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How to Prepare for Your Cleaning Visit
Get the Most Out of Your Cleaning Service!
At Erika’s House Cleaning, our goal is simple: to deliver the best possible results every time we clean your home.
A little preparation on your end helps our team work efficiently, safely, and thoroughly—so you get the most value from your service.
What to Expect From Our Services
Our cleaning services are flat-rate and process-based.
That means we focus on what we clean and how we clean—not the number of hours spent inside the home.
Results depend on:
The service type selected
The condition of the home at the time of service
The areas included in your booking
We always aim to deliver strong, professional results within the scope of your service—but cleaning is not a restoration, construction, or remediation service.
Before We Arrive: How to Prepare Your Home
Preparing Your Home for Service
To help our team deliver the best possible cleaning results, please ensure your home is “ready-to-clean” before your scheduled visit. This allows us to focus our time on actual cleaning—including wiping, scrubbing, and cleaning under and behind items, not just working around them. Before we arrive, please pick up clothing, toys, and general household items; clear surfaces scheduled for cleaning; wash or put away dishes; dispose of trash (including personal hygiene items); and secure valuables or fragile belongings.
Our team will reasonably move a small number of everyday, non-fragile decorative items when safe to do so in order to clean underneath and behind them. However, we do not move clutter, large quantities of items, heavy or fragile objects, collectibles, paperwork, books, medications, jewelry, or other valuables. If surfaces are not clear, we will clean around items and focus on accessible areas only. We do not organize personal belongings or return items to specific positions after cleaning. If you’d like extra help preparing surfaces, surface preparation assistance may be available as an add-on service for an additional fee, subject to availability.
💡 PRO TIPS FOR BEST RESULTS
Countertop shortcut:
Clearing your countertops before our visit helps us clean thoroughly underneath and behind items. If moving everything feels inconvenient, try placing your belongings into a box or basket. This allows our team to easily shift the container and clean the entire surface properly.
Busy household hack:
Life gets hectic—especially with kids, toys, or clothes everywhere. Many families use laundry baskets or toy bins before our visits so items can be gathered quickly. Some even turn it into a fun game or challenge. Clearing floors and surfaces helps us clean every spot while respecting your personal space and belongings.
Optional Add-On: Surface Preparation Assistance
Short on time? We’ve got you covered.
If surfaces are cluttered with toys, bath products, or everyday items, our Surface Preparation Assistance add-on can help. Simply leave out a box or basket, and our team will move items aside so we can clean all accessible surfaces properly.
Just let us know in advance and tell us which areas you’d like help with. We’ll take care of the prep—so you can enjoy spotless results with less stress.
Access to Your Home
We do our best to make your cleaning day smooth, predictable, and convenient. Here’s how we keep you informed every step of the way:
Before your visit, you’ll receive reminders by email and/or text:
A reminder about one week before your scheduled service
A reminder 3 days before your visit
A confirmation 1 day before, including your current 2-hour arrival window
On the day of service:
A message when your cleaning team is on the way, with a more accurate arrival time based on real-time routing
A notification when the team arrives at your home
These notifications are provided for your convenience and may occasionally be delayed, adjusted, or unavailable due to technical limitations, carrier issues, or system factors beyond our control. While we do our best to communicate clearly and proactively, reminders and arrival updates are not guaranteed and should not be relied on as the sole means of access coordination.
If anything changes on our end, we’ll notify you as soon as possible by text, email, or phone.
To help your visit go smoothly, please keep the following in mind:
Services are scheduled by date, not exact time
Please ensure we can access your home on the scheduled service date
If you won’t be home, provide clear entry instructions in advance (lockbox, garage code, etc.)
Please keep all areas included in your service accessible during the visit
In rare situations where we’re unable to access the home, a lock-out fee may apply. Our goal is always to avoid this and make your experience as easy and stress-free as possible.
Pets & Safety
We love pets and are happy to work in pet-friendly homes 🐾
For everyone’s safety, please: Secure pets that may interfere with cleaning and let us know if any pets require special handling.
The Client remains responsible for pet behavior and safety during service.
Utilities Required
To complete your service, we need access to: Hot and cold running water; Electricity and adequate lighting.
If utilities are unavailable, we may be unable to complete the service and the full service charge may still apply.
Service Condition Matters
Pricing and service scope are based on the home’s condition and occupancy — including the number of people and pets — as described at booking. This helps us schedule the right amount of time and assign the appropriate team for your service.
If the home’s condition differs from what was disclosed:
We will complete the work associated with the originally selected service or condition
The satisfaction guarantee applies only to the completed scope
Additional service may be recommended if appropriate
This helps us stay fair to all clients and ensures our team is properly staffed for each visit.
Dust, Hair & Real-World Cleaning
We do our best to leave your home looking fresh and clean—but homes are lived in spaces.
Occasionally: Dust may resettle after cleaning or a stray hair may appear after doors open or people move through the home.
This is normal and does not indicate poor service. If something was genuinely missed within the scope of your service, our Satisfaction Guarantee applies.
Questions or Special Requests?
If you have:
Special instructions
Areas to exclude
Priority areas
Questions about preparation or service scope
Please let us know before your scheduled visit so we can plan accordingly.
Erika’s Cleaning Process Is Guaranteed!
We stand behind our process!
We guarantee that everything included in our maintenance service, as described in our service details, will be completed thoroughly and consistently on every visit.
Our services follow a defined step-by-step process — what’s done and how it’s done is based on a carefully built routine. However, we want to clarify that we cannot guarantee specific outcomes.
Why? Since the level of service, frequency, and any add-ons are chosen by the client, we have no control over the home’s condition between visits. Maintenance visits follow a set process, they’re not adjusted each time based on how the home looks that day — unless the client lets us know in advance that something extra is needed.
This is different from deep cleanings, which are specifically tailored to the home’s condition at the time of service.
We offer two different approaches to cleaning services: process-based and results-based, each designed to fit different needs.
Process-based service follows a consistent, step-by-step approach that is applied during every visit. This method is used for all of our pre-designed flat-rate services, such as Maintenance Cleaning or Deep Cleaning. It’s ideal for homes with relatively predictable conditions and allows us to price fairly, plan efficiently, and deliver consistent quality. Our Deep Cleaning service also reflects the current condition of the home at the time of service, which helps us ensure the appropriate time and effort is allocated within the flat-rate model.
Results-based service, on the other hand, focuses on achieving specific client goals. This approach is best suited for special situations or requests where the condition is more variable, and the expected outcome may go beyond what’s covered in our structured routines. Because of this variability, we offer results-based services at an hourly rate. This allows flexibility, especially when extra time may be needed to target heavy buildup or highly specific needs. Results can be subjective, and certain surfaces may require significant time and still not look perfect—so this format gives both you and our team the room to adjust.
For example, our maintenance service includes dusting all accessible baseboards during every visit. In most homes, this keeps baseboards in great shape for 10–13 months. However, if a pet frequently lays against a specific area of the wall, that baseboard might need more than just dusting—it may require hand-wiping or scrubbing. We’re happy to help, but that task would fall outside of routine maintenance and should be added to your plan—either on an ongoing basis or as needed.
In short, we guarantee excellence in our process and consistency, but not absolute perfection in results—especially when conditions fall outside the scope of our routine services. That said, we’re always happy to tailor your plan to meet your home’s unique needs. Just let us know!
How to Get the Best Results from Your Recurring Cleaning Visits
Our recurring cleaning service is designed to help you maintain a clean and comfortable home.
We offer weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly scheduling to fit your lifestyle.
Our maintenance service is intended for homes that are well-suited to routine upkeep — meaning we’re maintaining new dust and light buildup in homes where regular tidying is done between visits, appropriate to the service frequency and household needs. It’s not designed for heavy buildup, long-neglected areas, or accidental messes or spills that weren’t cleaned up right away. Maintenance service is best for homes in good condition — meaning your home is already in a state that allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality results by maintenance service.
If your home needs a bit more attention, just let us know! We’re happy to adjust the service to better meet your needs.
Make the Most of Your Cleaning Day
These tips will help you get the most out of each visit.
Below are helpful tips and good practices to help you determine which service frequency will best fit your needs.
Weekly Services
For weekly service in homes with a small household, such as a happy couple without pets, minimal upkeep between our visits as simple tasks like wiping the stovetop after spills (because who wants to live with tomato sauce on the stove all week, right?), tidying up accidental messes, and keeping the house organized will be enough.
With fewer occupants and no pets, maintaining the home can rely solely on our team, and we can deliver the best results through our routine maintenance during our visits.
However, in busier households with more occupants or pets—especially when both are present—even weekly service may require additional preparation before our visits. A bit of extra effort in tidying and organizing before our visit helps us deliver the best results for your home that we want to give you.
Bi-Weekly Services
For bi-weekly service in lightly occupied homes, the situation is similar to the weekly service described above. However, with bi-weekly service, the needs can vary depending on the house. Some homes accumulate more dust, some experience hard water buildup and some require extra care for their floors. In a properly prepared and organized house, we can handle all of these needs, and our maintenance estimate does cover all that.
For bi-weekly homes with heavier occupancy or pets, which is often reflected in the home’s condition, some level of upkeep between visits is considered good practice. Most of our clients follow this good practice as a simple habit, such as wiping the stove after sauce spills instead of scrubbing it to perfection after every use. They may not vacuum their entire house between visits—that’s what we’re here for—but with kids or pets running in and out, they typically run a vacuum over high-traffic areas or the kitchen a couple of times a week to prevent excessive dirt buildup. Similarly, while they may not clean every inch of their countertops or move every item on the counter top, they do a quick wipe after food prep or spills. As good practice, they also ensure that the surfaces we need to address are decluttered and ready for cleaning. Lastly, they take care of trash on a regular basis, ensuring it doesn’t overflow before our visits. This good practice between our bi-weekly visits ensures that we can deliver our service to the best ability.
Monthly Services
For monthly service, we account for the need for extra effort during our visits. We’re ready to give the bathtub an extra scrub and provide additional touch-ups around the house. However, maintaining traffic areas and preparing the home before our visit becomes even more important. Good practice includes ensuring that surfaces requiring our attention are decluttered so we can focus on providing thorough cleaning and extra care.
Our Clients as a good practice perform upkeep similar to that of bi-weekly clients with more occupied houses, with some additional tasks. For example, mopping high-traffic areas between visits may be a good practice.
Our monthly maintenance cleaning is not designed for occupied households that cannot adequately prepare for our visit or do additional maintenance cleaning for the most-used areas between visits. If this applies to your household, please let us know, and we can adjust the service by allocating extra time to maintain your home on a monthly basis without that much upkeep from you — if you need that extra help, we’ve got you covered! Depending on your home’s occupancy and condition at each visit, switching to bi-weekly service may be a more suitable and cost-effective option.
Help Us Clean Efficiently
To keep things efficient, please make sure the areas we clean are accessible when we arrive. If you have one priority room to clean first or last, just let us know in advance — we’re happy to accommodate!
However significant restrictions on what room or are we can clean and when may affect timing and flow, so tell us early so we can plan accordingly.
Flexible Options for Busy Homes
We’re here to help make it work. If your home needs more help, no problem — we can add time to your visit or switch you to a more frequent service.
Just reach out so we can adjust your service and pricing accordingly.
Homes with Varying Conditions – Not Too Picky, Just Practical
If you’re a busy household, or if you’ve just had an extra-intense couple of weeks—maybe the kids were home for the holidays and upkeep between visits was a challenge—but you’re not too particular about perfection and prefer a more relaxed approach, that’s totally okay too!
We’ll do our best within your current service setup, but please note that quality and satisfaction guarantees may be limited.
Unless we hear otherwise from you, we’ll continue working within the current scope of service, doing our best within the structure of recurring maintenance visits.
We hope this guide helps you get the most from our service. By working together, we can ensure your home shines to its fullest potential.
How We Can Help More!
Here are some examples of what we can add to your service! If you don’t see what you need, just give us a call—we’re happy to help!
Please Note: While we can assist with some levels of organizing as Add-On service, there are certain items and areas we cannot handle: Jewelry, money, collectibles, decorations or artwork, documents, or paperwork: Areas with these items may need to be skipped.
Laundry (clean or dirty): We cannot organize or handle laundry, as it often includes mixed items such as undergarments. To maintain respect and boundaries for our cleaners, please ensure all laundry, especially your teenager’s, is placed in a laundry basket before our visit. Otherwise, we will need to skip that area.
Trash: We will collect trash from waste baskets, but please ensure all trash is properly placed in the waste baskets, and there is no trash on floors or surfaces we clean. We account for the usual amount of trash, which is one to two large trash bags per household. Areas with excessive trash on surfaces or floors will need to be skipped.
