Do I need to tidy before the cleaners come?

Somebody says it at the door almost every single time. "Sorry about the mess." Usually while standing in a house that is perfectly normal, sometimes while standing in a house they have clearly spent the previous evening cleaning.

So let us settle this properly, because it is the thing people worry about most and the thing that matters least.

No. You do not need to clean before we come

We are not coming to inspect your house. We are coming to clean it. A sink with last night's dishes in it is not a character reference, it is a Tuesday.

Nobody on our crew has ever walked out of a house and said anything unkind about it, and if that is what you are quietly worried about, it is worth knowing that we have all seen every version of a lived-in home, including our own. A house with children in it looks like a house with children in it. That is not a failure, it is the point of the house.

What genuinely helps, and it is not cleaning

There is a difference between tidying and cleaning, and it matters. We do the cleaning. A little of the tidying makes the cleaning better, because we cannot wipe a surface that is covered.

The things that actually make a difference:

• Clear the flat surfaces you want cleaned. Kitchen counters and the dining table especially. Not spotless, just clear enough that there is a surface to wipe. Papers, post, the school bag, the pile of things that live near the kettle.
• Pick up off the floors. Toys, laundry, shoes, the dog's things. Every minute we spend moving items off a floor is a minute not spent on the floor.
• Put valuables and anything private away. Not because anyone would touch them. Because we would rather not have to make a judgement about whether to move something that matters to you.
• Say where the pets are. More on that below.
• Tell us the one thing that is bothering you. Genuinely the most useful thirty seconds of the whole visit.

That is the list. It takes about ten minutes, not an evening.

What makes no difference at all

• Wiping the counters. We are about to do that properly.
• Scrubbing the bathroom before we get there. Please do not. This is the one people do most and it is the one we would most like you to stop.
• Vacuuming first.
• Apologising. Twice, usually, on the way in and on the way out.

About pets

We would rather know than be surprised, and this is a practical thing rather than a preference.

Tell us if a dog is friendly but loud, if a cat should not get out the front door, if there is a rabbit in a run in the kitchen, if one of them is nervous around the vacuum. We work in a lot of homes with animals and it is genuinely fine. What is not fine is opening a door we did not know had a cat behind it.

If your dog is happier shut in a bedroom while we work, that suits everybody, and if your dog is happier following us from room to room, that is also completely normal and has happened many times.

What we would rather have than a tidy house

Information. In order of usefulness:

The thing that annoys you. Every home has one. The shower door, the hob, the inside of the microwave, the corner of the hallway the dog uses. Tell us on the first visit and we will make sure it is right every time. People often do not mention it for months because it feels like a fuss. It is not a fuss, it is the most useful thing you can say to us.

Anything that needs a particular product. If you have a stone counter, an unsealed surface, a finish that has a history, or somebody in the house with an allergy, say so. We bring everything we need, but we are happy to use yours instead if that is what the house wants.

Anything we should not touch. A room in use, a desk mid-project, a nursery with a baby asleep in it. Just tell us and we will work around it.

How you want to be let in. A key, a lockbox, a code, or you being home. There is no wrong answer. Most of our recurring customers are not home and never think about it again.

The first visit is a bit different

If it is the first time, it is worth being home for the start of it if you can, even for ten minutes. Not to supervise. To walk the house with us once so we learn how it works, where things live, which door sticks, which room is really an office and should be left alone.

After that, most people stop being home for cleaning day entirely. They come back to a house that smells faintly of nothing in particular and go and look at the bathroom, which is a thing everybody does and nobody admits to.

So, honestly

Move the papers off the counter. Pick the toys up off the floor. Tell us about the dog and tell us about the shower door.

Then leave the rest to us, because that is the part you are paying for, and there is genuinely no version of your house that is going to surprise us.

If you want a price for your own home, the quote form takes a couple of minutes and gives you a number on the screen. And when we do come, you can say sorry about the mess if you like. Everyone does. We will tell you it is fine, because it is.