We all want to live in a clean house, but with everything else going on it becomes quite a chore trying to keep it that way. There are times when things get away from us and suddenly we’ve been chosen to host a family event or holiday get-together and the house needs a good thorough deep cleaning before we’d be comfortable having people over. This is when its time to hire help, and a reliable house cleaning service is a good place to start.

In order to get the most out of the cleaning service it is important to have things ready before they come out. Having the house properly prepared helps to build a good relationship between you and your housekeeper.

Here are some steps you can take to make sure your home is ready:

 Secure your valuables – It is never a good idea to leave jewelry or other valuables lying around when others are in your home. We at Miss Mops train all our Cleaning Associates never to touch a homeowner’s jewelry or personal valuables. However to play it safe it is always best to be cautious and secure your valuables before the cleaning crew arrives.

Make sure all paperwork and mail is put away – We all seek to maintain our privacy and having confidential paperwork lying around for others to see is not a good idea. Make sure that all your important papers are where they belong. You don’t want something inadvertently thrown away or looked at so if this is something you’re currently working on, put them in a file or envelope with a “Do Not Touch” note on it. This will minimize the chances of any important papers being read or lost.

 Pick up and put away clutter such as toys and clothing – To get the most out of your housekeeper and the money you’re spending, have the house picked up before they arrive so they don’t spend precious time trying to organize your things and figuring out where they belong. People usually hire a cleaning service to handle projects involving deep cleaning of kitchen and bathrooms as well as carpet, floors and upholstery cleaning. By making sure clutter is picked up ahead of time you allow your cleaning crew to get started right away on the difficult tasks they were hired to carry out in the first place.

 Secure your pets – Pets are often skittish when strangers enter the home. It’s hard to predict how they’ll react when our Cleaning Associate(s) arrive. In order to avoid having anyone scratched or bitten, it is always best to put any pets in a secure room or the garage before we come out. Another factor is that some people are allergic to cats and/or dogs and this includes some of our Cleaning Associates. To protect their health and safety make sure that your pets are safely put out of the way.

Make a cleaning list of problem areas – To get the most accomplished make a list for your Cleaning Associate(s) of any problem areas that require the most work. List the most important areas first and the least important last. This allows your cleaners to budget their time so they can thoroughly clean all the areas most important to you.

Provide easy access to your home – If you are not going to be home when the cleaning service arrives, leave precise instructions ahead of time so they know exactly how they can get into your house. This may mean leaving a key hidden outside and/or the access code to your alarm system.

Look for anything broken – Before anyone arrives to clean your house it’s important that you do a thorough walk-through to inspect for anything broken. This is the only way you can determine if something was already broken before the cleaners arrived, or if they could possibly be responsible for the breakage. If on your walk-through you do find things that to be repaired, you can fix them or if you don’t have time then at least point these things out to your Cleaning Associate, so they will know they won’t be blamed.

Open communication is best – It is always best to honestly and openly communicate with your cleaning service and/or your individual Cleaning Associate. This way there is little chance of a misunderstanding as to what is expected of both parties. This is especially important if you are not home when the cleaners arrive and/or are working. Provide them with detailed information as to how you can be reached in the event they have questions or run into any problems.