How do you prepare for your first house cleaning?
Very little: you never need to clean before your cleaner arrives. Spend about fifteen minutes picking up clutter so surfaces are reachable, decide how we will get in, put away anything precious or fragile, plan where your pets will be, and leave a note about problem areas or preferred products.
- $2M insured
- Background-checked cleaners
- Same cleaner every visit
- Satisfaction guarantee
- No contracts
You don’t need to clean before we arrive
The most common first-visit worry is also the easiest to retire: nobody expects you to clean for the cleaner. Scrubbing is literally what you are paying for, and a professional would much rather find honest build-up than a home that was anxiously half-cleaned the night before.
What genuinely helps is different from cleaning — it is tidying. Every shirt on the floor, stack of mail on the counter, or toy pile on the rug is a surface we have to work around rather than clean. Ten to fifteen minutes of picking things up converts directly into more minutes spent on bathrooms, baseboards, and the kitchen — the work you actually booked.
The 15-minute prep list
Run through this the evening before or the morning of your clean:
- Pick up clothes, toys, and anything living on the floor so we can vacuum and mop wall to wall
- Clear loose papers, mail, and dishes off counters and tables so flat surfaces can be wiped end to end
- Put away jewelry, cash, and small heirlooms — any reputable service will tell you the same: it protects you and your cleaner alike
- Move fragile items you would rather nobody else handled — a wobbly vase, an irreplaceable frame
- Leave out any product you prefer for a specific surface (a stone countertop, a delicate floor) with a quick note, and we will use yours instead of ours
- Jot down problem areas you want extra attention on — the shower door, the stovetop, the mystery corner
- Decide where pets will be while we work, and mention them when you book
Access: you don’t have to be home
Most of our clients are not home during their clean. A key under agreement, a lockbox code, or a garage door code — whatever you are comfortable with — is all we need, and we treat entry details as confidential. If you would rather be home for the first visit to see how it works, that is completely normal too: many clients stay for the first clean, then hand over a code once they have met their cleaner.
Either way, you will know exactly who is coming. You get one dedicated, background-checked cleaner — the same person every visit — not a rotating crew of strangers.
What about pets?
Pets can stay home — there is no pet surcharge, and everyday hair and dander are simply part of the clean. The same-cleaner model helps here more than anywhere: your dog or cat meets one familiar person who learns which doors and gates stay shut, instead of a new face every visit.
For the first clean specifically, a nervous dog is usually happiest crated, gated in a familiar room, or out on a walk while the vacuum runs. Tell us about your animals when you book, including anything we should know about doors, gates, or an escape artist — we are careful by default, and more careful when warned.
Why your first visit is a deep clean
Every new client’s first visit with us is a deep clean. It goes beyond a standard maintenance visit — baseboards, door frames, switch plates, build-up removal in bathrooms and the kitchen, hand-wiped surfaces, detailed edges and corners — so your home starts from a true baseline. Recurring visits afterward stay efficient because they maintain a reset home instead of chasing months of accumulation.
That first visit is also when the small logistics get settled for good: where supplies live, which products you prefer, how your pet handles the vacuum, which door we use. By visit two, the whole thing runs on rails.
Prepped and ready?
Fifteen minutes of tidying is all it takes — we bring everything else, from the vacuum to the microfiber. Book online and your first deep clean resets the whole home.
FAQ
Common questions
Do I need to clean before the cleaner comes?
No. Cleaning is the job you are hiring out — arriving to honest build-up is completely normal. What helps is tidying: picking up clothes, toys, dishes, and loose papers so surfaces are reachable. Ten to fifteen minutes of decluttering means more of the visit goes into actual cleaning.
Do I have to be home during the cleaning?
No — most clients are not home. You provide access however you prefer: a key, a lockbox code, or a garage door code. Plenty of people choose to be home for the first visit to meet their cleaner, then switch to code access once they are comfortable.
What should I do with my pets during the clean?
Pets can stay home, and there is no pet surcharge. Because the same cleaner returns every visit, your animal meets one familiar person rather than a stranger each time. For the first visit, a nervous dog does best crated, gated in a quiet room, or out on a walk while the vacuum runs.
Should I leave out my own cleaning products?
Only if you want a specific product used somewhere particular — a natural stone countertop, a delicate floor finish, or a product you trust for an allergy reason. Leave it out with a short note and we will use it there. Otherwise we bring everything: products, vacuum, mop, and microfiber cloths.
Ready when you are
See your flat-rate price in seconds, or book your cleaning now.
No contracts — cancel or reschedule free with 24 hours’ notice.
- $2M insured
- Background-checked cleaners
- Same cleaner every visit
- Satisfaction guarantee
- No contracts