Hiring a housecleaner is a big step. Ensuring that you trust the people coming into your home is critical. To help you navigate this decision, we have put together things you should consider as you select a housecleaning service.
Should I use a professional housecleaning service or an individual who cleans on their own?
This is the first question to ask yourself, as it will guide your search going forward. It is better to work with a professional housecleaning service from a trusted, established brand. While individuals may be less expensive, consider these three points: liability, reliability, and effectiveness.
Liability
Hiring an individual comes with additional legal requirements and responsibilities on you as the person hiring. Hiring an individual makes you federally liable for collecting, reporting, and paying taxes on your new “employee”. Also, consider insurance. Most (99%) individuals cleaning do not carry proper general liability and worker's compensation insurance. If they are injured at your home, or if they cause damage or breakage, you are 100% liable through your homeowner's insurance. The Cleaning Authority is fully bonded and insured, providing you peace of mind.
Reliability
If an individual cannot come on your assigned day, you will most likely not get your home cleaned. The Cleaning Authority provides many professional housecleaning teams so that this will not happen. You may not have your regularly assigned team, but you will get your home cleaned as scheduled.
Effectiveness
If your home is more than 1,000 square feet, it is simply too much for one person to clean thoroughly with detail in one day. The unique Detail-Clean Rotation System created by The Cleaning Authority allows fast and efficient cleaning of your home. The rotating system ensures your home is always thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.
Consider the parts of the home you want to be cleaned.
Do you want the entire home every week, or perhaps only every month? Every week you might want the kitchen, bath, and living area cleaned. With the Cleaning Authority, you can customize your frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) and what rooms you would like cleaned. You have the freedom to add the extra guest room or bathroom when you need to.
Ask about background checks.
3rd party referral websites are helpful, but they rarely verify background checks. Make sure you ask specifically about the type of background check being done. This is important because local background checks typically only cover the county where the employee currently lives. Anything outside of that county will not show up. A reputable service will run regional and national background checks as well as a driving history check.
In addition to the background check, ask the service or individual what is acceptable on the background check for hiring. Will they hire if the audit shows DUI's, drug offenses, or misdemeanor shoplifting? Remember that you are trusting your possessions in the hands of the housecleaners.
The Cleaning Authority hires only after a thorough screening process and then trains the employee in every aspect of home cleaning services. This ensures high-quality service every time. We perform ongoing inspections to ensure that every clean is up to our high standards.
Find out how long the cleaning service or individual has been in business, where they serve, how many customers they have, and what products they use.
This will tell you how stable they are, if they understand your area, and if you will have to add the cleaning materials' extra cost. Also, consider what type of cleaning products they are using. Cleaning products that are better for you and the planet are better for your health and prevent chemicals from entering your home. The Cleaning Authority uses environmentally responsible cleaning products because we feel that a clean earth is as important as a clean home.
During this pandemic, we offer our customers the option of having their cleaners use products listed on the EPA's Registered Antimicrobial Products for Use against Novel Coronavirus. Our professional housecleaners are outfitted with the proper PPE to clean your home according to CDC standards. We’ve told our employees to stay home if sick. Employees disinfect their cleaning cloths and tools after each clean and disinfect their shoes before entering a customer’s home.
At The Cleaning Authority, we provide housecleaning services to keep your home clean from top to bottom. We will happily work with you to optimize a cleaning schedule. This includes cleaning frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), the time of day the house is cleaned, and what exactly is being cleaned. Contact us for an estimate today.