Life happens in an instant. Time is precious and there seems to be less of it available in Toronto despite there still being 24 hours on any given day.
We’re all mindful of the need to take care of our health, live in a clean environment, and free up time for the important things in life. This makes the idea of a cleaning service appealing.
This article aims to answer this question as best we can. Each situation is different, but we’ll provide you with a good idea.
Finding, Vetting, and Hiring a Private Home Cleaner
Private home cleaners can be hired directly or through third-party service providers.
These cleaners in Toronto usually charge around $15 to $20 per hour. A few are much higher but seldom are they less expensive than this.
Hiring a private cleaner creates potential liability issues. They usually won’t have insurance to cover an accident they get into at your home or damage they do to property or its contents either.
You’ll also need to hire them based on some kind of ad hoc vetting process. After all, they’ll be in your home and they’re a stranger to you. That’s a bit worrying… You may need to use a referral from a friend to find a good one.
Hiring a Professional Cleaning Businesses
A professional house cleaning company is another way to go. It is more expensive than a private cleaner but comes with certain benefits.
Companies will be bonded and carry insurance too. This protects against potential liability issues. Most cleaning companies will heavily vet their staff too. This is for their protection and yours. They know many homeowners are working away from home all day and the cleaner may visit when that’s occurring to clean in their absence. Therefore, they need to be trusted. So, vetting is essential.
Professional cleaning companies either charge an hourly rate or a flat rate for specific types of cleaning services depending on the size of the home, the number of bedrooms, etc. Cleaning companies may have multiple cleaning staff visits to complete the cleaning service sooner for larger residences. This isn’t possible when hiring a private cleaner.
The hourly rate might be at least $25/hour and possibly more. For flat-rate pricing, a 1-bedroom apartment might cost between $110 and $140 to have cleaned. With larger homes, the price increases with the square footage. It also depends on what type of cleaning service you’re requesting too.
Companies will supply the same cleaning staff as often as possible. However, if they’re sick or on vacation, another equally competent cleaner can be provided in their absence. This is different from a private cleaner who just won’t show up.
And as we mention “showing up,” there’s no issue with a cleaner being unreliable either. Higher standards are maintained by cleaning companies with unreliable team members being released to work for other businesses instead.
Office Cleaning by Professional Cleaning Companies
Offices range hugely in size, the number of floors, kitchens, bathrooms, etc.
Usually, offices are priced by square footage, possibly with adjustments for multiple floors or the number of bathrooms. A small office that’s no larger than 700 square feet may cost between $100 to $140 to have cleaned. Larger offices are cleaned at a higher cost based on size. The number of cleaning staff will depend on the size of the job.
Home cleaning can be haphazard and time-consuming when you don’t have an organized plan.
Even if you need to go room by room and split the chore over several days, it still pays dividends to prepare early and plan. Therefore, a home cleaning checklist is valuable to both renters and homeowners alike.
Preparing to Clean the Home
Here are some things to do to prepare to clean your home:
Declutter First – When decluttering before cleaning, it leaves less to do. With extra smaller (and larger) possessions, it means additional surfaces for dust and debris to gather. The more they get moved around between cleaning cycles, the extra dust gets sprayed around.
Dusting Isn’t Simple – To dust effectively, it’s necessary to do it right. Otherwise, you’ll make more work for yourself. Sweep the room from the left side to the right side. Also, begin at the top and work your way down. This encourages dust to relocate closer to ground level as you go, leaving nothing behind. Don’t ignore windowsills, framed pictures, and blinds that capture dust on both sides.
Vacuum Later – Ensure your vacuum isn’t malfunctioning and spewing dust everywhere. Change the bag if it’s almost full; it’ll be a pain to do it in the middle of a cleaning cycle.
Sweeping and Mopping – Use the right cleaning solutions to avoid damaging the floors. Rinse well when the mop needs to shake off collected debris and dirt.
Clean the vanity countertop, cabinets, and mirrors.
Bring the faucets back to a shiny, clean look.
Use a mop and cleaning solution on the floor.
Once dry, put the rug, and wastebaskets back into position.
Other Cleaning Tips
Return to each room that’s been cleaned to inspect it. Act like a supervisor with a discerning eye looking over someone else’s work. Disturbed hair in the bathroom floats in the air and lands after you’ve left. Other missed bits are easier to see once everything else is cleaned.
Our professional home cleaning in Toronto always uses the right tools and cleaning solutions for each task. An all-purpose cleaner is not appropriate for all areas. Sometimes, specialist cleaning solutions to attack limescale, persistent bacteria, or thick grime are needed to get better results.
Also, don’t rush. While we all like to get through cleaning chores faster, it leads to inferior results.
The kitchen is a common meeting place for family members. When a table is also situated inside it to grab snacks or eat as a family, then that’s, even more, the case.
With multiple occupants and plenty of hands-on countertops, they pick up germs and bacteria throughout the day. This can make food preparation problematic, even when it’s done safely.
Color-coded chopping boards and using multiple knives keep different foods away from each other to avoid cross-contamination. However, when countertops aren’t kept clean enough, germs can still get into your food.
Remove Spills Quickly
Prevention is better than a cure. In medicine this is true, but so is it true for kitchen countertops too.
Food quickly goes off, including breadcrumbs and other tiny food particles. Then bacteria will develop. Any spills, no matter how small, can turn into bacteria waiting to happen. Then it multiplies! While a kitchen towel to wipe it down removes some of it, the surface will still have microscopic remnants.
And that’s all it takes…
Wipe down spills as soon as they happen. They’re far easier to clean that way than leaving them until later.
Using Everyday Supplies to Disinfect Kitchen Countertops
It is up to you whether you choose to use vinegar, some household bleach, or a specialized solution from the store.
Before cleaning the countertops by disinfecting them, it’s best to go over them with a paper towel or clean cloth.
Obvious to spot dried sauces, breadcrumbs, and other bits of food can be swept up. You won’t get everything – dried food won’t completely lift this way – but it’s a start and leads to a cleaner, simpler cleaning process in the next stage.
“Note: If you’re going to use something stronger like bleach, then test it in a part of the countertop that cannot be seen. This might be the back corner or under a small kitchen appliance that never moves from that spot.
If it stains or begins to remove the protective seal from the countertop, you know it’s too harsh for it. This is far better than wiping the entire countertop with a prepared solution and bitterly regretting it later! We cannot stress this enough.”
Using Bleach to Disinfect Countertops
Use rubber gloves to protect your fingers or call the Toronto Cleaning experts. You’ll thank us later.
Here are the steps to take:
Mix up a small half cup of bleach blended into a gallon of water.
Clean the countertops of any removable kitchen appliances. Etc.
Wipe the countertops down.
Allow ten minutes for the bleach to work its magic.
Use a clean cloth that’s been dampened to wipe the entire countertop.
Wait until the countertop is 100% dry, then reinstall the smaller kitchen appliances.
Note: If you’re not happy to use bleach, then a disinfecting spray cleaner or a distilled white vinegar solution mixed with water is adequate too. Marble and granite should not be cleaned using bleach.
Using White Vinegar or a Disinfecting Spray to Clean the Countertops
Either a white vinegar solution mixed with water, or a disinfecting household spray from the store will also work. They’re both less harsh than bleach.
You can clean the touchpoint areas in the kitchen and elsewhere, countertops, cooking stoves, and tables like this.
Here are the steps to take:
Use the disinfecting spray or make a spray solution by mixing a little vinegar with a large amount of water. Do not under-dilute the vinegar.
Wipe down the countertop surface
Spray the cleaning solution onto the countertops
Give it 10 minutes to work
Wipe the countertop down with a dry, clean non-abrasive cloth
Open the windows to let the countertop dry faster and to release any lingering vinegar smell
Note: Marble and granite won’t play nicely with vinegar. Use a different cleaning solution for these higher-end countertops.
Hardwood floors are tricky to clean without damaging their surface or finish. Therefore, care is required to do it well. Also, if your home is filled with pets, then pet dander or dust mites could be forming more regularly too.
Dust accumulates constantly. It can be problematic for people with breathing difficulties like asthma or COPD, or who are allergic to dust. Call a Toronto house cleaning company to Keep hardwood floors clean and make them safer to walk on too.
Tools of the Trade To Clean Hardwood Floors
A variety of tools of the trade are effective on hardwood floors. While these types of floors are quite durable, they typically either have a polyacrylic urethane or polyacrylic urethane coating that can be damaged when using the wrong tools. Also, the type of cleaning solutions used matters for the same reason too.
A broom or brush is excellent for removing grit, dirt, and food remnants from hardwood floors. The trick here is to only use ones with softer bristles to avoid scratching the floor’s protective surface. Also, nylon or similar material for the bristles is useful too – it does a better job of capturing what’s on the floor.
A mop with a detachable microfiber head is most effective. It can also be ‘hot swapped’ to another head when it’s become worn out. The head may also be washable too.
A standard vacuum cleaner can damage hardwood flooring. Many people choose not to vacuum them for this reason or only use a hand-held vacuum in troublesome spots. The best vacuum has soft bristles and a beater bar that can be retracted back inside the machine; this avoids creating new scratches while moving the vacuum over the floor.
A floor cleaner needs to be one that won’t damage the protective surface and be eco-friendly too.
Paper towels can mop up any excess liquid collecting in the corners.
Distilled water is also beneficial because it doesn’t have chemicals or minerals that could damage the wood.
Vacuum or Sweep the Floor Regularly
While vacuuming daily isn’t likely on the cards, sweeping up daily won’t require much time and is hassle-free.
Clean Up Spills Immediately
Do not allow spills to remain. They can discolor the protective coating or become sticky and difficult to remove with milder cleaning solutions designed to not damage the wood or its coating. This is a balancing act between preservation and effectiveness.
The worst culprits are darker in color because they hide easily on hardwood and tend to be more difficult to get out afterward.
Mop the Floor Each Week
Using the microfiber mop, run it over the hardwood floor each week.
Follow the natural direction of the grain. This lets the floor dry more evenly and prevents streaking. Use distilled water with the mop to prevent the minerals from dampening the natural shine of the wood.
A cleaning solution can be added to the distilled water or in spray form. It should be mixed correctly to avoid overusing it. If you do, excess cleaning solution leaves a sticky film over the floor.
Also, if you prefer non-commercial cleaning solutions, then mixing a little bit of white vinegar (distilled version) with distilled water will do the trick too. Open the windows afterward to let the smell disappear soon after.
Grout on a tile floor never seems to stay clean for long. It gradually changes from its initial white color to a greyish hue. This is because it’s porous, so it absorbs moisture and becomes discolored as a result.
Because it tends to look grubby, it’s necessary to clean it on a semi-regular basis.
Here is How to Clean Tile Floor Grout Effectively
What Will You Need to Clean the Grout?
Get your supplies rounded up. Look to see if you’ll need to pick up something that you don’t have at home.
You’ll need this list of supplies:
Hydrogen peroxide
Soap
Baking soda
Something to scrub with
A towel
A spoon
Access to hot water
The tool(s) to scrub with could be a scrubbing brush or even a toothbrush. We’d say that a scrubbing brush is effective to access most of the grout, even if you need to turn the brush partly on its edge to do so. An old, no longer used toothbrush might be useful for tight corners and tricky spots
Prepare Your Supplies
Heat some water in the kettle. Mix it with some colder water, so it’s not scolding but still hot enough.
Prepare a mixture of hot water, baking soda, and some hydrogen peroxide. If you have one available, use a spray bottle. If not, a jug of the mixture can be poured onto the grout and is fine too.
Getting Started
Clean the floor initially to remove any dirt or grime on the surface. Using soapy water and a mop is perfect for this task. Getting this out the way first makes it quicker to access the grout.
A towel or a sponge can be used to dry the floor ahead of applying the cleaning agent to the grout. Let the floor dry for a while.
Now apply the baking soda mixture to the grout. It will require a hard scrubbing action to sufficient agitate the grout without physically breaking it apart. You want to avoid damaging the solvents in and around the grout.
If the grout is particularly bad, then adding the baking soda with less water in it and leaving it for a while before scrubbing allows it to soak in more. This can be more effective.
Air out the room after the floor tiles have been cleaned. This will allow any mold spores to float away.
Additional Preventative Measures
To reduce the need to clean the grout, it’s possible to later add a secondary treatment to them.
The grout can be subsequently sprayed with a disinfecting mixture to help avoid mold from reappearing later.
The mixture is created with either tea tree oil or white vinegar combined with some water. Add this to a spray bottle and use it liberally on the tiles and in the grout area.
While using white vinegar is a great disinfectant, it won’t protect the tiles forever. So, you’ll still need to clean them to bring their whiteness back. It’ll just be less frequently required.
Hiring a maid service is something that a person considers when they’re overwhelmed, time-constrained, and need a little help at home. A maid service can clean the place, refresh the linen, and make life simpler.
Here are 7 Things to Know or Consider Before Hiring a Maid Service.
Ask Around for Recommendations
In a Toronto cleaning company’s website is full of useful information to clarify what they do and how they do it. But it’s important to ask colleagues, friends, and other people who have hired a cleaning company about their thoughts too.
People who have hired a maid service before will likely have unbiased, informed opinions about whether it worked out for them. They may even have a recommendation or suggest things to watch out for.
Think About Insurance Coverage
You’re about to let someone else’s employees into your home. You could be at work at the time, and they’re given the entry code to gain access.
Their staff could have an accident while at your home. Or they could damage something valuable while cleaning it. To protect you from these outcomes, bonding, and insurance are needed by the company. Also, decent workers’ compensation packages must ensure their staff doesn’t come out worse off from any accident too.
It will add to the cost, but it protects you better than hiring a personal cleaner without such legal protections in place.
Reviews and Testimonials Aren’t Bulletproof
Whether it’s testimonials or customer reviews, some of these can be gamed with placed reviews or courtesy testimonials. Do consider that when reading them.
Also, bear in mind that most people don’t find the time to leave a positive review. It’s far likelier that someone will leave a negative one. Therefore, maid services with some good reviews and the odd disgruntled one, where they expected small cleaning miracles, is to be expected.
Flexible Service or One Size Fits All?
Some cleaning or maid services are franchise operations where that offer an identical list of services at every location. Others are family-owned with a range of services, along with bespoke cleaning options tailored to individual customers.
Be sure to hire a maid service that’s flexible if that’ll meet your needs better.
What About Any Awards, etc.?
Has the company received any industry awards for its service levels?
Or have they received accreditation validating their services? Not all companies will have these but it’s useful to check them out if they do.
What Type of Cleaning Supplies Do They Use?
Do they use cleaning products with harsh chemicals in them? Or are they non-abrasive and unlikely to cause skin reactions?
Are their supplies eco-friendly or not? Will they be switching over to these soon?
Do they use the same cleaning cloths in multiple rooms or have a system to avoid potential cross-contamination of different living spaces?
Will the Same Cleaning Staff Visit Each Time?
Some companies try to provide consistency by offering the same cleaning team for repeat visits. Others just send whoever is available.
