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House Cleaning Price and Rates

By
June 26, 2021

House Cleaning Price and Rates

When hiring a cleaning company there are many things to consider to ensure you make the right choice. You will need to review cleaning company reviews, make sure the maid service is bonded and insured, and go over the eco-friendly products that they will be using in your home, and understand how the set the house cleaning price

To make a fully informed decision, it’s ideal to also understand how rates are set, and how certain items will affect the all-around cost for your house clean. There are 3 main areas that you will need to focus on

“Get 3 quotes from local house cleaning companies”

The three items to fully understand are how a house cleaning price is set are the number of maids cleaning the home and the condition of your home. Together, these 3 factors will be deciding factors on how much it will cost to clean your house.

Cleaning Company Rates: Cleaning companies set rates on a variety of factors.

  • Local wage pressures: Each jurisdiction will have a different economy, in different parts of the economical cycle. They will have different minimum wage requirements. Minimum wage is the lowest set amount a company in that area can hire someone for, per hour. For example, cleaning companies hiring cleaners in Calgary, must adhere to Calgary’s minimum wage set at $15/hour. So if the minimum wage is set, it’s certainly a starting point for cleaning staff wages, it’s not the end of it. Certain local jurisdictions have pressures from surrounding industries that can increase the cleaning wages. To hire competent cleaning staff, a company will need to offer a competitive wage. If the economy is strong, then there will be pressure for wages to be higher. When evaluating if a cleaning cost per hour is fair you need to consider the above factors and realize they will be a portion of the set rate. So if the rate is set at $25 an hour, the wage alone will be $15, making it 60% of the cleaning rate. At this level, the cleaning piece per hour is fair. IF you do the same calculation at a cleaning cost per hour is set at $45, then wage is 33%. The rate is on the higher side based on wages alone. To get a good idea of what current cleaning staff wages in your local area are, check out some hiring boards, like Indeed, to get a baseline of the current market cleaning positions are going for.
  • Cost of Supplies: Apart from labor, the cost of supplies is the other large expense that cleaning companies are faced with. Review the supplies, and see if they are Eco friendly ( which cost more), brand name, derived from bulk, etc. The higher the cost for supplies, the larger chunk they will make up of the cleaning price. For example, method brand  cleaning supplies cost $4-$6 per bottle, and that bottle may last 3 cleans. That adds the cost of $2 to the cost of each house clean for the cleaning company.
  • Fuel and vehicle operating costs: Each client lives in a different area, and the maid company must drive to that location for each clean. The costs incurred will be fuel, insurance, maintenance costs, and the labor between houses. Cleaning companies will generally not charge for the labor to drive from house to house, but it inevitably is a cost to them and must be recouped somewhere. This cost for the company will be chalked up to overhead, and amortized over an employee’s full workday. If your home is far away from a local operating area, keep that in mind as the cleaning company  will not add it to the house cleaning price.

Number of cleaners in your home: Calculating cleaning hours

House cleaning companies in Calgary will generally price per hour for jobs. This sounds simple enough but becomes a point of dispute for many maid services. Here is an example to explain this in detail. If you hire a cleaning company, and they arrive at your home with 3 maids, and spend between 9 am to 11 am cleaning, what will your cleaning invoice be? One is bound to quickly jump to the fortuitous choice that it will be a 2-hour invoice, multiplied by the cleaning company rate. In this case, if you reference the example rate of $25 an hour above, your bill will be $50 plus tax. Isn’t that a lovely and cheap cleaning service that you just hired? Unfortunately, this isn’t the way it works. If you think above the points we touched on above, and divide the $25 by the 3 cleaners for the hour, you are left with $8.3 dollars per employee. That is far below the minimum wage requirements that we have to pay per employee. So this conclusion would not make sense as to what to expect for your invoice. To get a full understanding if this, simply think of cleaning quotes in “man-hours”. Cleaning companies can send any amount of maids to your home. from 1-4 is usually pretty standard. So don’t just count the hours that staff members are in your home. Instead, take the time they spend cleaning your home, and multiply by the quantity of cleaning personnel in your home. This will show you the total cleaning cost for your home. Here is an example of how a 6-hour house clean can look for you

Please note: all quotes and invoices are in CLEANING hours. Cleaning hours are derived by multiplying physical hours spend in your home by the quantity of cleaners cleaning
Ex:
3 cleaners for 2 hours = 6 cleaning hours
2 cleaners for 3 hours = 6 cleaning hours
1 cleaner   for 6 hours = 6 cleaning hours

Condition and Size of Your Home

The condition of your home and the type of clean you need will be the third main deciding factor when a company looks to decide the total cleaning cost for your project. Remember, cheap cleaning costs don’t always result in a good cleaning job, let alone a finished job. House cleaning prices are set from a variety of variables.

  • What kind of clean do you need: Not every type of clean is going to take the same amount of time, no matter how much we all wished it would. More detailed cleans like move out cleans, and deep cleans, will take longer than other cleans like AirBnB cleaning, and biweekly house cleaning. The more tasks that are added, the longer they will take. To help explain this factor more, think of all the extra items that need to be done with a move-out clean. For example, cleaning inside the cabinets and cleaning inside appliances. This task is generally not part of a regular biweekly clean. Another example is cleaning the window tracks deeply in the event of a fall clean, and not doing them for a regular house clean ( unless requested). To set the price for the clean, a cleaning company will need to fully understand what kind of clean you need,  to give you a house cleaning price that will be accurate, and then they will tally up the total cleaning services needed to complete it, and multiply them by the cleaning hours, a set cleaning rate. Each new item that needs to be completed, will add time to the invoice. If you want inside the appliances cleaned, that will generally add an hour of cleaning time to the maid service cost.
  • Size of your home: This factor is simpler than the others we mentioned above. The larger the home, the more square feet will need to be cleaned. Likewise, the more bathrooms it will generally have, and bathrooms are some of the most time-consuming parts of the home to clean, versus simpler spaces like the bedrooms. To ballpark times, for a deep clean, a 600 square foot condo will take approximately 5 hours to clean, and a 2000 square foot home, will take 8-10 hours to deep clean. The general rule of thumb is each kitchen will take 2-3 hours to clean, each bedroom will take 1 hour to clean, and common areas will vary.
  • The actual state of your home: The messier the home, the longer it will take to clean. Regular cleaning in your home will make the trained maids’ job faster and easier. There is less calcium buildup to tackle, less built on grease to wipe off, and in the kitchen, less burnt on food to clean up. The more neglect your house sees, the more hours a cleaning company will need. Have a good look at your space, and pay special attention to calcium, dust levels, food burnt on, and grease throughout the space. The best thing to do in this case is, to be honest with yourself. Rate each room on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being extremely dirty, to 10 being sparking clean already. Relay this information to the cleaning company, and supply them with some pictures for their review. Alternatively, you can request an in-house consultation, so they can review the space themselves, and give you a set, and accurate cleaning quote. If you misrepresent the condition of your home, you will not get an accurate quote, and the actual job might exceed your cleaning budget.

Reducing Your Cleaning Costs

In Summary, the main factors that your cleaning cost is derived from are the rate per hour, the cleaning hours it will take for the specific clean you need, and the size/ condition of your home before the clean starts. Simply take the rate per hour, multiply it by the hours needed to clean the size of the home, and add or subtract the premium or cost savings for having a really dirty hour, or a really clean house. To reduce your cleaning costs, it’s important to either hire professional cleaning companies regularly or pitch in and clean the home from time to time yourself.

 

Once you understand how a cleaning company sets your cleaning rate, and you review the total cost, to find it a little too high, here are some tips on how to drive your costs down.

  1. Pre clean a bit yourself, or at a minimum, uncluttered and pick up your mess. For every 15 minutes the maid service spends picking your clutter up or moving it out of the way, that will take away 15 minutes from your cleaning time budget for actual house cleaning. Keep the job efficiently, but making it easier for the hired cleaning company.
  2. Review the cleaning companies cleaning chemicals and agents: We always use eco-friendly cleaning supplies in our company, and we use the correct chemicals for the correct tasks. Review the chemicals and their uses with the trained maid staff on site. Degreasers are used for the kitchen, window cleaners for windows, and special calcium fighters in bathrooms. Using the wrong cleaning chemicals in the wrong spaces will do nothing but drive up your cleaning hours, which are multiplied by the cleaning rate, resulting in a higher cleaning bill for you and your home. The same goes for cleaning tools the company will use. These days, they make and sell all sorts of cleaning equipment that is task-specific, and will make the cleaning more efficient. There are special sponges, brushes, and even window blind cleaning tools. For example, the blind tool will reduce the time spent cleaning per blind by 75%, which means more money leftover in your pocket.
  3. Use a house cleaning checklist: this will take the guesswork out of the clean, and make it a simple, yet efficient process. Eliminating wasted time reduces the time spent in your home, and when you multiply the time by the cleaning rate, you will get a reduced cleaning invoice and house cleaning price.
  4. Do not be shy to shop around, and get a few cleaning quotes. This will ensure that you get a good understanding the market, and if quotes are in line with it. Keep in mind that different cleaning companies offer different value, so the price will not always be exact, but with this, you can leverage yourself to negotiate a better rate with your preferred provider.

Cleaning Quote Calculator to Determine Your House Cleaning Price

Now that you have a better understanding of house cleaning price and how it is derived, there is an easier way to arrive at a quote for your home. Simply use a professional cleaning quote calculator. The calculator will factor in the going cleaning rate set by the company, the size of the home, the type of clean you need, and how often you need the cleaning service. The calculator will do all this behind the scenes for you with its algorithm. All you need to do is plug in the pertinent information, like the number of bedrooms that needs cleaning, the number of bathrooms that need cleaning, the size of the home, and if you have pets, etc, and the cost calculator will give you an accurate quote for your project. The cleaning quote calculator uses all the variables we left about above and has a custom math formula to come up with the answer. Change your inputs, and you will notice the price will change. Always negotiate your cleaning company rates.

How Cleaning Works: The Chemistry of Cleaning

By
June 22, 2021

How Cleaning Works: The Chemistry of Cleaning

To many cleaning company staff and maids, cleaning is home is a routine that they know and is tough by their cleaning supervisor, or manager. Cleaning will entail a list of tasks like making beds, taking out the trash, wiping areas, and vacuuming. Each cleaning company will have different strategies and routines. It’s recommended that each cleaning company, as well as each homeowner that likes to tackle their own housekeeping tasks, fully understands how cleaning works, and the science of cleaning. How certain cleaning chemicals work to remove dirt, grime, and other contaminants. The keys steps to follow when cleaning are

  • Locate the dirt/contaminants: This simply means you need to find where the dirt and soiled areas are in the home so that you can begin successfully cleaning them
  • Identify the dirt: We will get into more detail about this later on, but in this step, you need to figure out what the dirt is made of, ( blood, oils, food, calcium etc) so that you can determine the correct chemicals to use and a correct strategy to remove the dirt
  • Contain it: ensure the problem isn’t getting worse or spreading, creating damage, or making it harder to remove
  • Removing the dirt: ( aka actually cleaning it): Once again we will get into a lot more detail on this later on, but at this step, you will need to use the correct chemicals and strategy to remove the dirt and dispose of if it correctly.

Cleaning is done on a molecular level

To fully understand cleaning products, whether the ones you can buy at the store at retail, or special, commercially available chemicals, you need to have a solid understanding of the science of cleaning.

The Chemistry of Cleaning Agents:

In order to effectively clean something, you need to apply a cleaning agent and create a chemical solution. this is a fundamental part of how cleaning works. Most cleaning agents and solutions are made with water and soap/detergent, or an organic solvent. The key thing to remember is that similar items will dissolve into similar items. Like when you play chemist and try to mix water and oil, you will notice they won’t mix. They are not alike. Now let’s look at the actual cleaning science on a molecular level. Taking into account that water and oil don’t mix, and the majority of what we call dirt is actually some sort of oily base one way or another, you can combat the dirt with a water and soap combination. Soap will mix with water and with the oil. This is because the soap will have to different ends on a molecular level. These two ends are hydrophilic and hydrophobic. One end will bind with the water, and the other end, with the grease/ dirt, creating an effective chemical reaction that allows you to remove the dirt the soap molecule has two different ends, one that is hydrophilic (polar head) that binds with water and the other that is hydrophobic (non-polar hydrocarbon tail) that binds with grease and oil.

With a better understanding of how cleaning chemicals work, you must also remember that agitation is very helpful in removing dirt from surfaces. Agitation will help the charged particles separated, and then they will rearrange themselves based on their charges, further removing the dirt for you. Agitation allows the chemicals to do their job more effectively;

Just as important water is when cleaning, there also must be sufficient air during the cleaning process, so that the cleaned surface can properly dry, and not create further grounds for breeding contaminants and pollutants.  How does drying happen? It will happen only when suspended moist air is replaced by the warm dry air around it. Once an area is fully dried, the risk of mold and bacteria spread is limited and inhibited by the clean, dry surface.

To help further your understanding of the science of cleaning, let’s familiarize ourselves with some technical cleaning terminology.

Soaps and detergents will have certain molecular properties:

Hydrophobic – Water Fearing:  Hydrophobic is defined as “the fear of water”. Its molecules will repel water all the time. Hydrophobic liquids (like oils), will separate from the water and not mix. The molecules are non-polar, meaning the small atoms that make up the molecule do not produce a static electric field

Hydrophilic – Water Loving: A hydrophilic molecule is an opposite of hydrophobic. The molecule will interact with water and other polar substances in a more favorable way than their exchanges with oils or other hydrophobic solvents.

Lipophobic – Oil Fearing:  is a chemical property that means “fat rejection”, Lipophobic compounds are not very soluble in oil and fats, or other non-polar solvents.

Lipophilic – Oil Loving:  lipophilic has the ability to dissolve in refers to the ability of a chemical compound to dissolve in fats and oils.

7 Cleaning mechanisms and how they get things cleaner

Diving deeper into how something gets clean, it’s important to understand the mechanisms of cleaning. Things get clean for 7 mechanisms. Each one tackles the dirt/soiled area in a different way, and are important to understand, so you can use them in the correct applications

Solvency: this refers to a detergent that dissolves into another agent, like water. Think of your general cleaning chemical. It takes the detergent and spreads it across the water so that the molecules can begin to work on a molecular level against the grime and dirt

Emulsification: an emulsifier generally works to break down fats and oils, ones that generally wouldn’t mix with a cleaning agent, into small enough particles that they can then get suspended in the cleaning agent, and effectively rinsed away, leaving you with a clean surface

Saponification: the creation of soap, which is a staple in the cleaning industry. Triglycerides are treated with a strong base like lye, releasing fatty acids salts and glycerine.

Chelation: If you live in a hard water part of the world, like Calgary, you will need cleaning products with chelation agents in them; hard water is around in most of the world. It is caused when water travels through rock like limestone and picks up deposits of calcium and magnesium. This makes the water hard, and harder to clean with. A chelation agent will overcome this when you clean your home. Why is hard water bad with detergents? The calcium or magnesium will react with the detergent, and create fewer bubbles and foaming when cleaning, making it harder to clean. A chelation agent will prevent the magnesium or calcium with interfering with the detergent and its cleaning properties

Suspension: A cleaning agent with suspension properties is great at taking the grime and dirt, and suspending it in the cleaner. This then allows the house cleaner to wipe away the dirty particles, and clean the area.

Wetting: If you decrease the surface tension of a cleaning solution, it will increase its wetting capabilities.  Increasing the wetting ability of a cleaning agent will allow a cleaner to break through small spaces and get under the soil to help lift it from the dirt. This is a great way of increasing the cleaning agent’s effectiveness

Disinfection: a disinfectant doesn’t lift away grime, or suspend the dirt like other cleaning chemicals will. It cleans on a more microscopic level. A disinfectant will kill pathenogenic bacteria, leaving an entirely clean surface. The pathogens you won’t generally won’t see with your naked eye, so it’s easy to skip this step. However, for a truly clean and proper job, disinfection should not be skipped. Even if you look clean, it may not be, until you use a disinfectant on it

Understanding T.A.C.T when cleaning a home

Now that you have learned the chemistry of cleaning, from the molecular level of how it works to the more broad mechanisms of each cleaning agent, we now need to understand the cleaning equation. When you go to hire house cleaners, you need to ensure they have a full understanding of these 4  points: You have 4 cleaning tools when fighting a soiled surface. The four pillars are time, action, chemical, and temperature. A great acronym to remember them by is TACT.

Time: cleaning agents need time to effectively work. Time refers to the amount of time you allow the cleaning chemicals to sit on the soiled surface. The longer it sits, within reason, the more work the agent will do on your behalf

Action: This will refer to the mechanical action to apply to the soiled surface. For example, wiping with a cloth or scrubbing something with a brush. The more action you put into it, the cleaner the surface will get

Chemical: the strength of the chemical you are using. If you are using a mild cleanser, it will not work as fast as a stringer cleaner. The flip side of this is, that you need to ensure the strength of the chemical will not wreck the surface you are cleaning. For example, we can all agree that acidic cleaning ( like strate flush, with contains approximately 18 % hydrochloric acid,) will clean much faster than a naturally derive all-purpose cleaner, but it will also destroy surfaces like wood, granite, street etc, especially if you leave it on too long. So don’t follow the rule of thumb that the stronger the chemical the better it cleans. The cleaning agent’s strength needs to be evaluated against the task at hand, and the surface it will be dwelling on.

Temperature: the temperate of the cleaning agent you are using. Quite simply, many cleaning agents have an optimal temperature that increases their effectiveness. We have always been told that hot eater cleans better then cold water, but don’t be fooled, hot water isn’t great either. It could evaporate too soon off the surface, not allowing the cleaning agents enough time to separate the grime from the surface. Warm water is optimal for cleaning agents.

Three types of cleaning products that help you clean: Acid, Alkaline, Solvent

To fully understand how cleaning works cleaning products, you must understand PH levels of a product. What is PH? It is the measure of how acidic or basic a solution is, from cleaning chemicals to drinks. PH will range from a PH of 0 to a PH of 14. If the solution has a PH from 0-6 it’s considered acidic. From PH 8 to PH 14, you will have a base. PH of 7 is neutral, and a good example of a neutral liquid is plain water. Review your regular household cleaners to fully understand their PH levels, and how cleaning works with them

Acid cleaning products: These cleaning solutions will attack items like rust, hard water calcium like on your shower glass, minerals, and deposits in places like toilets in bathrooms.

Alkaline cleaning products: Alkaline cleaning products target fatty items, like oils in the kitchen, blood on bedsheets, and much more. Alkaline cleaning products are specially made, and they will consist of wetting agents, chelating agents, and alkaline salts.

Solvent cleaning products: solvents are substances that are capable of dissolving a solute, to get the area cleaned. They are used in applications where acidic or alkaline products do not work. They can remove glue, nail polish, are used in dry cleaning, and carpet spot treatment. Solvents are specialized cleaning chemicals, and due care must be practiced. They can be harmful to the cleaning staff if used improperly, and they may damage the cleaning surface. Both are unwanted in the cleaning industry and full and proper training must be had for anyone using a solvent cleaner. Solvents will have different boiling points, which is what makes them more dangerous to use then other styles of chemicals. If it has a low boiling point, it can evaporate fairly quick when applied, releasing fumes into the air. If the boiling point on the solvent is high, you will need to apply additional heat to it, in order to allow it to do its job.

To hire a cleaner, you can see that not all cleaning companies will be made the same . Very few will know this in-depth chemistry of cleaning, which is vital to getting the job done right. Commercial cleaning will require a different chemical “toolkit” then what a regular house cleaning company will.  Things can get even more granular from there, for home cleaning. Move out cleaning will need the correct chemicals, correct application of TACT, and the correct elbow grease to get the house clean. On the other side, and AirBnB will need a more basic cleaning chemical setup, as you want to stay efficient when cleaning, so your costs stay low. If your cleaning company understands how cleaning works, this will result in them getting the job done properly, and faster, reducing your cleaning costs significantly 

A Cleaning Routine and Schedule For Homeowners

By
June 22, 2021

A Cleaning Routine and Schedule For Homeowners

HOW A CLEANING ROUTINE WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

How a Cleaning Routine Will Change Your Life – you might be expecting the secret to be a weekly cleaning crew or housekeeper, throwing all your belongings away, or some other extreme kind of measure.  We are here to tell you that with just a few minutes a day set aside and a little effort on your part, your home can be really clean most of the time. Do it alone, or get your whole family cleaning!

What is a cleaning routine or a cleaning schedule? By definition, a cleaning routine is a very specific method or way to clean a home. You can set up your routine into a fixed cleaning schedule. What else can a cleaning routine be in your life?  It can be life-changing not in the same way a new baby or new job does, but in a wow kind of way.  It can make a big difference in our home and life kind of way.  Before you click away or ignore me together let me just say that a cleaning routine is only for someone with time on their hands or someone that enjoys cleaning.  I have seen firsthand that a cleaning routine can be one of the most helpful activities for someone busy and overwhelmed.  Why do you ask?  Because if you don’t know where to start it can cause someone to be overwhelmed, but my cleaning routine provides simple steps and structure for keeping your home clean.  You can start on any day of the week and with as little as 10 minutes a day. No need to wait for the New Year to start this resolution!

It’s much easier to clean your home effectively if you don’t have piles of junk, and nick-knacks laying around the home. If you do have piles, we recommend you de-clutter the home first.

What’s the best part of this Routine you ask?  The plan is all laid out for you already– no need to decide what needs to be clean and when it needs to be cleaned, just follow the routine to the best that you and your abilities can and you’ll start seeing results in no time! Consistency is the key though. So are you ready to take control of your home?  If you’re still wondering if it will work with your busy schedule, it will I promise – keep reading for answers to all your questions including tips galore.

SAFETY ALERT: Never put your hand, or any object, inside the garbage disposal to free up stuck items

DAILY CLEANING TASKS

A clean home (most of the time) starts with 5 daily cleaning tasks. For the regular homeowner that wants a clean house, these tasks will be like a housekeeper checklist, but simpler. These items will be simple and most days you perform them while set on autopilot and complete them without really thinking about it.  If you haven’t already tried a cleaning routine, try starting out with these few tasks first.  Start with making the beds one day, then add checking the floors the next, and so on.  Perfection should never the expectation. Do what you can in your time frame and move on.  Done reading because you work outside the home and think it isn’t possible? Well even if you spend just a couple of minutes each day your home will be cleaner than when you were not cleaning. Here are the 5 daily cleaning tasks that I have set out:

Make your beds

Clean the floors

Clean bathroom counters and kitchen counters

Declutter your house

Wash your laundry and dry it

 

Trust me it can happen; you can do it. My mantra is every day a little house cleaning task here and there. With that in mind, just doing SOMETHING every day is so helpful! Even with a busy schedule doing these house cleaning tasks will take very little of your time, even if you miss a couple of tasks some days.

WEEKLY CLEANING TASKS

The next step to a cleaning routine is adding the weekly cleaning tasks to the 5 daily cleaning tasks. Every day of the week has a specific task.  Adding that task to the 5 daily cleaning tasks and you have a recipe for a little bit of magic. Cue the Cinderella scene with the birds, mice and singing. These tasks are the backbone of a cleaning routine. It’s a system that you need to work through to see how and why it works so well. Thousands and thousands of people all over the world complete a Weekly Cleaning Routine every week – it’s so simple but it works in just about every situation because it has a grace (and a day to catch up on every task you missed or needs touch-ups) built right into the routine. This makes it easy to use for even super busy or less motivated people. Here is a great weekly cleaning tasks list (these five cleaning tasks might change your life): Think of this as your personal housekeepers’ checklist

WEEKLY CLEANING SCHEDULE

Monday – BATHROOMS + daily tasks

Tuesday – DUSTING + daily tasks

Wednesday – VACUUMING + daily tasks

Thursday – FLOOR WASHING + daily tasks

Friday – CATCH-ALL DAY + daily tasks

Saturday – SHEETS + TOWELS + daily tasks

Start by making a list on Microsoft Word. You can do the cleaning routine by printing out this list; posting it somewhere in the house where you will see it, putting reminders in your phone even till you got the hang of it.

ROTATING BIGGER CLEANING TASKS

These tasks are those dreaded deep cleaning tasks that need to be done but you might not always get to them until you notice they are really bad or maybe you just aren’t to sure when or how often you should be completing them.  Some of these are monthly while others are bi-monthly or even quarterly. An example is, if vacuum the baseboards are on the schedule for the month, I’ll pair that with a Wednesday while I’m already vacuuming. This makes it easier on you and so you don’t have to be doing a lot of tasks that don’t work together well.

 

MONTHLY CLEANING SCHEDULE FOCUS

Still with me?  If you want to incorporate a little more cleaning and organizing, each month I have a monthly focus. Each month includes a handful of simple tasks that focus on the seasons and one room or area of the home. If you do these throughout the year, you’ll find that your home is not only clean most of the time but it’s organized too! These are the monthly focuses that I have laid out for you:

January – Whole House Declutter

February – Kitchen Deep Clean

March – Spring Cleaning

April – Bathrooms

May – Garage or Basement

June – Bedrooms

July – Organizing Systems

August – Closets

September – Entryway or Mudroom

October – Laundry Room And Window Tracks

November – Living Areas

December – Office / Paperwork

Don’t be Shy, Get your Cleaning Routine Going

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m trying to tell you that just a simple cleaning routine can be life-changing and manageable. My mission is to share what I know about cleaning a home effectively and in the least amount of time.  This routine IS NOT about cleaning all day or seeing how much you can be cleaned in a certain amount of time or how to clean something can be. Remember, professional cleaning companies can clean 2-4 houses per day, per house cleaner. Why not? Because we should all be spending our days with our families doing the real things that matter to us instead of cleaning.  The main thing I want you to take away is that you should try your best not to be overwhelmed when you walk in the door, but instead I want you to feel calm and at ease.  With a cleaning routine, you get to tell your home who’s boss (that’s you).  Remember all it takes is just a few minutes a day and a plan! Then your home will be clean most of the time and then you’ll have the secret too!

Professional House Cleaners to the Rescue

Please don’t worry. On the days that you just need a break, call some best-reviewed cleaning companies like Three North Clean at (587) 225-2077 and we will fill in for you throughout your cleaning schedule.

Airbnb Cleaning Companies: Cleaning Your AirBnB

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June 22, 2021

Airbnb Cleaning Companies: Cleaning Your AirBnB

Cleaning your AirBnB rental apartment is a big decision to make. Guest will need the highest of quality, and as a Host ( or AirBnB super host) You have a couple AirBnB cleaning options to choose from: Hire one of the AirBnB Cleaning Companies in your local area, or do it yourself.

 

  • You clean your home yourself. If you are like most people in Calgary and you are doing AirBnB rentals on the side, you may lack the necessary AirBnB cleaning experience. Cleaning your AirBnB apartment yourself can present a lot of problems. For example, since you have a local Calgary job, and its your main source of income, you will find you are constantly running back to your AirBnB or short-term rental, to clean it, in the least opportunistic times. So will you rush the details oriented cleaning procedure? Or will you omit certain areas that need special attention? If so, then this becomes problematic and you will start having bad AirBnB reviews, or you will end up having to cancel bookings due to your busy schedule. This can become costly and in turn lose you money.

 

  • You can hire a professional cleaning company that has over 5 years of AirBnB cleaning experience. This option presents more ease for you as the owner, and a more structured, reliable cleaning experience. This way you can relax and know your apartment or house is being taken care of by a professional AirBnB cleaning company. This option also gives the guest the satisfaction that the cleaning job was done professionally and right. Everyone has different versions of clean, but AirBnB has strict cleaning standards that Hosts must adhere to. By using a cleaning company in Calgary, you can ensure you meet the cleaning benchmarks set out for you by the hospitality business.

SAFETY ALERT: Never put your hand, or any object, inside the garbage disposal to free up stuck items

Now that you have chosen from one of the two options we can discuss the cleaning of the unit. Whether you do the cleaning yourself or you hire an Airbnb cleaning company, you need to make sure you thoroughly clean your unit. Nothing ruins your unit like bad reviews about cleanliness. Creating a cleaning checklist for yourself/cleaning company will help the process go smoothly.

Your cleaning checklist should consist of the following;

  1. cleaning the entire bathroom from top to bottom. The bathroom is one of the dirtiest places In a home and get used the most. The room needs extra care while cleaning to make sure all the hair, stains, and smell are gone from the previous AirBnB guest. There’s nothing like a dirty washroom to deter guests from your beautiful home. Cleanliness in bathrooms is a top priority
  2. Cleaning the kitchen; this room get a lot of big spills, some people try to clean their messes, but not all. This area needs extra care as food stains are one of the hardest to get off surfaces. Make sure to clean the cupboards, handles, appliances, under appliances, dish washer outside, inside and outside the fridge, empty the coffee maker and kettle, the floors swept and mopped, and lastly the sink. You don’t want any food particles left from your previous guest.
  3. The rest of your home will be a surface clean. All surfaces in your home, couches vacuumed, carpets vacuumed, inside of drawers wiped and outside of dresser wiped, walls wiped if visibly dirty, and sheets and towels washed for new guests.

Although there are many more detail oriented steps to successfully cleaning your AirBnB rental, this cleaning blog is a great place to start with the basics. Every quarter, schedule a deep clean on your AirBnB rental. This will ensure your home is always at its best for AirBnB/VRBO. AirBnB Cleaning Companies May have different quality standards, and cost structure, (like hourly versus a fixed flat rate).

Garbage Disposal Cleaning

Lastly whether its you who cleans your AirBnB or one of your local cleaning companies, make sure to keep an eye out for damage. Guests who stay in a damaged unit, tend not to write a good review about the esthetic of your home. Cleaning on Average 20 AirBnB units a day, Three North Clean has a lot of experience when looking for damages.

AirBnB Cleaning Companies

Three North Clean will add a Checklist Calgary can use for all their AirBnB cleaning needs.

You can Also use more high tech apps and software to manage your quality, and provide a consistently clean AirBnB Calgary.

Hiring a Cleaning Company: How to

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June 22, 2021

Hiring a Cleaning Company: How to

There are 5 essential tips to get get you going when you are considering hiring a cleaning company.

Step 1) Referrals/reviews – Everyone knows it’s hard to find someone who you can trust to clean your home the way you want or the way you clean. Referrals from friends and family, referrals from cleaning industry websites and even review websites, are a good start to finding the right cleaning company. Recently the city has been starting to create community communication boards on apps such as “next door”. These apps help everyone communicate and get things such as referrals for cleaning your home. A lot of cleaning companies also have a website. The website is where you will see testimonials from current and past clients which can help you in deciding if this company is right for you.

Step 2) Ask the right questions – Before you hire your prospective cleaning company, asking the right questions is another essential component to hiring the right fit for you. A lot of reputable cleaning companies off a free estimate, whether it’s over the phone or through their website. They will even have quick cleaning quote calculators on there, helping you find the best house cleaning price. Before you get to this point make sure to ask some of the following questions; how many cleaners will it take to clean my home, how long will the house cleaning take, what type of products do you use, (some carry green cleaning product lines, others have regular department store trusted brands etc) and how often they recommend a cleaning for your home. These questions aren’t only for you but also for the company. This sets you your expectations as well as gives the cleaning company a better idea of what type of clean you need, and this will help them help you better.

“SAFETY ALERT: Never put your hand, or any object, inside the garbage disposal to free up stuck items”

3) Stick with Professionals – We don’t just say this because we are a professional cleaning company. Using a cleaning company this is bonded, insured, dedicated to a quality of service, and is held to those standards is beneficial for a number of reasons; including a personalized cleaning plan, an always available team or ready with short notice, consistent quality standards, and an efficient cleaning. All of this will help you feel comfortable with the company you choose, and that is the goal.

4) Be honest about what you need – For the success of your partnership with the cleaning company, you need to be honest about what you need from them including qualities and certain tasks. A lot of people feel embarrassed about the state of their homes. They decide to clean before the initial walk-through when the maids arrive. You want to commit to your everyday cleanliness so that the cleaning company can budget how many people, how long to clean, etc. You want to get into this habit as what’s the point of hiring a cleaning team if you clean before they arrive each scheduled clean?

Go with your gut – in the end its all about how comfortable you feel with the company you choose. Make sure to be honest with your questions and concerns, keep asking questions until you are satisfied, and be honest with your assessment of the company and your concerns. The sole purpose of

Hiring a Cleaning Company

Key Tip

Don’t always just rely on negative reviews. Remember, unhappy clients are much more likely to leave a negative cleaning review then happy ones clients will leave a positive review.

Fall House Cleaning Tips and Suggestions for Calgary

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June 22, 2021

Fall House Cleaning Tips and Suggestions for Calgary

Fall Cleaning Checklist

It’s fall house cleaning time! Have you ever wondered what you could do around the house to make sure your house and outdoor belongings are ready for fall to turn into winter? Here are some things that cleaning companies will recommend you can check!

“Its no longer just Spring cleaning. This fall season, do your home a favour, and tackle some Fall cleaning.”

When it comes to fall cleaning, it’s a good idea to think about cleaning not only the inside of your home, but also the outside areas. Starting with the outside of the house, you’re going to want to make sure you clean and cover any patio furniture. This will protect it over the winter.  It’s ideal to also put away any children’s toys laying around. If you are worried about how the outside of your house looks, this would be a great time to use touch-up paint on the trim, railings and perhaps stain or repaint the decks. Here are some great recommendations from benjamin moore on fall colors. Using a wire brush can get rid of any flaking paint you might have. You’ll also want to make sure you check the caulking around the windows and doors to ensure it’s ready for those dropping temperatures come winter. After checking your windows and doors, you’ll want to make your way over to the garage to inspect the external doors and garage doors. Install any weather-stripping or door thresholds if needed. Another way to make your house super clean from the outside is to go around and wash all of the exterior windows so nothing gets frozen on there in the winter. If your windows are high, hire a house cleaning service to help you out. Lastly, you will want to drain your garden hose of any water and store it somewhere where it won’t freeze.

Now we will move on to the little items. Lamps, computers, TV screens… you name it! They all gather dust one way or another. Take your standard Swiffer duster or favorite microfiber cloth and dust those bunnies away!

Fall Cleaning, everyday cleaning… call it what you wish but every home deserves a good deep clean occasionally. Even if that means doing it when it switches from one season to the next! But a Fall Cleaning is most important if you want to make sure your house is ready for those freezing temperatures in what we call winter.

Fall House Cleaning

We have heard of “Spring Cleaning”, but should there be a “Fall House Cleaning”? I think it’s good to clean your house… and I mean really clean your house every season. Let’s focus on the public rooms first – living room, family room, guest bath etc. Clean them from top to bottom, this means vacuuming the drapes, using window treatments, cleaning the window sills and vacuuming the baseboards. Don’t forget those corners! Then, we can move onto the furniture by vacuuming the couches, or any footstools. After we’re done with the living room and the bathrooms, we can move into the bedrooms. Turn the mattresses front-to-back and end-end to equalize wear. You can vacuum your mattress at this time too if you wish! Another good thing you can do for the fall, is to get your carpets professionally cleaned. Another vital thing every Calgary house and family needs to do, is check the furnace to ensure it is running smoothly and will work for you in the cold Calgary winter. If you don’t have time for any of this, Calgary house cleaning services are available for you to hire

Happy Fall House Cleaning!

How To: Deep Clean Your Kitchen

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June 22, 2021

How To: Deep Clean Your Kitchen

So you want to do some kitchen cleaning?

A kitchen is where one spends most of their time, besides the bedroom sleeping. This is the place you unload your groceries, prepare food,  and spend quality time with your loved ones. The kitchen is the one room in your house (besides the bathroom) that needs to be squeaky clean to keep your family happy and healthy, as food is prepared here. Here are some guidelines for kitchen cleaning

First, start with the same routine cleaning companies start with,  a “pre-clean”. This includes putting away any clean dishes from the dishwasher or the drying rack. Clean the dirty dishes in the sink by hand OR if you are like me, load the dishwasher again. after this step,  you can scan your countertops and get rid of any clutter that might be taking up any unnecessary space.

“Everybody wants to save the earth; no one wants to help mom do the dishes.”

Something that house cleaning services won’t do for you, but will highly recommend you do yourself, is check for expired items in your pantry. You’re going to want to go through all the food items in detail and make sure nothing is expired or going visibly bad. To do this, I usually take everything out of the cupboards and drawers and place them on the counter; this way, you can see everything you have been keeping – even things in the back our husbands may not see. After throwing away all the expired food, wipe down the shelves with soapy water. You always want to keep the old items in the front, and newer ones in the back, so you aren’t throwing out more wasted items. Cleaning the kitchen doesn’t just mean washing items. Like we mentioned above, cleaning kitchens can also including cleaning out your food. Home cleaning Calgary just got more fun.

Housekeeping Chores: Get the Family Involved

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June 22, 2021

Housekeeping Chores: Get the Family Involved

Have you ever felt like it was a fight to get your husband to do any housekeeping or any simple thing like empty the dishwasher? do you fight to get your kids to put their laundry in their laundry baskets and take it to the washing machine, or even a fight with yourself to vacuum for the fourth time that week? Every day there are mothers and fathers struggling to get every housekeeping chore in the house done by themselves. The easiest way this can be fixed is a simple house cleaning intervention! Let your family know that you need more help cleaning around the house, and here’s how to begin.

“If your family wants to spend quality time with you instead, Hire a house cleaning company in Calgary like us to help you keep things running smooth around the house.”

We will start by sitting down with your family and listing off all the chores that need to be done in the house. I mean everything. Laundry, kitchen cleaning, emptying the dishwasher, vacuuming, washing the floors… you name it. Anything you do in your house! By listing all the housekeeping chores one by one will help you break it down even further to show the rest of your family exactly how much there is to do!

After the long list is completed, you can start dividing the housekeeping chores between the family members. This way everyone gets an equal amount of housekeeping work and it takes a huge load off the main person doing everything in the beginning! There might be a few things where no family member will agree to do – so I would make the decision. You can’t do everything, right? But, let’s say we wanted to do this an easier way, one that is more fun and spontaneous, so no one gets grouchy about the decision they were handed. Take a good amount of large colored popsicle sticks, write down one chore on each popsicle stick and put them in a mason jar. This way everyone can pitch in their share of chores and it can be fun in the meantime. Something else that you can do if you have kids doing this, is to make a reward system for them. They might work harder!

After we have divided the chores or made our popsicle sticks, we can go ahead and begin creating a schedule for the family. Weekends are usually a great time to schedule some cleaning because it gives the family more time to get everything done, rather than start tackling chores after dinner. Doing the usual clean-up after dinner is fine, but we don’t really want to hold off on vacuuming or mopping until the weekend, do we? Creating a schedule that works for your family means you will get the best out of everyone and your house will be clean!

Family Help House Cleaning

Hopefully, this will help you get started on what you need to do to get more out of your family members without a fight. You shouldn’t have to be the only one to clean the house, so sit your family down and let them know you have figured out a great way for everyone to start contributing! And if all else fails, hire a cleaning company to give you a hand. We will follow this checklist when cleaning

Housekeeping Resources

Here is an amazing resource for you to use when trying to motivate your family with chores around the house. This chore chart is very useful.

10 Surprising places you forget to clean!

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June 22, 2021

10 Surprising places you forget to clean!

Everyone forgets to clean some places in their home. We are not talking about items like your kitchen sink, or blinds, but those not so obvious places. Over the years, as an experienced maid service Calgary company, we have seen them all, and have compiled a nice Here are some of the most shocking places you forget to clean and how to clean them

These are areas our professional maids will get at every deep clean, following a cleaning checklist  but many of our  Calgary clients are not aware they need to be even cleaned

10 surprising places you need to clean tomorrow!.

1) The little ledge/frame above the door. A simple surface cleaner and a cloth will remove the dirt. Best time to wipe this is before you sweep/vacuum the floors so as not to create more dirt on your clean floor

2) Light fixtures. For a homemade and eco friendly cleaning solution, you can use a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar to make sure all the dust and grime comes off the fixture surface. Most fixtures are some type of glass, so this solution will help the fixture shine.

3) Doorknobs/hinges.  These surfaces get missed usually until they look physically dirty or start squeaking. You can create a paste with equal parts of flour, vinegar, and salt. Take the mixture a rub it on the knob/hinge. Leave for a few minutes before buffing off with a soft cloth. The result will be a nice clean shine for your knob and hinges. Do not forget to clean this area!

4) Light Switches. Yet another surface that doesn’t get cleaned until you physically notice it is dirty. Make sure to have enough to clean all light switches/plates in your home. Spray the cleaner on the cloth (or the switch) and use it to wipe away sticky materials/fingerprints.

5) Remote controls. Remove the batteries from the back of the remote. Dip a cloth into rubbing alcohol and wipe the front and back of the remote. Then dip a Q-tip or toothpick in the rubbing alcohol to get into the cracks and edges of the remote.

6) Kitchen table legs. A surface cleaner can be used with a cloth to simply wipe down the legs of the table. To make this a habit, try to wipe the legs every time you clean the top of the table.

7) Oven drawer. Slide open the drawer until it stops. Locate the roller guide clips on either side. Take the drawer by both hands and carefully remove from under the oven. Clean the drawer using warm soapy water with a paper towel or cloth. Make sure to rinse and dry thoroughly, before placing back into the roller guide and snapping the clips back into place.

Calgary Maid Cleaning Service Share’s Their Secrets

8) Inside trash cans. If your can is sitting out, you want it to look nice.  Spray the outside and inside of your trash can with warm water and a tablespoon of dish soap. Next shake in half a cup of baking soda to deodorize and remove build-up inside of the can. Let it for 5-10 minutes. Use a cloth to wipe the outside while you wait for the inside to sit. Use a sponge to scrub the inside. Rinse and pat dry.

Green Cleaning Ideas

9) Inside the washing machine. Run your washer on hot water and the largest load setting (if applicable). Add ¾ cup of white vinegar and ½ cup of baking soda. This will all mix together to get the grime out of your washer. Then use a cloth dipped in the water/vinegar mixture to wipe the outside of the machine.

10) Front door/doors. Use a mixture of gentle dish soap and water to scrub down the door, and then dry with a paper towel. Make sure to keep in mind the paint/stain finish example a wood door would need furniture wax to make it shine.

Now, you know the places not to forget to clean!

Green Cleaning Products: DYI

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June 22, 2021

Green Cleaning Products: DYI

In today’s consumer-driven life, we have marketed thousands of green cleaning products daily, and even more that are not. From the 99.9% green product solutions to strong Clorox bleach disinfectants, and everything in the middle. Ones that have been naturally derived from plants and are the safest for your kids and home. But, how do you know? What is the other 0.1% that they’re not telling you? A lot of the cleaning supplies that you can find on store shelves have ingredients that are not ideal for your health, and the health of your family. They may even cause a lot of negative long-term effects such as respiratory diseases, heart disease and even cancer. Despite the potential consequences of exposure to these cleaning products, the government doesn’t regulate them or assess the safety of using such products. Cleaning companies can use a variety of products, that are best suited for the job. As one of the highly-rated Calgary cleaning companies, Three North Clean has 3 different cleaning chemical lines that we use, based on what

Today, we have decided to give you a few examples of some 100% green cleaning supplies that you can make at home. Simple and easy ingredients you probably have in your kitchen already.

“Family health starts at home. Do not overlook the products you use for everyday touch ups.”

Baking Soda

The most common product found in homes, maybe even in your fridge – it sucks up any bad smells from fruits and veggies that could be going on in there. This product not only deodorizes but cleans and brightens while fighting grease and grime.

 

Vinegar

The acidity in the vinegar is effectively yet gently cleans to eliminate grease. Vinegar can be used on just about anything – tubs, sinks, floors – you can even run it through your dishwasher to help remove any grime that might be hanging around.

 

Castile Soap

Castile soap is a type of soap that is made entirely from plant oils. There is no use of animal products or chemicals to get its smell. This type of soap cuts through grease better than Dawn dish soap and cleans well.

Lemon Juice

Sometimes people say that Green cleaning products don’t have a nice smell. Well, for those people,  we say, have you ever smelled a lovely lemon?

We love the smell of lemons, so we use it anywhere we can in outhouse. Lemon juice has its natural acidity that wipes out any mildew and mold easier than any store-bought cleaning product. It also gives your hard surfaces their shine back!

Essential Oils

Many people are big on aromatherapy, and these essential oils that can cure your headaches and snoring also make amazing scent additions to your homemade cleaning products. If you don’t like the smell of vinegar in your green cleaning products, try using these oils

The products above can all be used together, or on their own, to give you a green cleaning solution, thats safe for your family.

Now that you know the products, here are some ways to use them to clean your house.

Green Cleaning: How To

Cleaning a Toilet

To effectively green clean a toilet, pour half a cup of baking soda and about 10 drops of tea tree essential oil into the bowl. Add ¼ cup of vinegar to the bowl and scrub away while watching the mixture fizz

Tub and Shower Cleaning

To get rid of any mildew that might be harboring in your tub, spray pure white vinegar onto the area and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Rinse it away with warm water, and don’t be afraid to scrub it with a sponge if it doesn’t clear up. If it is being stubborn, you could always use castile soap with baking soda mixed together to give it an extra green cleaning boost.

Disinfectant

Having a sanitary and sterile environment is just as important as having a clean one. All of us with kids are guilty of breaking out the Clorox cleaners to do our counters and floors. As an Eco-friendly cleaning product alternative, you can try the cleaning formula below

  1. 1 cup rubbing alcohol or vinegar.
  2. 1 cup white distilled vinegar.
  3. 1 1/2 cup water.
  4. 75 drops tea tree essential oil or lavender essential oil.

Safe and Friendly Cleaning Products

Even though cleaning products like these aren’t always the best choice for cleaning companies to use daily for commercial cleaning tasks, these homemade house cleaning remedies are great for you to try at home. We hope that this helps you ditch the Clorox, Borax and anything else that ends with “ax or ox” that might be hiding under your sink. Homemade cleaners are the best way to go for your own personal everyday spills in messes, in between your house cleaning appointments. Not to mention, your house will smell like your home – and not the dentist!