If you find yourself struggling to keep on top of the house work and things are getting a little messy, then it may be time to consider hiring a cleaner. It could be that you work very long hours and just don’t have the time. Or you may have a large family and it’s difficult to keep on top of the chores.
No matter what the reason, if you’re thinking about hiring a cleaner to help keep your home clean and tidy, then here are some handy tips to consider –
Cleaning services
First of all you need to contact a cleaning company who offer cleaning services. You may be considering advertising and hiring a cleaner yourself, but this is never a good idea. Most of the time you will be hiring a complete stranger and there is a much higher risk of things going wrong.
Hiring a complete stranger and putting your home in their care is obviously not a good idea, and for several reasons. If they were to also leave one day, then you are instantly left with no cleaner and it could take you quite a while to hire another.
However, if you go through a cleaning service then there is a much better guarantee that they will stick around for a long time, and if not, the company should be able to quickly find a replacement for you.
The cleaners will also be vetted, giving you a lot more confidence in trusting them with your home. They are also more likely to do a better job as they are being hired by a company who will put them through an interview process and check out their background and employment history.
Overall, you are going to be much more successful in finding the right cleaner for you when you hire through a cleaning service. They are more likely to be punctual, have good attendance, and also do a great job of keeping your home looking great.
You also have the satisfaction of being able to take any complaints or concerns directly to the cleaning service if you do have any problems. And if you are having difficulty with a particular cleaner, then you should be able to change cleaners and find someone else fairly quickly. Alternatively, you can also stop the services immediately and go with another company if you are completely unhappy.
How much will it cost?
You need to be prepared to pay a fair bit of your hard earned cash if you want someone to come around to your house and clean it. You don’t have to be a millionaire of course, but it’s important to realise that hiring a cleaner can be rather costly. However, if you plan ahead and work out a reasonable budget that you can put aside for a cleaner, then you shouldn’t have a problem.
It’s important to realise that your budget may not allow for the cleaner to come around every day and keep your house in perfect condition. For most people this would be extremely expensive, and not really worth it anyway. So you need to be realistic!
Once you’ve worked out your budget, you then need to look at how often your house would need to be cleaned. For most people a maximum of once a week would be more than enough. You may also need to consider that once a month could be absolutely fine also. Again, it really depends on your budget and how often you feel your house would need to be cleaned.
What do you want cleaning?
Before you hire a cleaner you need to figure out what needs to be done around the house, and how long the cleaner would need. First of all, go to each room in the house and take a pen and paper with you. Note down each room and the exact tasks you would like to be carried out. Try to remember that the cleaner may be much quicker than you, so you could take this into consideration.
Once you’ve got an idea of what you’d like to be cleaned and how long it would take, you now need to call up the cleaning service and find out how much it costs per day or per hour.
It may prove costly if you are constantly hiring them to come out regularly and just spend an hour or so. Instead, you should be considering hiring them to take a lot longer and clean the whole house from top to bottom. That way you could be saving money and you may not need to hire them as often.
Don’t forget to also double check all of the tasks you want doing with the cleaning services company, to make sure they are happy to oblige. If not, then it may be that you’re being too specific and too picky. If you don’t believe that’s the case, then try calling other cleaning companies to see what they will do for you.
The terms and conditions
Before you commit to hiring a cleaner, it’s important to ask them about their terms and conditions. You may for example decide that you want to end the services at any time, so you need to ask them how that works. Are there any cancellation fees? How much notice do you need to give them?
You also need to find out what would happen if you’re not happy with the cleaner or the services they carry out. Are you able to swap the cleaner at short notice? How long would it take to get another? Are you eligible for a refund if you’re not happy with the service?
You might also find that you are not hiring them for enough hours and you want to increase them. Or you may find that you’re hiring them for too many hours and you want to cut back. Can this be changed easily?
Privacy and trust
Finally, don’t forget your own privacy and how important this is to you. For example, you may have bills or important papers lying around the house that could be easily seen by the cleaner.
Although you should be able to trust the cleaner not to go snooping, it doesn’t mean to say you should leave important paperwork in front of them. The cleaner may accidentally see the papers if they need to move them out of the way to clean, so there is no need to leave them in the way and give an opportunity for your personal details to fall into their hands.
You also need to make it clear to the cleaning service if there are any areas around the house that are out of bounds. For example, it could be your wardrobes or even the bedroom itself. Make it completely clear from the start exactly what and where is to be cleaned, so there is no confusion. If you don’t make this clear, then it isn’t the cleaners fault if you find them in your personal space.
For obvious reasons don’t leave your money or anything valuable in plain view. It wouldn’t be fair of us to assume that the cleaner is going to steal, but there is no point in taking any risks.
There have also been lots of cases whereby a cleaner has been hired and accused of stealing, and in the end it was either a family member or just a mistake. So if you leave your money or valuables lying around the house, then you are just asking for trouble.
In conclusion, don’t take hiring a cleaner lightly and assume it doesn’t require much thought or research. Try to remember that you are hiring a stranger to enter your home, so it’s important you take the time to find the right company and cleaner for you.