By You’ve scheduled a professional cleaning. Now comes a surprisingly common question:
Do I need to clean before the cleaners arrive?
No. Cleaning is what you’re hiring them to do.
But there are a few things you can do beforehand that help the cleaning team spend more time cleaning and less time figuring out where things belong.
1. Pick Up Excess Clutter
You don’t need to make your home spotless.
However, picking up clothing, toys, paperwork, dishes, and miscellaneous items can make surfaces and floors easier to access.
Think tidying, not cleaning.
2. Put Away Important or Fragile Items
Secure valuables, important documents, medications, delicate collectibles, and anything particularly fragile before the appointment.
This protects your belongings and gives cleaners more freedom to work around the home.
3. Handle Dishes Based on Your Service
If dishwashing isn’t included in your selected cleaning, clearing the sink beforehand gives your cleaner better access to the sink, faucet, counters, and surrounding kitchen surfaces.
Vacate Cleaning & Cleanouts customers can select eligible extras during booking when additional services are needed.
4. Provide Clear Access Instructions
If you won’t be home, make sure your cleaner knows how to enter.
That could mean:
- Door code
- Lockbox
- Key location
- Front-desk instructions
- Building access information
For Philadelphia apartments and condos, don’t forget about building access, elevators, loading restrictions, and parking instructions.
5. Tell Your Cleaner About Pets
Let the company know if dogs, cats, or other pets will be home.
If your pet becomes anxious around unfamiliar people or cleaning equipment, consider keeping them in a secure room or another safe location during the appointment.
6. Identify Areas That Shouldn’t Be Cleaned
If there’s an office, bedroom, closet, or other area you don’t want cleaners entering, communicate that before the service begins.
Clear instructions eliminate guesswork.
7. Mention Areas of Concern
Have a bathroom that needs extra attention?
Pet hair concentrated in one room?
A kitchen that hasn’t been thoroughly cleaned recently?
Mention it.
This can also help determine whether Standard House Cleaning or Deep Cleaning is the better service.
8. Make Parking Information Available
Parking can be a real consideration in Philadelphia.
If your property has a driveway, designated parking space, garage, permit requirements, or limited street parking, provide those details ahead of time.
That helps prevent the appointment from starting with a 20-minute parking adventure nobody asked for.
9. Don’t Try to Deep Clean Beforehand
This one is worth repeating.
You don’t need to scrub the shower, mop the kitchen, or clean the bathroom before professional cleaners arrive.
Instead, focus on access and organization.
Let the professionals handle the cleaning you’ve hired them to perform.
10. Make Sure You’ve Selected the Right Service
Preparing for the appointment also means booking the right type of cleaning.
Choose Standard Cleaning for routine maintenance.
Choose Deep Cleaning if your home requires additional detail or has heavier buildup.
Choose Move-In/Move-Out Cleaning for an empty or mostly empty property being prepared between occupants.
What Should You Do After the Cleaning?
Take a look around the property and communicate promptly if you have questions.
If you’re using recurring cleaning, you’ll also start learning which schedule works best for your household.
For many households, that decision comes down to weekly vs. biweekly cleaning.
Ready to Schedule Professional House Cleaning?
Vacate Cleaning & Cleanouts provides professional residential cleaning throughout Philadelphia, Southeastern Pennsylvania, and South Jersey.
Choose your service, tell us about your home, select available extras, and schedule online.extras.
