So, how often should you clean your carpet? This is what we’ll look at below, including specific considerations for pets, allergies, and high-traffic areas.

How Often Should You Shampoo Your Carpet?

Generally speaking, you should clean your carpet with shampoo and a wet vacuum, or similar setup, at least once a year. This is a minimum standard for all carpets to keep them fresh and free from allergens. However, high-traffic areas will need cleaning more regularly.

Carpets benefit from being shampooed alongside regular vacuuming because it helps to lift dirt, grime, odours and allergens far more effectively. Think about it this way: If you dry shampoo your hair, it’s sort of clean, but nowhere near as clean as properly washing and shampooing it. The same logic applies to your carpet.

How Much Does it Cost to Clean a Carpet

The cost of cleaning a carpet depends on several factors, such as the tools and products you plan to use, whether you rent or buy them, and even where you live. You can buy a carpet steam cleaner for about £100, but this isn’t as effective as a proper shampooer.

These will set you back several hundred pounds if you want to buy one (which isn’t really necessary). Instead, look to hire a cleaning local company. Carpet cleaning can range from £25 to £250 depending on how much carpet your home has.

More cost-effective options include dry products, such as odour-eliminating powders. You sprinkle these on and then vacuum them out. They’re never as effective as proper shampooing but are better than nothing if you’re on a tight budget.

How to Wash a Carpet

If you’ve decided to rent (or buy) a carpet cleaner, here are the general steps for how to wash a carpet. Bear in mind that these might differ depending on the product you’re using, so check if the supplier has specific instructions.

1. Prep the Area

First, make sure your carpet is ready to be washed. Start by removing as much furniture as you can from the room so you’ve got a nice open space to shampoo. Most carpet cleaners have fairly small heads, but you’ll want to make good use of the cleaner while you have it.

2. Vacuum Thoroughly

Next, you need to thoroughly vacuum the carpet. The easiest way to do this is to use the hose without any attachments, and get down on your hands and knees and give it a really good going over.

Make a couple of passes over the carpet from different angles to remove as much dust and debris as you can. Although the carpet cleaner will pick up anything you’ve missed, getting it clean reduces the risk of you clogging up the machine.

3. Spot Clean Problem Areas

For best results, you’ll want to pre-treat any stained areas, just as you would with laundry. You can buy spot treatment products online easily, or the place you rented your carpet cleaner from might stock them. Simply follow the instructions on the bottle.

4. Get Your Cleaner Ready

Typically, a carpet shampooer has a clean water tank and a dirty water tank. You need to fill the clean water tank before you start and add the required amount of cleaning solution. There are different types available, such as odour eliminating, pet-specific ones, and more. Make sure you pick the right one for your needs.

5. Work Slowly Across the Room

For best results, work in strips along the room. Press the cleaner’s trigger to inject water into the carpet. Move forwards in a line and then work your way back to thoroughly suck up the dirty water.

Repeat this process by moving the cleaner to a new line, pushing forwards and then pulling back. This is pretty much how you use a carpet cleaner!

6. Rinse the Carpet

This is an optional step that can help to remove any remaining dirt or cleaning solution. Once you’ve cleaned the room, refill the clean water tank just with water. Make another pass over the room as normal to inject clean water into the carpet.

7. Leave it to Dry

Finally, just let the carpet dry. If possible, open windows and put the heating on, as this’ll help the carpet to dry more quickly. You should expect it to take at least 4-6 hours, but it can take a day or two in colder or more humid conditions.

Remember that the longer it stays wet, the more likely it is to develop a damp smell. If necessary, set up a dehumidifier to speed up the process.

How Often Should You Clean Carpets? Allergy Sufferers

For normal carpets in homes where no one suffers from allergies, cleaning them once a year is enough. But if you have allergies, particularly seasonal ones, cleaning your carpets up to 4 times a year can be beneficial.

This ultimately depends on the type of allergies you suffer from. For example, if you have hayfever or other seasonal allergies, clean at the beginning and end of the problem season. But if you suffer from allergies related to dust and mould, 4 times a year can be helpful.

The process is no different for allergy carpet cleaning. Rent or buy a carpet cleaner and follow the instructions above. However, a steam cleaner could work fine for this, as it’ll do a decent job of lifting the problem debris from the carpet.

How Often Should You Shampoo Your Carpets If You Have Pets?

If you have pets, you should probably shampoo your carpets up to 4 times a year. This depends on factors such as how heavily your pet sheds and whether they have accidents in the house. For the latter, immediate spot treatment is necessary.

A carpet cleaner will do a much better job of lifting pet hair than a vacuum cleaner. However, make sure you only use pet-safe products, as you can never be too careful. Bear in mind that residual cleaning solution could be transferred to their paws and into their mouth.

If you want to learn more, please read our article about how to remove pet hair from carpets.

How Often Should You Wash Your Carpet? High Traffic Areas

High traffic areas are those that receive a lot of footfall, such as a living room, hallway, landing, stairwell, etc. These need cleaning more often because there will be more dirt and the carpet fibres will be pressed down more regularly. For these areas, 2-3 times a year should be enough. Regularly cleaning high-traffic areas will also help keep the carpet in good condition, extending its lifespan by a surprising amount.

How Long to Wait Before Vacuuming New Carpet?

You don’t have to wait before vacuuming a new carpet – you can theoretically hoover it as soon as it’s laid. Doing so helps to remove loose fibres that might have popped out while it was being laid. Assuming it’s been laid properly and is sufficiently tight, there’s no reason why it can’t be vacuumed immediately.

Final Thoughts

How often should you clean your carpet ultimately depends on where in the house it is, how much traffic it sees, and whether you have pets or allergies. At least once a year is enough, but doing it more often can help to keep it in good condition.

Of course, you need to also factor in the time required to do so as well as the cost of getting the equipment and cleaning products. But keeping your carpet properly clean will help to extend its lifespan and ensure your home looks clean and smells fresh.

You also hire a carpet cleaning service to clean your carpets without the added stress of cleaning, effort and time.

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It’s fairly standard for companies to outsource their office cleaning to an external company. Not only is it more cost-effective but it’s also the best way to ensure high quality and consistency of service.

However, this can present issues around office security, particularly with customer data or sensitive business information. This article will cover some tips for how to keep your office secure when outsourcing your cleaning.

Keeping your office secure around cleaners

Partner with a Reputable Company

The first step is to partner with a reputable cleaning company that has a verified record of working in sensitive environments. Check a company’s reviews, see if you can have a list of some of its previous clients, and even try speaking to some of these clients if possible.

Also, ask what kind of background checks the company does on its cleaning staff. At the very minimum, this should include right-to-work checks, but it can help if the company performs DBS checks on its cleaners. If so, this is a good sign that the cleaning company can handle working in sensitive environments.

Secure Sensitive Areas or Documents

It’s likely your company already has these policies in place, but if it doesn’t then they’re worth implementing. Define secure or restricted areas where sensitive information is stored and limit access to these areas for cleaners. Sensitive locations might include certain offices, servers, and so on.

Similarly, ensure confidential information is always locked up in filing cabinets, desk drawers, etc. Again, this is a fairly standard security policy, but it’ll be helpful to always double-check before external cleaners are due to visit.

Ensure that cleaners only have access to necessary areas. Generally, outsourced cleaning services will cover the “main” areas of your office, such as kitchens, bathrooms, communal areas, and so on. If sensitive rooms need cleaning, follow the guidance in the next point.

Set Up Security Protocols

It may be necessary for cleaners to enter secure areas every now and then to clean. If so, there are a couple of things you can do to ensure your information is protected.

First, limit cleaning to your opening hours when your employees are present. While this might be a bit more disruptive than having cleaners in after hours, it’ll help limit unsupervised access to sensitive areas.

If this isn’t possible, then ask security staff or employees to supervise access to sensitive areas outside of your opening hours. This isn’t the most ideal situation, but it’s certainly better than anything happening to sensitive data!

Next, ensure any outsourced cleaners have appropriate ID and/or company badges. If you print your own badges in-house, you can make ones for cleaners, which can also ensure they only have access to certain rooms. Cleaners will typically carry their personal company ID, but there’s no harm in giving them specific IDs for your company.

Finally, adhere to your guest logging policy. This can differ between companies, but usually consists of a book that guests sign with the time of entering and leaving the building. If you have one of these, make sure cleaners sign it every time they visit.

Maintain Internal Training Standards

Along with monitoring your external cleaners, it’s essential to maintain your staff’s security training. Specifically, you should educate staff on how to prepare workspaces for cleaning visits. This might include locking away documents, locking or shutting down computers, and shredding any sensitive waste.

Also, if security is a top priority in your company, it can help to let your staff know when your cleaning visits are due. This ensures employees have enough time to prepare their workspaces and take extra precautions if needed.

Set Expectations with Your Cleaning Company

Once you’ve chosen a cleaning company, it’s important to set clear expectations with them regarding your company’s security policies. Start by providing a copy of any internal security documents so the cleaning company can confirm that it’s happy to adhere to them.

Also, request the same cleaners every time if possible. This is fairly standard for regular cleaning jobs anyway, but the benefit of having the same cleaners is familiarity and consistency. It should mean that you don’t need to constantly create and check IDs for new cleaners, too.

During your consultation with the cleaning company, establish a clear checklist of areas that need cleaning as well as any rooms to avoid. There’s no harm in being clearer than you think is necessary, so spend plenty of time setting your standards.

Sign Necessary Contracts

Cleaning companies will have their own contracts that cover work expectations, payment schedules, etc. However, it’s reasonable for you to have your own contract or confidentiality agreement. It would essentially be like an NDA that covers expectations, privacy, and security agreements.

In this document, establish clear liability for any breaches of confidentiality or your internal security protocols. While it’s not necessary to lay out all the specific steps of a breach, it’s important to state whether you expect it to lead to a prosecution, audit, fine, etc. If you have an internal legal team, get them to advise you and help draft up a suitable document.

Establish Incident Response Plans

You may have an incident response plan already for things like data and security breaches. If so, adapt it slightly to cover external cleaning staff. If you don’t, now is the time to set one up!

It should include things like notifying the cleaning company, police, and security personnel. Make sure it also outlines steps for relevant investigations and audits, and clarify the process with any relevant staff members.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to balance quality cleaning with appropriate security measures in a secure workplace. Provided you take steps based on the tips above, you should be able to maintain a high level of security while outsourcing your cleaning needs to an external company. Regardless, make sure you constantly monitor and update your security processes to ensure vigilance. If you need more assurance, then you can explore security solutions from Opem Security for installing CCTV in your offices to help monitor your cleaners.

The post How to Keep Your Office Secure When Outsourcing Your Cleaning appeared first on Cleaning Express.

Our domestic cleaning services in Brighton & Hove promise to bring high quality to our customers as well as great work for our new team of cleaning experts.

The Areas Cleaning Express Will Cover

Covering around 83 square kilometres with a population of 277,000, Brighton & Hove is a promising market for Cleaning Express. In London and the West Midlands, we have numerous areas we cover, but luckily, Brighton & Hove is compact enough to just say we’ll cover the entire area!

Provided things go the way we plan, and Brighton & Hove love us as much as we love them, we’ll inevitably expand into neighbouring areas in the future. So, if you’re unsure whether we’ll cover your address, just get in touch and we’ll let you know.

About Us

Cleaning Express started in 2015 with one goal in mind: to offer only the best cleaning services to London. Alongside this, we’ve always operated with our cleaning experts in mind, providing great working conditions and above-market pay. We know the benefits of investing in staff, so we’ve always made it one of our top priorities.

As well as good pay (we’re a Living Wage employer), we strive to offer excellent and continued training for our cleaning experts. After all, well-trained staff see the benefit of sticking with their employer, and we want our cleaning experts to feel happy and content with the work they do.

Along with domestic cleaning services, we offer office and retail cleaning as well as end-of-tenancy and one-off deep cleaning. While we have yet to launch these services in Brighton, they’ll soon follow provided the area likes what we do. We’re excited to bring our work ethic and cleaning services to Brighton & Hove, and we hope to establish a strong presence in the area.

What We Offer

We provide regular domestic cleaning services in Brighton & Hove. In short, this means Cleaning Express will come to your home to help with:

· Hoovering and mopping
· Dusting and cleaning surfaces
· Kitchen and bathroom cleaning
· Making beds, helping with laundry, etc.

These are just a small sample of the domestic cleaning services we offer. If you want something else, please get in touch to discuss it with us. We can provide a full list of our cleaning services as needed.

How to Book an Appointment

We’ve intentionally made our booking process as simple as possible. You can either call our local office during opening hours or fill out the contact form on our website. Once we have your information, we’ll get in touch to discuss your requirements in more detail.

The next step is to book you in for an initial appointment so you can get a feel for our services. Provided you’re happy with everything, we’ll schedule a regular appointment slot to help out with your home cleaning.

If you have any questions about our services, we’ll be more than happy to answer them. All our cleaning experts are fully vetted and insured, so you can have peace of mind that we’ll send only the best and most qualified cleaners to your home.

Are You Looking for a Cleaning Career?

One of our favourite parts of entering a new market is hiring a brand new team of cleaners. So, if you live in Brighton & Hove and are looking to work for a leading domestic cleaning company, head over to our jobs page!

We’ll ask you to fill in a quick form, and provided you meet our requirements, we’ll be in touch to discuss the next steps.

Expanding our cleaning services to Brighton and Hove is a big move, and we’re super excited for the future. We’d like to thank our current staff and customers for their support, and we look forward to welcoming new clients and cleaners into the Cleaning Express family!

The post Cleaning Express is Expanding its Service to Brighton & Hove appeared first on Cleaning Express.

This is a big move, not only for our potential new customers, but also for the new team of expert cleaners we’ll be working with. Together, we hope to take Birmingham by storm with our professional and trustworthy domestic cleaning services.

The Areas of Birmingham Cleaning Express Will Cover

You’ll be pleased to learn that it’s not only Birmingham we’ll cover. Our base of operations will be the city, but we’ll cover the following areas in the West Midlands:

• Birmingham
• Solihull
• Sutton Coldfield
• Walsall

This is the start of a big move for Cleaning Express. Birmingham, and the West Midlands more generally, is a massive area, and we hope to offer our services in even more areas in the future. So, if you can’t see your location on the list above, don’t worry, we’ll probably be with you soon!

About Us

Cleaning Express is a cleaning services company with an established presence in London. Since we started in 2015, we’ve made it our mission to invest in our employees. After all, professional and highly-trained staff are happier and take more pride in what they do.

We approach staff happiness from two primary angles. First, we’re proud to be a Living Wage employer – it’s our mission to attract and retain highly skilled cleaners by paying them a wage they’re happy to receive. In too many companies, cleaning staff are often overlooked in terms of how much they earn, and we’re proud to buck against this trend.

Second, we invest in high-quality training to ensure we exceed the expectations of our customers. Every cleaner we employ goes through an online training course to build upon any skills they already have. Consistency is key to offering a quality service, and we achieve this through rigorous training and high standards.

In short, it’s our mission to employ and train cleaners who are proud of what they do. We’re incredibly excited to bring this ethos to Birmingham and its surrounding areas, and we hope to establish a strong presence.

What We Offer

Cleaning Express will offer regular domestic cleaning services in Birmingham. This involves us coming to your home on a basis that suits your needs to do the following jobs:

• Kitchen and bathroom cleaning
• Hoovering and mopping
• Dusting and cleaning surfaces
• Making beds, changing linens, etc.

Of course, we offer plenty more domestic cleaning services. If you’d like to see a full list, please get in touch and we can discuss what’s covered in more detail.

How to Book an Appointment

Booking an appointment with Cleaning Express is super easy. You can either call us directly during office hours or fill out the contact form on our website. We’ll then be in touch to discuss your needs and availability before booking you in for an initial clean. Provided it all goes well, we can discuss a suitable regular time for your domestic cleaning.

We’re more than happy to answer any questions you may have about our cleaners and services. Everyone we employ is fully vetted, trained and insured, so you can be confident that we’ll send only the best cleaners to help around your home.

Are You Looking for a Cleaning Career?

One of the best parts of expanding into a new service area is connecting with people looking for a new job. So, if you live in one of the areas mentioned above and would be interested in working for Cleaning Express, head over to our cleaning jobs page.

It involves filling out a quick application form, and if we like what we see, we’ll be in touch to discuss the next steps. Cleaning Express offers great rates of pay, on-the-job development, extensive training, and much more. Sure, we might be biased, but we think Cleaning Express is a great company to work for!

Expanding our services to Birmingham is a big move, and we can’t wait to meet all our new customers and employees. Considering the journey we’ve been on since starting in 2015, setting up in a brand new city is confirmation that we’re doing something right!

And, of course, we can’t overlook our current staff and customers. Without you, this move wouldn’t be possible, so thanks for all your hard work and support over the years.

Update: We are now offering office cleaning in Birmingham, therefore, if your office needs cleaning, then we can now help!

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But if you’re ever at a loss as to what to clean in your kitchen and when, this article is for you. Below, we’ll cover the best kitchen cleaning checklist to help keep you on track.

Daily Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

The following checklist covers kitchen cleaning jobs you should do every day to ensure it’s free from bacteria and is tidy for your next meal:

• Wash the dishes
• Load and unload the dishwasher
• Wipe down surfaces
• Rinse and dry dishcloth

The point of daily cleaning tasks is to maintain a clean environment that’s pretty much always ready for you to cook in. A standard kitchen cleaning or antibac spray is ideal for daily use.

Weekly Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

Weekly cleaning involves slightly more in-depth jobs that don’t need doing daily. Bear in mind, though, that for the purposes of this article, wiping down your cooker hob counts as a daily task.

Every week, make sure you:

• Scrub the hob and clean the cooker hood
• Remove out-of-date items from the fridge
• Clean the sink
• Hoover and mop floor
• Wipe down cabinet doors

For scrubbing jobs, a cream cleaner is the best thing to use. Other than that, everything should be fairly self-explanatory. Weekly jobs cover areas that aren’t used directly for food prep but that can get dirty in the process of cooking.

Monthly Kitchen Cleaning Checklist

Unsurprisingly, monthly cleaning jobs are ones that require a bit less attention but still need doing more often than your deep cleaning jobs. Add the following to your monthly checklist:

• Clean appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, etc.)
• Clean inside and outside of fridge
• Disinfect your bin
• Organise and clean out cupboards
• Wash splashbacks and floors

You might find you need to clean your microwave more than once a month depending on what you’ve cooked in there. Considering food shouldn’t make direct contact with any surface in the microwave, it’s not a massive issue to only clean it once a month. But when you do, make sure you disinfect the inside and wash the plate.

Similarly, it can be easy to overlook areas like fridge doors and handles. But it’s important to keep these clean because it reduces the risk of cross-contamination from handling raw food. Soapy water should be fine, but you can always use a disinfectant spray instead.

Kitchen Deep Cleaning Checklist

There’s no set timescale for when to deep clean your kitchen. Some say monthly, but if you’re thorough with the checklist above, this is unnecessary. Instead, aim to deep clean it every 3 months or so. But what does deep cleaning actually involve?

Empty and Clean Your Pantry

Your pantry could be anything from a separate room to a few cupboards – it’s just wherever you store your dry food. Pull everything out, check it’s in date (or at least still fresh) and bin anything that isn’t.

While it’s empty, wash the shelves and any spare storage containers. Then, put everything back so it’s organised and visible.

Empty and Clean Your Freezer

Freezers are easy to ignore when it comes to food management, but even frozen food can go bad. During your deep clean, pull everything out and throw away anything that looks off. The main thing to look for is freezer burns, especially on meat.

While it’s empty, let it defrost if necessary. Wipe out ice cube trays, clean the drawers, and put everything back.

Deep Clean the Oven

If your oven has a self-cleaning function, start with this. But you might need to get in there and scrub it with some cream cleaner or something stronger. Either way, take out the baking racks and wash them in the hottest water you can manage. They might need soaking, but the hot water will help shift dried on food.

Wipe down the inside and outside of the cooker doors and scrub the hob. Then, clean the dials and buttons and wash the cooker hood. You should ideally clean these monthly, but a dedicated scrub during your deep clean won’t hurt.

Clean and Organise Worktops

Your worktops should get a daily clean, but now is a good time to move everything off them and clean in those dark corners you might usually ignore. If you have any decorations or storage containers that sit on the worktops, wash them in hot soapy water.

Wash the worktops with disinfectant to get them sparkling. As you put everything back, think about what could be stored in a cupboard, or disposed of completely. Deep cleans are the perfect time to de-clutter your kitchen!

Kitchen Cleaning Schedule

Developing a kitchen cleaning schedule should be pretty easy using the checklist above. Based on this, the next thing you’ll need to work out is who does what and when. Some examples include:

• Daily tasks like wiping down surfaces are best done after dinner by an adult (because of the cleaning products involved)
• But loading or unloading the dishwasher is a perfect chore for older kids, and can be done in the morning if needed.
• As for weekly and monthly jobs, set aside an hour or so at the weekend. Provided you’re not a messy cook, you can get a lot of the jobs done while sorting the Sunday roast!
• Deep cleaning could take several hours, so make sure you set aside at least half a day or more.

It might help you to draw up a rota if there’s more than one person in your house. Use it to divide tasks based on age and ability. Kids can’t be tasked with too much, but smaller jobs like sorting the dishwasher or sweeping the floor are ideal.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this kitchen cleaning checklist covers all the jobs involved in keeping your kitchen sparkling. Provided you do the small and necessary jobs daily, your weekly and monthly jobs won’t be as bad.

The same is true for office cleaning, although you at least have the advantage of taking it in turns!

Cleaning Express Deep Cleaning Services

Deep cleaning a kitchen can feel very overwhelming, especially if it’s been a while since you last did it. If you’re putting it off for this very reason, get in touch with Cleaning Express. Our deep cleaning services are exactly what you need!

Cleaning Express covers London, and our team of highly-trained cleaning experts can help get your kitchen back into perfect shape. Reach out today for a free estimate and to discuss your exact needs.

Also read: End of Tenancy Cleaning Checklist

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Well, this is where the 20-minute rule comes in. Below, we’ll cover what it means and how it can benefit busy people or those who just don’t enjoy cleaning. Read on to find out.

What exactly is the 20 Minute Rule in Cleaning?

The 20-minute rule in cleaning is where you take on a cleaning task for 20 minutes and then have a break. It’s as simple as that! Also known as the 20/10 rule, it’s recommended that you take a 10-minute break after your cleaning blast.

Although it’s unlikely you’ll finish most jobs in the first 20 minutes, the point is to break them down into manageable pieces so they don’t feel as daunting. Plus, it means you can chip away at things when you have some spare time rather than setting aside a whole day of your precious weekend!

Who Should Use the 20 Minute Cleaning Rule?

In theory, anyone can use the 20-minute cleaning rule. But it’s probably best for:

• Busy people – especially those who have to handle all the household cleaning on their own
• Families – having kids means more mess and a lot less time

Of course, it’s also ideal for anyone who just doesn’t enjoy cleaning because it makes it more manageable. So, if you’re someone who puts off many cleaning jobs, try the 20/10 rule and see if it’ll make things easier.

How Does the 20 Minute Rule Work?

The basics of the 20/10 rule are pretty simple. As mentioned, you clean for 20 minutes and then take a break or move on to something else. But to really take advantage of it, you should try to break larger tasks down into smaller parts, as this gives you a clearer sense of achievement.

For example, let’s say you need to clean the bathroom. The overall job involves cleaning the toilet, the shower, and the sink, along with emptying the bin, wiping down surfaces, etc. Combined, all this could take a good few hours if you need to do a deep clean.

So, break the jobs down. Spend 20 minutes cleaning the toilet, then take a break. Repeat with the shower, the sink, and so on. While you might not get everything done on the same day, you could get bits done between other jobs.

What Are the Benefits of the 20 Minute Cleaning Rule?

The benefits of the 20-minute cleaning rule should be fairly obvious. It basically all comes down to shifting your perspective of how (and when) cleaning is done. Breaking larger jobs down into their smaller parts makes them feel more manageable, in turn reducing the workload and associated feelings of stress.

Another important part is the knowledge that you’ll have a break after you’ve finished your 20-minute spurt. This helps keep motivation high, as you know you’ll be rewarded for the job after. What you do with your 10-minute break is up to you, but consider using it as an excuse to have a quick relax.

With a bit of practice, you should find you can get a lot done in 20 minutes. It might not seem like much time, but you should end up adjusting your cleaning speed to the timeframe.

Final Thoughts

The 20-minute rule is definitely worth trying if you’re busy, have a family to care for, or simply just don’t enjoy cleaning. Breaking jobs down into quick bursts can help you feel like you’ve achieved a lot in a very short space of time.

But if you still have a lot of cleaning to do, even with the 20-minute rule, get in touch with Cleaning Express. Our domestic cleaning services in London can help take the load off, freeing you up to concentrate on things you enjoy.

Wondering if you have the budget for a cleaning service? Read our article on How much does a cleaner cost?

We have loads of highly-trained, fully insured cleaners who can help get your home sparkling again while taking the burden of cleaning out of your weekly routine. If you live in London and would like to know more, reach out to see how we can help.

Also read: what can a cleaner do in 2 hours?

The post What is the 20 Minute Rule in Cleaning? appeared first on Cleaning Express.

The best option is usually to hire an external cleaning service to take care of the job. But what are standard common area cleaning prices UK? Read on to find out.

What are Communal Area Cleaning Prices in the UK?

Prices for cleaning common areas in buildings can range from £10-£20 an hour, or £30 or more per visit depending on how the service charges you. In London, you can expect the hourly cost to be higher at £25-£35 an hour.

Unsurprisingly, you can expect to pay more for cleaning services in cities than you would in rural areas. If your commercial space is in an urban area, expect to pay £20 or more an hour for cleaning. However, you’ll probably have more choice than those in quieter areas, allowing you to shop around for the best value for money.

But remember, the cheapest option often won’t be the best! Cleaning services aren’t something you should try to save on, as the difference will become fairly obvious once you see the quality of the job.

Factors Affecting Cleaning Cost

There are lots of factors that can affect the price of communal area cleaning, such as:

• Size of the area
• Extent of work that needs doing
• Specific services that might not be covered in a standard cleaning
• Frequency of the work (more regular cleaning means less needs doing per visit)
• Number of cleaners used per job – it’s usually better to have several cleaners come per visit to get the job done quicker

For example, you’ll find that you’ll pay less for getting carpets hoovered than you would for, say, window cleaning in a large stairwell. Ideally, you’ll want to find a cleaning service that provides you with an estimate before starting work.

What Communal Areas are Covered?

Communal areas are typically spaces in shared housing buildings, although the specifics will depend on the type of building. It’s a term that applies to both domestic and commercial spaces, meaning shared areas in office blocks are covered too.

Typical communal areas include:

• Stairwells
• Reception areas
• Lifts
• Shared spaces in HMOs (kitchens, living areas, bathrooms, etc.)

The short answer is that a communal area is any space used by more than one building resident. It’s important to keep these areas clean for hygiene reasons, but also to impress any visitors to the building. After all, a messy reception area doesn’t reflect too well on the company managing the building!

What Services are Covered?

The extent of the services offered for communal area cleaning is theoretically endless because it depends on the area itself. As standard, you can expect hoovering, dusting, mopping, and wiping down surfaces.

On top of this, you can often request more in-depth jobs, such as internal window cleaning, post box organisation, and deep cleans of areas like kitchens and bathrooms. It’s vital that these areas are kept clean due to the impact they can have on the overall hygiene levels in the building.

Be sure to discuss your needs with your chosen cleaning company, as they can have a big impact on how much the job will cost. For example, a standard hoovering of stairwells shouldn’t take more than a few hours. But if you throw in window cleaning and other services, you can expect it to take several cleaners half a day to do properly.

Final Thoughts

Communal area cleaning services are a must for any property manager that wants to make a good impression. Think of it as an essential business cost, much like any other maintenance job. Thankfully, compared to many of these, communal area cleaning is fairly cheap!

If you’re based in London and need communal areas cleaned in your building, get in touch with Cleaning Express. We have an army of cleaners ready to get the job done quickly, and all our staff are highly trained and fully insured. Better yet, we make sure our costs are fully transparent, so you know exactly how much you’ll pay. Contact us today to learn more and to see how we can help.

Also read: How much does office cleaning cost?

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This might lead you to ask, can I pay someone to tidy my house? The short answer is yes, but read on to find out the options so you can make an informed decision.

Answered: Can I Pay Someone to Tidy My House?

You absolutely can pay someone to tidy your house, but it helps to figure out what you mean by this. There are different kinds of professional help you can arrange for home tidying, including:

Domestic Cleaner

As the name suggests, this is someone who comes to your home to clean. Their jobs might include hoovering, washing up, dusting, etc. Generally, you wouldn’t expect a cleaner to take care of larger organisational tasks.

Housekeeper

A housekeeper, on the other hand, does things outside of standard cleaning jobs. This might include running errands, childcare, and organisation tasks such as tidying wardrobes, clearing clutter, and so on.

Professional Organiser

Again, this is a pretty self-explanatory title. Professional organisers are less common, but they focus less on cleaning and more on helping you deal with clutter. This might include dealing with old clothes, paperwork organisation, and just general home decluttering.

Factors to Consider When Hiring a Home Tidier

To decide what services you need, consider the following factors:

1. What do you actually need done? If you can handle your own cleaning but need help with larger tidying jobs, a housekeeper or organiser might be best.
2. Would you rather just let someone else handle everything? A housekeeper will probably be your best option.
3. What’s your budget? A cleaner is usually the most affordable option, but you often won’t need an organiser more than once or twice.

There are obviously other questions you can ask, but these are the most important when narrowing down your selection.

Are you unsure if a professional tidying service is for you? Read our article of types of cleaning services.

Pros and Cons of Professional Home Organisation

It’s also worth weighing up the pros and cons of hiring someone to help tidy your home. Generally, there aren’t many downsides, but it helps to know them so you can make an informed decision.

Pros

• Takes away a lot of the stress associated with home cleaning.
• The variety of available services means you should easily find what you need.
• If you’re short on time and want a tidy home, hiring a professional can be well worth the money.
• As with any specialist job, professional cleaners and tidiers are very good at what they do.
• Your home will always be ready for guests, and you’ll have plenty more time to spend with your friends and family.

Cons

• Although cleaners hired through an agency will be vetted, letting strangers into your home can often be difficult.
• You might find that jobs aren’t done how you want them. But this can usually be overcome with a bit of feedback.

Is Professional Tidying Worth it?

So, based on all this, is professional home tidying worth it?

The short answer is that, if you have domestic jobs that you need to get on top of, hiring a professional can be worth the money. If you need professional home help, look no further than Cleaning Express.

We offer both domestic cleaning and housekeeping services in London to assist with pretty much any tidying job you need. All our staff are highly trained, insured and vetted so you can feel safe letting them into your home. Contact us to find out more and see who we have available in your area.

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But what’s the process of finding a suitable housekeeper, considering they’ll become such an integral part of your life? Well, that’s what we’ll discuss here.

Read on to discover how to find a housekeeper and the different types available.

How to Find a Housekeeper – Deciding What You Need

The first step is to decide what kind of help you need. As mentioned, a housekeeper can help with the following jobs:

• Cleaning
• Organising
• Shopping
• Running errands
• Childcare

Bear in mind, though, that not all housekeepers will do all these things. So, start by working out your needs and using this to narrow down your selection pool.

Types of Housekeepers

Generally, the biggest factor in deciding the type of housekeeper you need is whether you need childcare. This would mean you’d need a nanny housekeeper – someone who is trained to care for kids but can also handle other chores.

If childcare isn’t a priority, you’ll likely have more choice. Housekeeper nannies may have training in childcare and will usually need different insurance and security checks.

Another type worth mentioning is a live-in housekeeper. This should be fairly self-explanatory: it’s a housekeeper that lives in your home. They’ll still work normal hours rather than 24/7, but you’ll provide them with free accommodation during their employment.

When it comes to how to find a live-in housekeeper, you might be slightly more limited again. But then it’s not a particularly common type of housekeeper, so it balances out in the end.

Wondering if a housekeeper is right for you? Read our article on types of cleaning services.

Housekeepers’ Working Hours

Once you’ve decided on the type of housekeeper you need, you’ll need to figure out how often you want them to come. The 2 main options are full-time and part-time.

A nanny, for example, may be full-time if you need childcare while you work. But if you only work part-time, you’ll probably only need a part-time nanny.

The options for how to find a daily housekeeper (full-time) and how to find a part-time housekeeper are pretty much the same. Contact an agency in your local area and see who they have available.

You may find it easier to source a part-time housekeeper, as this gives them more flexibility in their own lives – they may have another job, kids, etc. However, based on UK employment law, part-time work can be up to 34 hours a week, so you’ve got a lot of flexibility.

Working out how many hours your housekeeper should work won’t be too difficult, especially if you already know what you want them to do. For example, if you have a very large house or like your home to be very clean, you might want a daily housekeeper. The same is true if you have lots of errands to run.

On the other hand, if you only want your home cleaned once a week, or you don’t need the cooking or errands done every day, a part-time housekeeper should be fine. If you’re unsure, speak to your chosen agency and they should be able to give you some advice.

How to Find a Housekeeper UK – Cost

Another important factor in hiring a housekeeper is figuring out your budget. Your location will have an impact on how much a housekeeper charges, as will their experience and qualifications.

We’ve got a full article on how much it costs to hire a housekeeper, so check that out for more information.

How to Find a Good Housekeeper

Now we get down to the important part: how to find a good housekeeper. After all, this is someone you’re letting into your home and trusting with your kids, house keys, etc., so they’ve got to be reputable.

Well, the best place to start is by speaking to a well-known housekeeping agency. Ensure they have the correct insurance and qualifications if needed, and check out their customer reviews. If you want extra confirmation, see if you can speak to some of their previous or existing clients.

From there, it’s a case of seeing who they have available and conducting interviews. You’ll know when you get matched with the right person.

Final Thoughts

You should now know how to find a housekeeper in the UK. If you’re looking for housekeeping services in London, get in touch with Cleaning Express. We only work with the most qualified professionals, so you know your home is safe with us.

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