Recommend house cleaning service for first timer!

[Anonymous]

I am overwhelmed by the clutter and dust in our busy house. Am finally succumbing to spending money on a cleaner. But an really unclear on how it works! Could you answer the following:

- do you stay home when the crew cleans?do they have your key?
- do you hide valuables?
- do they do a better job than you? Is it super clean or just the same range as me doing it if I had Enid time?
- do you tip?
- do they use low toxicity products for homes with
h infants if requested?
- frequency and cost?
- do I have to specify areas that need deep cleAning?

Please recommend your amazing and reliable/honest service! Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Basically, the answer to all of your questions is, "it depends on who you get." They are usually very location-specific so you should try asking your neighbors or on a neighborhood listserv and see how far you get.

- do you stay home when the crew cleans?do they have your key?
Not usually, and no, I let her in and then go, she locks the door behind her when they leave.

- do you hide valuables?
No. I trust her. YMMV.

- do they do a better job than you? Is it super clean or just the same range as me doing it if I had Enid time?
totally depends on who you get. Mine does things I don't do. She scrubs the grout, she mops. You can get people who pay more or less attention to detail and pay them for more or less time...

- do you tip?
I don't, except for a Christmas bonus (1-2 visit cost). We negotiated the price and that's what I pay.

- do they use low toxicity products for homes with infants if requested?
My experience is that some will but you need to talk about it with them, bc it makes more work/time for them and you may need to pay them for more hours. There's more scrubbing, literally, with green products.

- frequency and cost?
Totally depends on size of house. You can have them come as much as you want. Weekly, every other week, and monthly are the most common. Mine comes every other week.

- do I have to specify areas that need deep cleAning?
Yes, unless they have a specific schedule they keep, like I've heard some services do (or some really motivated individuals) -- like they add in one "extra" task each time on a rotation so that it all gets a deep cleaning in turn.