Getting ready for a cleaning visit takes about ten minutes. The work that helps is small: clear the surfaces we'll wipe, tell us what matters most, tell us about allergies and pets, and pick one way for us to get in. The work that doesn't help is the pre-clean. We'd rather you skip it, and we'll explain why.
Clear the counters, leave the dirt
Our recurring checklist covers kitchen counters, the backsplash, the stovetop, appliance exteriors, and the sink scrubbed and polished. Every one of those is a surface. A surface under a pile of mail, chargers, and cereal boxes gets wiped around, not under. Move the pile to a drawer or a basket before we arrive and the whole counter gets done.
The same goes for the bathroom. Toilets, showers, tubs, mirrors, and fixtures are on the list. Bottles on the shower ledge and the tub rim get lifted and wiped under one at a time. That works, but it's slow. A caddy you can pull out means the ledge gets scrubbed as one clean stretch.
Floors are the big one. Every floor gets vacuumed and mopped, edges and corners included. Shoes by the door, toys, laundry baskets, and cords on the floor are what stand between us and those edges. Pick them up. Don't touch the dust.
Why we ask you not to pre-clean
This is the part we'd argue about with anyone. A wiped counter tells us nothing. A dirty one shows us exactly where the time needs to go, and that's how a checklist written for your home earns its keep. If you scrub the stovetop the night before, we still scrub the stovetop. The checklist doesn't skip lines. You've spent an evening and the visit takes the same time either way.
That is the whole argument in two photos. The first one told the team exactly where the time had to go. A wiped-down version of it would have told them nothing.
There's a second reason, and it comes from our own policy. If anything is missed, tell us within 24 hours and we come back. That policy only works when the before and the after are your real before and after. If the kitchen was already wiped when we walked in, neither of us can tell whether the visit did its job. Leave it as it is. Spend the evening on the note in the next section instead.
Tidying is different from cleaning. Putting things away is tidying and it helps. Wiping, scrubbing, and mopping is cleaning and that's ours.
Write the three-line note
We write a checklist for the home, not a generic one, and the raw material is what you tell us. You don't need a document. Three lines cover it, in English or Spanish:
- What bothers you most right now. "Guest bathroom first, people coming Friday."
- What to leave alone. "Don't move the papers on the desk. Don't open the closet in the second bedroom."
- What's changed since last time. "New puppy, crate in the laundry room. The oven door sticks."
Leave the note on the kitchen counter, or send it to us on WhatsApp the day before. WhatsApp is our fastest channel, and a message the day before means the crew reads it before they leave Coral Gables, not after they ring the bell.
Allergies, pets, and surfaces that need care
Our FAQ says it plainly: tell us about allergies, pets, and sensitive surfaces. Here's what we do with each.
Allergies
Our products can go fragrance-free or greener on request. Say so before the first visit and the request goes on the checklist, so it holds for every visit after, not only the one you remembered to mention it for. If someone in the house reacts to a specific ingredient, name it. We'd rather read a label than guess.
Pets
Tell us the animal, the name, where it'll be, and whether a door needs to stay closed. A cat and an open balcony door is the combination we want to hear about in advance. If a dog is nervous around the vacuum, a closed bedroom with water and a blanket is kinder than a crate in the hallway we're mopping.
Sensitive surfaces
Marble, unsealed wood, brass fixtures, a cooktop with a manufacturer's cleaner you want us to use: tell us before the first visit. Our checklist notes the surface and the product, and the same vetted crew comes back every time, so the note doesn't have to be repeated.
Pick one way in and tell us before the visit
You don't need to be home. Access works by key, code, lockbox, or doorman. What matters is that you choose one and tell us before the day, not from the driveway while the crew waits. Some of these depend on where you live:
- If your building keeps a vendor list at the front desk, add us the day before and tell us the name the desk expects to hear.
- If your building requires a service elevator booking, book the slot and send us the window.
- If your condo needs a concierge or property manager to let vendors in, send us the contact. We coordinate access with the concierge, front desk, or property manager when a building requires it.
- If you use a lockbox, send the code on the day of the visit rather than a week ahead.
- If you'd rather let us in yourself, that works too, and the final walkthrough together at the end of the visit is easier with you there.
Whichever you choose, put it in the same WhatsApp thread as the note. One message, one place, nothing to hunt for. If you're in a Coral Gables building, our crews are already driving from here, so a front-desk detail sent the day before is all we need.
The second visit is easier than the first
Everything above is heaviest before the first recurring cleaning. After that, recurring clients keep a standing slot and the same crew, and the crew knows the home. The note shrinks to whatever changed. Rescheduling or skipping a visit with reasonable notice carries no fee. A few days ahead is plenty for most visits; weekends and move dates fill faster, so book those earlier.
If you want to check what else is on the list before you book, our FAQ covers products, access, and the 24-hour window in the same words we use here.
Get an estimate at /quote in about two minutes, then send us your three-line note on WhatsApp.