In the 21st century, there just isn’t enough time to get everything done. Between full-time careers, keeping a healthy lifestyle, balancing a social life, and for some people raising children – it’s become impossible to have everything under control.
Hiring a cleaning service for your home or office may not solve all of your issues but it would definitely help relieve some of the stress that comes with adulthood.
So if you’ve been looking for a little extra help around your house but aren’t sure what kind of cleaning service would work best for your household – you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to be giving you all the tips and tricks – and steps you should be following when it comes to hiring your perfect cleaning service.
What Are Your Needs?
First things first – you have to figure out what exactly you’re looking for. Will this cleaning service be required every week? Monthly? Do you have a specific area that needs to be cleaned or is it your entire home or office?
To figure out your needs, here are some questions to ask yourself.
What Needs To Be Cleaned?
Determining what you need help with is the first step. Hiring a cleaning service for an office and home is very different. Usually, there are companies that specialize in one or the other so ensure that you do your research beforehand.
Next, take a look at your home. Are you looking for a specific area to be cleaned? Maybe your Bathrooms or Kitchen? Or – do you require a service that will get into all the hard to reach corners you weren’t able to get during spring cleaning?
Maybe you just need a garage or basement cleanout. Make sure this is all decided before setting out on your search to hire a cleaner. The same thing applies to an office.
How Often Do You Require Their Service?
Deciding how often you’ll be needing a visit from the service is also integral. Will you be requiring a monthly house cleaning or assistance bi-weekly? Or will this person be coming in to make sure your house is clean every single weekday?
Knowing your tentative schedule expectations for the company is absolutely necessary. In fact, certain services only allow specific time frames. That’s why it’s important to know your time needs before heading for the cleaning service market.
This often varies greatly especially when it comes to households with larger numbers and more importantly children. Therefore, take everything into consideration when making a decision.
What Is Your Budget?
Now let’s talk money. The downside of getting help with your cleaning needs of course is that they might take a toll on your wallet.
Before having your hopes up or focusing your eyes on a specific service make sure to figure out what your budget is and the price range of the service you desire.
Also, the rule of thumb is the more you want clean and the more often you want it – the more expensive it will be. Services that require more manpower or external resources – like specialized cleaning machines – also run at a higher cost.
Different Types of Services Offered
Some of you may already be familiar with the services that are often available – maybe you’re looking for better service than the one you currently have employed.
However, for those of you who aren’t aware of what the options are in the cleaning service world – let’s take a look at some common techniques you can have applied to your home or office.
Residential Cleaning
Residential cleaning is exactly what it sounds like. This is what you’re looking for if you’re expecting a weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly cleaning of your home. Generally, this is done by no more than one or two employees depending on the size of your home.
Normally this type of service covers the cleaning of locations like the kitchen, bathroom, and general living spaces. You can expect dusting, vacuuming, and mopping, and the overall maintenance and appearance of your home.
This is perfect for a large household that just needs some assistance tidying up!
Deep Cleaning
A deep cleaning or spring cleaning gets a lot deeper – no pun intended – when it comes to their assigned tasks.
This type of service is on average required monthly or even a handful of times per year. It typically includes the cleaning of hard to reach surfaces that don’t get regularly maintained. Examples of these can include:
- Cabinet washing
- Curtain cleaning
- Polishing floors and furniture
- Cleaning light fixtures and fans
- Oven cleaning
This service is often recommended as a first-time service if your house hasn’t been deep cleaned in quite some time.
Sanitization Services
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, sanitization services have seen an uptick in popularity for homes and offices. Not to mention their demand is expected to stay high as the world grapples with its new normal.
Sanitization Services generally include things like:
- Proper disposal of human waste
- Managing hazardous wastes
- Water treatment
- Garbage collection
This service is often used for commercial businesses that want to stay on top of their office hygiene. Large companies will outsource cleaning companies in order to better prioritize creating a safe working environment for their employees.
It’s very important to always make sure the service you hire caters to exactly what you need. It’s not their responsibility to go above and beyond what they were hired to do.
This includes negotiating the terms of required PPE and tasks they will or will not do. You want to make sure you create a safe environment for not only your employees but the cleaning service as well.
Commercial Cleaning
Commercial cleaning is the equivalent of residential cleaning but for the purpose of a business.
This cleaning team will tackle areas that may include:
- Lunchrooms and Kitchens
- Restrooms
- Reception
- Staff Cubicles
- Elevators & Stairways
Like residential cleaning, the employees will often make sure each of these areas is clean in terms of mopping, dusting, and sometimes even polishing.
This service is often required daily and will often work throughout the night to ensure that the employees return to a safe and sanitized environment the next morning.
Since the cleaning takes place at night be aware of overnight premiums that may be included in the fee. Depending on where your business resides, an employee may be entitled to a certain percentage of pay if they work past a certain hour.
Window Cleaning
Believe it or not, Window cleaning is its own game. Most times it’s not even included with standard residential or commercial service.
But – the good thing is Window Cleaning goes beyond just your windows. It often includes services like gutter cleaning, pressure washing the windows, and window or screen repairs.
Just be sure that if you opt for a residential or commercial clean that you don’t have the expectation that they’ll tackle your windows. That’s a whole different service that needs to be booked. However, you can check with the same company – you may be able to add it to your established service for an additional price.
Laundry Services
Having to not worry about getting the laundry done is everyone’s dream – you can admit it. Well, there’s a service just for you! Image coming home to a house where all your clothes are washed, dried, and folded neatly in their drawers. Don’t be afraid to make this your reality.
You can order a Laundry Service as many times a month that your household requires.
In some instances, this may be included with your regular bi-weekly residential clean. Again, be sure to ask before you expect the laundry service as every company is different.
But oftentimes Laundry Service is offered as a standalone or as an additional service to a package.
Carpet Cleaning
Do your carpets get stained often? There are cleaning services to help you with exactly that. While yes carpet cleaning is often included in a Deep Clean package, it is very common for a household to require a carpet cleaner more often than a good Spring Cleaning.
When hiring a Carpet Cleaning service you can expect your materials to be cleaned according to their needs – whether that be streaming or conditioning – as well as stain and odor removal and repairs when needed.
These professionals will also be able to spot hidden stains with UV lights in order to give you high quality of service and really make sure everything is pristine.
One thing to consider with Carpet Cleaning is time. Although it’s fairly quick to clean a carpet – on average it takes 20 minutes a room – the drying time is what’ll get you. The carpet can take anywhere from 2 to 24 hours to completely dry.
So, if you are hiring a carpet cleaning service be sure to strategically book it around your no doubt busy schedule.
Pool Cleaning
If you have a pool, you know that opening it up or closing it for the season can be a lot of work. Luckily, there are cleaning services that do all the nitty-gritty for you, that way your pool can be full of happy memories instead of a reminder of what’s to come.
Generally, Pool Cleaning services include:
- The removal of debris from the water and surrounding area
- The testing of chemical levels as well as the adding or removal of chemicals as needed
- The replacements of filter cartridges
- Maintaining good water pressure
- Brushing or vacuuming the tiles at the bottom and sides of the pool
- Backwashing to get rid of dirt when needed
There are also other options if you want your pool clean but are pretty confident in your pool’s cleaning system already. This can be something as simple as just hiring a service to backwash your pool’s tiles.
Cost
Now, let’s discuss what we know we’re all thinking – how much do all these services actually cost? Well, the truth is there’s no specific answer.
The price of course varies on what service you require and how often you require it, but also on your area and the size of the space in need of service. Not to mention each companies pricing is different.
Let’s just look at some ballpark estimates.
On average for a typical Residential Cleaning, a company will charge $100 for a house under 1000 square feet. Anything over that will put you at approximately $250.
A deep clean will range anywhere from $25 to $40 an hour per cleaner. If your space is large, those prices can easily stack up. This is why it’s important to do your research beforehand.
Finding a Hire That Works For You
Now that you have more or less an idea of the service you will be requiring it’s time to head out into the market. But how do you choose between all the options available? Well, we’ve come up with 3 helpful tips to follow when looking to hire a cleaning service.
Research The Company
Always, Always, Always – do your research. This means a good scour through the potential companies’ websites as well as reviews on other platforms that you know won’t be biased. It also doesn’t hurt to check around with friends and family and get their take on any cleaning service experiences they’ve had.
Conduct More Than One Interview
Don’t just settle on one company, make sure you at least pick out a top three. But – don’t just stop at researching those companies, set up an interview! This can be a quick chat over the phone where you discuss your needs and they tell you how they can adhere to them. If you’re more comfortable with an in-person meeting call or drop in to set one up.
Negotiate Cost
Don’t be afraid to negotiate a cost if it’s not in your budget. Most of the time these companies are looking for long-term clients and would love to meet your needs.
Clean Home, Happy Life
Don’t let the fear of the unknown hold you back. You’ve got all the info on hiring the perfect service, now it’s up to you to set it all in motion. Get the clean house you’ve always wanted!