Why Your Cleaning Business Needs a Website

We live in a digital age where a variety of communication, research, and decisions are made using online resources. 

While word-of-mouth recommendations for your cleaning business are still valuable, how they get passed along from person to person has changed. Nowadays, word-of-mouth can be considered “word-of-text” or “word-of-email.” 

This makes having an easy to use, mobile-friendly website for your cleaning business a necessity, especially if you want to compete with other industry leaders.

A cleaning business website will not only enable your current customers to more easily share your company with their friends and family but it will provide you, as a business owner, with numerous benefits. 

Online marketing with a website is key to finding success as a cleaning company. Your cleaning business needs a website and here are all the benefits it will bring:

A Cleaning Business Website Lands Your More Customers

When someone is interested in hiring a cleaning service for personal or commercial buildings, they often have one main goal: to end up with a sparkling clean space. Rather than a potential customer having to spend time looking for pricing, contacting your business, and waiting for a response to find a time that works for everyone, a website enables you and your customers to get the information they need with less time in between. 

A cleaning business website that is optimized for the service industry offers online booking and checkout options. This quick, easy, and streamlined process is essential in landing more customers. With your booking process highlighted on the front page of your website, customers don’t have to search for a contact number or wait to hear back from you. They can get what they came for: a clean space.

A Cleaning Business Website Hosts Reviews 

While Yelp and Google reviews are an important tool for businesses, having reviews on your cleaning business website is another way for potential customers to learn more about your service from a customer’s perspective. 

People trust referrals more than advertising. In fact, studies have found that 92% of customers believe referrals from friends and family are more trustworthy than advertisements from a company. And 88% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust the opinion of their friends and family.

While a company can claim whatever they want about themselves via an advertisement, hearing from actual customers is what helps potential customers make their final decision. Having multiple reviews on multiple platforms, including your own website, is key to landing more customers.

Nowadays, if any company doesn’t have at least a basic website, their validity may be questioned. A cleaning business website is a way for you to show the online world that you are a legitimate business with expertise in your industry. 

By having a clear, easy-to-navigate website for your potential customers to view prior to hiring you, they will get a sense of who you are and what you do, which will begin to establish trust. And consumers are more likely to work with a company they know, like, and trust. 

A Cleaning Business Website Enhances the Customer Experience

In a 2017 survey, it was reported that 84% of companies that made customer experience a priority in their marketing strategy saw an increase in their overall revenue. One easy way for cleaning businesses to enhance their current and potential customers’ experience is with a website.

With a website template tailored to the cleaning industry, you can save yourself and your customers time by optimizing the user experience with online booking and payment options and easily accessible contact information. 

A Cleaning Business Website is Cost-Effective and Provides an Immediate Online Presence 

Long gone are the days where a business has to spend thousands of dollars on traditional marketing and advertising to reach their ideal customers. With the accessibility of a web platform, you can start promoting your cleaning business to the digital world within minutes. 

Whether you tackle the task of developing a website yourself or save time and money by utilizing a customizable cleaning business website template, you can start online marketing today. The results are worth it. 

Launch a Custom Website for Your Cleaning Business With the Help of Maidily

If you are looking for ways to grow your cleaning business, land new customers, and spread the word about your services, online marketing is the place to start. With the vast benefits a website brings to your company and customers, there is no more time to waste.

At Maidily, we have developed a highly optimized cleaning business website template that produces results. Customized to your unique needs and business goals, your new website will result in high conversions and increased sales. 

As a cleaning company owner and leader in the service industry, we know what works when it comes to online marketing for cleaning companies, and we are excited to help your cleaning business grow. 
Find out more about how Maidily can launch your cleaning business website today!

Top 6 Reasons to Use a Scheduling CRM for Your Cleaning Business Today

Have you been dreaming about landing more cleaning clients, growing your maid business, and effectively managing your cleaning company online? Your dream can become a reality by using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) scheduling software tailored specifically to the needs of your cleaning business. 

At Maidily, we understand, firsthand, what it takes to run a successful cleaning company, which is why we have developed a robust CRM software system just for cleaning and maid service businesses that will meet and exceed your needs.

Investing in a CRM system will help your business grow and increase your customer base and revenue. Discover the top six benefits of investing in a scheduling software for your cleaning company today.

1. Increase Productivity and Save Time

From maintaining a schedule, to following-up on new bookings, to managing a cleaning team and doing jobs yourself, you are an extremely busy business owner. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a software in place that helps you save time, money, and energy while increasing your overall productivity? That’s exactly what a CRM system can do. 

You can effectively manage every aspect of your cleaning business online and remotely by utilizing a scheduling software. Track your to-do list and never miss a beat by prioritizing and filtering tasks so you know what is coming up next.

2. Miss Fewer Cleaning Appointments 

Long gone are the days where you have to write down your appointments in a physical calendar, erasing and adjusting multiple jobs with just a pen and paper. A CRM scheduling system manages your customer subscriptions for you and automatically tracks each job, including cancellations and rescheduled customers. 

Manually managing your schedule leaves room for error, which may lead to missed appointments and loss of business. Having an online calendar with the ability to recreate jobs for you based on your customers’ needs means less hands-on work for you. 

Do you have a bi-weekly cleaning appointment? Your calendar knows your customer’s subscription and can automatically add a recurring job every two weeks. This is a convenient way to stay organized when you have multiple cleaning jobs each day.

3. Get Paid the Right Amount On-Time

Rather than having to worry about your pricing for each product and service for each customer, a CRM system allows you to integrate your products and pricing online with easy-to-use forms that are customer-friendly. These ready-to-use booking forms integrate into your website for an easy and seamless checkout process for your customers, which leads to increased online conversions. 

At Maidily, we know determining pricing for your cleaning services can be difficult. That’s why we have included a standardized pricing methodology into our CRM software. This allows you to stop worrying about what you are charging and focus on performing your services well, getting paid the right amount on-time from here on out.

4. Keep Records Easily Accessible

With a customizable CRM tailored to the cleaning industry, you will be able to track and manage all your business relationships in one place. View booking history, notes from your cleaning team, customer analytics, and invoice and payment information for each client in their unique profile. 

By switching to a fully online record keeping experience, you will save yourself the time of having to sift through paperwork and be able to bring all your customer information with you on-the-go.

5. Effectively Manage Your Cleaning Team 

Whether you are a cleaning team of one or have a team of maids working for you, a CRM system that is tailored to the cleaning industry allows you to effectively manage all your jobs online. Rather than calling and trying to reach service professionals when there is a change, simply assign maids to jobs online with just one click. Sending out job reminders and updates is just as easy. Have a client that is recurring business? Great! Save yourself time by scheduling an automatic appointment for hands off tracking.

6. Get More Business Leads and Land New Clients

With all this time, money, and energy you are saving by switching to an online, customizable cleaning company scheduling system, you will have the ability to get more leads and land new business.

Plus, a robust CRM software offers unique functions to help grow your business even more like customizable cleaning discounts to entice new and past clients. Drive your sales higher than ever by offering discounts, creating urgency with expiration dates, and turning discounts on and off whenever it works best for your business. You can even track which discounts resulted in increased sales to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck.

Grow Your Cleaning Business Now With Maidily 

If you are ready to boost your sales and grow your cleaning company, now is the time to switch to an online scheduling and managing system. At Maidily, we have multiple packages available, each tailored to your specific needs as a company. 
Long gone are the days of manual scheduling, missed cleaning appointments, and lack of tracking. Grow your cleaning business now with Maidily. Get started for free today.

How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews

As a business owner, you are probably very familiar with the concept of negative online reviews. At some level, criticism is pretty much guaranteed as an entrepreneur.

Truth is, whether you provide great service or not, negative reviewers are inescapable.

And no matter how unpleasant it is to read negative comments about your company, you have no choice but to accept them, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it!

A 2019 Local Consumer Review Survey found that 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 52% of 18-54 year olds saying they ‘always’ read reviews.

Based on that survey the average consumer reads about 10 reviews before feeling comfortable enough to trust a business and spends 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews before making a decision.

What does that mean? Online Reviews are very important. It takes a single negative review to sabotage the decision of your potential customer before they purchase your services or product.

You can’t please everyone, and negative reviews are not something we have control over.

However, what we can control is the way we’re going to deal with the situation. By properly responding to the reviewer and taking action, you’ll be able to decrease the damage caused by the negative review.

Three steps to take when responding:

1. A thank you and an apology:

Start by responding to the reviewer and taking responsibility.

As business owners, we have a propensity to fight tooth and nail for our business’s reputation.

However, for the very sake of the business, approaching negativity with kindess and acknowledgment will have a much more positive impact from a customer’s perspective who’s reading through your reviews.

“Customers are sometimes wrong. But telling one that he or she is wrong about an issue could cost you your business.”

Instead of getting defensive, acknowledge the problem, thank the reviewer, and apologize. Taking the time to genuinely apologize is essential to show the reviewer (and people who read the reviews) you care for your clients.

You can say something like: “Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with our services. We acknowledge that problem and sincerely apologize…” This acknowledgment shows that you as a business (business owner) are taking responsibility.

2. How you’ll fix the problem:

After you’ve apologized, it’s time to explain what steps you’re going to take/have taken to fix the issue.

For example: if the reviewer criticized the quality of the service, you can offer them a free session. While also issuing an apology on behalf of the worker that was assigned to the job.

Make sure to offer to make it right by providing some sort of solution.

“Putting actions behind your words online helps the customer trust your company more.”

The unsatisfied customer needs to know any action will be done to fix their problem. Give specific details and let them know what has changed or will change. Future customers will see this as a positive sign and take your ability to communicate effectively as assurance for quality of their own service should they choose to use you.

3. Leave contact information:

At the end of your response, leave your contact information for the reviewer.

Your contact information should include your physical mailing address, your email address and your phone number.

From the reviewer’s standpoint, leaving personal contact information shows you’re not trying to escape the responsibilities you’ve taken to fix the problem and the commitment you have to keep them satisfied.

This is about establishing and fostering good customer relationships, something that is vital for your business’s longevity. Be a human and show them you care.

Real Examples of Good Responses:

Notice here how both companies do a great job by starting with an apology, then going on to look for a solution. Also, they both leave contact information at the end giving the customer an opportunity to reach out to them to resolve the negative review.

1. A client shares dissatisfaction with the service of a dental office, Forest Family Dentistry.

2. A client shares a bad experience he had while at Honda of Thousand Oaks, an auto dealership.

Let Negative Online Reviews Make Your Business Better:

It’s important to remember that criticism is healthy, and responding to negative online reviews is essential.

A 2016 study done by Cornell University revealed that responding to reviews, particularly negative reviews, “appears positively related to the consumer’s view of the hotel, as measured by increases in the TripAdvisor score”

This kind of data can reflect on your cleaning business as well.

Once you’ve taken all these steps, you need to refocus your energy on what’s important-providing outstanding services.

The more you try to improve your business and please future customers, eventually you’ll get less and less negative reviews.

Nevertheless, make sure to follow the essential steps given and start applying them to your responses.Negative online reviews might not be so negative after all!

How to Get More Customers for your Cleaning Business in 2020

Running a cleaning business brings endless challenges — pricing, finding good employees, insurance and tax regulations — the challenges never end.

But the most important challenge is of course to build a profitable business, that’s what this is all about.

In order to build a profitable cleaning business, acquiring and retaining customers is the number one priority that we should devote the majority of our time to.

The 4 most powerful ways to get more customers are: (1) Referrals; (2) Email Campaigns; (3) Yelp and Google Business and (4) Social media marketing. Let’s dive into how to get the most out of each.

1. Referrals 

Who were your first customers? They were most likely friends and family or people you already knew. This is because people buy from people they know and trust. Even huge enterprises like AirBnB and Uber attribute their success to the power of referrals.

Just because you’ve been in business for one or two years doesn’t mean it’s too late to leverage referrals—it’s always a good time to leverage referrals.

How do you leverage a referral program, you ask? Simply ask for it! Simply ask customers once you finish a job by sending an email or use a referral software to send to customers and friends and family. Use a software referral program like Vyper, Ambassador, or even just create a special coupon code that’s assigned to each person you reach out to.

2. Email Campaigns

Launching email campaigns is one of the most effective ways to get new leads and convert them to customers.

Collecting emails is as easy as it can be. All it takes is asking for the prospect’s name and email address, by offering them a free or discounted product in exchange.

This can be done by offering them a free ebook or infographic once they hop on to your website’s homepage. Make sure it’s something relevant to your audience than they can get value from. A free Ebook would be a better option.

Not only do they help convert traffic into sales, but you get a chance to build a relationship with the prospective client, which increases the likelihood of customer retention.

Take advantage of email marketing services like MailChimp/ConvertKit/Constant Contact to help you automate your email marketing and make the best out of it.

3. Your Yelp and Google Business Page

The goal of social media isn’t to sell people things. The goal is to be social, that is, to form relationships. The biggest mistake I’ve seen in social media is when companies try to use social media solely as a place to sell.

It’s like going to a BBQ with friends and having that one guy try to sell you on some product while you’re trying to relax?

There are 3 goals of social media:

      1. To make your company easily accessible to potential customers
      2. Interacting with your customer base
      3. Social trust

Do these 3 things well and watch the leads pour in.

Setting up the accounts is pretty straightforward so let’s take a look at some best practices for the top 3: Yelp, Google, and Facebook.

A. Yelp: There are roughly 140 million users visiting Yelp every month! In my cleaning business’s first year I had $60,000 worth of leads come from Yelp alone (picture of Revenue between April 2019 – March 20th. Here are four tips for successfully running your Yelp account:

      1. Add your photo (owner/manager) to the profile. This will give you a personable edge over those big faceless companies.
      2. Add before and after photos of your best work to the highlights page.
      3. Make your Call to Action links to the next step to book appointments.
      4. Create response templates To streamline getting back to Every inquiry you get. Don’t Ghost on your customers!

B. Google: In 4-5 months I usually get 400+ leads come in from Google, with the average job being over $130, granting me at least $52,000. Make sure you let Google help you collect business! Apart from the same tips from Yelp, make sure to:

      1. Take time and constantly adjust your target market.
      2. Start off with a big budget and then move down if it seems ineffective or too expensive. This will help you better understand where to spend your time and efforts as you’ll have more data to analyze.
      3. Try multiple strategies (A/B Testing) and always track and measure its progress!


C. Facebook: Facebook is a place where people spend tons of time looking for ideas and are open to exploring. In other words, everyone is ready to mingle with your company! You’ll want to balance just being helpful with gently guiding people towards your company. With Facebook you’ll just want to make sure to:

      1. Prioritize helping others over trying to help yourself. By doing so you’ll actually end up helping yourself more.
      2. Take risks and put out content that creates energy. Mix it up
once in a while and get people’s attention. Bring up topics like: “5 things Customers do that offend maid service workers.” This type of content will drive traffic and gives you a platform to show how your service is unlike any other. But remember: play nice!

4. Social Media Networking

The secret to success, whether you’re trying to become CEO or trying to get more law clients is: you need tonetwork. Social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin, are magical tools that allow you to foster impactful relationships right from your desk or phone.

There are 2 main ways to use social media to your advantage, let’s take a look at both.

      1. Directly interact with people in common/general groups or online networks. Since we are trying to gain cleaning clients, which are normally homeowners and complex residents, we’re going to want to “hang out” where these people hang out. Join Facebook groups from your city where people ask general questions about where to go for services, join neighborhood groups, or request to become a preferred vendor for a neighborhood HOA website.
      2. Create your own social media page (instructions here) or forum where you can foster your own specific community. The main goal here is to engage with your customers by building customer relationships, increasing brand awareness, and by sharing your industry expertise.

Top tips for running a successful Facebook page are:

      1. Earn responsive badges by responding very quickly to messages and inquiries
      2. Make quality posts and worry less of quantity
      3. Post at the best times (Facebook = Wednesday at 3p or 12p-1p on Saturday and Sunday)
      4. Use high-quality images to build your site
      5. Mix it up with videos by using Facebook live

Here’s a full list of 26 tips from the marketing masters at Hubspot.

 

Ready, Set, Grow!

Follow these steps and watch the customers pour in. One final question remains, though: How are you going to manage all these new jobs?

Invest in software, like Maidily, that automates capturing leads and scheduling your clients’ jobs. Don’t try to do everything manually and risk losing all those clients you worked so hard to acquire.

Learn more about how Maidliy can help you organize, maintain, and grow your cleaning business.

4 Tips to Close Phone Sales for Cleaning Businesses

Closing inbound calls is crucial for your business. People who call you via phone want two things: (1) convenient and immediate access to questions that are difficult to write and might require some back and forth and (2) to feel like they are interacting with a trustworthy human.

With this in mind, I’ve outlined 4 foolproof steps to closing phone sales that has helped me close just about every opportunity I’ve had over the past 3 years.

 

1. Greet like a professional

Develop a standard greeting that communicates who you are. Something simple like: “Thank you for calling X Cleaning Company, this is John how may I help you?,” will do the trick. I shouldn’t have to write that out, but you don’t know how many people I’ve overheard answering their business/personal phone just saying, “Hello? Who is this?”

Just as important as what you say, though, is how you say it. Social psychologists have shown that your body posture affects the way you speak. I’m sure you’ve called into a business where the rep sounded upset that you’ve interrupted their day. So when a call comes in, stand up, collect yourself, and put a big smile on before you answer—it really makes a difference. Think of it this way, putting on a fake smile for three minutes might lead to you earning $1,000. That’s a pretty good payout!

 

2. Actively listen (for the right thing!)

People purchase services for two reasons: they want to gain something pleasant or rid themselves of something unpleasant. When the call begins, listen for what they want to gain or rid themselves of and identify what is holding them back from hiring you to help them do so. Picking up the fact that the customer hates cleaning but has issues with letting strangers into their home, or that they just don’t know what to expect and that scares them, is what will help you respond to the customer’s needs and concerns and thereby close the sale.

Next, you must communicate to the customer that you have successfully heard their desires. This is simple. As the customer is speaking, verbally acknowledge that you are following along with, “yes and mmhms,” and when the customer finishes, simply restate what you’ve heard. For example if the customer goes on about how they had a previous cleaner steal from them. Affirm that trusting a stranger into their home is a scary process and they are rightfully being careful, and reassure them that you are a trusted expert who will take good care of their home.

 

3. Stay in control

No one knows your business and what you can do better than you. Remain confident and don’t say, “Uh, I don’t know,” or “I’m not sure.” What you say is the way it is with your business. You’re the expert. Set the tone early on by conveying your expertise and value (see our resource on creating value propositions) and ensure that the customer understands what you offer.

A common trap customer’s will ask is why another company is this price and why you are more expensive. Instead of engaging the price by saying, “there’s no way they’re charging that,” stick to your company and what you know. You can say, “I don’t know about what they’re doing there, but here at “Your company” we believe in taking the time and effort to take care of your home and so we give your home the love and attention it needs to ensure that each cleaning is consistently meeting your expectations.”

But in order to be an expert you’re going to have to practice overcoming common objections people will bring to try to challenge your value. Even a simple question like “Why do you not work Saturdays?” can stump you if you haven’t thought it through. “Um. We just don’t?” is simply not an acceptable answer.

Take the time to think through objections and what your true answer is. Then, practice responding to the objection. Once you’ve done that stand tall and embrace your expertise. Remember it’s your business and you make the rules.

 

4. Just close it

“Ask and you shall receive,” goes the saying. Conversely, “Don’t ask and you get nothing.” You must ask for the sale. Period. Something simple like, “It seems like answering your questions that we are a good fit. Would you like to go ahead and get this cleaning booked?” That’s it.

Free tip: always reserve a “closing tool” for customer’s who are on the fence even after asking for the sale. Something like a small discount or a free service can go a long way in helping people pull the trigger. But if you can’t close on the call because the buyer simply is not ready—no worries. Ask if you can follow-up with them later to check on their decision. Having a software like Maidily that can generate and automate this coupon process is vital as your business grows.

Finally, make sure you make it easy for people to take you up on the offer. While they’re on the phone get whatever information you need and try to avoid forcing your clients to take any more steps in the process. In short, don’t make it hard for clients to give you money!

 

Conclusion

Closing phone sales is a great way to secure more jobs for your cleaning business. Practicing the above steps and sticking to them each time will ensure that you make the most out of every phone opportunity. Happy selling!

 

Master work-life balance and make time to splash

A hot topic after all of these years

Have you noticed how long this topic has been a hot one? It’s been decades, and people are still bantering on this topic, and why not your friends at Maid to Glow?

There is and always will be only one you

As your work life and your home life both continue to grow, take a moment to remind yourself that there is only one you despite the demands continuing to grow. Before you commit to anything new, ask yourself if there is enough of you to go around without losing yourself in it all.

Set boundaries at work

This advice goes to work and at home. At work, define specific expectations around your availability. Try to agree mutually with your boss on times that you will not (unless there’s fire or blood) interact about work outside of the office. Address it as a means of respect for maintaining your separate personal time.

Set boundaries with extracurricular commitments

At home, as your children grow older, demands of school and after-school activities also start to grow. Know that it is okay to decline requests to jump in. If there are several children in the group, that means there is just as many if not double the count of parents. If everyone commits to an equal number of tasks throughout the season, nobody should feel overwhelmed. Suggest to the leader to express that expectation of each parent’s participation to create balanced effort.

Set new goals of work-life satisfaction

Balance is a never-ending challenge, so take a step back and consider your satisfaction through it all. Are you in a job that you feel valued? Do you get personal satisfaction at work and home? Your life satisfaction makes a tremendous impact on the work-life balance that you feel. When you feel joy and purpose, things no longer feel like “work” at home or the job.

Promote family activities

Do you find yourself on the sidelines watching as you try to expose your children to so many different experiences? Whether it’s sports, art, ballet, or music, instead of commuting and watching, try a different approach of trying new things together. With the help of Google and YouTube, you can learn almost anything, step-by-step, from novice to expert level. You will enjoy direct interaction with each other while you both explore fulfilling new experiences with each other.

Find joy and purpose at work

Once you feel purpose in what you do, the day flies by before you even feel winded. If you’re not “feeling it,” ask. Ask for understanding in the importance of your work, or if you feel stagnant, look to opportunities in the company or ask your management for stretch projects to extend outside of your comfort zone and build new experiences.

Tackle the Nasty: 5 dirtiest places in your home

Unless you have a maid following your family all day and night, germs will linger and party in your home between cleanings despite your best efforts. Let’s open up to a little more scrutiny when it comes to the familiar places that the dangerous germs like to hang out in your home.

The kitchen

Ready to get squeamish? Let me tell you about an NSF International study back in 2011. In this study, they found that your kitchen is crawling with Coliform bacteria. That would be the family of bacteria that includes Salmonella and E. coli if you were wondering. These food prep areas are full of germs!

Your kitchen sink is where you are rinsing all of the waste from your hands and dishes “before” you clean them. Much of what you are rinsing is food particles that are leaving behind the germs you washed off to fester and multiply. Just a spray bottle of bleach or hydrogen peroxide between uses makes a huge difference. Ditto for your countertops, knobs, and light switches!!

Your dish sponges and rags were the most significant contributors of bacteria, especially if left damp with limited opportunity to dry completely. You can easily sanitize them every couple of days by microwaving wet or boiling for 30 seconds.

Your coffee maker needs regular cleaning too. Just send 4 cups of vinegar (without coffee) through the cycle for proper cleaning.

The bathroom

The bathroom is a wonderfully warm and humid environment. It’s like a spa for your everyday germs, and boy do they enjoy a good party. You probably already think of the surfaces, like your sink, counter, toilet, and tub. However, don’t forget about the other favorite party spots.

Bath towels are home to many germs if not given ample opportunity to dry. Provide them a place that has proper ventilation so they may dry completely between uses. If you like to keep a hand towel by the sink, change it daily. It is the busiest germ towel in the room.

The NSF International study found that 27% of toothbrush holders contain Coliform bacteria. If your holder is on the bathroom sink right next to the toilet, consider moving it to a new location, and don’t forget to put it on the list for more frequent cleaning.

Kids playroom

As the wee ones like to put everything in their mouth and don’t stress over anything sticky, they also want to spread it throughout all of their toys. The playroom is full of germy surfaces, so even if a surface doesn’t look dirty, wipe it anyway. If the playroom has too many toys to keep up, it may be time for a purge.

Pet things

Wash your pet bowls daily with warm and soapy water. Clean their toys regularly too with hot soapy water or run their soft toys through the washing machine.

Personal items

You’re not off of the hook just yet. Think of all the questionable things you may touch through the course of a typical day, then think of the things you would likely touch afterward.  I’m talking about your keys, the TV remote, and your cell phone. So many times we may set these aside as we clean the surface underneath. Instead of moving them over, go ahead and show them some cleaning attention too.

3 Steps for a quick clean after a holiday party

Boy it was a fun party last night! You wake up the next day in the afterglow, only to be reminded of the after-mess! Here are some pro-tips for a quick after-party clean up.
Before you even get started, remind yourself that you gave your home a thorough cleaning before the party, so you are now getting your home back to “home state” from “party central.” Think tidy and surface clean over deep cleaning, because you already did that.

Step one – be like a tornado, picking up everything
The first phase is all about clearing the room before you can do any cleaning. Grab three critical tools to bring into each room populated by your party:

Garbage bag
On every surface is a little something that someone left behind when they couldn’t find or didn’t bother to locate the garbage during the party. All trash and food laying around go into the garbage. Bring a couple of bags if you are recycling, and separate glass and plastic along the way.

Tray
There will be several things that need to be washed instead of discarded, and you need a vehicle to transport them. Your tray will hold everything you need to carry back to the kitchen to clean. These items include glasses, plates, serving dishes, and cutlery.

Laundry basket
Objects in your house have a way of traveling around the house during a party, especially when kids join the festivities. Use the laundry basket to transfer objects from their current location to their permanent home.

Step two – clean
The first part of step two is addressing the glasses and dishes you collected in phase one. Go ahead and put those in the dishwasher before you do the next pass through the house.
For this phase, you need a clean rag (or three) and some all-purpose cleaner. If you prefer paper towels, bring along another garbage bag along the way.

Now that your surfaces are clean, it’s time for a good wipe-down. As you’re wiping your surfaces, take note of any stains you need to address, from glass rings on wood to stains on upholstery and the carpets. Straighten up pillows, picture frames, and any other décor you discover askew along the way.

Check our blogs this year for tips on how to clean some of those stains you discover:

  • OUT dang spot
  • O-My-Mayo
  • Don’t forget to take a peek in your bathrooms and give the surfaces a quick wipe to reclaim them as “family ready” again.

    Step three – floors
    This part is the easiest because you already did all of the heavy lifting in the first two phases. Pull out your vacuum to grab all of the crumbs and debris left behind. On the hard floors, walk around looking for sticky spots and address those with the appropriate cleaner for that surface.

    How To Keep The House Clean While Decorated For The Holidays

    Brace yourself for special decorating season!

    It starts with the first leaf falling – and you find yourself checking in the closet and underneath the bed to begin lining the boxes in chronological order for the upcoming holidays for decorating. It starts with Halloween and ends at New Years, with other holidays in-between. If you have little ones, you probably have a box or three for each holiday to extend the cheer for the remaining months of 2019. Now, how do you keep it all clean through the season?

    Start with a deep cleaning

    As you clear spaces for your holiday décor, it’s a great time to do a deep cleaning on the areas you plan to decorate or your entire house if it’s been a while. If you’re looking to do it yourself, check out our blog from earlier this year: Spring Cleaning Tips from the Pros. Of course, another excellent option is to book Maid to Glow for a good cleaning with our 40 point checklist or choose some extras for even deeper cleaning. You can do so in less than 60 seconds. A good cleaning gives you a blank slate to begin your many decorating campaigns, and you won’t be so concerned about what may be lurking behind your decorations.

    Decorate strategically

    As you think of the placement of each of your items, consider how you will be keeping the area tidy around your decorations. For instance, you don’t want decorations that will tangle and get damaged as you try to vacuum around them. The last thing you want is to have to dismantle your decorating scheme every time you wish to tidy up or vacuum.
    Consider the breakable favorites, especially if you have small children or animals. Cats jumping up on the mantle to investigate new items of interest can knock them down. Little ones pushing their toys or curiously inspecting your decorations can be a hazard to the décor as well as the child. For a couple of years, these toys are irresistible no matter how many times you say “No.” It’s best to keep them away until the age of fascination passes.

    Cleaning around the decorations

    When cleaning, a feather duster (or some synthetic equivalent) is your best friend. Another great tool is the brush attachment on the vacuum to dust around the décor without having to take it all down. Take a couple of minutes to inspect your decoration scheme’s integrity. It might even be fun to do some rearranging each week if you feel the ambition to do so. It holds the interest of your children to see your next rendition of holiday decorations, keeping the season one of wonder and excitement.

    Extra attention between holidays

    As you swap from one holiday to another, take the opportunity to give a quality dusting before you set up for the next holiday. Better yet, plan it before your next Maid to Glow visit, and they will take care of a good cleaning and a blank slate for your next box of decorations.
    Do you have a standing reservation for regular Maid to Glow cleanings? If you love our service, enjoy additional discounts by increasing your frequency of visits. We are happy to help keep your home pristine between holidays for your list of visitors!