If you are already considering hiring a house cleaning service in Plano, then it’s likely you are evaluating options. Before choosing a company (or an individual), you may need to ask yourself “is it worth it.”
Because at the end of the day, you can absolutely clean everything that a house cleaner is going to clean for you. The million dollar question is, of course, is it worth hiring someone else to do the cleaning for you.
There are hundreds of house cleaning companies in Plano. And unfortunately, many have different processes and procedures for cleaning.
What Every House Cleaner in Plano Cleans
There are some basic areas that will always (should always) be included when you pay for a house cleaning company or service. We cover those below.
There are also a few extras/optional items that can be added. Those are also covered.
But if you have just paid for a house cleaning service or are considering one currently, you need to know what to expect.
Please keep in mind that some house cleaning companies offer different packages. In some cases they offer the ability to clean only select rooms and areas.
In our case, we only offer two cleaning services: Either a deep clean or a move out clean. For our customers who appreciate an ongoing cleaning service, we offer a recurring deep clean package. And it’s always for the entire house, so that there is no confusion. Entire house, deep clean.
Any good house cleaning company should have an itemized list of all the areas they will be cleaning in the home. The below is a general guideline of how those areas should be cleaned.
Let’s start with floors
Floors will always be cleaned, as this is such a basic area of the house. However, the cleaning process may vary depending on the cleaning supplies and equipment.
In our case, we always vacuum first. Yup! Including hard surfaces like wood and tile. Why? Because vacuuming is more effective and efficient than sweeping.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with using a good ol fashioned broom and every one of our teams carry one. However we use it only in specific situations.
For starters, it’s important to get up debris before your house cleaner starts to mop. Otherwise you just end up clumping dirt together and just pushing it around.
Once the debris is removed, your house cleaner should be using either a bucket and mop or a dry mopping process. In our case, we use a long squeegee pole with a microfiber towel. We apply the cleaning solution to the towel and that’s how we finish off the floors.
We’ve opted for this dry mopping process because its less error prone and also has a bit less liability.
If your house cleaner is using a mop and bucket, it’s likely they will be diluting a cleaning supply.
Depending on their experience and professionalism, this can lead to inconsistent results.
Let’s start with floors
Make sure that your floors are not sticky, streaky, or dull after they have are mopped. If they are, it’s possible that the product was not diluted properly or that the surface dirt was not removed to begin with.
There are also instances where the wrong cleaning supply was used and you run the risk of having unsatisfying results.
Good news is that this is easily corrected!
There are cases when a traditional wet mop absolutely must happen before, however you’d be surprised that these cases are actually pretty far and few between.
A few of the reasons a good house cleaner might opt to do a wet mop prior to a dry mop would be pets and dust! Because we’ve got alot of dust here in Plano, there are a few instances where that dust becomes encrusted due to lack of regular cleanings. And in these instances, your house cleaner may end up 1) Getting up the surface dust with a broom or vacuum 2) Using a wet mop with a diluted cleaning solution, depending on the material 3) Repeating with a wet mop and just water 4) Finishing off with a dry mop using a product such as Zepp, Bona, or Mr Clean A similar process above should be used in the case of excessive pet hair. “Excessive” being multiple animals living in the home + many months between cleanings.
Countertops
All countertops should be cleaned in a home. This should not be an optional area but should be included in any hired house cleaning service.
The process and the cleaning supplies will vary depending on the surface of the countertop. A quick note about stains on countertops: Some stains can be removed using a simple poultice.
What is a poultice you ask? It’s basically like a powder-sponge. Yup! We like to use a product called Barkeepers friend. Some house cleaners in Plano use Baking soda. Both get inside the little tiny holes inside the granite where the stain is. And then they push them out with even tinier crystals. There are also liquid supplies for surface level stains. We tend to carry Granite Gold, Zepp, as well as the Method brand if the client opts for a “Green” solution.
A note about picking up items: Depending on the cost and scope of the house cleaning. Some items will simply be cleaned around vs picked up and cleaned underneath.
The following should always be picked up
1) Coffee maker 2) Toaster 3) Flower Vases 4) Cookbooks and other small items 5) Dirty dishes 6) Anything else under 20 pounds We generally leave up to our cleaner’s discretion what else to pick up, including professional cooking equipment and any fragile items such as ultra thin glass decorations. These items we would clean around or ask the client to put away so we could clean underneath.
In summary, countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms should always be cleaned if you are hiring a professional house cleaning company. These should never be optional and should not be missed.
Cabinets
The outside of the cabinets should always be cleaned if you’ve hired a professional house cleaning company. At a basic level, any sauces, stains and drips should be removed. The only exception is if these stains are so old or deep that they will require an abrasive cleaning supply, which we do not recommend on surfaces such as wood, laminate or painted surfaces. Any good cleaner worth their salt will identify a stain on a cabinet first as either oil based or water based and then they will attack it accordingly. Make sure these stains are addressed! Its possible, especially with larger kitchens, that these types of stains may be overlooked by your house cleaning company on the initial pass. It’s totally ok to point them out during the inspection. And if the house cleaner is carrying the right materials, most stains should be removed on a cabinet.
The only exceptions are stains from things like ink, heat, old water damage, and chemical stains. Your only option in these extreme situations is to refinish or replace the cabinets. Sorry 🙁
Usually only the outside of the cabinets are included in a general, deep, or ongoing recurring cleaning. However, for a move in or move out clean, the interior of the cabinets should be included.
Kitchens and Bathrooms
How your house cleaner cleans kitchens and bathrooms is going to vary based on what their objective is.
By “objective” we mean getting in and out quickly or leaving your home better than it was before.
Therefore it’s fair to expect small details in the kitchen and bathrooms including towels being folded nicely, perhaps a little design in the toilet paper, etc. We teach our cleaning teams to clean someone else’s home better than they would clean their own.
The cleaning process in a kitchen or bathroom should always be from top to bottom. This should include ceiling fans, any obstruction of the air vents all the way down to the blinds, window sills and baseboards. In the kitchen, you can reasonably expect your cleaner to clean the outside of the oven, outside of the fridge, and inside and outside of the microwave.
Additional Items and Add-Ons
Usually the inside of the fridge and the inside of the oven are not included unless it’s a move out or move in clean. Cleaning of the appliances (interior) is priced separately and generally runs between $40 – $70 per appliance. A quick note on dishes: Some companies will clean all the dishes every time. And while this is great for the homeowner, it may burn out your cleaners and/or keep them from doing a good job on the rest of the home.
In our case, we tell folks “we can clean up to 10 dishes as a courtesy, and will do them by hand.” This, of course, is so that we can clean the sink. In the case of the bathroom, the entire bathroom should be cleaned on every visit from top to bottom. Good cleaning companies will carry enough tools and cleaning supplies to get those hard to clean and hard to reach areas within a kitchen and bathroom. These tools should include extension poles for high areas (such as fans and crown molding), grout cleaner for the shower, as well as multiple cleaning supplies and materials for items such as the toilet, sink and floors where dirt and stains can build up over time.
Cleaning the Bedrooms
Generally, all bedrooms should be cleaned in the same manner as any other room. In our case, this would be from top to bottom. Some house cleaners will also offer a changing of the linens. It’s always a nice courtesy to leave the linens out as an indication that you’d like the linens changed on the bed. Otherwise, they may end up making the bed twice, which is never fun 🙂 Closet floors should be vacuumed and any closet furniture such as shelves should be dusted. It is not expected that the house cleaner will handle much inside a closet since this is a very personal area.
If you would like your house cleaner to clean shelves within a closet, make sure they have plenty of surface area.
Home Offices Home offices should also be cleaned top to bottom. The only exception is the workspace/desk. What we tell folks is “everyone has their own way of organizing their desks”. That means we’re not going to move anything around on a desk but rather clean around everything on the surface.
Then of course the same cleaning process applies as if it were a bedroom, so top to bottom.
Windows and Glass Cleaning
Generally window cleaning is an add-on option, and most house cleaning companies will only offer interior window cleaning (vs the exterior). In the case of our company, Dallas Sunrise Maids, we will always include any interior facing glass doors. And of course, we will always clean the blinds, window sills and baseboards.
One area that only a professional window cleaning company will get is the rail of the window. This is the bottom part of the window that the window closes into. Rails tend to get very dirty over time. They can also have sharp edges and only be accessible from the exterior. Don’t expect your house cleaner to clean that area. If they do, make sure to give them a little something extra for lunch money 😉
Conclusion
Regardless of the house keeping company you decide on, there are some general areas and best practices that you can expect from any house cleaner. Weather you have an individual or a house cleaning company working in your home, the above should serve as a general guideline on what all will be cleaned. Hope you found this helpful 🙂
