With sports practices, meetings, work, and a million other commitments, house cleaning can easily fall to the bottom of the list. Who has the time? Who is home enough to get a good house clean done? Not everyone wants to spend their time cleaning their kitchen, scrubbing bathrooms, and keeping up with laundry.
For many families, hiring a home cleaner is the clear answer. The answer to the question “how should I have my house cleaned?” is not as cut and dry. Obviously, every home is different with different circumstances and needs.
A home with multiple pets and many kids is going to get more foot (and paw) traffic—all of which is going to make more of a mess than a typical single or two-person home. On the flip side, a single or two-person household may need a deep clean more often if anyone in the household has allergies.
When deciding what is the right cleaning for your home, ask yourself these questions:
- “What cleaning tasks do you need done?”
- “How much cleaning do you have time for in between house cleanings?”
- “Does anyone in your household have allergies?”
- “Are there pets and kids in the household?”
- “How much foot traffic comes through your home?” (Consider add a frequent floor cleaning to the list.)
- How much do you have set aside in your budget for house cleaning?
To find the answer to your home cleaning question, start by making a list of cleaning tasks that the home cleaner needs to do. If you don’t have time to do a deep clean (cleaning those hard to reach places-a list of typical deep cleaning tasks is here), add a periodic home deep cleaning to the list (in addition to regular home cleanings). Decide what your monthly budget for the home cleaner is; marry those two factors into a general idea of a home cleaning schedule (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly).
Before you set that schedule in stone, contact home cleaners with the question, “Is it cheaper overall to schedule a twice-monthly cleaning than a monthly cleaning?” Some home cleaners have a lower rate for more frequent cleanings.
As you gather quotes, decide whether an individual home cleaner or cleaning service is better for your home. Both options have pros and cons. Individual cleaners tend to be cheaper, but aren’t always able to work on the schedule you need (and may have to cancel or go on vacation frequently). A home cleaning service usually has multiple cleaners that are available to work when you need, can fill in if a cleaner isn’t available, and is easier to communicate with when there’s an issue.
Be prepared to discuss the cleaning jobs you need completed with each company or individual, your preferred schedule and any other special request you may have. Don’t be afraid to ask for references. Ask every cleaner or cleaning service these questions, especially about their insurance to ensure that you are covered in case of a problem. Once you have a schedule set, enjoy the perks of having a cleaner, more organized home.
