A little preparation lets a cleaner spend the visit cleaning instead of moving clutter. Here is what to do before they arrive and what to settle in advance.
A common worry is feeling you must clean before the cleaner comes. You do not. The point of the visit is to do the cleaning. What helps is clearing the way: putting away loose items, so surfaces and floors can be reached, and so nothing personal gets moved or misplaced.
Think of it as making the space cleanable. A counter piled with mail cannot be wiped, and a floor covered in toys cannot be mopped. Ten minutes of tidying converts the visit from sorting into scrubbing, and it is the best use of your time before a cleaner arrives.
The first visit usually takes longer because the cleaner is learning the home. Set aside time to walk through it, point out priorities and answer questions, and you will find the following visits go more smoothly.
Work through the list below the day before or the morning of the visit.
If you are not sure what to put away, imagine that every flat surface will be wiped and every floor will be mopped. Anything that would be harmed by water or moved out of place should be stored, and anything you want left exactly where it is should be marked or mentioned.
Preferences that are obvious to you are not obvious to someone entering your home for the first time. Put the following in writing, in the quote request or a follow-up message, so there is a record.
Trust is built with small details. Telling the cleaner where spare supplies are kept, which products you prefer and how you like things put back removes guesswork, and it prevents the small frustrations that lead people to give up on a service.
Most disputes come from mismatched expectations about what was included. Ask for the checklist, compare it to the list in your head, and add or remove items before the first visit. Typical gray areas are inside the oven, inside the refrigerator, inside cabinets, interior windows, laundry, dishes and wall spot cleaning.
If you are hiring for ongoing visits, our recurring house cleaning page explains how a standard checklist is built. If your home has gone a long time without a thorough clean, consider a deep clean first, and read our comparison of deep cleaning vs regular cleaning so you know what you are asking for.
A short list in writing beats a long conversation, since it gives both sides something to refer to. Include items you want done every time, items you want done occasionally and items that are off limits.
Review the scope again after the first visit. Real use shows which tasks matter most and which can be dropped, and a short revision at that point makes later visits better matched to your home.
Clarify whether the cleaner brings supplies and equipment or uses yours. If you want a specific product used, such as a stone-safe cleaner or a fragrance-free option, say so early. If your own products are on hand, store them in labeled original containers, and never leave mixed or unlabeled bottles around. Cleaning products that contain bleach or ammonia should not be combined, and a short note in the scope is a good place to restate it. Our chemical safety guide explains why.
Think about waste, too. Decide where trash and recycling go, whether bags should be tied and left or taken out, and which bins are included in the scope, so no one has to guess.
Walk through the home or review it later, and note anything missed. Raise it promptly and specifically, preferably by pointing to the checklist item. A good provider welcomes that feedback, and recurring service tends to improve as the checklist is refined.
On payment and gratuities, practice varies, so ask the provider how they handle it and put it in the agreement. Beyond that, keep the line of communication open: changes in the household, a new pet, a renovation or a different schedule are all worth passing along, since each can change the scope.
Be realistic about your first impression. A cleaner sees many kinds of homes, and a lived-in house is not an embarrassment. What matters is that the work is clearly defined and that you give honest feedback after the first visit.
Keep a short running note between visits of anything you want addressed next time, such as a spill that has set or a room that needs extra attention. Passing it along before the visit is more effective than raising it afterward.
No. Tidy so surfaces and floors are accessible, but leave the actual cleaning to the visit.
Not necessarily. It depends on your comfort and the access arrangement you agree to in advance.
Valuables, medications, documents, cash, fragile items and clutter on surfaces and floors.
Describe the space and the kind of clean you want, and we will reply with next steps.