As a Maid Service provider, your time and your cleaners time is money in your pocket. To run a successful Cleaning Business you must have an efficient and consistent cleaning system in which you and your cleaners use ever time they clean a home. This system should provide the highest quality in the least amount of time. In the cleaning industry we call it SPEED CLEANING!!!
The most important thing with cleaning efficiently is to have a plan, move sequentially with your steps. Don’t waste extra time and steps going back over surfaces or grabbing supplies from another room. Cleaning should flow from one surface to the next and one room to the next.
When I owned my cleaning business, we used this process every time with no deviation. We were able to clean a 3000 square foot home, with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in 2 hours and 45 minutes. With 2 cleaners 1 hour 25 minutes!
FREE RESOURCE: This is the system my cleaners used to achieve the cleaning times listed on my FREE price worksheet provided here——-> What to Charge for House Cleaning Services
Speed Cleaning will maximize your steps (you should never clean the same surface twice) and maximize your cleaner products cleaning power (let your cleaning product work for you!).
5 Rules to Speed Cleaning
- Have your cleaner and tools in reaching distance. Wear an apron AND carry a bucket. Don’t waste time looking for a cleaner or wasting steps to get a tool. By wearing an apron and having a cleaning bucket you will always have the right tool in hand.
- Avoid having to clean an area more than once. Always clean from top to bottom. Gravity is real, dust and debris will fall onto area’s already cleaned.
- Limit the amount of steps you take. To maximize your steps, clean left to right. You will make a complete circle around the room never wasting a step.
- Use the right tools for the right job. Use tougher tools for tougher jobs. For example, use razor blades to scrap off stuck on grime. Related Source: Must Have Tools for Speed Cleaning.
- Let your cleaner work for you. Let your cleaner work. Most cleaners need to sit on surfaces to penetrate grime. Let them and you will scrub less.
The more you adapt to the cleaning process the faster you and your cleaners will become! Make speed cleaning a game. Each time you and your cleaners clean, try to achieve more efficient bench marks. Quality should never be compromised, but reward your cleaners for meeting goals!
The Cleaning System –
Master Bathroom.
- Remove rugs, shake debris off and set to the side. Vacuum the floor. It is easier to vacuum 1st before the floor gets wet. After that it is nearly impossible.
- Clean the vanity, wiping with your dominant and lifting contents with your other hand. Try to avoid removing every thing and having to place it back. It wastes extra time and steps.
- Sanitize and clean the toilet.
- Scrub the tub and the shower. Make sure your cleaner has time to soak on the surfaces. Soap scum will clean off easier with minimal scrubbing required.
- Mop the Floor. Start in the farthest corner of the bathroom and mop your way out of the door.
Master Bedroom.
- Moving from the bathroom, dust from left to right, top to bottom of the room. First start with long dusting, then follow with short dusting.
- Vacuum starting from the furthest corner of the room and making your way out the door.
Smaller Bathrooms.
- Attack these bathrooms in the same progression as the master bathroom. They are smaller and will take a third of the time.
Dusting
- Start in the children/guest bedrooms. Dusting from the left of the door, long dust and follow with a short dust.
- Dust the living room, family room, den, and any other remaining rooms. Use the same dusting pattern, left to right and top to bottom.
Kitchen
- Starting left of the kitchen sink, wipe down the counters and any appliances and cabinet faces you pass by. Continuing on, lift with your dominant hand and wipe with your other. Wipe all debris to the floor, you will vacuum them up later.
- Wipe the face of the refrigerator, stove top and inside of the microwave when you pass each.
- Finish the kitchen with the sink.
Vacuum and mop
- Starting in the farthest bedroom vacuum your way to the kitchen.
- To mop, follow the same progression as vacuuming. You should finish by the front door to eliminate tracking on wet floors.
I want to hear from you!
Let me know how you did! Track your steps and you time and comment below.
Do you have any tips on how you improve your cleaning efficiency? Let me know, I love hearing other ideas on how other companies cut cleaning times while still maintaining quality!
Love your cleaning advice. I’ve had my own residential cleaning service for over 20 years and STILL love it !!! I’ve found over the yrs…if it’s not dirty, don’t spend time cleaning it. Some of my clients are clean freaks, some are NOT ? For those clients that are home while I’m working, retired or disabled, I try to keep the chit-chat to a minimum otherwise I’ll be there till midnight ? some love having the ‘company’ !!!
Thanks, this is helpful! The process is simple, I needed to be reassured of that
Hi Rachel, I am glad you are finding it helpful 🙂
What if your client’s home has 2.5 bathrooms up stairs and 1 bathroom down stairs??
Do you still clean all the bathrooms first or clean all rooms upstairs (main level) then move down stairs or vise versa?
Hello Chelsea, thank you for your comment! If you are running a 1 person team I recommend cleaning the upstairs 1st (bathrooms and bedrooms). Then move down stairs, and clean the downstairs bathroom.
I clean a 1,600 home solo. No matter how hard I try to be more efficient, it takes me 5.5 to 6 hrs to clean the upstairs, main floor, and basement.
The top floor has one master bath and three bedrooms. For the master bedroom, I dust top trim first, then the two nightstands, one dresser, and one armoire. Then, I clean the windows and picture frames. After that’s done, I change the linens and make the bed. The owner likes it made a specific way. Then, I dust the bottom trim, vacuum the carpet and floors, and mop. It took Me 45 minutes.
Then, the master bath is full of hair!! The whole family uses this bathroom for showers. I dust top trim, then clean and disinfect tub, polish the chrome. Then I clean sinks, polish sink counters, clean mirrors and window, polish all sink fixtures. I then the clean the toilet, which is super gross. I use Mr. Clean bathroom sponge for entire outside, then get crevices and spend forever getting all the hair off. Then, I wipe down cabinet doors, dust bottom trim, vacuum tile and mop.
The other two bedrooms have same routine as master.
Took me 2.5 hrs total today to clean that including upstairs hallway and stairs.
I get $75 flat for entire house. Spending 6 hrs cleaning it is a profit sinker.
This is a regular weekly clean. What am I doing wrong?
Help!
Hello Lisa, My tip first tip to you is that you are charging to little for your cleaning service. If you have not already, you can sign up for my email and download my pricing worksheet to help you price your service at a fair price. For Cleaning bedrooms don’t clean 1 room at a time but rather by the task. For example, dust all the bedrooms first, then vacuum. For the bathroom try vacuuming up the hair before you start cleaning, use a vacuum attachment to vacuum the hair off the counters as well. Once the hair gets wet, as you probably know, it is impossible to clean up quickly. Send me an email (Roberta@WellKeptClutter.com) if you have more questions. You can also check out my EBook: A Maid Services Guide to Cleaning Professionally. The book goes into detail my cleaning routine.
I tend to race through the house and get all the used linen into bags first. Then grab (most) of my gear and head upstairs. As the bed linens (under blankets etc) can be a little dusty, I make the bed, then dust and reset. Go into the ensuite bathroom, spray the shower, toilet and basin. Clean, sanitise and restock the shower, basin, toilet (discard cloth), wash the floor and I’m out.
Get vaccum cleaner (now that any dust has settled ) and vaccum. I have the spray bottle with isopropyl in it, but I’m not keen to be letting that air dry on the antique wooden surfaces, so it’s wiped. Next bedrooms and bathrooms in floor or storey order until they’re completed (on all three floors). Then tidy up all the furniture that’s been moved, cushions etc, re-set the fire, clean, dust, polish, vacuum, wash floors in the two lounges and dining area. On the the kitchen, working from one end to the other, starting with the fridge, bench and contents, dishwasher, drawers and cupboards, stove, more drawers, coffee station, island station with more drawers and seating. Last thing is the entryway just before I shut the door. Seems to work for me ….. Does anyone see a problem with it? Honest replies readily accepted!!
Hi Roberta I just wanted to say I am so happy and thankful I found you. You have helped me so much with your shared advice. I also downloaded your new client welcome kit and absolutely love it, it has really helped me and is exactly what my Cleaning Business was missing.
Thank you Amanda, I really appreciate your kind words!
I am glad the that the new client welcome kit is what you were looking for. I wish you all the best with your Cleaning Business!
Hi! Just started helping out a friend clean their house and it took me way longer than expected so I’m glad I found your posts! My friends have a ton of decor to move around to dust and even an area of glass shelves and tons of liquor bottles…what would be the best way to dust those areas quickly and efficiently? Thank you so much in advance for the help!
Hello Jane, Thank you for commenting here!
For areas with tons of decor, I recommend using a small handheld duster. It can be a mini handheld microfiber duster or even a Swiffer duster. The idea is to use something small enough that you can easily run over and between all the knick-knacks and items on shelves as you make your way around a room. Always start on one side of a room and make your way around moving top to bottom of all furniture.
We cleaned for this one lady who had 2 shelves of decorative salt and pepper shakers. The small handheld dusters were a godsend in dusting the small items! For overly dusty homes, you could require a deep clean the first clean where you charge more and spend extra time dusting the decor by hand. This makes it even easier to maintain the level of detail with a handheld duster.
I wish you all the best!