Questions For A Maid Service

When looking for a maid service, here are a number of questions and issues to keep in mind: How long has the service been doing business? A work history and references should be requested.

When you call references, inquire about some key issues: How long have you been a client of this house cleaning service? Was there ever anything that you needed to complain about? If the answer is yes, how did the service deal with solving the problem? Would the maid service provider be wholeheartedly recommended by you?

Employee screening and hiring: Inquire as to whether the house cleaning company checks their employees' references, whether they do criminal background checks, and whether the workforce is made up of subcontractors or actual employees. A maid service that uses subcontractors doesn't train the employees and may lack liability insurance coverage. Additionally, there may be no quality standards or clearly defined procedures for resolving complaints.

Cleaning Products: You might be expected to provide all the cleaning supplies by independent housekeepers and even some services. If the house cleaning company provides the cleaning products, find out which types will be used, and whether harsh chemicals, such as ammonia or bleach, are contained in the products. Make sure that these products can be safely used around children and pets.

Be sure that you understand what you are getting if the maid service claims that it utilizes "green" products or eco-friendly products as part of its house cleaning regimen. Find out if their products are strong enough to clean and disinfect pathogens such as Staphylococcus (Staph.), Salmonella and E.coli. A company that is "Green Certified," should be able and willing to give you information regarding which certifying body provides certification of their cleaning products.

While some products may be certified as "green", in reality they simply use a lower proportion of standard chemicals, literally diluting a chemical with water until it complies with the standards. This can result in the product not performing as well. Additional environmentally safe products contain bio-based ingredients that have natural bacteria and enzymes which are non-pathogenetic environmental isolates that imitate the method in which nature naturally cleans itself. These natural products can be utilized as hard surface cleaners and degreasers to produce an effective and safe cleaning formula.