Getting your house ready for a first cleaning

What to put away before your first house cleaning, what to leave out for the team, and the one thing you can skip: cleaning before the cleaners arrive.

Molly Brekke
3 min read

Someone apologizes to our teams for the state of their kitchen about once a day. Please don’t clean before we come. That is our job, and you are paying us for it.

Do put away

  • Clutter on counters and tables. We wipe around it, but we can’t clean under it.
  • Clothes on the floor and the beds, so we can vacuum and make them.
  • Anything fragile or valuable you’d rather we left alone.
  • Cash and jewelry. We have never had a problem, and we want to keep it that way.

Do leave out

  • A clean set of sheets on every bed you want changed.
  • A note on any room to skip or any surface that needs a gentle product.
  • Your own vacuum if you have strong feelings about ours.

Pets

Friendly pets can stay out. Nervous ones are happier in a closed room, which we skip or clean last with the door open a crack. Mention it in the booking notes.

Access

If you won’t be home, set up the lockbox or door code the day before and test it. A locked door costs us an hour and you a $75 lockout fee, and nobody enjoys that phone call.

Or let us handle it

One flat price per home size, two cleaners and every supply. First visits are usually four to six business days out.

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