Ask a House Cleaner

Angela Brown's Top 10 sponges for house cleaning cover microfiber, magic erasers, and the Scrub Daddy. Sponges for house cleaning can be a non-scratch scrub sponge or a long pile microfiber sponge. Angela Brown, The House #Cleaning Guru likes #sponges from Mr. Clean, 3M, Upstar, Pura Naturals, and Viking. She uses the Scrub-it "hot pocket" for washing dishes and the Ocelo cellulose sponge for the...

Fear of cleaning bathrooms because of other people's germs is a real thing. Lots of house cleaners have fear of cleaning bathrooms for what they might find. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says that's only human to have a fear of cleaning bathrooms and suggests a face mask. You can wear disposable gloves, attack the bathroom with a vacuum and some disinfectant. Then there is therapy to help...

What do you do with guest items left behind at an #Airbnb or VRBO? Does the Airbnb guest expect the host to ship stuff back? Or do the guest items left behind go in the #VacationRental lost and found? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says it's best to manage guest expectations. List in your house rules what happens or if there's a charge when guests leave stuff. Do you offer a shipping servic...

Ever wonder about the high cost of trash that sparks joy? The Marie Kondo #Tidyingup movement has us all decluttering. Organizing the stuff in our lives that spark joy and asking "What is trash?" Angela Brown says if you have a storage unit you may be paying a high cost of trash that sparks joy. Even though you may know how to declutter, you may be hoarding things too good to use that you're not w...

http://bit.ly/HardWaterStains Do you want to know how to remove hard water stains? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru talks accumulation and etching and shows you how to remove hard water stains with Brite and Clean.  Once you know how to remove hard water stains you can upsell the #Cleaning to your clients. We use the Black+Decker 6 Orbital Polisher to replace the elbow grease in today's #Prod...

Angela Brown's Top 10 multi purpose cleaners at your request. The multi purpose cleaners make inventory and storing cleaning chemicals a breeze. Angela Brown says there is not one chemical that does it all, but multi purpose cleaners are great for most sealed surfaces. Today we look at Alpha-HP multi surface cleaner by Diversey. 303 by GoldEagleCo, Better Life, Attitude, Puracy, Eco Orange, Dr. Br...

5 easy ways to avoid burnout in house cleaning. That's what Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru is talking about today. Want to revitalize, restore and regenerate your life? You can anticipate burnout and renew your cleaning business. These free strategies will help you avoid burnout in life and help you avoid burnout at work. From mini vacations to new interests and hobbies - you can reconditio...

Family & Friends and Your Airbnb or VRBO - How involved should they be? Can they come to visit whenever? Or as a host should you offer a limited number of buddy passes for family and friends? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru answers your questions in today's Vacation Rental Mailbag If you do allow friends and family in your #VacationRental should you charge them a cleaning fee? Or is it a nig...

Bribes don't work. If you want to know the real way to get kids to clean their rooms it comes down to a community. Everybody wants to belong to a community. And kids love structure and schedules. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says cleaning is easy when it's routine. Create a cleaning system and family cleaning projects. This goes beyond chores for kids. It's teaching kids responsibility an...

Need to know how to fix gouges, dents, dings, scuffs, and scratches in hardwood floors and wood furniture? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru show us in this Guardsman furniture repair kit #ProductReview Learn how to repair scratches in wood furniture using wood fill sticks and furniture markers. Filler sticks may be the secret sauce to making hardwood floors look great again. Furniture touch u...

Angela Brown's Top 10 gloves for house cleaners, maids and Airbnb hosts give you ultimate hand protection. We cover AmerCare latex gloves and Ammex Corporation clear vinyl gloves. And Big Time Products Firm Grip Nitrile disposable gloves. The nitrile gloves are latex free, powder free. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru will show you reusable gloves like the Playtex living gloves. You'll also s...

Should you start a cleaning business with your spouse? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru shares the pros and cons. Anytime you go into business with your spouse, you challenge your marriage. You sign a prenup when you get married and should have prenup agreements in place with your spouse as business partner. When you start a cleaning business you need moral support and a business plan. And if...

Here are the do's and don'ts of guestbook reviews for your #vacationrental or Airbnb. Some housekeepers or house cleaners want to leave a tips envelope for turnover services. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says the Airbnb host needs to make the Airbnb guest feel like a celebrity first. Then guestbooks will fill with positive ratings and reviews. And that's social proof you're the king of Ai...

Did you know that a pre-walkthrough is THE SECRET to house cleaning? Professional house cleaning and DIY cleaning both need a house cleaning walkthrough. This allows you to arrange your multi-task cleaning and stick to your cleaning schedule. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says a cleaning routine is great. But use a flashlight to clean. You might even have a cleaning light on phone in hand....

Do you want to know how to make money with a drill brush power scrubber? We'll show you how in today's #AskaHouseCleaner Drill bit brush set #ProductReview Angela Brown uses a drill brush for leather sofas after applying Meguiar's leather conditioner. And she uses Murphy oil soap and a drill brush for kitchen cabinets. It's an upsell but she uses a drill brush for grout cleanup in icky showers. An...

Angela Brown's Top 10 Furniture polish rundown will open your eyes to what's hot right now. Did you know that some house cleaners don't use furniture polish at all? And some have their favorite go-to wood cleaners. Interesting fact, all wood is not created equal. Neither are all wood furniture polishes sprays and waxes. On today's #AskaHouseCleaner we look at Therapy, Thomasville, Endust, Pledge,...

"Can I use IM to grow my cleaning company?" House cleaners and maids are looking for inexpensive ways to drum up new business. The problem is that instant messenger is not the place for a cold sales pitch. Email, a phone call, texting, and even advertising in a Facebook Group are great ways to follow up once you have built trust. But if you want to close business spamming people you don't know via...

What is the difference between STR vs. Airbnb vs. VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner)? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru answers this on today's Vacation Rental Mailbag. Shared housing or Airbnb is often where you rent a room in a house. And you may share a bathroom with another guest or even the homeowner. There is often a coffee bar. #VacationRental are more for vacations. And STR (Short-Term Re...

Here are 5 lies you've been told about Dog poop. Many pet owners get dogs because they are cute and don't have poop and scoop plan. Many assume the house cleaner or maid will clean up the fecal matter as part of the house cleaning. But there are lots of hazmat, fertilizer, toxic waste, parasites misunderstandings about dog poop. Is dog poop harmless? Can dog poop make you sick? Is dog poop toxic?...

How to get the icky, sticky, greasy gunk off kitchen cupboards is today's #AskaHouseCleaner. You'll see Angela Brown cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap and the OXO Deep Clean Brush Set. Any house cleaner can upsell #Cleaning services to a kitchen cabinet gunk remover package. The Drill Brush Power Scrubber will make cleaning extremely thick grease from kitchen cabinets a breeze. Once you know how to...

Angela Brown's Top 10 repair creams or hand creams for house cleaners will give your cracked skin relief. If you have rough hands and need an itch defense or a formula with vitamin E, you're in the right place. Dry chapped skin that needs an intensive hand cream, we've got you covered. From Aveeno, Bag Balm, Curel and Cetaphil every house cleaner can find a hand lotion. Vaseline, Eucerin, Gold Bon...

KEYWORDS FOR THIS EPISODE: Ageism Ageism  - Age discrimination for house cleaners is our topic of today's #AskaHouseCleaner. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says never assume you're too old to clean. You need to know how to ace a job interview and sell your strengths in house cleaning. Age discrimination and ageism in the workplace are against the law.  Highlight the best of your employment...

"Our Airbnb guests ruined towels and linens - what do we do?" Angela Brown, The House Cleaning gives options for ruined towels and linens in today's Vacation Rental Mailbag. You can list in your house rules an extra charge for ruined towels and linens. In your standard amenities include makeup remover, makeup remover wipes, and makeup remover towels. OxiClean is a good product to get white towels...

Maid steals clients time - and homeowners in uproar speak out. If you're working from home you need rules and regulations and expectations in place for your house cleaners. Time is a precious commodity. You've outsourced your #Cleaning and you're not a free therapist. A maid is paid to work, not paid to chat. A maid is stealing when she plays #dramaqueen on the clock. Angela Brown, The House Clean...

How to condition your leather sofa. This Meguiar's leather conditioner review will show you how to protect it. You'll also see Angela Brown cleaning a leather recliner working drill brush magic. How to clean a leather sofa is different from using a leather conditioner but for both, you can use a leather drill brush. You'll also need a microfiber cloth and some Meguiars Gold Class Leather Condition...