Ask a House Cleaner

Should you do renovations and repairs while house cleaning? Upselling renovations and repairs to fix broken stuff is great if you have handyman skills. You can remove fingernail polish from wood, for example. But you'll need furniture markers, furniture crayons, and colored furniture polish for this small job.  Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says renovations and repairs, are not scalable or...

Should you buy a cleaning business or buy a cleaning franchise? Is this a business startup or do you want to buy a cleaning business to expand your existing maid service? We Ask a House Cleaner the common terms of agreement when you buy a cleaning business.  Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru gives tips to negotiate before you sign a contract. Ask questions about training and terms before price...

The customer is always right claims the narcissistic customer. "And if you think the customer is always right it's time for us to talk about family drama and toxic people", says Angela Brown. We Ask a House Cleaner about customers fighting, wanting our validation to their yelling and arguments.  House cleaning boundaries will keep peace with "The customer is always right" philosophy while you do y...

"Top to Bottom Drag and Drop Spring Cleaning" is a way to upsell your cleaning business during the slow times.  The drag and drop, clean my space, junkyard run with donations, junk metal, and a trash load will pay your bills.  We Ask a House Cleaner  how to build my cleaning business? A nd Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says "Drag and Drop." It's like speed cleaning for deep cleaning and in...

You can use furniture polish to cover scratches, nicks, dings, and imperfections in wood furniture. But should you use furniture polish on all wood finish? And is aerosol furniture polish okay for pre-treated faux wood furniture? Or should you just dust it with a microfiber cleaning cloth? We Ask a House Cleaner about the best type of furniture polish and when to use it. Angela Brown, The House Cl...

"I'm ashamed to be a house cleaner or a maid.  I can't tell my friends about my blue-collar job issues. They'll be reluctant, hesitant or ashamed to hang out with me.  I want to grow my cleaning business but I'm sheepish. I'm great at cleaning but I'm ashamed to say morale is low and I'm ready to quit. Can I build my cleaning business if my job title sucks?" Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru s...

House cleaning as a sport. It's a strategic mindset for business endurance and success. House cleaner training includes a sport like routine of an elite athlete. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru, and 29-time marathon runner says house cleaning is a sport. You have to have a plan. You need a routine where you eat right, sleep, budget your energy and budget your fuel. You have to pace yourself...

How do you turn one-offs into repeat customers? Every house cleaner and maid service wonders. One-offs can be a great way to grow your cleaning business. We Ask a House Cleaner tips and cleaning advice during the initial walkthrough to set realistic expectations. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says one-offs come when you massage your database and ask for the sale. A savvy cleaner will creat...

Pros and cons of backpack vacuums are something to Ask a House Cleaner before you buy one. Backpack vacuums cut the vacuuming time and are great for hardwoods. Angela Brown, the House Cleaning Guru says backpack vacuums come down to personal preference. The same applies to upright, bagless canister vacuums and the suction they provide on the carpet. Today's sponsors are Savvy Cleaner Training, My...

How to teach kids to clean up after themselves or teach kids to "clean your room." We Ask a House Cleaner tips for various learning styles. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says you can teach kids to clean using visual, audible, and kinesthetic methods. We learn about "My data vs. Your data", ways to ask questions, have accountability, have a contest and a master inspector. It's fun, it's rou...

Pumice stones are the craze of house cleaners. We Ask a House Cleaner what are pumice stones? And do you clean with a dry or a wet pumice stone? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says all maid service training should cover this. House cleaner education shows you have to pay to replace pumice stone damage. Her cleaning advice is the use of pumice stones requires more common sense than the avera...

How often should you change your air filters? Ever wonder that? Clean air filters in your HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) means greater efficiency. It also means healthy lungs when you're not breathing bacteria from sickness and airborne pathogens. We Ask a House Cleaner about the types of air filters and should we buy fiberglass, HEPA or pleated cloth filters.  Angela Brown, The H...

Ever wonder how to clean microfiber cloths? It's a question house cleaning companies Ask a House Cleaner. When it comes to cleaning microfiber cloths is it hand washing vs. machine washing? Or is it pre-soaking with a microfiber cleaning detergent? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru gives cleaning advice on how to disinfect microfiber cloths. The washing instructions for grit and grime are simp...

Organic cleaning supplies are the rage in 2018. New trends show that eco-friendly, natural, biodegradable, organic cleaning supplies are the new norm.  We Ask a House Cleaner if all organic cleaning supplies must be non-toxic, fragrance-free, and safe for kids and pets. Or is there still a place for heavy duty degreasers and things like lime and rust remover? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru...

The 3 top ways to clean dirty dog paws will stop the dog who tracks in dirt. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but dog trainers will disagree. We Ask a House Cleaner about dirty dog paws and tips for a doggie cleaning station. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru gives tips and cleaning advice for dirty dog paws. Use a bath mat, a doggie plunger, dog mitt and dog training. Healthy p...

Concentrates vs. ready to use cleaning solutions which is better? Are the consistencies of concentrates the same for homeowners as those of a professional cleaner? Do you save money when you mix solutions? And does topping off your supplies change the chemistry? We Ask a House Cleaner about all-purpose cleaners, degreasers, and other favorite concentrates. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru say...

How to manage employee squabbles in your house cleaning business. It's a question that comes up a lot with maid service owners.  We Ask a House Cleaner what are employee squabbles? And what rules and policies will make your business a safe place to work? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says employee squabbles are grown adults acting like children. It's fighting, bickering, catfights, racism,...

MLM's and house cleaners it's the perfect side hustle, right? The maid gets a starter kit and builds the MLM's downline in a "recruit your friends" manner. If the products are in alignment with the house cleaning the MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) or direct selling is not a scam.  We Ask a House Cleaner about MLM's, webinars, workshops, pow-wows, and conferences.  Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Gur...

What should you do when a house cleaning client dies? Like it or not there is a slew of emotions that vary from expected death, accidental death and intentional death. When a client dies the maid is grieving but should they play therapist with the family who hired them? We Ask a House Cleaner what to do when a client dies because there is sadness surrounding the death and dying. Angela Brown, The...

What is the #1 secret to advertising your cleaning business? If you want to grow your cleaning business what advertising and marketing do you need? We Ask a House Cleaner today. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says word of mouth advertising is still the best form of advertising. But there are other ways to market your cleaning business. Branding, promotion, online banner ads and flyers are s...

Audible vs. Podcasts vs. Kindle which is best for house cleaners to learn on the go? We Ask a House Cleaner about house cleaning training and learning while cleaning. Audible vs. Podcasts - does one make you work faster? Books on tape or talk radio? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru gives tips to get the most from your university in your pocket. Audible vs. Podcasts for business help and maid...

3 unusual things professional organizers do go beyond basic hoarding or junk removal. Professional organizers do more than create 3 piles, "keep", "toss" and "donate." And their uncluttering tips go way beyond fancy storage bins. We Ask a House Cleaner about professional organizers and when to hire them if you have too much stuff. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru gives cleaning advice that st...

What are cleaning retainers and should you sign one? Cleaning retainers are another way to pay for house cleaning. If you're a house cleaner, you can work on retainer. We Ask a House Cleaner about tax planning, cleaning retainers and their fee structure. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru say if you need the money you can create monthly retainers or annual retainers. Your client pays you and yo...

How do you clean computer screens, tablet screens, TV and smartphones? This is stuff they don't teach you in-house cleaning training. Computer screens and some TV monitors consist of polarized glass and liquid crystal. And you can't use cleaning chemicals on the computer screens because they can streak and fade the film transistor. We Ask a House Cleaner best cleaning techniques. Angela Brown give...

Do you need insurance and bonding if you're a solo house cleaner? And do you need insurance AND bonding or is it just a way to market your cleaning business? We Ask a House Cleaner about if insurance and bonding are more than fancy credentials. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says being bonded and insured protects you and it protects your customers. If you ruin, break or damage property whil...