However, if you’ve started to notice the quality of the work lessen over time, you’re not alone. Many new clients complain that after a short time of getting familiar with their home, their new private housekeeper starts rushing to get out early, complacency sets in, and with no one to answer to and no quality assurance you find the bare minimum or only surface level work gets done.

Should I fire my housekeeper?

If you’ve lucked out in finding a great cleaning person you really like, who knows your cleaning preferences, your habits, and makes your life easier on a regular basis, and you have no concern about them calling the department of labor to report you for not paying their employment taxes, then you’re one of the rare lucky ones. Definitely keep them around. But if they’re not getting in corners and the ceiling fan has lines of furry dust, if they don’t show up when you really need them, if broken objects get tossed out and unmentioned, then it’s time to assess your options.

Don’t worry! This doesn’t mean you have to let them go. Many people that feel emotionally committed to their current cleaner for relationship reasons, find a professional cleaning service might be just what they need to supplement their housekeeper’s work. So while they pick up around the house and still do the basics, you can have a professional cleaner come in once in a while to handle all of your deep cleaning and organization needs. It’s a win, win.

Why is deep cleaning important?

Surface cleaning your home is like only brushing the front of your teeth: you might not see it but eventually you’ll have a cavity or two. Besides the many physical and even psychological effects of an unkempt environment which we cover in our previous article Cleanliness is Next to Happiness, there’s still the simple fact that once the germs are out and the house is really clean it just feels better. When you’re in a home with spotless walls, floors and cabinets, and no dust in sight, you’re left with peace of mind and clean air to breathe.

What if my housekeeper is not doing a good job at all?

It happens! Due to the challenges of self-employment workers can sometimes become overwhelmed with keeping track of their work schedule and finances, as well as having to come up with their own retirement plans or even the means for taking time off. If they become stressed and are having trouble focusing while on the job, try speaking with them to see if there’s any way you can help. Perhaps giving them some constructive feedback or a clearly structured checklist might get them back on track. Be sure to mark priority tasks and add specific instructions if necessary. If they still aren’t improving with even the most basic chores it may be time to move in a different direction. The most important person in this equation is you.

Why hire a professional maid service?

When you hire Great Green Cleaning you can expect quality, stability and a consistently thorough cleaning experience.

You’re getting a large staff of cleaning specialists to choose from who are:

• Experienced and trained to handle any situation.
• Well paid employees, in uniform with photo ID and a professional attitude.
• Background checked, screened and tested.

You’re getting a company with:

• A 100% satisfaction guarantee.
• Over 30 years of experience in the cleaning industry- a great track record!
• Workman’s compensation and liability coverage.
• A client care specialist who handles your account.
• 24/7 accountable live office staff for all of your cleaning emergencies.
• And much more…

For a more detailed explanation check out our previous article comparing private cleaners and professional services.

When someone has taken care of you, your home, and your family for so long, it’s like they become family too. We understand! Many of our regular clients have worked with people from our staff for years and feel the same way. There’s no need to say goodbye! Just remember that if things are getting a little rough around the edges, you can always count on Great Green to make sure your home is getting properly cleaned, sanitized, and organized, all the way through!

The post Is your housekeeper doing a good job? appeared first on Great Green Cleaning.

Here are some essential things every pet-owner needs to know.

Preventative Measures

Your pets body is like their home, and as much as they might self-groom, there are a few things you need to help them with on a regular basis.

Minimize the hair and dander in your home by keeping your pets bathed and groomed. A weekly bath with some all-natural pet shampoo will greatly reduce the work you have to do later on, and it’s also a great opportunity to get rid of any fleas. Microfibers are excellent for quickly drying them after the bath, so they don’t get water all over the place in a rolling and shaking frenzy (or in the case of cats, a quietly grooming frenzy).

Take your pet outside with a good de-shedding brush and scrub them down. They usually love getting rid of all that hair and dander, and getting itched and massaged in the process. Be sure to properly dispose of as much hair as you can. And to think, all that would have been on your floors and furniture!

Keeping them clean is a great way to prevent a mess, but keeping them in good spirits can also help to prevent other messy situations. To dogs, you’re the head of the house and leader of the pack, so it’s important that you give them a stable environment. General cleaning around the house helps keep stress levels low, and leaves less reasons for a dog to chew something up.

Cleaning Up After Pets

Pet hair is notorious for finding its way into every crack and crevice of your home, so we must be diligent if we’re going to keep things spotless. Because of wind currents created by open windows, ceiling fans, and just walking around, pet hair will often accumulate in corners, under furniture, and other hard to reach places.

A good rule is to do a quick sweep once a day, and vacuum floors and carpets once a week. Don’t forget to wipe surfaces Before vacuuming for a tip-top job. Not only will you eliminate hair and dust, but if you deal with fleas, this will help to eliminate breeding grounds and flea larvae. If you want to go the extra mile, make sure you throw the window curtains in the wash and vacuum the couches, as these are common breeding grounds as well.

You also want to wash their bedding often. Make sure you have bedding with a cover that is washable as well as waterproof (for any accidents that may occur).

When dealing with accidents around the house, always start by either absorbing it with a microfiber, or picking it up with toilet paper. The microfiber can be washed, and toilet paper can be disposed of in the toilet to avoid a smelly trash can. Microfibers are incredibly absorbent, and work great on carpets and couches to soak up most of the moisture. Then use an all natural spray for just this occasion, let it sit for a few minutes, and soak it up again before letting it air dry the rest of the way.

A Few More Tips

To help prevent fleas from breeding, you can put a little diatomaceous earth in corners or inconspicuous locations. Learn more about how D.E. works here.

Leaving pet food in open bags can attract mice and other bugs. Keep it clean and organized inside a large, sealed container.

Make sure you have a good matt for when they come back inside on a rainy day, and keep wet-wipes handy to clean off any mud and dirt.

Keep their toys washed and cleaned, and all in one place like a basket. Some dogs can even be trained to put them back!

Messy litter box? Get a nice mat for underneath. It catches most of the rogue litter and can be easily shaken out.

Remember– always use hypoallergenic, natural products when you have pets (and when you don’t) because the chemicals found in generic products are harmful to touch and to breathe.

Pet-Owners Paradise

As much as pets might struggle when it’s bath time, they truly love being clean in a clean environment, and will love you for it! And you’ll be able to breathe easy without all that hair flying around and sticking to your clean clothes. Follow these tips and you’re on your way to a cleaner, healthier, happier home for you and your pets.

Good luck!

The post The Pet-Owners Guide to a Clean House appeared first on Great Green Cleaning.

It’s strong but safe. The evergreen oil kills germs and disinfects so it’s great for bathroom and kitchen surfaces, floor washing, and for the most dangerous “Points of Contact” like switch plates, door knobs, hand rails, cabinet pulls, toilet flushers, remote controls, and phones: the places where germs like influenza and E. coli are dangerously passed unnoticed, from one person to another, spreading illness to the whole family. Sal Suds is the best green solution.

We use Sal Suds on almost every surface to stop the spread of germs; it’s one of our main go-to cleaners at Great Green Cleaning.

But is it strong enough to clean my dirty toilet? Absolutely! If the toilet is really dirty, we start with our Barkeepers Friend scrubbing powder. Barkeepers is also completely safe for the environment. It’s the oxalic acid in the Barkeepers (made from rhubarbs) that scrubs away any tough stuck on stains in the toilet. We then follow it with Sal Suds and it’s clean.

I really like how simple it is to use. No measuring, no recipes, just scrub the toilet with barkeepers powder and your toilet brush, then wash it with Sal Suds and rinse it with water.

And Voila! Your home is shinier than ever and people will constantly ask you: “What’s your secret?”

The post Why I Love Sal Suds appeared first on Great Green Cleaning.

Know Your Situation

A good cleaning service knows that every home is different and will customize the job to suit your needs. To save time, make sure you know some basic information when you call.

What cleaning supplies do you already have?

How many rooms are in your house? Bedrooms? Bathrooms? What type of kitchen do you have?

How messy are things on a scale of 1 to 10? 1 being already clean, and just needing deep-cleaning and sanitizing, and 10 meaning serious clutter or even hazardous situations.

These things will determine the amount of time and people necessary to complete the job, as well as the type of supplies that need to be brought to your location.

Know What You Want

Think about how much cleaning you want done, what things you want cleaned and what you don’t. Do you want a general cleaning or a deep spring cleaning? Do you want your belongings organized for you or do you like them placed in a certain way?

When hiring a maid service, always make sure to specify which things you don’t want moved or cleaned if they’re of extreme value to you, sentimental or otherwise.

Never Settle for Subpar

Don’t forget to inspect the work closely once a job is complete. If you’re unhappy with something make sure you call the office immediately and let them know. Our company offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so if anything isn’t up to your standards we’ll re-do it free of charge while the cleaning specialist is still at your location.

Don’t Forget the Tip

Service industry professionals always appreciate a tip for the work they’ve done. Remember to give your cleaning specialist a tip before they leave, or you can always leave one over the phone if it’s more convenient.

Simple as That!

We’ve been in the business for over thirty years, so when it comes to cleaning homes we understand the process inside and out. You can call our team to schedule an appointment, and they’ll walk you through it from start to finish.

The post Hiring a Maid Service 101 appeared first on Great Green Cleaning.

1. Clean top to bottom, inside and out.

This could be considered the golden rule of cleaning. Never work against gravity! Things like dirt, dust, and crumbs will always fall as you wipe surfaces and move things around. Would you clean your floors before you clean your ceiling fans? Of course not! The same applies everywhere else.

You always want to clean inside of things first like cabinets, drawers, baskets and bookshelves. If you only give things a superficial wipe-down, you’ll be left with that “almost-clean” feeling– not to mention the dirt and dust will spread as your things get used.

It can also be quite helpful to pick a direction like ‘left to right’ when you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.

2. Work smarter, not harder.

This rule is about being creating and building good strategies as you go along. No two homes are created equal, so cleaning is never an exact science, but if you think outside the box and consider all options you’ll save yourself a lot of hard work.

Some examples:

• If something is labor intensive, pace yourself instead of racing to the finish.
• Stubborn dirt? Let it soak in solution instead of scrubbing hard.
• With a lot of objects in the way, clear the entire surface to clean it instead of moving each object as you go along.
• Remove drawers from a desk or dresser for easy cleaning, instead of struggling to get the back corners and sides from odd angles.

Different strategies can be devised for different types of situations. Just remember: work smarter, not harder!

3. ‘Looks clean’ is never clean enough.

When dust and dirt is left behind because it’s out of sight or too hard to reach, it still impacts air quality and the health of those who have to breathe it. This is important because poor indoor air quality can lead to serious health defects and should not go ignored.

Just dusting is not always good enough either, and brooms can knock dust back up into the air. It’s much better to use a vacuum cleaner that can reach every corner and crevice of your space, as well as underneath and behind stationary furniture.

But that’s not all! After you’ve removed as much dust as possible you’ll want to wipe down everything top to bottom with a good natural disinfectant. This includes ceilings, walls, and floors. And of course, you can take preventative measures with a proper air filtration system- this will minimize dust and clean the air you breathe.

Clean by the rules!

Remember these three essential cleaning principles and it will transform the way you clean. Make sure you subscribe for more great cleaning tips and share this article with someone you think could benefit.

Here’s a quick graphic you can save or print, so that next time it’s cleaning day you’ll have your home lookin’ spiffy in a jiffy!

The post Essential Cleaning Principles appeared first on Great Green Cleaning.