What kind of vacuums should we use? House cleaners and maids want to know are bagless vacuums unprofessional?
And should maids use their own vacuums or the homeowner’s vacuum?
There is no time to sanitize the vacuum between cleanings and you have to if you want to prevent cross-contamination of germs between houses.
Listen: What Kind of Vacuums Should We Use?
Watch: What Kind of Vacuums Should We Use?
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.
What Kind of Vacuums Should Professional House Cleaners Use?
What kind of vacuums should professional house cleaners use? Now, this answer is going to be a little bit unpopular because there are a lot of house cleaning companies that swear by the vacuums that they use.
You live in a post-COVID-19 world, and so from here moving forward, you need to think about the best vacuums a little bit differently. Now, you may have a preference to use the customer’s vacuum when you go to their house, and almost everybody is trained to do the same.
Instead of you carrying vacuums into people’s homes because you know that your vacuum is in good shape. And you know that they’re emptied, you know that they work and they have good suction power. What you’re doing is you’re trusting that your customers will invest in a good vacuum that you can use when you come.
Why You Should Use a Customer’s Vacuum
Here’s the reason you may prefer to use the customer’s vacuum. You may live in a house where you have no pets and no children. But your clients have kids and dogs. Then you’re going to bring in their dog hair and crumbs and you’re going to run that all over your carpet.
So, this isn’t a very sanitary process, which is the reason why you shouldn’t carry vacuums inside people’s homes.
There is a way to sanitize and to clean your vacuum from top to bottom and empty it out and all those things. And you may have a clean vacuum in the back of your car in the event that for some reason you get to a customer’s house and their vacuum is broken.
But the goal is to never bring it inside because once you use it, you’ve got to clean the whole thing.
Ask About Their Vacuum on the Walkthrough
One of the things that you should do on your walkthroughs is ask the customer; “Can I take a look at your vacuum while I’m here?” There are lots of vacuums on the market that you can get for $200 to $300 to $400. They are very inexpensive and they are the equivalent of two or three cleanings.
For the price of two or three cleanings, you get to own the vacuum, and then when your house cleaner comes the vacuum is inside your house. This way it’s not cross-contaminated by anything.”
You Don’t Have Time to Clean Your Vacuum Between Every House
Now here’s the thing about carrying a vacuum as a house cleaner. If you’re carrying a vacuum from house to house, there’s not enough time to clean the vacuum. Time is of the essence in the cleaning business.
If a house cleaner is bringing a vacuum in, they’re probably bringing it from the last house. And it’s been all over who knows who’s carpet. That’s not to say that your neighbors are germy, but right now you in an era of heightened germ awareness.
If you have a great vacuum, please offer it to your house cleaner and say this. “Would you like to use my vacuum when you come to clean my house, and then keep your own germs inside your own house.” That would be awesome, number one.
Is a Bagless Vacuum Unprofessional?
Does a bagless vacuum make you unprofessional? No, there are a whole lot of bagless vacuums that are new and they’re modern. You empty the canister at the end of the clean. Now as a professional house cleaner, you will know that you need to empty that canister at the end of each clean.
When you go to a client’s house and clean the floor before you leave you are going to empty the vacuum and put it all back together. You are going to wipe the outside of it down so that your client can use it between now and the time you come again.
There are going to be times that you go back to clean people’s houses, and maybe it’s two weeks later and the vacuum is still empty. They haven’t even used it between visits. If that’s the case, then it’s always going to be ready for you when you get there.
The Homeowner Handles Their Vacuum
If there’s something that happens, the homeowner handles their own vacuum, you’re only using it when you come. If the vacuum breaks while you’re using it, it’s of the understanding it’s normal wear and tear.
House cleaners are trained to be careful with their equipment, and there’s a proper way to carry the vacuum up and down the stairs. This way you don’t bust off the handle, or bust off the canister, or whatever while you’re carrying it.
If you don’t have proper training, come over to our learning library and learn how to to use vacuums. But there are a lot of vacuums on the market that are awesome, and the recommendation is to use the homeowner’s vacuum as a house cleaner.
Resources
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BISSELL Zing Lightweight, Bagless Canister Vacuum, 2156A – https://amzn.to/3erEFes
ProTeam Super CoachVac Pro 6 QT Backpack Vacuum Cleaner – https://amzn.to/3bafvyN
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Vacuum Cleaner Bissel Upright Powerforce Pet Hair Bagless Allergy – https://amzn.to/2z1x7yx
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