Making the Most of Your Time When Cleaning Homes

Wasted time means wasted money! It's always surprising how many cleaning business owners do not have a system when it comes to cleaning homes. Because being consistent and having a regular system for cleaning each home, means you will be more efficient and more profitable.

After all, the more cleaning jobs you can fit into a day, the more profit you will earn. If you can complete jobs faster with the same quality results, then you have more time to offer specialized services or move onto the next customer's home.

Time Means Money When It Comes To Cleaning Homes!

Don't waste time when cleaning homes

The top offender when it comes to time wasting is inefficient or non-existent cleaning routes. They are essential to every home cleaning business in order to maximize productivity. Every cleaning route needs to be tested and refined until the most efficient route is found for the home. Cleaning routes can be set up for one person, two people, or team cleaning.

Other wasted time offenders include unorganized caddies, insufficient cleaning procedures, ineffective cleaning chemicals, running out of supplies, and poorly maintained equipment.

Following are some general tips to save time while cleaning:

• Make sure that you have the supplies you need close at hand. An easy way to do this is to carry all your supplies in a caddy. If you use concentrated products, mix up enough in the morning to last throughout the entire day.
• When cleaning, make the most of every movement. Avoid backtracking. Every footstep you spend going back to rooms you've already cleaned costs time and energy.
• Always clean from top to bottom; otherwise you will have to re-clean soil and dust that drops from higher surfaces. For example, don't begin by cleaning an end table, then dusting the corner cobwebs above it.
• Working in circular patterns helps to lessen footsteps and keeps you focused so no tasks are left undone.
• Use color coded microfiber cloths so you don't cross-contaminate surfaces. Also, use the 8 sided folding method for microfiber cloths. When using this method of folding and re-folding, you are working more efficiently, plus the cloth will last longer.
• Always use high quality cleaning products and supplies. Spend a little more and get professional cleaning chemicals from a trusted janitorial distributor. Avoid using homemade mixtures as they will not always be of the same strength, may damage the surfaces you're cleaning, and affect the quality of your cleaning. Incorporating multi-purpose cleaners reduces clutter in the caddy and the chance of cleaning a surface using the wrong chemical.
• Save time and energy by using the right cleaning products. If you find you're having to use too much elbow grease to get the job done, it's an indication you're either not using the right product, or it's not diluted correctly. The cleaning chemical should be doing most of the hard work, not you!
• Always keep your tools and equipment in good working order. Spend a little time at the end of each day to clean and inspect the equipment. This will ensure it's all in good working order the next time it's used.

Here is an example of how to efficiently clean a kitchen:

Put on personal protective equipment (gloves and safety glasses). Place caddy on the floor and to the side of the kitchen entry. Empty trash, replace can liner. Start at the left or right of the kitchen entry, cleaning from top to bottom and back to front for efficiency. Use a microfiber extension duster to remove cobwebs from ceiling corners, vents and lights.

Dust top edge and face of cabinets, top of refrigerator and any other ledges. Use green microfiber cloth or dusting mitt to dust other items as you move in a circular motion around the kitchen. Starting at the left or right of the kitchen sink spray sanitizing cleaner onto the counter top and back splash and wipe with a yellow microfiber cloth.

Spot clean cabinet doors and hardware as you move to the left or right. As you come to counter top items, move them to the side and spray/wipe counter top and back splash. Apply cleaner to cloth and wipe items as you replace them. As you circle the kitchen, apply cleaner to yellow cloth and wipe touch points such as light switches, cabinet doors and handles, door knobs and phones. As you pass by the refrigerator, dish washer and stove, spray and wipe outside surfaces.

Clean the inside and outside of the microwave. When you return to the sink, spray and wipe the sink and faucet. Apply glass cleaner to a blue microfiber cloth and clean any glass or polished stainless steel items such as the faucet. Clean the kitchen table or island by spraying and wiping with sanitizing cleaner and yellow microfiber cloth.

Also spray and wipe seats and backs of chairs that are not fabric. Apply stainless steel polish to a white cotton cloth or use stainless steel cleaner wipes on any items that are brushed stainless steel such as the refrigerator, dish washer, oven, microwave, or sink. Use a backpack vacuum to vacuum the floor and rugs. After vacuuming rugs, roll up and place on floor to the side of the kitchen entrance. Watch for soil and debris in corners and edges on the floor while vacuuming. Set wet floor sign outside of the kitchen entrance.

Option 1: Mop the floor using a microfiber flat mop, applying neutral pH floor cleaner from spray bottle onto the floor pad or directly on to floor surface as you work your way out of the kitchen.

Option 2: Mop the floor using a flat mop and charging bucket with preconditioned pads.

Option 3: Mop the floor using a bucket-less flat mop and pad.

Replace rugs after the floor is dry, remove wet floor signs, and turn off the lights.

Conclusion:

As a residential cleaning business owner, you clean your customer's homes for appearance but you also need to focus on efficiency. You should continually reevaluate your procedures, chemicals, and equipment to continually improve efficiency and operate using the most effective chemicals, supplies and equipment possible.

Working efficiently, having your cleaning products do the work for you, and keeping your equipment in tip-top shape will speed up your cleaning time on any job. And, the less time spent cleaning, the more profit for your pocket!

The Residential Cleaning to Perfection Training Program (PDF Download) is a 99 page document that gives you proven systems to make your cleaning staff more productive and efficient. Results come through proper training, which the manual guides you through, step-by-step.