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Spring Cleaning Tips for St. Patrick’s Day

March 16, 2023 by emilysmaids

Spring Cleaning Tips for St Patrick's Day - Emily's Maids of Dallas

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner! What better way to celebrate than by doing some Spring Cleaning for St. Patrick’s Day? Both spring and St. Patrick’s day are starting in just a few days.

Today we wanted to give you some tips to clean your home this week before St. Patrick’s Day.

You’ll be starting the spring season with the right foot, and if you’re planning a big party, you’ll impress your guests and have so much fun!

As always, make sure you check Emily’s Maids of North Dallas page to book our professional cleaning service in the North Dallas area. Remember we also are serving Dallas, Grapevine and Flower Mound.

Without further ado, let’s read some cleaning tips for St. Patrick’s Day to have your home cleaned in the blink of an eye.

Start With Decluttering Before St. Patrick’s Day

First of all, we always recommend decluttering. This is a fantastic opportunity because spring is a season where you can add so much color and personality to your home. Besides, once a quarter is the perfect frequency to remove old, unused objects that no longer bring happiness to your home.

If you have the chance, take the time to declutter your home, but make sure you stay on track to finish before St. Patrick’s Day, which is tomorrow! If anything, take half a day to declutter your most problematic areas.

Here’s a tip: set a timer for each area and leave 30 extra minutes to wrap up. Try to be realistic about your goals because it’s better to finish a small, more realistic goal than set yourself a bigger goal and then feel frustrated by not finishing your goal.

Another great tool is to use three boxes to sort out your items. The three boxes are Keep, Donate, or Trash. Get rid of items that are no longer helpful or that do not add any value to your home.

This includes old magazines and newspapers, broken toys or clothes that are not your right fit anymore. If they are in good condition, you can donate them. Otherwise you should get rid of them.

Decluttering for St Patrick's Day - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Refresh Your Bedding

Your bedding is one of the most important elements of your house. Now with the new season, you need to make sure you don’t have dust or allergens flying around.

This is the perfect time to deep clean your pillowcases and your comforter. Over the year they are gathering dust, sweat, and bacteria.

If you are still sleeping uncomfortably or if you notice allergic reactions all the time, the problem could be related to moisture or dust in the air. In this case, you can either invest in an air filter, a humidifier, or a dehumidifier, depending on the issue. This will certainly increase your sleep quality.

Clean Out Your Fridge and Pantry

While you’re at it, it’s time to deep clean your fridge and pantry. If you are decluttering, this is a perfect time because your shelves will be empty and ready for you to wipe them clean!

This will take you around 1 to 2 hours so take that into consideration for your schedule.

To clean your pantry and your fridge, here are some tips you can apply:

Check the expiration date! You might be surprised to find items that are no longer safe to eat. Check all your herbs and spices as well to ensure they are still tasty.
If you have the time, find an organizational system that works for you, such as lazy susans, stackable containers or just bins and baskets.
You might find some areas where you have greasy spots. A hard-bristled brush may be useful along with some degreaser or concentrated dish soap.
A white-vinegar mix is usually great for different types of surfaces. You might want to use an all-purpose cleaner or a bit of liquid dish soap.

Clean Your Outdoor Living Space Before St. Patrick’s Day

Now that the weather is warmer, you can sweep your deck or patio. Also, pay attention to any outdoor furniture that needs to be washed.

For wood furniture, you can try using 1/4 cup of castile soap and pouring it into one gallon of warm water. Wipe your furniture and dry it thoroughly. If possible, let it air dry for a couple of hours.

Check for any necessary repairs because you want to enjoy your outdoor furniture to the fullest now that spring is just around the corner.

Focus on The Floors

You probably want to leave floors for last because, as you know, the smartest route is to clean from top to bottom. If you have been decluttering, for example, you know a lot of dust and lint is going to fall directly to your floors, so you want to wait until you’ve finished your other cleaning tasks before deep cleaning all your floors and remove all that dust and dirt.

As you know, each type of floor needs different cleaning steps. Mild dish soap and warm water are usually safe for pretty much all types of floors.

To deep clean carpet floors and area rugs, consider hiring a carpet cleaning service or renting a steam cleaner. Keep in mind the steam cleaner will take you around 3 – 4 hours if you have a big home. For hardwood or tile floors, sweep all floors and if possible, use a vacuum cleaner to reach corners and other areas.

Then, use a damp mop with just a tiny bit of soap and other cleaning agent (white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, etc). Mop with a fresh clean mop again and then a second time with a dry, absorbent mop. It’s best to do this with plenty of sunlight and airflow to help your floors dry faster.

Pro tip: read our Essential Oils Cleaning Guide! You can add a few drops of essential oil to give your floors a delicious fragrace. However, keep in mind not all essential oils are safe for pets.

Vacuuming and Cleaning Floors - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Bring in Fresh Flowers For St. Patrick’s Day

Nothing says spring like fresh flowers! And besides adding some decór for St. Patrick’s Day, it’s always nice to add a few vases of fresh flowers after a deep house cleaning.

They are the perfect final touch because they add fragrance and color, and they will improve your mood when you look at them.

If you don’t like flowers, you can light a scented candle, for example. You have many scents to choose from, many of them are soothing and calming. And they are also spring themed!

You can also use an essential oils diffuser which delivers pretty much the same results. The only downside is that they need some occasional maintenance and they can be a bit noisy.

Placing Flowers in your Home for Spring - Emily's Maids

Conclusion

There you have it! Our best tips for cleaning for St. Patrick’s Day. We hope you get to clean and tidy your home as much as possible because today is St. Patrick’s Day and we want you to enjoy this day to the fullest!

Remember to check Emily’s Maids of Dallas if you need a professional cleaning service in the Dallas area. We’ll be back soon with more cleaning articles!

We hope you have a lot of fun this St. Patrick’s Day!

How Much Does it Cost to Clean a House in Texas?

February 20, 2023 by emilysmaids

How much does it cost to clean a house in texas - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Hi! We’re back with another cleaning article! This time, we wanted to answer this question that we get asked often: How much does it cost to clean a house in Texas?

We know the cost of a cleaning service is sometimes difficult to estimate or calculate. There are many factors that determine the cost of a cleaning service, and this means the cost can vary significantly.

Although our website does offer a quick and simple cost estimate calculator, we understand not all companies are the same.

In this article, you will read all the possible items that will impact on the cost of cleaning a house in Texas, and how important is the budget within a cleaning service.

We will also give you our best tricks to lower the total cost of your cleaning service! You might be able to get very nice discounts from your original cost after using some of our tips.

How Much Does it Cost to Clean a House in Texas?

You can find many different estimate costs for a house cleaning service in Texas. Most of them are somewhere around $120 and $250 on average. But that depends on all the factors we discussed earlier.

For example, if your cleaning company charges by square footage, you might have to pay more for a bigger home.

The type of service is also important. Most cleaning companies offer at least three services, which are standard cleaning, deep cleaning, and move-in or move-out cleaning. Standard cleaning is usually the most affordable one, but you might need a different service at some point.

Additional cleaning tasks can be in the range of $20 to $100 for each task.

With a nice discount, you can even find a house cleaning services in dallas under $100!

If you are a housekeeper, you might want to check the guide created by our friends from Dallas Maids, where you will learn how much it costs to clean a house from a house cleaners’ perspective.

What Affects the Cost of a House Cleaning Service in Texas?

As we mentioned earlier, this is one the most frequently asked questions for a cleaning company. In order to answer how much it costs to clean a house in Texas, we need to consider some factors about the customer and the house cleaner.

To get a cleaning quote, you will need to provide the following info:

The number of bedrooms and bathrooms and additional rooms that you want to get cleaned. Common areas (kitchen, living room, eating area) are usually included in every service. You should always confirm first.

The square footage of your home: some cleaning companies or housekeepers prefer to charge by square footage instead of rooms. This might benefit you if you have a really small home.

The cleaning tasks you want to have them do for you, such as vacuuming, dusting and tidying, as well as additional cleaning chores (such as deep cleaning or doing laundry)

Special instructions or requests such as using specific cleaning products or dealing with pets, for example.

Your desired cleaning frequency, because one-time cleaning services are often more expensive than recurring services.

Cleaning companies and independent housekeepers often have big differences in cost. Keep in mind that the operative costs of cleaning companies are much higher than an independent house cleaner.

How do I Find About the Cost of a House Cleaning Service in Texas?

There are many ways to know the cost of a Texas house cleaning service. Most cleaning companies offer an automatic calculator that adds the cost of each room, as well as any additional rooms or tasks that you need.

This is the fastest route because you are able to check exactly what you need. The best part is, they won’t even have to know your name or contact info. In less than 10 minutes you can even compare different sites and see the pros and cons of each company or housekeeper.

With an automatic calculator, you can see how each additional task changes the total cost and if you are willing to pay the difference to get that extra room or task as part of your cleaning service.

If they don’t have a website that offers this tool, you can contact them via email or phone number.

With emails, you can contact several companies at the same time requesting a budget. With phone communication, you are able to ask several questions quickly. You might have to take note of each price list individually, though.

Searching-for-costs-of-cleaning-services-Emilys-Maids-of-Dallas

How to Lower the Cost of a House Cleaning Service

After finding the perfect house cleaning company for you, you might need to lower the cost estimate you received from them. Here are some tricks to help you lower this cost:

Hire a recurring cleaning service:

You can lower the cost of a cleaning service by asking for a recurring service instead of a one-time service. Depending on the frequency of visits, you might get significant discounts on the total cost. A recurring cleaning service can give you many benefits in the long run, so you might want to consider this type of service instead of a one-time visit.

You might need to tweak the frequency to find the perfect balance between a recurring service (with a nice discount!) while still remaining affordable. For example, you might want to try a twice-a-month frequency and then switch to once every three weeks.

Don’t miss out on freebies & discounts!

Cleaning companies will often give you discounts or special offers during a holiday, an important company event, or as a reward for frequent customers or first-time clients.

Make sure you follow your cleaners’ social media or newsletter to find out about special offers.

Negotiate on cleaning tools and supplies:

Depending on the company or housekeeper, you might be able to reach an agreement where they offer you a discount in exchange for supplying cleaning agents or tools.

If your housekeeper or cleaning company agrees with this offer, you might see a small saving in the long run, especially if you are able to buy them in bulk. Plus, you will be able to choose your favorite cleaning products, which comes in handy if you have any preferences or restrictions (e.g., eco-friendly or fragrance-free products).

Take charge of some cleaning tasks:

Cleaning services include a limited number of tasks. Make sure you ask which cleaning tasks are charged as an extra. For example, doing the dishes, cleaning windows or cleaning the walls). If they are not included in their cleaning checklist, you might have to do them by yourself to cut costs.

Your cleaning costs will increase if your house is really messy. This might be the case for rooms that were closed for some time or areas that are not cleaned regularly (e.g., behind the fridge or inside your kitchen cabinets).

Tidying up quickly before your house cleaners arrive can avoid you having to pay additional fees. In any case, if there is an area that is particularly messy or that has not been cleaned in a while, you might want to consult your cleaning service first.

Why Does it Cost so Much to Clean a House?

By knowing the cost to clean a house, you can get some insights about the company or housekeeper.

A reliable cleaning service will find the perfect balance between a reasonable cost while maintaining exceptional quality and reliability.

If you find a company or housekeeper with prices that are much lower than their competition, then it probably means they needed to cut corners in some way. They might be sacrificing quality, responsibility, or safety.

Companies with lower costs might be just getting started, and therefore offering lower prices to build a clientele. This is not necessarily a bad sign, they could be fantastic cleaners! But they might not offer all the advantages of a more experienced house cleaner.

Consider researching different cleaning services, supplies, and discounts in order to find the best price for the job. Reviews and ratings are important because, in the long run, a service that is way too cheap will (most likely) not be able to offer you an outstanding service, or they might encounter issues with their customers more often.

At the end of the day, a cleaning service helps you save time, energy (and sometimes even money!) in the long run. We suggest you try at least 2 – 3 times to really see the benefits in your household and in your life in general.

Conclusion

The cost of a house cleaning service in Texas is certainly affordable, especially if you choose a recurring service.

Keep in mind that quality usually increases along with cost. Taking care of your finances is just as important as making sure that you are getting a top-notch cleaning service.

Just like any other service or product, it’s all about choosing if your priority is price, quality, or a both. As we mentioned earlier, make sure you compare different services and check their reviews and ratings, especially if they offer lower prices than competition.

If you are wondering how much does it cost to clean your house, you can check Emily’s Maids of Dallas booking page to get a free estimate in less than one minute!

We hope these tips help you learn more about the cost of cleaning services in Texas. Don’t forget to check our blog for more cleaning tips!

What Mediocre Maid Services Don’t Want You to Know!

February 15, 2023 by emilysmaids

A Business Owner’s Inside Secrets on Finding the BEST

With all the cookie-cutter maid services in Dallas, how do you know which one to pick? Here you’ll learn how to easily ferret out the junk from the gems with just a few questions. After years of growing a top-notch maid service in Dallas I’ve discovered what you should ask to find the best. I hope this will be helpful for you in finding the best maid service in Dallas, sparing you wasted time and money.

The four questions to ask a maid services in Dallas are 1) “Do you send the same team to clean out house?”, 2) “What is your annual employee turnover rate”, 3) “Why are your people the Best?”, and 4) “Do you have employees or independent contractors?” After covering these questions, I will share a couple of questions not to ask. These are common customers inquiries that at best are not useful and may cause you to choose a mediocre maid service.

Question 1:

“Do You Send the Same Team to Clean Our House?”

First, does the maid service in Dallas send the same team? This is very important for four reasons: 1) consistent quality, 2) a sense of ownership by the cleaning professional, 3) less breakage, 4) and the peace of mind of knowing who is cleaning your home.

Having the same team clean allows that team to learn how to clean your house more efficiently. They become acquainted with what each family wants, allowing them to tailor the cleaning according to customer’s needs. As time goes on, cleaning is consistent and might become better as the professional house cleaners learn the layout of the house finding a routine that best gets the cleaning done.

The professional house cleaner gains a sense of ownership of your house. Your house is now their house, their responsibility. Indeed, once they have a house, they prefer none of their peers to service “their” house for they do not know what the quality will be. They want you to be happy, for if you are happy, they know you will pass on praise to their supervisor when they call. They want a sense of accomplishment. And those maid services in Dallas that know how to find individuals that feel good from a job well done are the professionals you want.

As they learn how to clean your house and have a sense of ownership/responsibility, there is less breakage of valuables. Much, much less. With different teams cleaning your house, they fumble through, having more of a chance of breakage. Of course the maid services Dallas should be insured for at least $100,000 to cover any breakages/mistakes, though breakage is something we all want to avoid. Some sentimental items you cannot replace. You cannot place a price tag on an old family heirloom or even a wedding ring. My maid service, Dallas Maids, didn’t hesitate spending near $500.00 to professionally fix a $20.00 tea cup because it had sentimental value; it was a gift from the customers deceased grandmother. Please ensure they are insured and send the same people. Anyway, it is good to know who is cleaning your home.

It is always a good idea to meet the ladies that will be cleaning your house the first time, to see them work (If they talk on the phone as they work, smell of smoke or just smell, are slow, or any other thing that makes you feel uneasy, fire that service!). Theft should NOT be a concern when hiring a service, though it does happen, more so with some maid services than others and especially much more so with individuals. (We have heard horror stories of individuals, one of which where they cleaned out – and I am not referring to dirt – a house then flew out of the country for an early retirement). If you know who is cleaning your home, there is probably less chance of sticky fingers. With a service, they would have done a thorough background check. And if something does happen, you know it is covered.

Question 2:

“What is Your Employee Turnover Rate?”

This is a question that you would not think of asking, but is very important for two reasons: 1) make sure the lady cleaning your house today will be the one there next year, and 2) Dallas maid services with a high turnover rate have a broken system. First, as outlined in question one, you now know why it is important to have the same person to clean your home. Having a high turnover rate also is a symptom of a defective business system, or lack thereof. The company is unable to retain their people. Or maybe they are playing the numbers game trying to find a star while playing Russian roulette with their customer’s home. From what I have read, the average cleaning industry employee turnover rate is around 300%. This is NOT good nor should it be the average. It is an indication of the number of ineffectual house cleaning services there actually are. The rate you should be looking for should be closer to 0%. A good follow up question is “How Do You Find and Train Your Employees?” They should try to find the best at the beginning. With proper hiring procedures they should pick maybe 1 out of 50 job applicant inquiries. My maid service is even more selective than this, choosing 1 out of 120. Finding the BEST people has made all the difference! Criminal background checks, driving records (we require driver license), reference checks, along with a thorough interviewing process should be used. As for training, my service strongly prefers those with years of experience. We need the best from the start. Extended training, high employee turnover rates, lack of quality job, breakage, low moral, along with countless other problems caused by the inability to find and retain the best talent are very expensive. As a result their customer’s are charge more for less service. With a low turnover rate you can be confident their people are staying because they are treated with respect, are good at what they do, and generally the maid service Dallas is running the business effectively and efficiently, providing you with the highest value, the biggest bang for your buck.

Question 3:

“Why Are Your Professional House Cleaners the Best?”

There should be no hesitation on their part when you ask this question. The maid service representative should be able to rattle off why their people are the best, what awards and recognition they have earned, good stories on how their people responded to problems, etc. How selective are they? Any cases of theft? Do they send the same people? Another way to tell the integrity of the professional house cleaners is to know the integrity of the manager or owners. Everything filters down from those that manage the professional house cleaners. This is why it is important to know the company is doing all that is legal and good. Do they use contract workers (which is illegal and huge red flag for checking the integrity of those that will be in your house) or actual employees that pay taxes, that the company are more responsible for.

Questions 4:

“Do You Have Employees or Independent Contractors?”

Now, some less scrupulous house cleaning owners will try to skirt the law by hiring independent contractors instead of employees. This may allow them to charge less and/or add to their bottom line but this is breaking the law. It is illegal for maid services to hire contractors in the State of Texas. So, do ask the company if they hire employees (W-4 forms) or independent contractors (1099 forms). And other than being a case of tax evasion, there are some fundamental reasons why you should avoid these cleaning companies like a dirty toilet.

You want a maid service that has employees, not contract laborers because the company has more control over the employees, thus able to more effectively execute total quality management through performance bonuses, performance review procedures, ability to direct employees to follow procedures to maintain quality, etc. Employees also enjoy benefits that increase moral and motivation to a great job such as gas allowance, paid vacation, company outings, Holiday bonuses, etc. These build moral, loyalty, and motivation to provide top notch service.

Again, it’s also the law. Many maid services owners use contract labor because they are able to evade taxes and write off labor as an expense, escaping even from more taxes. This may work for a while though its against the law and the IRS will come a-knocking one day. I knew from the beginning everything had to be conducted correctly an ethically because it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s necessary to set an example to the professional house cleaners and the office managers. When the IRS came a-knocking, Dallas Maids passed with flying colors after the audit. Paying taxes is our patriotic privilege. It’s an honor to give back to America, a country that has given us so much opportunity!

With these four questions: “Do you send the same team to clean out house?”, “What is your annual employee turnover rate”, “Why are your people the Best?”, and “Do you have employees or independent contractors?”, you should be able to find a gem among the many coals out there. With barriers of entry low where almost anyone can start a maid service in Dallas, it is important know how to find the best house cleaner. Your home is where your personal possessions are, where your family sleeps. Protect it. Don’t let just anyone in.

Now for the QUESTIONS NOT TO ASK…

Don’t Waste Your Time with These Questions

There are a couple of questions that customers have asked that do not provide them with sufficient or misleading information. First, is “Are you bonded?”. Rather ask “How much are you insured for?” Second, “What is your hourly rate?” can be misleading for one service may hire much slower workers, having a lower rate, though costing more due to the time they take.

Useless Question 1:

“Are You Bonded?”

Being bonded is not bad. It is an assurance that if anything comes up missing due to theft it will be covered up to a certain amount. Though it is not nearly enough for it only covers theft and usually does not cover more expensive items. What you want to ask is if they are insured. Insurance not only covers theft but also breakage, injury, or most anything that can go wrong. Instead of just being covered for a couple or few thousand with a bond, insurance usually covers $1,000,000 and up. Since it is much more expensive than being bonded, individual house cleaners do not usually have it. Indeed, some professional house cleaning services do not have it or do not have enough of it. Currently the coverage we offer our customers is one million dollars.

Useless Question 2:

“What is Your Hourly Rate?”

Is $30 per hour a better value than $50 an hour rate? Depends on the quality of the worker. A $50 per hour professional house cleaner that can efficiently clean your home in 2 hours, making it sparkle, is a better value than a less skilled cleaner that charges $30 an hour yet takes 5 hours to clean your home. I think it is safe to say that most would prefer an outstanding job at $100.00 rather than a mediocre job at $150.00. I’ve seen cases like and worse!

Conclusion

Asking “Do you send the same team to clean out house?”, “What is your annual employee turnover rate”, “Why are your people the Best?”, and “Do you have employees or independent contractors?” will go aid immensely in your search for a great maid service. Hope this helps you and your family find the perfect maid service in Dallas!

P.S. The following video, “How to Find a Good Maid Service”, was inspired by an earlier version of this article:

How to Find a Good Maid Service

How to Clean Your Home After the Holidays

January 2, 2023 by emilysmaids

How to Clean Your Home After the Holidays - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Hello! We hope you enjoyed this weekend! Now you are probably asking yourself how to clean your home after the holidays.

At Emily’s Maids of Dallas, we always love to share house cleaning tips online. And we know there is always chaos in your home before and after an important event or family gathering. Cleaning after the holidays is always a challenge.

Besides, we can’t forget this is the last week of the year! This is the perfect chance to take a look at every room and decide what are you going to declutter, clean and organize your house.

This is why we found it helpful to create a guide for you to go through each area in your home this week to make it look clean and shiny again.

Some people think it’s a good luck sign to clean your home at this important point of the year. Regardless of your superstitions, what better way to start your year than by deep cleaning your home? This is the perfect opportunity to start 2023 on the right foot!

Without further ado, here are some tips to clean your home after the holidays. Enjoy!

Create a To-Do List to Clean Your Home After the Holidays

Following a list and/or schedule is the best way for you to accomplish your cleaning tasks without forgetting anything. With a list, you will also avoid spending unnecessary time on other tasks that were not part of the plan.

To keep track of your time without getting overwhelmed, you can try using the 20/10 method. This consists of cleaning for 20 minutes and then taking a break for 10 minutes.

Cleaning can be exhausting physically and even mentally (thinking of the best way to organize your items, having to discard or give away sentimental items…) so you might need a break. Don’t forget to set your timer to avoid your break from extending too much!

Even though you are creating a list to clean your home after the holidays, you can still take this list as an example to clean your home the next week, or even adapt it to your recurring cleaning schedule.

Keep in mind that you are probably very tired after this hectic week! Set some reasonable expectations so you can clean as much as possible and tackle all essential areas without getting burned out.

Create a Cleaning To-do list Emily's Maids of Dallas

Declutter Your Home After The Holidays

Although it would have been ideal to declutter your home a week ago in order to donate for the holidays, you are still on time, and it is never too late.

It also makes sense to do this before cleaning. You might have items that you feel should be deep cleaned after the holidays, but those items might not be with you this new year in the first place.

If you keep that in mind, it doesn’t make sense to clean if you haven’t decluttered in the first place. And the first week of this new year might be the perfect time to do it!

One of the most well-known strategies for decluttering is to sort your items into three categories: keep/reuse, give away to charity, or throw away. It will be easier to visualize where everything is going to end up going after you’ve finished decluttering.

Another good rule of thumb is to declutter by category and not by room. For example, if you have books in your bedroom, your office and your garage, it will be easier to get into the “declutter books” mindset.

Leave sentimental items as the final category, in order to build momentum to make it easier to get rid of those items that no longer have a place in your life.

Declutter Home after the holidays - Emily's Maids

Remove Stains and Clean Your Floors

It is highly likely that you come across wine spills or food scraps from this weekend’s dinner. This should be your priority for two reasons:

a) stains set more and more over time, and

b) heat or hot water might set the stain even further if you didn’t remove it first.

If you have floors that are highly absorbing or sensitive, such as carpet floors or hardwood floors, this is even worse.

Make sure to inspect your floors first, especially around the areas where your guests had some food or drinks.

Removing stains for floors depend on the type of stain. If you have carpet floors and you had some wine stains, for example, you can use a DIY cleaning solution. Hydrogen peroxide, dish soap and water is usually a safe, universal stain remover.

Always dab with the sponge, do not scrub in a circular motion because that will spread the stains even further.

After you have removed all stains and residues you can find, it would be a perfect time to clean all your floors. They have probably absorbed a lot of dust and bacteria. Even if you are not able to sense that right away, they are going to have a huge impact in your house after you’ve cleaned them.

Vacuuming is usually the best route to go for pretty much all types of floors. Make sure you are changing the attachment if you have different floor types. Some of them can get scratched if you are using the beater bar, for example.

You might need to hire a carpet cleaning service if you haven’t cleaned them in a long time, or if you are required by your landlord to have them cleaned by professionals.

Don’t forget to check our III-part guide on How to Clean Your Floors!

Removing Floor Stains - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Clean Your Oven After The Holidays

We know how important is to prepare delicious meals to share with family. But when you are cleaning after the holidays, kitchen appliances are one of the most dreaded items.

After you’ve used your appliances and especially if you plan on using them again soon, then it is important to clean them as fast as possible.

The oven is one of the most popular appliances around this time of the year.

This is one of the messiest appliances after New Year’s, especially if you do not clean it frequently. With time, grease and baked-on food get stuck in the inner surfaces and it becomes harder to remove.

Oven cleaners are effective, but they are harmful as they release toxic fumes and can cause skin and respiratory reactions. Instead, you can try a DIY cleaning solution and then use oven cleaner as a last resource if that didn’t work.

To try this DIY cleaning solution, start by mixing half a cup of baking soda and 3 tablespoons of hot water. As we know, baking soda acts as an abrasive and it will soften grease slowly.

Remove the racks inside your oven. Spread the paste inside your oven without touching the heating elements. Pay extra attention to greasy areas. Leave this paste acting on the surface, preferably overnight.

Keep in mind you might need some time to remove this baking soda paste after you’ve cleaned your oven.

For your oven racks, soak them in boiling hot water and add a squirt of soap. Leave them for 1 – 2 hours and then scrub with a stiff bristle brush.

If you do end up using a commercial oven cleaner, remember to use gloves, a mask and goggles. Open up a window to prevent fumes from concentrating in your kitchen.

Call a Professional Cleaning Service

We know this week is so exciting and busy. It’s the last first week of the year after all!

That’s why many people prefer to hire a professional housekeeper. You are probably spending quality time with your family and planning out the start of your new year. In the meantime, you can let Emily’s Maids of Dallas take care of your home with our make-ready house cleaning service.

Feel free to check Emily’s Maids’ booking page. For cleaning after the holidays, our Deep Cleaning service might be the best choice for your household, but you can contact us or check our FAQ if you need any extra guidance or if you have any questions.

If you hire our cleaning service the first week of the year, it will be much easier to keep track of your cleaning days for recurring services in the future.

As always, remember to check Emily’s Maids cleaning service if you need help with cleaning your home after the holidays. We serve Dallas, Grapevine, Southlake, Flower Mound and nearby areas.

Conclusion

A new year always comes with many challenges. If you clean your home right after the holidays, it will help you start things off on the right foot.

We hope you are able to take the first week of the year to deep clean your home whether it’s through a cleaning service, by yourself, or with the help of your family or friends.

Check our blog for more cleaning tips! We always love to share our cleaning secrets and advice with our customers and our online visitors.

For example, we believe our guide for Cleaning and Organizing is perfect to take a look at before deep cleaning this year.

Once again, we wish you an amazing 2023 and we hope to keep making families happier this year.

Happy New Year!

Emily’s Maids Last-Minute Christmas Cleaning

December 24, 2022 by emilysmaids

Emily's Maids Last-Minute Christmas Cleaning

Hello and welcome to our newest article! We can’t believe Christmas is coming so soon! That’s why we came up with a last-minute Christmas cleaning guide for you to clean and organize your home as much as possible before Christmas Eve.

Christmas is such an exciting time of the year when you get to spend time with your friends and family. If you have followed our blog for a while, you know we create our checklists following a weekly or monthly structure.

We already created an article for the holidays last year. But in this case, and knowing how soon Christmas is, we are going to take a slightly different route and make it a 1-day schedule.

This way, you can do the most out of these 24 hours prior to the night of Christmas, to give you some time to prepare your home before guests arrive.

We’ve estimated that you have around 6 hours in total for cleaning before Christmas, so make sure you organize your time and sort out which tasks you are going to accomplish each day.

This guide is only a suggestion, you are welcome to reorder, add or remove tasks and even incorporate other areas in your home.

As always, we’d love to suggest you check our professional cleaning service in Dallas, Grapevine, Southlake and Flower Mound.

Our make-ready cleaning service in Dallas can get you out of a hurry so you can focus all your energy in preparing your dinner, decorating your home or running errands.

Without further ado, here is how you can clean your home last minute before Christmas!

First Step: Your Guest Bedroom & Bathroom

Because time is very limited this week, we want you to focus on the absolute must-clean areas. This includes the guest bedroom & bathroom, as you are most likely to have guests staying over this weekend.

We are saving the kitchen and the living room as the next step, because they are more likely to get messy during the week.

Now, let’s get to the chase!

Your bathroom can be the best place to start because this is the type of room where you want your cleaning products to sit on the surface for 10 – 15 minutes while you are doing something else.

If you are in a hurry, don’t forget about the most important steps: decluttering, taking the trash out, cleaning the toilet and quickly wiping the sink and the mirror.

You have many amazing DIY cleaning solutions to try and clean your bathroom really quickly. For example, you can check our Bathroom Cleaning Guide. You might not even need to clean the shower if your guests are not planning on using it.

While your cleaning products are acting on your bathroom, it’s time to return quickly to your guest bedroom.

Obviously, it is important to make the bed, vacuum your floors and refreshen your room. Just opening up a window and lighting a candle (if it’s a Christmas-themed candle, even better!) 30 minutes before guests arrive would be a great touch.

Leaving one or two “bonus” items is always nice to welcome your guests. It can be anything from a breakfast table, a bathrobe, a throw blanket or some sweets.

Don’t forget to make some room for luggage and storage! It is not uncommon to have your guests stay for an entire week or two. In that case, remember to make some room in the closet for their belongings.

Second Step: Cleaning Your Kitchen Before Christmas

Our two suggested areas are the kitchen and the living room afterward.

The kitchen and the living room can be switched if you don’t plan on spending too much time with your guests in this room.

In this case, try to focus on preparation areas and any appliances that you are going to need. Ovens and grills are popular choices for obvious reasons. All your countertops should be decluttered and cleaned thoroughly to prevent bacteria, viruses or anything else that might come into contact with your food.

Remember it is extremely important to consider the materials you have in your kitchen (countertops, cabinets, appliances) and choose the right product for each surface.

For example, vinegar or citric acid are often suggested as cleaning products, but they don’t work properly on granite and marble countertops and can even cause staining.

We know time is a very important constraint here (you must be reading this within 24 hours of Christmas!). If you have very little time, focus on at least one area for preparation and on your appliances. You will probably need to apply a degreasing or deodorizing product (e.g., oven cleaner, dish soap, baking soda).

Take into consideration this in order to leave the cleaning product to act on the surface while you are taking care of something else.

Check our guide for cleaning kitchen items and major appliances to get more info!

Cleaning Kitchen Before Christmas Eve - Emily's Maids

Third Step: Cleaning Your Living Room Before Christmas

Your living room is the area where your guests will gather to spend quality time and celebrate the holidays. It needs to be extra clean and organized to make all our guests comfortable!

First, you need to take care of your furniture.

If you have a wet/dry vacuum cleaner it would be perfect to use it now to deep clean your couch. However, take into consideration that you will need a few hours of sunlight to dry naturally your sofa and other pieces of upholstery.

If you don’t have one, try using a microfiber cloth and a cleaning agent such as baking soda or vinegar. Hydrogen peroxide is great for removing stains if you come across them.

In any case, you need to check the care tag first to decide if you are going to use a water-based cleaner, solvent-based cleaner or just a vacuum cleaner.

Make sure you declutter your coffee tables, TV stands, and nightstands because your guests will need some room for their drinks and food, smartphones and board games.

Quickly wiping them with a microfiber cloth is usually effective enough to remove dust and grime. It needs to be slightly damp in a mild cleaning agent, such as vinegar.

A 1:1 rubbing alcohol and water is effective too, but using it frequently can cause discoloration on some surfaces.

Cleaning and Tidying Your bedroom before Christmas - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Bonus: Clean Your Entryway Before Christmas

Because this is a special event where you are receiving friends and family, it is important to prepare your entryway to create a great first impression.

The must-have cleaning steps for your entryway: sweeping and/or vacuuming your surface, cleaning your coats/shoes rack and removing odors.

Remove odors, especially if you have pets. They usually leave hair, dandruff and bacteria, which causes odor that we slowly get used to. A floor deodorizer would be ideal in this case.

Your coats and/or shoes rack will probably need to be cleaned as well. Depending on the material you can use a stainless-steel cleaner, or a microfiber cloth with a drop of mineral oil (for wooden racks). Even spraying a 1:1 white vinegar and water mix should be plenty enough.

Of course, leave some space in your racks for your guests to hang their coats and shoes!

Similar to our suggestion for the bathroom, you can use a Christmas-scented candle to impress guests as soon as they walk in.

This should take you around 15 – 20 minutes, and you probably want to save this room for last as it is not going to be an area where guests will spend too much time at!

Organizing and cleaning shoes and coats rack - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Emily’s Maids Cleaning Checklist Before Christmas

We’ve decided to compact all the essential cleaning areas and tasks in this super short cleaning guide. We’re leaving an extra slot empty so you can fill it out with those particular areas you want to add to your list.

Feel free to open the image below and print it out to make it easier to follow the process during the day!

Emily's Maids Christmas Cleaning Checklist

Conclusion

We know this is an extremely busy time for you, so we want you to take this opportunity for cleaning before Christmas Eve and still preserve time and energy to enjoy with your friends and family.

Here is a quick summary of our recommendations:

Start with the guest bedroom & bathrooms if you are planning on having guests! That way you can forget about them once they’re ready until your guests arrive.

Next, move on to the kitchen. You are probably planning on cooking a Christmas meal right now, so make sure you have a cleared-out surface for preparing your meals, and your stove or appliance ready for cooking as well.

Then it’s time for your living area. Prioritize the areas where your guests will spend the most time. If you have a large L-shaped couch, it needs to be cleaned and deodorized. If possible, clean any rugs and coffee tables. Pretty much by decluttering and wiping surfaces your living room will look great!

Always check your cleaning products on small, inconspicuous areas first to ensure you are not damaging your material or surface in any way.

Don’t forget to check our blog for more cleaning tips. We hope we can bring a lot more content this upcoming year: anything from DIY cleaning solutions to organizing and decluttering tips.

Merry Christmas!

The Benefits of a Clean Home

November 15, 2022 by emilysmaids

The benefits of a clean home - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Hello! We’re back with more cleaning tips for you! This time we are going to list some of the benefits of a clean home.

Having a clean home is somewhat of an overstatement and understatement at the same time. We all know it is important and good to us, but you might not know how so or the different ways that it impacts your life and well-being.

In this article, you will find that cleaning your home not only makes your place look nice and beautiful, but will also give your home a bright, positive vibe. It can impact (for good!) your physical and mental health.

We all know that the benefits of a clean home take time and energy, though. You can always contact Emily’s Maids of Dallas, our professional cleaning service in Dallas, Grapevine, Southlake, and Flower Mound.

Or, if you prefer to clean by yourself, you can read our guides for creating the perfect cleaning schedule for you during the week.

Let’s go through each point to find out, step by step, why having your home cleaned is more important than you think. Enjoy!

Why Do We Clean?

Since we were kids, we have been always taught to brush our teeth, take a shower, wash our clothes, and so on. And we all know that we feel good after taking a nice shower or even after washing our hands. This feeling is comparable to cleaning your home.

It’s clear that, sometimes, we are driven by social and hygienic norms that “demand” us to keep our homes clean. Other times, we are driven by the feeling of accomplishment after finishing a cleaning or organizing something, such as making our bed.

And other times, we just want to see a change in our home, and a clean home makes a big impact. The truth is, cleaning helps us feel better. Removing cobwebs, wiping our windows, or vacuuming our floors.

After seeing your home deep cleaned after a while, you may notice improvements in your physical and mental health.

The Physical Benefits of a Clean Home

The most direct impact a clean home has on yourself, and your family is related to physical well-being.

First, you have the hygienic purpose of cleaning. By cleaning, sanitizing, and vacuuming your surfaces regularly, you remove grease, lint, and dirt that slowly start to sit on top of your countertops, tables, and your floors.

You are reducing the chance of bacteria, viruses, mold, and mildew growing on your surfaces. Think of it this way: you always have microbes flying around in the air, but you don’t see them. If you live in Dallas, you already know the air quality is not great, to begin with.

All they need is a humid, cold area to start growing and set on the surfaces, affecting your health. Mold and mildew, for example, are usually found in bathrooms, kitchens, or laundry rooms. If you sanitize surfaces and let airflow and sunlight in, you will stop them from growing and causing you health issues.

Some types of bacteria are able to grow in areas that haven’t been sanitized for up to 48 hours. During that time, they may enter your body. Cross-contamination is also a big risk when you don’t disinfect your kitchen surfaces properly after preparing chicken or meat, for example.

Second, a clean and tidy home helps you avoid accidents. Toys scattered on the floor, dirty cups and plates scattered across your kitchen countertops, and even cleaning products that are in the wrong place and about to spill out. If your home is properly clean and organized, accidents are less likely to happen.

Clean Organized Bathroom - Emily's Maids

The Mental Benefits of Cleaning Your Home

Besides taking care of your body, you are also taking care of your mind. A clean home is able to reduce stress levels, help you be more focused, and help you rest better.

Research has shown that some cleaning chores as doing the dishes, improve your state of mindfulness. Seeing that beds are made, countertops are clean and free of clutter, and windows and doors look shiny, certainly won’t harm your mood when you get home!

Other studies have talked about the changes in mood and sleep habits that happen when your home is clean. When you go to sleep on a bed that has been cleaned, you have fewer dust mites and lint floating around that cause you to sneeze or that increase your allergy symptoms.

If you think about it, the sole fact of physical movement helps with your mental health. As long as they are not too demanding or recurring, they can give you a bit more energy and motivation for the rest of your day.

The Negative Effects of a Messy Home

It’s interesting to see it the other way around: what do we associate a messy, dirty house with? It tends to be related to people that are not in their best mental health state. A messy home does not define us, but it is certainly a good indicator of our mental and emotional state.

A house that is not cleaned or maintained frequently will increase our chances of getting health complications because of mold, bacteria, or virus. It will also make us feel bad. Seeing the house looking messier and messier can increase our anxiety, our stress and kill our mood.

As you can see, a messy home can be both cause or consequence of going through a rough patch in our life. Seeing that the bed is not made, the dishes are waiting to get into the dishwasher, and your floors need some sweeping and mopping, can be discouraging and keep us in a negative cycle.

And that is ok! We all have ups and downs in our life, and that shows in the way we interact with our environment. A clear mind often translates to a clean house, and the same goes for a foggy, overwhelmed mind.

However, we have to try our best and get back on our feet. Unsurprisingly, cleaning is a great therapy! It is a form of stress relief and will keep your mind occupied for a few hours. Even if you just clean for 10 minutes each day, you’re making progress! As you go through your home, you will feel better and better.

How to Clean Your Home Without Getting Overwhelmed

We know that a clean home comes with many benefits. But, as we mentioned earlier, this also has a downside: you might feel overwhelmed or tired after trying to “keep up” with a clean home.

The truth is, unless you are leaving this in the hands of a professional cleaning service, there is not much more you can do. It is all about trial and error and finding the checklist and the schedule that works for you.

The same cleaning routine is not going to work for everybody. In fact: it won’t even work for you after a couple of months or even weeks!

A good strategy to avoid frustration is to include your family as part of the cleaning schedule. Make sure they are age-appropriate tasks and that everyone is happy with their tasks.

If you do not have a routine that is working for you, start small and slowly work your way up. You might want to switch things up every other week or every month, for example. This way, no one feels “stuck” with their tasks, and you will not get frustrated in the long run.

Remember you also can also hire a professional cleaning service. We have talked about the benefits of getting professional cleaners to take care of your house In the past. With a cleaning service, you can dedicate extra time to spend quality time with your family, go out with your friends, or even have fun on your own!

At the end of the day, don’t be afraid to ask for extra help. Having the responsibility of cleaning and organizing your home on your own takes a tremendous toll on your mental well-being. If you are not careful, this can be even worse for your mental health than not cleaning.

Divide cleaning tasks with your family members - Emily's Maids

Conclusion

We hope these tips helped you learn more about the benefits of a clean home. If you don’t know where to start, remember we have a cleaning guide so make sure to check that one out! Also, our fellas from Dallas Maids posted some tips for Fall cleaning if you want to find more info.

As we discussed earlier, a clean home comes with many physical and mental health benefits. A messy come can be either a cause or a consequence of us not being in our best state.

Remember to start slow, include your family in the cleaning schedule, and don’t be afraid to ask for extra help if you need it. Consistency is more important than having a spotless home once every quarter and then losing that momentum.

And, as always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or if you are interested in hiring a professional cleaning service! Emily’s Maids’ goal is always to make our customers’ lives easier and happier and remove stress from having to clean an entire home.

We will be back soon with more cleaning tips for our followers!

House Cleaning Tips for Home Sellers

September 2, 2022 by emilysmaids

House Cleaning Tips for Home Sellers - Emily's Maids

Hi! We’re happy to be back with a new cleaning article this week, and today we will be giving you cleaning tips for home sellers.

Selling your home is a challenge for many reasons. Everything from taking the decision to sell, figuring out the moving out process, getting in contact with real estate agents and potential buyers… it’s all a huge challenge when you’re trying to balance out your regular work and life routine in the process.

Then, on top of that, you have to worry about keeping your home clean and tidy. Not only for you, but you have to be extra careful if you want to make it attractive to potential buyers. Everyone knows that a spotlessly clean house will increase your home value.

Today we’ve gathered cleaning tips for home sellers to leave your potential buyers impressed and ready to make an offer!

Start By Decluttering

The first step to achieving a stunning home is to declutter. More specifically, it’s about carefully choosing everything that is part of each room. And you can’t do that without removing everything unnecessary for that area to look great.

Small knick-knacks, kid’s toys scattered on the floor, and dozens of frames or books, are all examples of items that will make the room look overwhelming and smaller than it is.

You will leave a good impression if all areas are clear, if they can walk around each area without any obstacles and if the room looks cohesive and all items balance each other out nicely.

Besides, it is important to declutter your home occasionally, whether you sell your house or not. Research has shown there’s a connection between cleaning and mental health. The process is very similar, it’s just that this time you want to focus on that area being functional to a wider audience instead of personalized to your family.

The items that go away can be separated onto four boxes: donate, sell, recycle, or discard.

If possible, take every item out of each room and evaluate what you want users to look at. Do not buy any décor or organizing drawer or basket until you have decided what stays and what goes.

Make sure your closets, cabinets, and drawers are not crowded or full. Especially your closets, because you want people to see their true capacity. If you fill them out with dozens of items, it will make them look tiny and not very functional.

The same goes for your kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanity, laundry room, and office.

Decluttering and sorting pieces of clothing

Organize Rooms

Have you ever wondered how they create beautiful, open spaces in design magazines and top-notch homes?

Organizing a room after decluttering is important. You want the potential buyers to have a realistic understanding of what the room is like and the possibilities for it.

On the other hand, you also want the room to “connect” with them, to see themselves and their families living there. Add one or two picture frames with your family, to make it feel like a home.

Everything else (trophies, your kid’s artwork, souvenirs from your trips) will be too “noisy” and will create a distance from potential buyers. Therefore, they should be stored.

In this case, using trial and error is a good opportunity. Organize your furniture in different ways until you find the result that looks the most spacious and balanced.

You can find inspiration on the internet where you will find many ideas for each room. And, of course, make sure everything is squeaky clean, and shiny!

Deep Clean Your Home Before Selling

It’s so important to give your house a full deep cleaning. That’s one of the most important cleaning tips for home sellers.

Think of it this way: you get used to every detail in your home, and that includes the not-so-positive ones. A stain on the floor, a carpet that smells like your dog permanently, watermarks in the mirrors, dusty fans, and so on.

However, your potential buyers will definitely notice this and will not be impressed.

This is why, after decluttering, a nice full home cleaning should be on the way.

At this point, you might be wondering: should I clean first or organize first?

That’s a very good question! It’s not easy because both of these tasks are important, and in some areas, it might be counterintuitive to organize without cleaning and vice versa.

There’s not a perfect answer for this. You can try cleaning permanent items and large surfaces or areas right after decluttering, for example. This includes vacuuming and mopping floors, cleaning walls, wiping and polishing light fixtures, etc.

If you are doing this on your own, make sure you bring the right supplies for deep cleaning, especially for large areas such as your floors. A steam cleaner, an upholstery and carpet cleaner, a drill brush attachment, and a good mop are all good tools to start with.

You will also need a concentrated all-purpose cleaner, plenty of anti-static microfiber cloths, and a brush for each area of your home.

There are many guides for deep cleaning your home on the internet, but every house is a different world. Try to “scan” each room with your eyes from top to bottom and left to right, and check that you have cleaned every single item you come across.

In the next section, we’ll share some tips for each major area.

How to Clean Each Room as a Home Seller

After deep cleaning your home, you have one of the hardest challenges ahead of you: keeping your home clean while you’re in the selling process.

First, make sure your home is free of mold and mildew. This is a priority because it is not only an aesthetic issue but a health hazard as well.

Pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. Use a mold-removing agent such as bleach or cleaners with bleach to remove mold from your shower door or curtain, floor, and wall tiles and grout between them.

Then, decide if you are going to deep clean your floors, and walls with a sweep or an industrial floor scrubber. You might also want to search for floor restoration services. This could be helpful if you have wooden floors that have been not waxed in a long time, for example.

If you don’t, at least make sure to sweep and vacuum your floors, and use a deodorizer when cleaning them, especially if you have pets. Our noses get used to the smell, but potential buyers will notice if there is one.

This is important for pretty much every area in your home for different reasons. Your living room and bedrooms are where your family spends most of the time, and floors will preserve the odor of bacteria, sweat, pet hair and dander, etc.

And then in your bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room, the smells and grease will concentrate as well, so it’s important to remove grease, soap scum, food residues, and so on.

Don’t forget to vacuum your pieces of furniture inside out, including underneath and behind them. Remember to clean bookshelves, picture frames, clocks, and other pieces of décor. Of course, wipe surfaces as well with a cleaning agent according to the material.

Cleaning and wiping bookshelves for home selling

Keep Your Home Spotless

After deep cleaning your home, you have one of the hardest challenges ahead of you: keeping your home clean while you’re in the selling process.

This is understandable because while you’re trying to sell your house, you and your family are still living there.

The trick is to deep clean once, and then clean every day to keep up with your home and make sure it still looks outstanding.

With opaque organizing baskets, you will be able to store day-to-day items such as office supplies, kids’ toys, cookware, plates and glasses, and anything else you can think of that you need to use every day.

You could also choose a small part of your closet as a designated “junk zone” for that same purpose.

Use plastic grocery bags as trash bags and hang them on the doors of your bedroom, bathrooms, and kitchen. This way, your trashcan will always stay squeaky clean, and you will always remember to take out the trash before any potential buyers or agents come.

Hire a Cleaning Service to Sell Your Home

The last tip we wanted to talk about is hiring a professional cleaning service for deep cleaning your home. Most, if not all, allow you to point out the areas you want them to focus on the most.

They also offer a move-out cleaning service which will be perfect if you want to leave and keep your furniture, leaving your home empty for the new owners.

For example, Emily’s Maids cleaning service in Dallas is already trained for different events and needs, including this one (selling your home).

As we mentioned above, you can also search for specialized floor maintenance services. For example, carpet cleaning services or wooden floor treatment services. They work using industrial equipment and professional cleaning techniques to restore your floors and make them look nice and shiny.

They might represent a small monetary investment, but at the end of the day, floors that look brand new will increase your house value.

Conclusion

Getting your home spotless and keeping it that way is a huge challenge. We hope these cleaning tips for home sellers help you impress your potential buyers and sell your home for a huge profit!

And remember, you always have the chance of hiring a cleaning service in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We’ll be happy to leave your home looking stunning!

Check our blog for more cleaning tips. We’ll be back soon!

Cleaning Your Home with Low Energy or Motivation

August 15, 2022 by emilysmaids

Cleaning Your Home With Low Energy or Motivation - Emily's Maids of Dallas

Hello! We’re back with another article and this time we want to talk about something a bit different: Cleaning with low energy or motivation. We understand that, even if you find our cleaning tips interesting and valuable, sometimes you just don have the motivation to try them.

There are multiple possible causes for this: maybe you’re busy with life and your mind puts cleaning at the bottom of your priorities. Or, your current cleaning checklist is unrealistic, making you feel pressured and overwhelmed.

Perhaps you’re going through a rough patch, and you don’t have the right spirit or mental place to take care of cleaning or organizing your home. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the last few years haven’t been easy to anyone, and it’s completely understandable your energy levels are low.

And even if you do have the energy and motivation to accomplish other goals in your life, you can’t let aside your household maintenance and cleaning.

When you are thinking about cleaning your home with low energy, it’s important to give yourself little room for second-guessing. In this article, we’ll discuss some reasons why you might not feel motivated, and how to implement cleaning strategies to make you take action without thinking twice.

Now, you have the option of hiring a professional cleaning service, of course. This will get any issues about time, energy or motivation out of the way. But if this is something you feel like doing on your own, then we hope these tips are helpful. Without further ado, let’s go through each one. Enjoy!

Create a Cleaning List

One of the reasons you might be having a hard time cleaning is because you have numerous cleaning tasks and you don’t know where to start.

Or, you do have an idea of what areas to go through first, but you don’t know what to do for each area.

In any case, creating a list will help you sort out the first step of your cleaning routine: setting your objectives and always knowing what the next step is.

Besides, if you’re able to strike out cleaning tasks as you go, you will feel accomplishment and more motivation to continue with the next task.

There are hundreds of cleaning checklists on the internet so make sure you check a few until you find the right combination for your household.

The 20-10 Method for Cleaning With Low Energy

This rule is related in general, to procrastination. Procrastination is the act of postponing tasks that are important in favor of more menial, enjoyable ones such as taking a nap or checking social media.

This gives you momentary relief, but the guilt and discomfort caused by getting behind at work will be higher in the long run.

And this happens frequently with cleaning, as many of these tasks can be long and menial. In this case, the 20-10 rule will be helpful. It is a good method for tasks that are physically demanding, and cleaning can be one of those, certainly.

At this point, you might be asking, what is the 20/10 Cleaning rule? We’ve talked about this method in the past, so feel free to check our article.

This method involves doing an activity (in this case, cleaning) for 20 minutes, and then resting for 10 minutes. Although this work/rest balance might seem too “easy”, it can be more productive in the long term than working for an hour and then quitting, for example.

It is effective for various reasons. First, 20 minutes is a reasonable time to accomplish several cleaning tasks. Sweeping, mopping or vacuuming a room or two, doing the dishes, making your bed, and tidying up your bedroom are just a few examples.

Second, this rule allows you to start slowly and “guarantees” you some resting time between each task. By scheduling your resting time, you will be less likely to take unplanned, long breaks that go on forever.

You can combine the 20/10 method with the “Set a timer” strategy for better results. We’ll talk about this one next!

Set a Timer for Each Cleaning Task

This strategy is similar to the 2-minute rule. However, the difference is that, while the 2-minute rule is meant for quick cleaning tasks, a timer can be set to any time you wish, and it’s perfect for longer or more complex tasks.

With a timer, you’re pretty much already giving yourself the time you will need. Research has proven that there’s a phenomenon called Parkinson’s law, which means, essentially, that works expands to fill the time available to its completion.

If you think it will take you 15 minutes to vacuum your living room, it will. If you think it will take you half an hour, it will!

Keep in mind this might be a double-edged sword: if you’re too unrealistic about the goals you’re setting, you might feel defeated or frustrated when the timer goes off and your task remains unfinished. But don’t worry! This is a matter of trial and error.

If you know you tend to underestimate the time it takes to finish a task, then make that time times 1.5x or 2x. For example, if you are thinking of setting a 10-minute timer to tidy up your office, then make it 15 or 20.

This might seem counterintuitive, especially after reading about Parkinson’s law. You have to compromise here, as you want to finish your task as fast as possible, but avoid the negative feelings of not completing that task within the timeframe you set.

Apply The 2 Minute Rule for Cleaning with Low Energy

This is an interesting strategy. Basically, the purpose of the 2-minute rule is to minimize the mental effort it takes you to start and finish small cleaning tasks.

To apply this strategy, think of any chores that will take you less than 2 minutes. There are many examples: decluttering your desk or workspace, taking out the trash, and even loading a dishwasher. The rule is: if it takes you less than 2 minutes, do it right away.

That sounds like a very small time and energy investment, and if your brain realizes it, it will give you the extra motivation you need for it.

Think about it: taking out the trash takes you less than 2 minutes. Thinking about whether you should take the trash out or not is just not worthwhile.

First, you probably will take longer to convince yourself of doing that task. Second, by considering whether to do the task or not, you have a chance of not “gathering” the energy to do it and feel bad afterward.

Play Some Music While Cleaning!

Believe it or not, this strategy is really helpful. With music, it’s easier to engage with your task, in this case, cleaning. Fortunately, this is a task that doesn’t require a high mental or creative effort, it is mostly physical energy.

Second, music will make this a more pleasant task. A survey shows that users report positive feelings if they are cleaning while listening to music. Scientific research has proven that music helps increase productivity in repetitive tasks.

However, try to play some music that will not distract you, such as instrumental music with no lyrics.

Create Cleaning Momentum Slowly

This is not a cleaning strategy, but rather an approach to the other strategies that we have mentioned.

If you have experienced cleaning with low energy (or attempting to), or procrastinating on your cleaning tasks, it is not uncommon for you to have sudden bursts of motivation sometimes.

In this scenario, you feel motivated and try to reach many long goals that you have wanted/needed to do for a while.

Although positive, this might lead to feeling tired and overwhelmed quickly and being inconsistent with your cleaning schedule. If this has happened to you in the past, you might want to focus this time on creating momentum.

As you may have read so far, many of these methods are quantifiable (e.g., setting several tasks, a timespan for each task, etc.). What you want to do is start with an easy, feasible challenge. And then work from it slowly, increasing “difficulty” as you go.

For example, you can challenge yourself to sweep and mop all your floors in one hour. Next time, make it 55 minutes, then 50 minutes, until you reach a level that you are comfortable with.

Disconnect From Cleaning (and Life) for a While

We all know that cleaning comes with many benefits, including the improvement of mental health. However, it is just as important to take a step back and disconnect if you are feeling overwhelmed. In fact, one of the ways for restoring energy or motivation is to rest, both physically and mentally.

Dedicating at least half a day of your week to yourself and anything that makes you happy is a great way to reset and bring back the energy and motivation that you’ve been missing.

Nowadays, it’s so hard to disconnect from work, family obligations, running errands, and taking care of your home. Try to save at least two to three hours from your weekend or your free day(s) and dedicate that a hobby or activity that lets your mind get some rest.

The goal is to learn how to improve your energy and mindset out of a positive place (self-improvement, good mental health) and not out of a negative one such as guilt or frustration.

If this lack of energy and motivation is present in other areas of your life, you must talk to someone about this, whether it is a mental health professional, a family member, or a friend.

And talking about family, don’t forget you can (and should!) incorporate your family into cleaning. Perhaps you feel unmotivated because all the household work falls on your shoulders. Make sure you include your SO and the rest of your family with tasks according to their age and time availability.

Resting from cleaning to improve mental health

Conclusion

If you’re feeling unmotivated and not in the right mood, these organization tips will help you stay motivated. Remember, give yourself some time to get used to a cleaning routine.

Be patient, trial and error is the key to finding the balance in cleaning (and in life in general!).

And don’t forget that you can also hire a cleaning service, and this is a perfectly valid choice. With a cleaning service, there’s no need for you to work on improving your motivation for cleaning.

This will allow you to dedicate your time and energy to more fulfilling tasks, such as your family, leisure time, or personal growth.

We hope these tips for cleaning with low energy were helpful. Feel free to try them either on their own or combined, and let us know if you had any positive results! You can contact us or check our social media.

Until next time!

How to Clean Your Floors Part III: 5 Techniques to Work Smarter

July 26, 2022 by emilysmaids

How to Clean Your Foors Part III 5 Techniques to Work Smarter - Emilys Maids of Dallas

Hi! We’re back once again with the last part of our “How to Clean Your Floors” series which is related to cleaning techniques. In the past, we have talked about tools and products to ensure your floors look great and stay healthy for a long time.

Now, in part III we will talk about the actual cleaning process with 5 techniques to work smarter and not harder.

Before we start, let’s have a quick recap from our earlier article, where we recommended 5 must-have cleaning products. They are:

All-purpose Floor Cleaner: you need a product that is versatile and safe to use for most surfaces. Plant-based or mineral-based products are the safest route to take.
Hardwood Floor Cleaner: hardwood floors are sensitive and react to temperature and humidity changes. You need a hardwood floor cleaner to polish, sanitize and protect your floors.
An Enzymatic Cleaner: enzymatic cleaners are ideal for carpet floors, rugs, and furniture. They are the perfect solution for pet “accidents” because they break down organic fluids in order to be cleaned quickly and remove odors.
Natural Stone Floor Cleaner: just like hardwood floors, natural stone floors such as granite, limestone, and travertine, are sensitive to some chemicals, particularly acidic components. They can get streaks and permanent stains.
DIY Floor Cleaner: you also have the choice of creating your very own floor cleaner. Make sure it adapts to the surface whether that is hardwood, tile, carpet, or vinyl.

Now, let’s read about cleaning techniques and how to implement them in your household.

Why Are Cleaning Techniques Important to Clean Floors?

This is very important because, even if you have the most expensive and effective tools, if you don’t apply the proper steps in the right order, you will a) feel tired and overwhelmed after a simple cleaning task and b) you might damage your floors by staining them, weakening the protective coat, or scratching them.

Remember, it’s not always about applying brute force, but about following steps in a logical sense, letting products act, and using the right technique for each surface and material. Cleaning a granite floor is not the same as washing a wooden deck or vacuuming carpet flooring.

The entire cleaning process is formed by smaller tasks, so the planning and methods will create a huge difference. In this article, we will give you 5 techniques to clean your floors in a way that is both effective and safe.

If you want to learn how to clean floors smarter and not harder, we hope you enjoy reading this article!

Create a Plan to Achieve Clean Floors

The first step is not a cleaning strategy, but more of an idea on how to proceed before your cleaning time, and this not only applies to floors but to every single cleaning duty.

An important part of cleaning is to avoid clutter to go overboard, and yes, this includes your floors. Dedicate 15 minutes or half an hour each day to place everything where it belongs, such as your kids’ toys, anything spilling such as your dog food or some coffee in your kitchen,

Not only is this important for your routine and mental wellbeing, but it is also the smartest way to avoid heavy-duty floor cleaning which will take a toll on your body and demand more time as well.

Also, by decluttering and cleaning your floors regularly, they will remain healthier for longer and you will prevent permanent stains or damage.

It is easier to keep track of cleaning your floors when you stick to a cleaning schedule. There are hundreds of guides available on the internet where you can follow a plan or checklist to clean and organize your home. We have several ones, such as our Pre-Spring Cleaning Checklist and our Easter Cleaning Guide.

If you have a hard time finding the energy and motivation, you can try the 20-10 method for cleaning your home, too.

Keep into consideration that different floors require different needs. For example, if you have carpet floors, you will have to vacuum them at least twice a week or every other day.

If you have tile floors, you might need to sweep every day and mop them once or twice a month. If you have hardwood floors, you will need to sweep, mop, and then polish them 4 to 6 times a year.

Let Cleaning Agents Act on Their Own

This is one of the most important points, and it doesn’t apply only to floors. For example, if you have really dirty dishes and pans, let them soak in hot water and then remove them with a non-scratch scrubber.

Not only this will be so much faster and easier, but it will keep the non-stick coating intact for longer.

But anyways, let’s get back to floors. Depending on the surface, you might want to leave products for a certain amount of time.

For example, with tile floors, you can leave your deodorizer or cleaning solution for 30 minutes without any issues and you can apply plenty of water/cleaning solution, while hardwood floors do not get along with water or liquids and you should only apply a slightly damp mop.

Sweep, Then Mop

Even though this might sound obvious to many people, there is a surprising number of people that don’t sweep before mopping, or that only sweep and never mop.

The reason for this is that mopping won’t do its job correctly if the floor is filled with food crumbs, dirt, and grime everywhere.

If you don’t, all you are doing when mopping is spreading over more dirt and bacteria.

The right process, in this case, is to sweep all your floors and then start mopping them, wringing your mop constantly. If you are using the traditional mop and bucket technique, make sure to replace dirty water with fresh water after going through each room.

Nowadays you can find buckets with two compartments for both dirty water and fresh water. This will save you a lot of work in the long run as you will only need to fill your bucket once.

Double Bucket for Mopping Floors - Emily's Maids

You can also get a steam mop, which can be a bit more pricey than regular mops, but you will notice its effects in the long run. USA Leading manufacturers recommend steam cleaning for many types of floors (except for hardwood floors). This is because steam is not a harmless chemical (just hot water), and it is able to remove grease.

The Golden Rule to Clean Floors: Cleaning From Top to Bottom

This golden rule to clean floors is based on something really simple: gravity. When we are cleaning and particularly when we are wiping surfaces, there’s a lot of dust, lint, and even liquid spills sometimes.

It’s not uncommon for people to clean not only floors but the entire area, which means that dust and dirt will fly from your bookshelves, countertops, and tables. And it will all fall to the floor inevitably.

It’s super important to follow this order during cleaning to avoid wasting extra time and energy cleaning something twice. And if you don’t have time and you need to only focus on one area, focus on the tallest surfaces (or the dirtiest ones) and then clean your floors when you have more time.

Wiping Bookshelves before cleaning floors- Emily's Maids

Use the Right Technique for Each Surface

As we mentioned earlier, each type of floor comes with its own dos and don’ts.

In our previous article, we already gave you some strategies for using DIY cleaning solutions according to each type of floor. Now, let’s talk about how to perform each technique properly:

The first step, of course, is decluttering. Remove any toys, shoes, pet beds, and power strips. A good trick is to set a timer to 10 or 20 minutes and make a little challenge which is to place everything back in its place, such as toys back in their drawer, shoes in the closet, and so on.

The most basic floor cleaning technique is sweeping. Sweep toward you, to control the pile of dust and avoid spreading it outwards. When finishing up, after sweeping and using the dustpan, use your vacuum quickly to collect that last line of dust.

Sweep using quick and short strokes. Otherwise, you will end up leaving a trail of dust and you will require to repeat the process. Start from the outer edges of the room and work towards the trash can.

For vacuuming, it depends on the floor. If you have carpet floors or rugs, a vacuum cleaner with a beater bar is ideal, but not so much for hard surfaces because it can damage them.

Use a vacuum with smooth rubber wheels instead of hard, plastic ones that can scratch your floors.

If you have hardwood floors, you should mop using very little water. Too much water will start to swell up. Use a wet microfiber mop and spray with a specialized hardwood floor solution.

If your floor is capable of “resisting” liquids, you can leave your floor cleaner act on one room while you mop the other one.

Conclusion

There you have it! This is the final part of our floor cleaning series! We hope this entire series and the rest of the articles in our blog allow you to keep your home nice and clean.

If you guys have any other themes you want to cover, let us know and we’ll be happy to continue this series with more helpful cleaning tips.

And, as we always mention, remember you can hire us if you need a professional cleaning service in the Dallas/Fort-Worth area.

That’s it for today’s article. We’ll be back soon with more cleaning tips!

How to Clean Your Floors Part II: 5 Must-Have Cleaning Products

July 20, 2022 by emilysmaids

How to Clean Your Floors PART II 5 Must-Have Cleaning Products - Emily's Maids

We’re back with our “How to Clean Your Floors” series, and this time we have Part II.

In our previous article, we talked about 5 tools or devices to help you get started. As a quick recap, here are our 5 must-have tools:

A good vacuum cleaner is the starting point for every good cleaning. It will let you absorb dust in areas where a broom or towel won’t reach, and it will also absorb microscopic dust particles.
Next, we need to have an upholstery and carpet cleaner. With this, you will be able to clean your furniture, carpet floors, rugs, and even your pet’s bedding!
Third, we need a good mop before cleaning. This will ensure your floors will remain spotless.
Fourth, a brush drill attachment is the heavy-duty tool ideal for scrubbing floors, corners, and fixtures. This is not a device on its own, but rather an attachment for your drill.
Last but not least, a steamer will make your job easier by using steam to soften up grease and remove dust and dirt from nooks and crannies.

Now, in Part II, we will be talking about cleaning agents: anything either liquid or powder to make your floors look clean, sanitized and shiny!

As we discussed previously, there are many types of floors, and they all take different measures in order to be cleaned. For example, organic materials are prone to staining or cracking, and require both regular cleaning and occasional cleaning with different products.

Without further ado, let’s read about your must-haves for cleaning your floors!

All-Purpose Floor Cleaner

First and foremost, you need a product that is versatile and able to take care of most, if not all, of your floors.

When looking through different options, the safest route is to choose plant or mineral-based cleaning products. Green cleaning brands are often formulated to be neutral and harmless to most cleaning surfaces.

This is very important because some materials are sensitive to cleaning products that are too acidic or alkaline.

The type of product will depend on how dirty your floor is. Degreasers are the most abrasive and heavy-duty cleaners, and if you haven’t cleaned your room in a while. Keep in mind they will need to be more alkaline (or acid) to do the job. If the cleanser is too alkaline, there’s a chance that it leaves an oil or soap film, keeping the floor looking “cloudy” and dirty.

This is why it’s best to try a product for the first time in a smaller presentation, and then you can try it out a few times before investing in a larger presentation of that product.

If you clean your floors regularly, you can use a mild cleaner with a neutral pH. This will be gentler on both your floors and your hands, and it’s ideal for regular cleaning.

Hardwood Floor Cleaner

This one is ideal for hardwood floors. Hardwood floors are particular because they come from an organic source. This means that they need certain conditions of humidity and temperature in order to stay “balanced”.

For example, if you live in Dallas, you might have noticed that low humidity during extended periods of time makes your hardwood floors look, for lack of a better term, dehydrated. This means you might notice the floor cracking more often, or just looking dull and lacking that healthy shine.

On the other hand, excessive moisture can cause floors to feel oily and attract bacteria and mold.

Therefore, you need a hardwood floor cleaner that restores floors back to the ideal moisture levels, disinfects surfaces and gives it a nice, protective finish. Because organic-based materials are so particular, this means that other specialized products won’t work, such as vinyl or tile floor cleaners.

When looking for one, pay attention to the ingredients. Decyl glucoside, citric acid, and hydrogen peroxide are common ingredients for hardwood cleaners, and they are not that dangerous to use or be around.

However, keep in mind that because these are specialized products, they might use complex chemicals that you will have to use inevitably.

Concentrated formulas are great because you can water them down if you need them or use them straight for deep cleaning.

Other features that you might consider are products that are cruelty-free and vegan. Using these ingredients will most likely mean they are safe to you as well, and that they’ve thought carefully about the ingredients they’re using for their formulas.

And if you don’t have any, mild soap and warm water can get you out of a hurry! Just try not to overdo this solution, as it might cause the hardwood protective coat to weaken progressively.

Use an Enzymatic Cleaner to Clean Your Floors

This product is ideal for carpet floors as well as rugs and other upholstery and fabrics. You can also use it for hardwood, tile, laminate, and vinyl.

Enzymatic cleaners are the perfect solution for pet “accidents”. The way they work is by using non-pathogenic bacteria and enzymes to break down the complex molecules from organic waste. This results in simpler molecules that bacteria can eat and remove waste from your floors.

An enzyme cleaner is a must-have for homes with pets or with carpet floors or rugs. Besides their natural deodorizing power, they are often created in a way that doubles up as an odor remover, too.

However, keep in mind that they are not disinfectants or sanitizers, so you need to obtain these properties from a different product.

Enzyme cleaners are more or less similar in terms of ingredients and purpose, so it’s not hard to find a good fit for you.

Also, keep in mind that enzyme cleaners, or any other chemical product (even water) can be applied to all surfaces. This is true especially for furniture items. Make sure you check the care label beforehand. Make sure you read our Couch Deep Cleaning Guide to understand the products and techniques you can use depending on the care label.

Spraying Enzyme Cleaner to Hardwood Floors

How to Clean Your Natural Stone Floors

This one is a must-have if you have natural stone flooring, such as travertine, granite, marble or limestone. The reason is that, similar to hardwood, these floors are very sensitive.

Many all-purpose floor cleaners include acidic ingredients, such as vinegar or citric acid. But for natural stone surfaces, you need to be more careful. Acidic cleaners or liquids can cause permanent stains on certain types of stone.

This is why you see that a rule of thumb for granite and marble countertops is not letting lemon juice, tomato sauce or vinegar come into contact with them. Even though some of these items are great for cleaning, they do not get along with natural stone surfaces.

Therefore, it’s best to stick with specialized products with neutral pH. If you don’t have one, stick to sweeping and vacuuming or using only slightly soapy water, and mopping a second time with fresh water to remove soap residues.

DIY Floor Cleaner

Last but not least, you can create your own personalized product, especially if you have several types of flooring in your home.

This should be safe enough to be used in different areas, yet effective enough to clean and sanitize surfaces. As we mentioned, there are certain items that should be cleaned only with specialized products (such as hardwood, granite and marble).

To create your very own DIY Floor cleaner, you need to consider the different types of floor materials first. Here are a few recipes for the most common ones:

DIY Floor Cleaner for Hardwood Floors

As we mentioned earlier, hardwood floors are sensitive. Therefore, this recipe is quite simple and safe. You just need to create a mix of ¼ cup white vinegar and 1-gallon warm water.

Be careful when calculating the vinegar/water ratio because the vinegar is already acid enough. Just make sure you don’t exceed the vinegar ratio and your floor’s finish will remain in good condition.

Use a dampened cloth or a mop and wring it before applying. Besides, open your windows to ensure the solution will evaporate quickly.

But what about the fragrance? if you read Part I and Part II of our essential oils cleaning guide, then you already know by now how effective they are for adding bring a fresh, calming fragrance.

Pro tip: If you are having guests soon and you’re short on time, clean your entryways’ floors and add a few extra drops of essential oil to give them a fresh, clean first impression as soon as they walk in.

Some essential oils are not recommended if you have dogs or cats. If you have pets, do some research about your preferred oil before applying.

Ceramic Tile Floor Cleaner

Ceramic tiles are one of the most common types of flooring. Fortunately, they’re very resistant to most chemical agents and cleaning techniques (sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, vacuuming). As we mentioned in Part I of our series, make sure you vacuum first to remove loose debris.

Next, apply your cleaning solution, which consists of: ¼ cup white vinegar, ¼ cup baking soda, 1 tbps. Mild dish soap, and 2 gallons hot water. Heat and dish soap will soften up grease and dirt, while vinegar and baking soda will kill bacteria and deodorize.

Apply with a mop or cloth and then mop again, but this time using fresh water and let dry afterward.

Vinyl Floor Cleaner

Vinyl is another popular floor type, especially in kitchens and bathrooms. If this is your case, you will benefit from a stronger, concentrated cleaning solution. Mix together ½ cup rubbing alcohol, ½ cup vinegar, ½ tsp. dish detergent and 2 gallons of water.

Vinegar and alcohol are acidic components capable of killing the most common household bacteria, according to research. Mop your floors and rinse with fresh water.

The essential oil trick still applies here so feel free to use your preferred scent.

Carpet Cleaner

Last but not least, we have carpet floors. These are especially problematic because the fibers absorb pretty much everything: sweat, saliva, food crumbs, dandruff, pet hair and dander, and every dust particle and microbe you can think off falls naturally to the floor. Besides, it seems to absorb spills and stains in the blink of an eye!

After vacuuming, prepare a cleaning solution to deep clean your carpet floors with the following ingredients. Mix one cup of warm water, 1/8 tsp mild dish soap, and 1 tbsp white vinegar. Mix and apply using a spray bottle.

Some cleaning guides recommend adding baking soda, but the issue here is that not all vacuum cleaners are prepared to “handle” baking soda. They can mess up your vacuum’s internal circuits and filters over time.

Related: What’s in Your Cleaning Cupboard? 5 Household Chemical Products and How To Handle Them

Conclusions

This is it for part II of our Cleaning Your Floor series! We hope you enjoyed these tips and know you will make a more informed decision when trying your must-have floor cleaning products.

Remember to check our booking page if you need to book a professional cleaning & maid service in Dallas. And stay tuned for Part III, where we will give you cleaning techniques to clean your floors smarter and not harder.

Until next time!

Emily's Maids Blog

Start With Decluttering Before St. Patrick’s Day

Refresh Your Bedding

Clean Out Your Fridge and Pantry

Clean Your Outdoor Living Space Before St. Patrick’s Day

Focus on The Floors

Bring in Fresh Flowers For St. Patrick’s Day

Conclusion

How Much Does it Cost to Clean a House in Texas?

What Affects the Cost of a House Cleaning Service in Texas?

How do I Find About the Cost of a House Cleaning Service in Texas?

How to Lower the Cost of a House Cleaning Service

Hire a recurring cleaning service:

Don’t miss out on freebies & discounts!

Negotiate on cleaning tools and supplies:

Take charge of some cleaning tasks:

Why Does it Cost so Much to Clean a House?

Conclusion

A Business Owner’s Inside Secrets on Finding the BEST

Question 1:

“Do You Send the Same Team to Clean Our House?”

Question 2:

“What is Your Employee Turnover Rate?”

Question 3:

“Why Are Your Professional House Cleaners the Best?”

Questions 4:

“Do You Have Employees or Independent Contractors?”

Don’t Waste Your Time with These Questions

Useless Question 1:

“Are You Bonded?”

Useless Question 2:

“What is Your Hourly Rate?”

Conclusion

Create a To-Do List to Clean Your Home After the Holidays

Declutter Your Home After The Holidays

Remove Stains and Clean Your Floors

Clean Your Oven After The Holidays

Call a Professional Cleaning Service

Conclusion

First Step: Your Guest Bedroom & Bathroom

Second Step: Cleaning Your Kitchen Before Christmas

Third Step: Cleaning Your Living Room Before Christmas

Bonus: Clean Your Entryway Before Christmas

Emily’s Maids Cleaning Checklist Before Christmas

Conclusion

Why Do We Clean?

The Physical Benefits of a Clean Home

The Mental Benefits of Cleaning Your Home

The Negative Effects of a Messy Home

How to Clean Your Home Without Getting Overwhelmed

Conclusion

Start By Decluttering

Organize Rooms

Deep Clean Your Home Before Selling

How to Clean Each Room as a Home Seller

Keep Your Home Spotless

Hire a Cleaning Service to Sell Your Home

Conclusion

Create a Cleaning List

The 20-10 Method for Cleaning With Low Energy

Set a Timer for Each Cleaning Task

Apply The 2 Minute Rule for Cleaning with Low Energy

Play Some Music While Cleaning!

Create Cleaning Momentum Slowly

Disconnect From Cleaning (and Life) for a While

Conclusion

Why Are Cleaning Techniques Important to Clean Floors?

Create a Plan to Achieve Clean Floors

Let Cleaning Agents Act on Their Own

Sweep, Then Mop

The Golden Rule to Clean Floors: Cleaning From Top to Bottom

Use the Right Technique for Each Surface

Conclusion

All-Purpose Floor Cleaner

Hardwood Floor Cleaner

Use an Enzymatic Cleaner to Clean Your Floors

How to Clean Your Natural Stone Floors

DIY Floor Cleaner

DIY Floor Cleaner for Hardwood Floors

Ceramic Tile Floor Cleaner