By Family Clean, January 23, 2020 12:00 am

The easiest way to find a cleaner you can actually trust

Is hiring a house cleaner really worth that effort? Where do you start? And how do you know if a person will meet your standards?

If you go by the idea of ‘buying happier time’, most people would say it’s definitely worth it, because you free up time for things that enrich life. And suddenly those jobs you don’t enjoy (like cleaning the shower) magically disappear off your plate. Bliss!

You could spend that time exercising, cooking more often or helping the kids with their school projects. The point is that life gets a bit easier.

But let’s say you have a furry pooch and you end up hiring a cleaner with pet allergies – chances are you won’t feel as though the effort was worth it.

And we don’t want that to happen to you!

If you haven’t hired a cleaner before, or it has been quite a few years since you did, the task can feel daunting. After all, your home is your precious sanctuary.

The good news is we have lots of tips for you! After 26 years of running Family Clean, we have recruited our fair share of cleaning crews. And we can hand-on-heart assure you that it is possible to find great cleaner without investing hours of your time looking for the right person.

So to help you get started, these are our tips for hiring a cleaner that is the right fit for your home!

1. Start with a wish list of tasks

What tasks are you keen to wave goodbye to?

When you’re hiring a cleaner, be clear about your expectations and the tasks you need a hand with – whether that’s floor and bathroom cleaning, or help with decluttering and washing.

There are many cleaners in the market that don’t offer a full suite of services. For example, some don’t offer laundry or organising, so start by matching the cleaner with your wish list.

If you have any other specific requests – such as someone who will get on with your elderly parents or help with heavy lifting – mention these when you are making your initial enquiries too.

2. Know what questions to ask

Even if someone you trust recommends a cleaner to you, making your own enquiries will give you peace of mind.

The trouble is that there aren’t any professional cleaning qualifications that you can ask for.

But there are other things you can ask about that will demonstrate a cleaner’s professionalism. These include:

Insurance
Service guarantee
Previous experience
What happens when the cleaner is unwell or on holiday

This is the part of the process that is the most difficult for many people.

If you use an agency like ours, these screening checks will already be done for you. However if you hire an individual, make the effort to request this information.

Our internal screening of cleaners isn’t limited to the checkboxes above. To find people who are natural ‘service thinkers’, we also ask questions like…

When was the last time you did something for someone without expecting anything in return?
What is one way you can help someone who has a busy life?

Asking these questions ensures we find caring people to send into your home!

3. Communicate your preferences

If there is a specific way you like things done, let your cleaner know – they’ll be grateful for your input!

We recommend being home for your first clean, so you can show the cleaner around and point out anything that is important to you.

This could be the way you like your cutlery drawer arranged, where the linens go or how you fold your towels.

Your cleaner can only pick up so much from observation alone, which means you’ll be more satisfied with the outcome if you communicate these things from day one.

Be mindful that it may take the cleaner a few visits to get things exactly the way you like them, and give them time to get used to your preferred way of doing things.

4. Speak up if something isn’t right

The best relationships are built on good communication! This is a flow-on from the point above. If your cleaner doesn’t do something in a way that you like, they’ll be grateful if you can point it out.

If you don’t speak up, you may find yourself becoming frustrated over things that can be easily resolved. Whether the cleaner is mistakenly parking in the wrong spot out the front or you would prefer they don’t dust certain things, it is easiest to say something as soon as you notice it.

Most people don’t like having conversations like this, and that’s okay! If that is you, your best option is to look for an agency that can have those chats for you.

The way we handle these through our team of Mother Ducks, who have a direct line of contact between cleaners and customers. As a customer, you can call a Mother Duck to chat about any issues and they sort it out for you.

Right now you might be thinking: ‘Hang on, that was 4 steps and you said this would be easy’…

If you’ve read this far, you must be very keen to get a cleaner! So we will keep this part simple…

The easiest way to bring a professionally screened cleaner into your home is to use an agency like ours.

Why? Because an agency does the legwork for you, organises replacements when your cleaner is unwell or on leave, and handles any tricky conversations that need to be had.

What makes us different is the care we put into recruiting and matching cleaners, ensuring that those tricky chats rarely have to happen (but sometimes they do, and this is how we handle them).

That means all you have to do is fill out a form with your details and preferences, and we do all the work listed above for you. The only thing we can’t do is show the cleaner how you like your fancy espresso maker washed and put away, so just be there on the first day to point out things like this.

We are small and family owned to ensure we never lose this personal touch. Here is how it works.