How do you find a good cleaning service? Do they charge by the hour or by how big your place is? What do they charge and what do you get for the money? How often should they come? Do you need to pick up first? What to do if you don't like the job they do, or if their performance slips over time? These are among many of the questions people have when considering the use a cleaning service. Here are some things I've learned--from friends who use a service, from those who've worked in such a service themselves, and from my (rather short-term, part-time) experience moonlighting for a service long ago.
How do you find a service?
The best way to find a good, reliable cleaning service is the same way you'd find a good, reliable baby sitter: word of mouth. If someone has been using a service for a while and are reasonably happy with it, they have already done the initial screening for you. Still, it's wise to take any recommendation with a grain of salt. What one person may think is a fabulous job, another may find unacceptable. Be sure to ask your friend or acquaintance exactly what he or she likes about the service and any problems encountered. I've found most people are ambivalent about the service they use and are upfront about the reasons why. It's up to you to then determine if the alleged shortcomings are something you can live with or work around, or if you need to keep on looking.
How do services decide how much they charge?
Fee structures vary from service to service; the particular service you're screening should be able to tell you exactly how their fee is determined. One of the simplest and most popular methods prioritizes the number of rooms being cleaned. In the case of apartments, town homes, and condos, the number of rooms is often further reduced to the number of bedrooms, i.e. in the Chicago condo market, services quote prices based on whether it's a studio, one-, two-, or three bedroom unit.
Larger services often have more complex fee structures, in which square footage, number of occupants, number and type of pets, frequency of visits, any any special requests (i.e. using only organic products, which might require more elbow grease), are all considered when determining the fee.
In addition, I've heard of some cleaning professionals who prefer to charge by the hour.
How much does it cost?
Again, this all depends, not only based on the considerations listed above, but according to geographic region. Just today, a friend told me that for her 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo in Chicago (2 inhabitants/1 German Shepard, around 800 square feet, professionally cleaned twice a month--although apparently her service doesn't care about any of these particulars), she pays $75 each time it's cleaned. A 3-bedroom, 2-bath condo in the same building would go for $80. Other quotes I've heard: $375 to spring-clean a home in the Midwest/suburbs that was 3,000 square feet, not including basement/attic/garage, which were not part of the deal. In this case, the particulars were very important to the service (five bathrooms; 2 adults, 2 teenagers, a dog, and two cats) as was the fact that it would be a one-time deal. The $375 bought a team of four for about five hours.
On the other end of the spectrum, I've recently heard of a widower in Arizona pay an acquaintance in his retirement community $10 an hour to clean his place. She's usually there a couple hours, every week, and does non-traditional duties like laundry as well.
What does a service do?
At risk of sounding like a broken record, the answer is: that depends. What do you want them to do? It's important to have this conversation when you're screening your service, to ensure that you're both on the same page in terms of their duties and your expectations. It's also important to understand that while most services will accommodate additional duties for an up-charge, there's a difference between a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly cleaning service and having a personal maid, which is to say, most people use a service to do major cleaning, rather than for chores like making the bed, doing laundry, or washing dishes. So what does that leave?
- Cleaning the kitchen: scrubbing counters, sink, stove top, and floors; wiping appliance surfaces and cabinet doors; cleaning the microwave
- Cleaning the bathroom: scrubbing the toilet, tub, surround, sink, and floors
- Mopping and vacuuming
- Dusting and/or polishing furniture
- Wiping fingerprints from walls/around light switches
- Cleaning baseboards and window sills
- Vacuuming upholstery and under rugs and furniture
- Polishing mirrors and shiny surfaces
- Cleaning light fixtures, ceiling fans
How often should they come?
Let's see if I can come up with a new way to say that depends. Nope, can't do it. It really does depend on what your goals are, what your tolerances are, how willing or able you are in terms of maintaining your place between cleaning, how many people are in the household, etc. That said, most people I know are on an every-other week schedule for their service. Once a month seems to be the second-most frequent term. A few people I know are on a once-a-week schedule; interestingly, these people tend to be single. I've only known a couple people shell out for the expensive but exhaustive spring cleaning.
Do I need to pick up first?
Yes. How's that for a decisive answer? The truth is, clutter slows a service down. Because most services only allot so much time to any given place, if they have to spend a lot of time picking up a virtual minefield of toys in order to vacuum, they'll spend less time vacuuming. Same with the kitchen: sure, they will do the dishes if you want them to, but wouldn't you rather them spend the time cleaning the microwave and mopping the floor?
What if you don't like the job they do?
Talk to them. Most often, you can't really assess the job they've done until after they've left. If that's the case, call them right away and ask to schedule a meeting with them as soon as possible to go over your concerns. If it's a large service--that is, if the supervisor is different than the person doing the actual cleaning--ask to speak to and meet with the supervisor. Before the supervisor comes or the cleaning person returns, make a room-by-room list of everything that you found unsatisfactory so you can run through the list and show them what's wrong and why. The service should offer to come back in and make it right without charge--if they don't, it's time to look for another service.
Much disappointment can be averted by openly discussing what your expectations are, and by asking what products, methods, techniques, policies, and procedures the service uses, including how they ensure customer satisfaction. Tomorrow I'll provide a checklist of questions to ask when screening a service.
