Cleaning Before The Cleaning Service Shows Up Is Actually A Good Idea
There's an old joke about rushing to clean your home before the maid shows up so that she doesn't think you're a slob. If you want to hiring a cleaning service in real life, you don't have to go this far, but there is a bit of cleaning up that you should do to get ready. By taking care of a few items, you ensure the cleaning service can actually clean and not concentrate on the wrong things.
Put Away Those Documents
It's very easy for a maid to assume any papers lying around are trash. That's bad in two ways. One is that you'll lose important paperwork, and the other is that you'll have important paperwork lying in the trash where others can see. Gather up all receipts, bills, and other papers and stick them in a filing cabinet. If you don't have time to organize them, put them in a zippered bag to keep them together and place that in the cabinet.
Cleaning vs. Picking Up
You're hiring a maid service to clean your house, not pick up after your family. Scan the house before the maid service is supposed to arrive and put away all the loose items that are cluttering up hallways, floors, and furniture. Arrange with the maid service for them to just move things out of the way if you've forgotten to put them away. You don't want to take up the maid's time with clutter-clearing.
Discuss Pocket Pets
If you have a pet such as a cat or dog, you likely know you have to move them out of the home or choose a room for them to stay in that won't get cleaned. But if you have a pet that needs to stay in a cage, such as a mouse, rat, hamster, or other pet, more preparation and discussion might be needed. Sometimes the cage the animal stays in is too large to move anywhere else in your home. If you have a smaller portable carrier and will be home during the cleaning, you could place the pet in that carrier. But if you're gone for the whole day, placing the pet in that smaller carrier wouldn't be so nice. Boarding the pet for the day could be expensive, and bringing the pet with you wherever you're going might not be feasible. People are used to seeing dogs as pets, but many still flip at the sight of a rat, no matter how friendly the little pet may be.
You don't want harsh chemicals sprayed near the cage. Ask the cleaning service what they use and whether they can avoid cleaning around a cage. If you have to have the cleaning service skip the room the cage is in, do that, even though that means you'll have to clean that room yourself.
Cleaning services have dealt with all of this before, so if you're not sure about where you can move your pets, or if you're not sure whether the maid will be doing certain tasks, call the service and hold a consultation with one of the staff. They'll be able to help you figure out exactly what you need to do before the maid shows up. Contact a company like English Maids for additional advice.