A weird thing happened to one of my employees: she came back from a house she cleans every Monday, and said this: “I’ve beed cleaning at this lady’s flat every week for over six months, and I thought she doesn’t live there much, because the flat was always very clean. The only thing I had to do was the usual dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the mirrors, a little work in the kitchen and the bathroom. Most of the things looked like somebody has been cleaning them before me, but I just thought it’s because nobody really uses the flat. This morning I found out the truth. I opened the flat with the keys I was given by the owner before, and I saw her sitting in her sofa, all worried, obviously not feeling very well. There were dirty plates and glasses on the table, tea set on the side table, some clothes hanged over chairs and sofa, and the kitchen looked a little bit used. It was nothing like I was used to. I finally had an impression that someone actually uses the flat. The lady who lives there came to me and started apologising for not cleaning the flat before I came. “No worries, that’s why I’m here” I said, but she kept on going and said that she normally cleans during the weekend, but this time she fell ill and couldn’t do anything but lay in bed. I couldn’t believe it. The lady cleans before the cleaner comes, so she wouldn’t look like a messy person. How weird is that! I told her to sit down, made her a cup of tea, and told her to relax. I went to the bedroom, vacuumed, changed the bed sheets, and asked her to go back to bed. After I was done with the rest of the cleaning, and before I left to clean another house, I went to say good bye to her. The lady seemed a lot happier, and said she is glad she didn’t have to leave the flat. I said to her next time I want her to give up cleaning during the weekend, and stay home on Monday morning if she likes to. I will do all the cleaning and she can relax like today. She said it felt really good and winked at me. I left thinking how many of our clients do that. How many of them pre-clean.”

We laughed at the story, and I told her she is very lucky because definitely not all the clients are like that. I hear completely different stories from other cleaners. Some of the flats look like the are hosting parties 7 days a week. But that’s OK. That’s why we’re here. We can take care of it, and if it needs extra care, we can always arrange some extra hours. I just wanted to share this story with you, just in case you are one of the people that clean before the cleaners come. If you are, stop doing it. Instead, go read a book, have a cup of tea, do some extra work, visit a friend, go shopping, or just sit back and relax. Our cleaners are used to do the job for you, and they have a very efficient ways to do it, so it doesn’t even take long. Remember, we are here for you. If there was no mess, we wouldn’t have a job!

This month we are preparing an article about the best ways how to maintain all kinds of grills. Difficult cleaning will not be an excuse to do a barbecue party anymore, even if the weather may be!