How Early Can I Clean? Maids and Cleaning Schedules

The Ask a House Cleaner Show and Podcast with Angela Brown

"How early can I clean? I need to set a cleaning schedule for my team and wonder how early can I clean without waking people? Cleaning early isn't for everyone, but if you don't plan your day it's impossible to run a cleaning business."

“How early can I clean? I need to set a cleaning schedule for my team and wonder how early can I clean without waking people? Cleaning early isn’t for everyone, but if you don’t plan your day it’s impossible to run a cleaning business.”

Listen: How Early Can I Clean? Maids and Cleaning Schedules

Watch: How Early Can I Clean? Maids and Cleaning Schedules

Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.

How Early Can You Start Cleaning an Apartment Building?

How early in the morning can you start cleaning so you don’t wake people up?

Now if you’re cleaning in an apartment complex and there are a lot of other people that are in the complex. Then you’re going to run the risk any time of the day or night, if you run a vacuum cleaner you’re going to wake somebody up.

People that live in apartment buildings work all different crazy hours, and they’re sleeping at all different hours of the day and night. So, there’s no good time in an apartment building to clean the house and run your vacuum.

8:00 is the Standard for Cleaning

But the standard rule of thumb is never clean before 8:00 in the morning.

Now, this is a standard across the board, in all areas. For construction workers, and landscapers, and house cleaners if you have vacuums.

You don’t want to be running noisy machinery while people are sleeping. But after about 8:00 in the morning, it’s kind of like all bets are off.

How Early Can You Clean at a Client’s House?

Now for houses, you can make a choice with the homeowner, and ask, “What time do you want me to come?” or, “How early can I come?”

There are some homeowners that are up at the crack of dawn. And they don’t care if you want to come in and start on all the downstairs stuff while they change and get dressed upstairs and go to work.

And then you hit the upstairs, and you’re done.

Some Clients Might Have You Start at 6:00

My company has cleaned as early as 6:00 AM. And people are getting their coffee, and they’re wandering around the house in their pajamas.

If you stay out of my way and I can vacuum this part of the house, you can go upstairs and take your shower.

Then, I will leave shortly after you’re done after I clean the upstairs area that you’ve left. I’ll clean up my stuff and I’m out of here. Then by 8:00, 9:00 in the morning we’re on to the next house.

How Early You Can Clean Depends on the Customer

So, it depends on the customer, and if they’re willing to have you there. There are also house cleaners who come and they work the evening shift after you’ve gone to work in the evening.

I know a house cleaner and the shift that she works is from 4:00 PM until midnight. That’s when she cleans all her homes.

And so, when people go on evening shifts, clients will plan their evening schedules to be gone for a few hours. Then the house cleaner comes in and she cleans the whole thing.

Figure Out What Works for Your Schedule

The polite thing to do is to figure out what works for your schedule. Then only make that available to your customers.

So if you want to pick up a house at 6:00, let your customers know, “I have an opening from 6:00 until 9:00 in the morning, if you’d like to be on that early slot.”

There are a lot of people that get up at 5:00 in the morning and they go to the gym. They’re not there at 6:00, and it’s fine if you wanna come and clean the house at 6:00.

Arrange Your Time with the Customer

In a home, you can run a vacuum, because it’s not gonna upset the neighbors or anything. Because a lot of the houses are spaced far enough apart.

But if that’s the case, arrange your appointment with the homeowner. Let them know that you are available, and then start as early as you dare.

But if you are in an apartment complex, it’s common courtesy not to be running the vacuum before and about 8:00 AM.

* RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE *

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires – https://amzn.to/2NpwjWe

To-Do List Formula: A Stress-Free Guide to Creating To-Do Lists That Work! – https://amzn.to/2Nk9L9a

The 5 A.M. Miracle: Dominate Your Day Before Breakfast – https://amzn.to/2uEG5vW

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity https://amzn.to/2LsQj9V

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right – https://amzn.to/2L5dcUL

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