I once had a boss who told me: Life's too short. Get a service. By "service" she meant a cleaning service.
I've since noticed that many, many people I know have arrangements for someone else to mop their floors and scrub their toilet every week or two. What I don't tell them, that I'll tell you, is that once upon a time, in yet another former life, I did some moonlighting with such a service. I worked with two or three other women and together we would tear through a house, time being of the essence, and dust, mop, vacuum, scrub, wipe, polish, sweep, and scour at a pace better suited for competitive tennis than comprehensive cleaning. Inevitably, mistakes were made: cleanser spilled, things broke, the interior of the microwave might be forgotten. The day I quit was the day I was second-to-the-last out the door of a huge mansion. The woman behind me noticed a note on the bulletin board on the way out: Priority #1, the note read in bold letters, Clean refrigerator! The woman behind me groaned. Refrigerators weren't on the usual chore list; we never did them unless asked and we knew the woman on kitchen duty hadn't done it.
What to do? It was a regular and well-paying, if difficult, client. The rest of the crew and most of our supplies were already in the car. As always, the sheer immensity of the place--and the slovenly owners--put us behind schedule. Because I had vacuum duty, all I had with me was was the vacuum cleaner and a feather duster in my apron. Fresh from toilet duty, the other woman had a sponge and some cleanser. I voted we ignore the note, an option that the other woman effectively overrode when she charged to the refrigerator, tossed some contents left and right, and started scrubbing away--with the sponge that was still in her hand. Back in went the fresh fruit and vegetable, on the now horribly contaminated surface. "Good enough," is what my co-worker said.
Thus sufficiently traumatized, I've basically ruled the possibility of ever using a service until a certain place freezes over.
That said, I know many people do use a service and have questions about how they work and how to get the most out of them. So that will be our focus tomorrow: tips to help ensure a positive experience with your cleaning service.
