What Makes a Good Maid Service?

If cleaning the house wasn’t difficult and time consuming, no one would bother to hire a maid. The truth is-- a busy family often has little time to properly clean and disinfect a home. Having a professional cleaning service pick up the slack, even if it is just once a month can greatly reduce stress and create a much more hygienic living environment. But how do you know that you are getting the proper service? Professional cleaners should always treat you as the employer, show respect for house members and belongings, perform all jobs correctly, and bring all necessary supplies for every shift.


You’re the Boss
Have you ever heard a maid say, “We don’t do that.” Well, you can’t expect them to wash and wax your car or pick up your children from school, but they should perform all cleaning tasks within reason. That means you may ask them to dust the corners of the ceilings once a month, or do the windows both inside and out. These jobs, as long as the conditions are safe, should be performed without hesitation or questioning. If you prefer certain jobs to be performed in a particular order or method, you should explain this and expect your requests to be honored during each session.

Respect
Disrespectful or rude behavior should never be tolerated from a maid service. They are essentially your employee, so you have a right to fire them at any time if they treat you poorly. That isn’t too say that you shouldn’t return respect, but a professional will not talk back, question orders, waste time, or treat any items in the house without care. However, it is necessary that you explicitly and clearly state your expectations and rules before they commence the job. Sometimes cleaners may vary from week to week, in which case you may wish to explain your instructions directly to the manager of the company to pass down before shifts. If you feel that they are not taking the job seriously or are disobeying your direct instructions, you should speak with them or call the manager of the service to complain.

Skilled
While there may not be much variance in vacuuming technique, there is a method to many daily cleaning procedures. For example, you wouldn’t clean the kitchen with the same rag used for the bathroom or you risk cross contamination. Chemicals used to clean the windows aren’t the same as those used for the floor. And water is never an acceptable disinfectant. A professional maid service will have a trained staff that is skilled at their job. When seeking a service, ask what training employees have received and take a few minutes to monitor their work. It will usually be very apparent if they are doing a poor job.

Prepared
What happens when you forget to bring in an important report at work? Without the proper supplies, a maid cannot do their job. The cleaning service should ensure that their employees have all the equipment necessary to perform the jobs you have requested. If you need a special service, such as tall or high windows cleaning, you should tell them beforehand to make sure that they can prepare beforehand.