negreiro Cleaning Services LLC
The most common thing people do before a cleaner arrives is clean. We would gently suggest not doing that, and we will explain why in a minute.
What does help takes about fifteen minutes and makes a real difference to how much of the visit goes on cleaning rather than on moving your things from one surface to another.
If you only do one column, do the first one.
None of this is required. A house nobody prepared still gets cleaned. It just means more of the visit goes on moving your things than on the work you are paying for.
People do it out of politeness, and we understand the impulse completely, but it works against you. You are paying for hours of cleaning, and every surface you clean first is a surface we would have cleaned anyway.
It also hides the thing we are there for. A bathroom wiped down an hour before we arrive looks fine and still has the grout, the fixture bases, and the exhaust fan cover that a wipe down never touches.
And nobody here is judging the state of a house. It is the job. We have cleaned homes in every condition there is and not once has it changed how we treated the person who lives there.
Tidying is different from cleaning. Tidying, meaning clearing surfaces and floors, genuinely helps. Cleaning is what we brought the supplies for.
Plan for a walk through at the start. Ten minutes at the beginning showing us the house saves an hour of guessing, and it is when to say which rooms matter most and which are off limits.
Expect the first visit to take longer than the ones after it, particularly if it is a deep clean. That is the catch up visit and it is doing work that will not need doing again for a long time.
Have a think about access for the future. Plenty of clients hand over a key or a door code after the first visit and come back to a finished house, and since it is the same two people every time, you are never letting a stranger in.
Tell us about pets in advance rather than on the doorstep. It changes the order we work in and which doors stay shut.
And if the first visit lands on a day you cannot be there, that is fine, it just means the walk through happens over the phone instead. Thais will talk it through with you before we start, so tell her the rooms that matter most and anything we should not touch. It is worth a call after that first visit too, while what you want adjusted is still fresh.
Most of our regular clients are out during the visit, and it works perfectly well once five things are settled.
How we get in. A key, a door code, a lockbox, or a neighbor. Whatever it is, it needs to be the same arrangement every visit rather than a new plan each time.
The alarm. The code, or the routine for leaving it off, and what to do if it goes off anyway. This is the one that generates a phone call on a Tuesday morning if it is not sorted out in advance.
Parking. In the older parts of Harrisburg this is not a small detail. If the street is permit only or tight, tell us where to go, because a van parked wrong is a problem we would rather avoid than explain.
Pets and doors, again, because with nobody home it matters more. Which doors stay shut, which rooms are off limits, and where the animal will be.
How to reach you if something needs a decision. A leak under a sink, a stain that needs a different product, a room that was supposed to be empty and is not. One text solves any of those, as long as there is a number to send it to.
Coming home to a finished house is the whole point of hiring a cleaner, and it is much easier when it is the same two people every visit rather than somebody new working out your front door.
You do not have to leave, and you do not have to stay. Some clients work through it, some go out, some sit with a coffee and chat. All fine.
If you are on calls, tell us and we will work the far end of the house first and save the vacuuming for when you are free.
If something needs changing mid visit, say so while we are standing in the room. That is much easier than telling us afterwards, and we would far rather hear it then.
We bring our own supplies, equipment, and products, so nothing needs to be set out. If there is a product you would rather we use in your home, leave it out and tell us.
Walk through it while we are still there if you can. Anything that is not right is a two minute fix in the moment and a phone call later.
If you are on a schedule, this is the moment to say what you want prioritized next time. The rotation on a standing visit moves the deeper work around the house, and it is easy to put your priority at the front of it.
And if you need to move the next visit, 24 hours notice is all we ask. Call or text Thais and she will find another time.
No. Clearing personal items off flat surfaces helps, because every minute we spend moving your things is a minute not spent cleaning under them. Beyond that, no. You do not need to clean before we clean, and nobody here is judging the state of a house.
That is up to you. Some clients stay, some hand over a key or a door code and come back to a finished house. Thais is background checked, and it is the same two people in your home every visit, so you are never letting a stranger in.
Tell us what you want. Some clients want the sink cleared and the dishwasher run, some would rather we work around what is there and spend the time elsewhere. Either is fine, we just need to know which.
No. We bring our own supplies, equipment, and products. If there is a product you would rather we use in your home, leave it out and tell us and we will use it.
Clear the counters, we will bring the rest. Call or text 717-831-2653 for a free estimate.
