Using a Cleaning Service

Do the whole house. Clear the floors and counters before they arrive. First visit will probably be $200 but worth it.

So...you wanna clean for the cleaning company. Uhhhh....NOT. When you call the company you choose, you explain the situation, so they know what to expect. They are a cleaning company, you are paying them to do the job because you are not in good health at this time to do it yourself. Let them do their job, for the amount of money they are charging you....and let them do everything, because they can. I work in elder care and there are times when I start with a client that needs an extreme cleaning, one that they couldn't pay me enough to do, and I hire these companies and they do a great job, especially if they get a list of what is expected beforehand. Just explain the situation and let them handle it. Good luck.

Nicole:

Costs for cleaning services are different for every state and place.

My cleaning company comes in once a week. They spend about 3 hours here. I have 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths, formal living room, dining room, kitchen.

The first clean will be the most expensive clean. You need to have someone come out and look at your house and what you need and want done.

The dogs SHOULD NOT be there when they come - if they are - they need to be in a kennel or back yard. It's not fair to the cleaning staff to have to worry about dogs (no matter how well behaved they are).

I don't need to "clean" before they get here. I do make sure that they house is picked up. But I do that every day. I GET that you are exhausted. I would have my husband help pick up and hire the service to come in. Depending upon the state of your home - I would guess $250 for the first clean. Call around and see. You are running out of time, so start calling!!

Good luck! I hope your medical conditions are fixed and you are back to your old self soon!

It's all up to you. You discuss with the cleaning co. exactly what you want accomplished (surface cleaning, deep cleaning). And then pick up whatever you can, so they can clean. Do not worry about what they think about you. It's a little like the doctor's office..... they've seen it all! The thing is, having someone come into your house does give you a bit of an energy boost to put things away. Really, it's a blessing. I hope you have a great experience.

And mostly, never, never, be embarrassed about doing the best you can do. Ever. Enjoy your visit.

I clean up enough that she can get to the floors without too much trouble. I clear the dishes (unless that's in your contract) from the sink and make sure DD's socks aren't under the kitchen table. I clean up the major messes so that she can focus on the deep cleaning. It takes unnecessary time if she needs to clear toys out of the tub. So, my house is not spotless, but it is better than if I haven't expected company for a week. I don't sweep or prevacuum. You might ask them what they expect.

I didn't want to pay them to pick up or do dishes so I did that the night before. I picked up and put away anything that would be in the way of sweeping, mopping, dusting. For dusting I did leave in place anything that was to stay there after it was dusted.

You can have them do it all, dishes and picking up. Just know that you're going to pay them for the time it takes them to do it. And.....they won't be able to put anything away for you. Once you're having them come weekly they can learn where to put things if you want them to do that.

Do NOT be ashamed of your house keeping. You're doing the best you can do. Unless your house is full of spoiled food, animal feces and safety hazards it's OK. You are paying for a service. It's up to you to decide how much you want them to do and how much you're willing/able to pay.

And, yes, pen up the dogs. All service people do not want to deal with animals. Some are more accepting than others. If you want the upstairs cleaned then put them in the yard or move them from room to room so that they're separate from the cleaners or, depending on your dogs, if they're calm and obedient, you may only have to just keep them with you, where ever you are. Discuss what the cleaning people would prefer while discussing what you want them to do.

Fifty years ago, at the suggestion of her doctor, my mom hired a house keeper. She found that even with her telling them specifically what she wanted done, they focused on what was important to them. My mother wanted the dishes done and didn't care about other things. She wanted the surface cleaned and not the floors mopped. They left the dishes and mopped the floors. My mother decided to buy a dishwasher and didn't use the house cleaner. LOL

I use Molly maids or other similar services when I feel really overwhelmed. Like just this week, when I'm due with number two any day. They are expensive, and they determine fees both by time, size of house, and also there are certain things they do, like microwaves, and things they don't, like move furniture to vacuum. Check their policy. Don't worry about looking like a pig, as I'm sure they've seen it all and who cares what they think anyway. But it is my experience that they will have more time to devote to deep cleaning if you try to pick up the clutter first. But do what you feel like; you're going to be paying a lot so don't stress yourself, too! And if you need regular help, it's probably better to find someone who doesn't work for a service, like for example, care.com has a housekeeping section.

The cleaning company will tell you what the parameters/ expectations and cost is attendant to various services. Some I've used for instance will clean the outside of appliances and cabinets in the base price, but you can ask to have the insides cleaned too, for an additional fee. Be sure to alert the service to exactly what you want done when you book so that they can allocate the appropriate manpower.

Most that I've used will say tidy the pile of newspapers on your coffee table. None would be so bold as to put it in the recycling bin for you.

Dogs are going to have to be restrained in some fashion.

Good luck to you and yours and enjoy your clean house.
F. B.

I wouldn't care what the cleaning company thinks...their job is to clean and obviously you wouldn't be calling them if you didn't need them. I usually just put toys away, dishes in dishwasher, pick up clothes...I guess the easy things that I can do on a day to day basis. I pay for a 3 hour cleaning and want to make sure they have the time to focus on the things that I want them to...the more deep cleaning items. I have them do all but my basement and they can do it all in 3 hours but I don't have a lot of knicknacks and stuff either, and they come on a regular basis so know my house well. I would definitely put dogs somewhere out of the way, especially given there are 3.