Tag Archives: domestic cleaner

The chemicals list: what do I need to have in my house.

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Here you can find some advise on the necessary chemicals and utensils to have in your house for the weekly cleaning. Whether it is your domestic cleaner or yourself doing the house work, there are always some essential tools to get the best results.

We can make a difference between “the essentials” and “the advance option”, depending on your preferences. If you are not a cleaning maniac and consider other parts of your life more important than having your silver cleaned every week, then the “essentials list” would be enough for you. If, on the other hand, you take care of your house as if it was a golden chamber, then it would be better to add some extra chemicals/tools that will add up sparkle to your cleaning life.

Let’s go with the “essentials list” first:

  1. Gloves. Do not expect your domestic cleaner to brush your toilet without them; it is not only disgusting but a health and safety risk. If you do not want your house cleaner to use your washing up gloves, buy another pair for her.
  2. A vacuum cleaner. This will not be used on carpet only, but all floors around the house. It is quicker than the broom, thus saving time for the cleaner to do other things around the house. Remember that every vacuum is a different world so do not leave your cleaner to explore it without you; give her some tips on how to use it and how to change the bag!
  3. A broom. It is always advisable to have a back up plan in case the vacuum cleaner breaks down.
  4. A dustpan. If you have a broom you will definitely need a dustpan.
  5. A mop. Cleaning the kitchen and bathroom floor on your knees is not easy. Having a proper mop and bucket will ease the job enormously.
  6. Several dishcloths. We are again talking about Health and Safety. Your domestic cleaner will need to use different cloths for each task and room (it would be better if they are color coded), otherwise we can create cross contamination, putting your health in danger.
  7. Yellow duster. It is the cheapest cloth you can buy on the market, and the best one to do the dusting and polish the furniture. You can wash them and re-use them with no problem.
  8. Nylon cleaning pads. They work much better than sponges to clean stubborn stains but they do not scratch the surfaces.
  9. Bin liners.
  10. Kitchen towels. They absorb the water extremely well and are great to clean glass and shiny surfaces. It will help your domestic cleaner and will leave your house like you have never seen it before!
  11. Wood or laminate floor cleaner.
  12. Glass cleaner.
  13. Toilet cleaner.
  14. Oven cleaner.
  15. All purpose anti bacterial cleaner. You can buy bathroom and kitchen cleaner if you prefer.
  16. Furniture polish-wax free.
  17. Limescale remover.
  18. Hob cream cleaner.

What about the “Deluxe” list? Apart from the chemicals and utensils listed above you will need to add this ones:

  1. Micro fibre cloths. The best thing about them is that you can clean your windows with no chemical at all! They are a little bit more expensive but they are re-usable, so at the end you are saving money.
  2. Lambswool flick duster. It attracts dust the best and you can reach high corners and top of wardrobes and doors.
  3. Silver cleaner.
  4. Granite and marble cleaner.
  5. Wax polisher. For wooden furniture and antiques.
  6. Degreasing cleaning spray. Very useful for the kitchen; it does not only clean but takes the grease out of wardrobes and surfaces.

Every house is different and people’s preferences change with time, so do not take this lists as a must have. It is always advisable to share the list with your domestic cleaner and see if she is comfortable with the list.

How to resolve problematic situations

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Here are some excellent tips on what to do if you are having problems with your cleaner

“The house does not look clean when I return home; I think my cleaner is not doing her job properly”.

If you are in this situation, first speak to the cleaner to raise your concerns, try to understand and get an explanation from her of why she is not able to do a professional job.

Normally your cleaner will give you great information and the problem is easily solved.  However if not, speak to your agency, for example  http://www.amycleaning.co.uk have a group of professionals able to re-train or coach your domestic cleaner to improve her job.

“My domestic cleaner does not pay attention to detail; she always forgets to hover underneath the bed and sofa”

Before you rush to blame your domestic cleaner for the state of your house when you return from work, ask yourself some questions:

  • Are my expectations too high? 
  • Does she have enough time to clean my house?

Sometimes your domestic cleaner can struggle with the hours and the amount of work that she has in your house. All cleaners, even the best ones, will find it difficult to finish on time and do a good cleaning on the first visit.

  • Is she wasting time doing things that are actually not important to me ?

Very often we find that the cleaner is spending a lot of their time doing something that is not important to that specific customer.  This is often something that one of their other customers wants, but you do not feel is important.  Once they do this task less often, then they have time to do what you actually want. 

For example your cleaner may be deep cleaning your oven on every visit, when actually you only want it done once per month.  this change means they now have lots of time to iron all your shirts.

 
 
 

 

 
 

It is always a good idea to leave a note with the tasks that you want your domestic cleaner to follow. This way she will find it easier to re-organise her work the way you expect it.

If this “soft” approach does not work, call the agency to explain them the situation.

“She keeps re-organising my stuff!”

You will need to do some preventive work on this one. Speak with your domestic cleaner on the first visit to establish some rules: “if you find something underneath the bed, put it on top”; “if there is any paper/documents on the desk, leave them on the same place”; “dust the shelves in the bathroom but leave bottles on the same place”;…

Each customer will have different requirements on this issue and without communication the cleaner has to guess which one you like, sadly the odds are never high on guessing what you like.

“The watch has disappear from my room”

There is never an excuse for theft.  If you use a good agency that has vetted your cleaner then this is not something that happens.  This usually happens when someone has hired a house cleaner from an ad in a newsagent window and has not taken the time to vet them properly.

This is a concerning issue though and an event like this is very distressful.

If you are thinking of hiring a domestic cleaner then it is always right to minimize temptations.  It is not nice for the cleaner if there is money, expensive jewellery and other things about.

Do not leave your valuables on sight. It is not about not trusting your cleaner, but trying to avoid temptation.

If you already have a domestic cleaner and suspect that she has taken something, make a list of everything that have gone missing and contact the domestic cleaning agency in case you hired the cleaner through them.

However do always be careful to check things out first, as most accusations are later followed by the client finding the item in an unexpected place.

 “It is impossible to speak with my cleaner, she does not speak English and she does not understand me!”

It will not take too much time until your domestic cleaner starts having good level of English. Meanwhile, just make sure that you leave a note for her with the tasks that you require for the day; always write short sentences that would be easier to understand.

It is far easier for a cleaner to read and write things as they can do this at their own speed.  This is because with verbal communication the cleaner has to keep up with the speed of hearing what is being said and giving a prompt verbal response.

Generally domestic cleaners with not a lot of English knowledge tend to have strong domestic cleaning skills; they know they need to give their best on their job as they have no possibility of finding work on any other sector where English is required.

“I have lost so many days off work! My domestic cleaner is never on time!”

Prevention is essential on these situations. When you first meet your domestic cleaner make it clear that time keeping is essential for you, that you will not tolerate any unexcused absence.

If there are any issues, it is always best not to ‘tell your cleaner off’, just express that regrettably you are not able to work with them if this issue happens again.  There is no need for conflict, it is simply that you are not able to wait around as you have other things to do.

If your domestic cleaner is still arriving late to the appointments, you may need to think about changing the cleaner if you hired her directly. If you use a domestic cleaner through a house cleaning agency, it is even easier to change your current cleaner for a more reliable one.

Cleaning products: what to use

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You just joined a Domestic Cleaning agency and they have told you that you will need to provide the cleaning products yourself. Where do you start?

Everyone can get a little bit paranoid on the supermarket shelves trying to decide if the citrus-super-lime scale remover is better than the paradise-ocean-fragrance-bleach. All those chemicals with ammonium quaternary compounds or phthalates or who-knows-what that look like mini atomic bombs in colourful bottles.

It is always good to start thinking about what it is more important for you: sparkling clean or environmentally friendly? You actually have three choices in regards to cleaning products: conventional cleaning products, green or environmentally friendly products, and traditional products.

Conventional cleaning chemicals are available to customers with almost no information about their potential consequences for human health. Still there are thousands of customers willing to buy those products so they can have the most glimmering house at all costs. Some of these cleaning products have been proofed to cause occupational asthma as well as other allergies and derived illnesses.

This may be the main reason for a growing number of people willing to switch their cleaning products for a better alternative.

Still indecisive? Let me give you some facts.

 The only chemicals that green or environmentally products cannot match in terms of strength are those that contain chlorine, such as bleach. In those cases, the green products need a little bit more of manual help (yes, scrubbing).

Another fact: You do not need chemicals to clean (not kidding). These cleaning products that we often buy make the domestic cleaning task easier, but not better. In fact, the well known e-cloth will leave your windows even more sparkling than a conventional window cleaner.

Last fact (an old one): My grandmother used to say that “a person is not cleaner because they clean a lot but because he or she tries not to make everything dirty”. What a truth! Obviously it will take you longer to clean the cooker if you leave it full of sticky grease, debris and rests of food for one month instead of wiping it every day.

The good news are that to change your domestic cleaner into an “environment freaky”  you do not need to force her into mixing up pastes and solutions to clean the toilet bowl. You can always switch to the environmentally friendly chemicals we mentioned before.

Still not convince about the prices of those so called “green products”? Then maybe you can think about buying conventional cleaning products on a more conscientious way. Let us see how.

Just a bottle of washing up liquid will do the trick, at the end of the day we do not have our daily showers with bleach and antibacterial soap! Why do we need to do differently for our house?

If you feel  that buying only washing up liquid is too drastic a change and still find the need to buy more than one bottle of don’t-remember-the-name super cleaning chemical, then go with the basic ones: general cleaner, lime scale remover and a polisher (if needed). This way you will reduce your exposure (and your domestic cleaner’s exposure) to unnecessary strong chemicals.

Your domestic cleaner can help you a lot on deciding which chemical is the best, as she has the knowledge of years of house cleaning. Most probably if you ask her she will choose, by experience, the softest chemicals on the market. At the end of the day deciding which chemical to buy is not about which product is the best but how we use it.

How to get the best of your cleaner on the interview

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Choosing a good domestic cleaner is not easy. There are always potential problems that need to be addressed from the start. Using a domestic cleaning agency will be an advantage for you in terms of quick replacements in case your regular cleaner is ill or resigns unexpectedly; but still, there is always some tips that you, as a customer, can follow during the interview with your prospective domestic cleaner to get the best of it (and her!).

Thinking of a domestic cleaner that can, magically, guess your cleaning requirements and get them done with a touch of a magic wand is not at all realistic. Every person has different priorities and expectations and it is important that you communicate them to the domestic cleaning agency as well as the domestic cleaner.

So, before the interview is arranged, make a plan and prioritize your needs. At http://www.amycleaning.co.uk we recommend that, when doing this, you consider: a) What tasks require equipment or supplies you don’t have; b) what tasks you prefer to do yourself; c) what items or areas in the house are of special importance.

When interviewing the cleaner that the domestic cleaning agency has allocated to you consider these easy to follow points so you can get more information about your new cleaner at the same time that you give her all the information she needs to provide a high quality cleaning service:

  1.        The length of the interview will depend on you; it is usually  between 5 and 30 minutes (but do not be afraid if it takes you longer than this! At the end of the day she is going to be your regular cleaner!).
  2.    Check the domestic cleaner’s appearance and non verbal communication. Someone that is looking down to the floor when you are explaining where the chemicals are kept won’t be very willing to work!
  3.      Ask a variety of questions including those relating to training, experience, cleaning times and days…
  4.      Show her your priorities: Which room is more important for you? How often do you want the blinds to be dusted?…Make sure she understands your needs; it will be easier to get what you want if you make it clear at the start.
  5.      Ironing: This seems to be a very obvious task to do. Nothing further from reality; everyone has specific preferences. Explain the domestic cleaner how you would like your shirts to be ironed (creases on your sleeves for example) or what would be the essential clothes for you to be ironed.
  6.      Laundry: It would be fine to ask your cleaner to organise the laundry and change the bed linen but it would be better for you to leave very clear instructions to avoid any pink socks in the future!
  7.       Rubbish: There are a lot of councils that issue fines if the rubbish is placed in the wrong place at the wrong day. For this reason, make sure you let the domestic cleaner know on the interview about the correct procedure.
  8.   The task sheet: Some people feel more comfortable writing a task list for the cleaner. It is in fact very useful for the domestic cleaners as it enables them to follow your requirements more easily (remember that the first days on your house will be the hardest ones for your domestic cleaner as she needs to get used to a “different way of doing things”). The domestic cleaning agency will have the possibility to give you an easy to use task sheet, making your life easier.
  9.      Cleaning products: You know by the domestic cleaning agency that you will need to provide the chemicals yourself. The interview is a good time to go through the chemicals you have in your house and also get to know the knowledge the domestic cleaner has on the different chemicals and cloths used.
  10.  The keys and the alarm: No one wants to get called in the middle of an important meeting because the cleaner has turn on the alarm by mistake or maybe she cannot open the door! It is better to make sure the cleaner knows how the alarm works from the beginning (make her practice a little bit) or any other “tricks” to open the door to the house.

Hiring your cleaning services from a domestic cleaning agency not only saves you time; it can also reduce your stress level. The domestic cleaning agency can always communicate your cleaner any changes on your priorities or needs to make sure that the information shared on your interview with the cleaner is accurate and up to date.

We can say that proper communication on the interview with the prospective cleaner is the key to a successful relationship with her. You have to get to know her at the same time that you need to assess her suitability; but it is important to make the effort at the beginning and avoid any stressful situation afterwards.

domestic cleaning and the minimum wage

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There was a lot of debate in the domestic cleaning services industry about the minimum wage increase in October 2008, some people saying that it would decrease employment, others saying that it would have little effect.

Interestingly the credit crunch and the recession has diverted people’s discussions away from this debate.

http://www.amycleaning.co.uk is friendly with most other domestic cleaning firms, it is a small industry where everyone really knows everyone .  The general conclusion is that in most areas it has had no measurable difference. 

This is partly because it is hard to measure in comparison to the general recession of the economy which has had a far larger effect.  Also before the minimum wage increased to £5.73, in most areas agencies had to pay a bit more than the minimum wage to get the great staff they needed anyway. 

Also as far as individual agencies are concerned, as all their rivals also have to pay more in each area to get staff they are at no disadvantage to their competitors.   Cleaners are needed in a specific areas so it is not something where there are competing with those located abroad that are not subject to these laws.

All in all, the challenging marketplace is caused by the current state of the economy and not the minimum wage increase. 

The management at Amy Domestic Cleaning Agency Services has been through a few recessions and has always been fine, so we regard it as all just a little history repeating. 

It is a sad fact though that many newer agencies do not have experience with these conditions and have not set themselves up correctly for them.  Normally the domestic cleaning agency services that are not managing to make it during these conditions are those that do not have proper financial reporting, organisation skills, management experience and biggest of all they have bank borrowings.

If you are a  agency that is having troubles, please do feel free to give us a call and we are always happy to chat to and help good people.