Why it happens
Cleaning is an easy trade to enter and the paperwork is invisible from a website. The gap between a properly run company and a person with a mop is insurance, vetting, cover and written scope, and none of it shows up in the headline hourly rate.
What to do about it
Ask these before you book, and be wary of anyone who gets vague.
- Public liability insurance, with the certificate produced on request rather than described
- Vetting of the actual cleaner attending, including DBS checking where the work involves keys or vulnerable customers
- Who turns up when your regular cleaner is off sick or on holiday, and whether the visit still happens
- Whether equipment and products are supplied, and whether fragrance free options exist
- A written scope listing what is included, not general cleaning as required
- How keys are stored and referenced, and who else has access to them
- Whether the price is a quote against that scope or an open ended hourly rate
- How complaints are handled, and whether there is a named contact rather than a shared inbox
The mistake to avoid
Do not judge on hourly rate alone. A cheaper rate against a vaguer scope is not cheaper, it is a smaller job described in a way you cannot check.
How we handle it
Regular domestic cleaning works on familiarity. You get the same vetted cleaner rather than whoever is free, so nobody has to be told again where the hoover lives or which surfaces need care. We agree a room by room plan on the first visit, then work through it every time, with the rotating jobs like skirtings and internal glass built into the schedule instead of forgotten.
- Colour coded cloths so kitchen and bathroom kit never mix
- Fragrance free range available on request
- HEPA filtered vacuums
- Microfibre and pure water on glass
The service behind this guide
Regular house cleaning by the same vetted cleaner each visit.
See Domestic Cleaning