maidYou have a nice place you call home, but because of your busy schedule  it seems like you can never find the time to give it a proper cleaning or at least keep up with the cleaning at hand.  So now you have a major decision to make…should I just give in and hire someone to come and do the dirty work for me and if so, whom?

Should you hire a professional cleaning company or maybe just an individual who has their own business?  There are so many professional companies who hire out individuals and then there are so many individuals who hire out themselves!  Well first things first.  Get out the old yellow pages and and let your fingers do the walking!

There are several questions you should ask while trying to locate the perfect person.  Always ask for a specific checklist of the work that will be done, and also if all the tasks being done will be done with each cleaning or if some will be rotated from cleaning to cleaning.  Do they provide the cleaning products, or do you, this is very important to know.

If considering using a professional cleaning service, you might also ask them if they and bonded and  insured in case of damages done to your home while cleaning, or perhaps something might come up missing after the services had been done.  Also, would it be just an individual coming to do the cleaning or several persons?  You would of course want to know how much they charge, and if they charge by the hour or by the job itself.

Now lets talk about maybe hiring just an individual you found in the want ads.  He or She may be a little less expensive than that professional you talked to.  Of course you want to ask her the same questions you asked the professionals.  In your discussion you may find that this individual who is working for herself seems to do quite a bit more “dirty” work such as cleaning windows, ceiling fans and fixtures, base boards and window seals!  Wow, what a deal! However, you may find that some individually owned cleaning services may not own some of the higher end cleaning equipment you may find with a commercially based cleaning service. Some of these tools may include pressure washers, a floor steam cleaner or carpet shampooing machines.

Keep in mind that you would also want to build a relationship with whichever service you choose.  Communicate openly and honestly about what you want from a thorough house cleaning.  Be open minded about anything that they may suggest when it comes to keeping your house in tip top shape.  After all, they are trying to make your life a little less hectic!

Now after being mentally exhausted after interviewing  these individuals, you start to think that well maybe it’s just not worth it to hire someone.  You start  wondering if they would really do as good a job as yourself  if you only had the time.  Then you remember…that dear sweet girl even said she does the laundry and the ironing.  How can you resist that.