Ask These Questions Before You Hire a Cleaning Service
Spoiler alert: The answers should all be Yes!
Are you licensed, bonded, and insured? (And what does that mean?)
New York state has strict restrictions about licensing businesses – especially when it comes to granting a license to a green cleaning service, which is why you should always confirm that the company is legally able to do business in New York before you give them access to your home or business. The Better Business Bureau is a great source to do an informal background check on any business you’re thinking of hiring.
But, your due diligence doesn’t stop with confirming the business license. A good cleaning service will also be bonded and insured so you’re protected financially if they don’t do the work you agreed on or if someone gets hurt in your home or business – for guaranteed protection be sure that the person cleaning is an employee of the service provider.
As a home owner and the owner of a green cleaning service, I’ve made this a priority personally and professionally. Taking the extra steps to insure, license, and bond GreenHouse Eco-Cleaning was the right thing to do for our customers as well as our employees. This added protection ensures that if a cleaner is hurt in your home or business/office, we can make sure she gets the medical help she needs without placing the financial burden on our employee or the legal liability on you, which would put your home or business at risk.
Do your employees go through training?
Green cleaning services require more training and education than traditional cleaning services, which is why this is an important question to ask before you make a final decision. Your cleaning service should understand the importance of using only eco-friendly cleaning agents and the health hazards that can arise when products are used incorrectly.
The best cleaning services will be trained to work efficiently and quickly together as a team so you don’t pay for wasted time or damaged property.
As an example, we spend time ensuring that our employees are trained in good health & safety practices as well as develop a thorough understanding of our proprietary eco-friendly cleaning agents and our stringent performance expectations. All this extra time spent training gives us the peace of mind that our employees are working safely and quickly, which ultimately saves money and provides a better environment for them as well as our customers.
Should I supply my own equipment?
Cross contamination from borrowed or shared cleaning appliances such as mops, vacuums, and brooms are responsible for allergies and airborn pathogens, which is why we prefer to use the equipment you supply rather than bringing our own equipment from house to house.
Some green cleaning services will bring their own equipment and that’s fine; but we prefer to be extra careful when it comes to the health and safety of our clients.
We do bring our own vegetable-based cleaning products so that your home remains a germ and toxin-free zone. Our cleansers are tough enough to get rid of grease and grime, but since they’re 100% organic and biodegradable they won’t make you or your family sick.
Of course, if you don’t have cleaning equipment such as a mop, broom, or vacuum cleaner, we offer an option to add them when you order your service or you can call us before your appointment to let us know you’ll need them.
Any good green cleaning service will supply their own natural cleaning agents, but it’s a good idea to ask them for details or an ingredient list so you can be sure you’re not opening the door to hidden chemicals.
Do you insist on quality control?
Surprise spot checks. Account managers. A thorough initial consultation. These are the types of quality control measures any good green cleaning service will insist on. Certainly, we do! You’ll work with an Account Manager to communicate exactly what you need and expect, and we’ll follow up with our employees through spot checks, rigorous training, and –depending on the job—we may even go to the job site with them to ensure you get what you need.
Can you help me green my home or business in other ways?
Good for you! The more we all take an active, personal interest in restoring our environment the better our world will become. The best green cleaning services will want to work with you to make going green a lifestyle rather than just a cleaning preference. We are proud of the work we do with our clients to help them go green in big and small ways.
Download this free report and discover 25 ways you can save money just by going green!