If you are living in an apartment, you are most likely living in a city or town, which has a dusty environment. This dust is caused by traffic on roads and other polluting activities by the other residents of the area. This will result in your apartment collecting its fair share of dust and dirt, in spite of closed windows and other means of keeping dust out, even if it is HVAC systems. Walls of homes also tend to collect cobwebs and other mold and fungi on damp walls due to moisture laden rooms.
Every person, who has their apartment, probably once in a lifetime will like to have clean floors. Walls that are spic and span and furniture that does not send up clouds of dust whenever you use it. You will have this same requirement even if you are renting the apartment, because cleanliness is a matter of good health. A clean apartment is one in which you are happy to return to, have guests visit, and you and your family are safe and disease free. You can assist this process of cleanliness if you have habits that prevent you from having your apartment always having a cluttered look and one of being disorganized. Learn to pick up things and keep them in their proper places. Never leave food or even scraps on the table, as this will attract ants and other pests like rodents and cockroaches. Once these are in a home, keeping it clean is a herculean task. Have a regular schedule to clean up your home, and ensure that you stick to it. Ultimately, a clean home is something that you can always be proud of, and it is a rare visitor, who will not comment on the efforts you have taken and which are so easily visible.
When you want to maintain a clean apartment, besides the obvious vacuum cleaners, brooms, and mops you will need a supply of cleaning products. These can range from homemade vinegar, baking soda and bleach, to more sophisticated modern day chemicals that promise to reduce your need for elbow grease and effort. Be in sync with the modern world, and opt for products that are green and environmentally friendly, and you will find yourself living in a safer home. Most apartment cleaning starts with vacuuming or using a broom on the floors to remove all the dust and dirt that has accumulated since your last cleaning efforts. You may then use a mop to ensure that the floors are clean and sparkling as you like to see them. Besides this, you will also have to dust all surfaces, starting from tables, cupboards and countertops, window sills and almost any horizontal surface that shows a tendency to collect dust. You will also have to remove all dust accumulated on furniture and furnishings though this may not be so obvious. You then have to get down to cleaning the walls and floors of bathrooms and kitchens, which are very vulnerable to microorganisms, because of the use that is made of these rooms. This is a task that is quite demanding and necessary if you are to live a disease free in your apartment.
The list above is very cursory, and you may find far more areas in an apartment that demand attention and effort if you have to have a clean apartment. Can you seriously undertake all these chores, day in and day out as would be demanded if you want to maintain a certain standard of cleanliness? If you are busy with also trying to have a career, the answer is likely to be in the negative. You can always ask other members of the household to pitch in and play their part, but there is no guarantee that it will be done, especially if some of them are teenagers and overworked career professionals. The solution to this lies in getting in an apartment cleaning service that can take over all these chores and anything else that you pay them for. Start looking for such service providers in the yellow pages or any other helpful citywide information provider in your place of residence. The internet is a great place to start such a search, but make sure that your search is localized to your city and even the neighborhood you live in. Many of these agencies will have their websites, and many of them will have their landing pages, where you can give them details of the apartment that you want to be cleaned. They will in all cases call you up and ask to visit your premises to make their assessment of the work involved.
It can also help if you make your list of things that you want a cleaning service to carry out. Base it on all the daily and occasional cleaning work that you have been carrying out in your apartment. You can then add anything that you also feel needs attention. These services will have to be paid for, and it is best you take full advantage of any expense that you are being forced to make for the cleanliness of your apartment. Once the agency does set up a meeting, be prepared with your list of work and all other questions you may have regarding the work that will be done.
Do you want the work to be done every day or only a number of times a week?
This aspect can have a bearing on the charges that will be made. Do you require being present when this work is carried out? Will the work be carried out at a fixed time? How many people will be coming in? Are they trustworthy? What type of equipment will be used and what will be the power requirements for them? Is all staff insured? If any work is carried out that is outside the list, what will be the extra costs involved?
Most apartment cleaning services will offer to do the cleaning, the dusting, vacuuming and mopping as a rule. They can also undertake polishing of wooden furniture while they will assure you that they will scour corners, clean counter tops, and clean sinks. Others may even offer to do the laundry, change bed linens and take out the garbage. Windows are cleaned at no extra charge, and this cleaning can even extend to ovens. It makes sense to get any agency that you appoint to take up the minimum work that you want and see how they function before you extend the scope of their work. Set up a schedule that suits you as well as the agency and its timing. Most apartments can be completed in an hour or two, and agencies may try to adjust their scheduled service time of your apartment as well as the other apartments they have in your area, and may ask you to make adjustments to ensure the quality and completion of your apartment.
Smaller companies may not insist on too much paperwork and contracts, but it is always safe to have the scope of work and charges written down, so that there is a smaller chance for disputes to arise. Insist on guarantees on standards of cleanliness and make your displeasure clear, if you ever have the feeling that you are short-changed, and cleanliness standards are not being maintained. Most companies will redo the work to please customers. You can always assure yourself of better terms if you offer long time work, as this allows the cleaning service provider to make their plans. Insist on a regular contact person. On your part, do make sure that agreed payments are made on time and never delayed. If you are seen as a good paying customer, the standard of service that you can expect will be that much better.
Most people who work for such cleaning services do not have any high level of skill but require being completely reliable and trustworthy. Companies take a lot of time, effort, and care to stress this before they make any appointments and are merciless when there is any infringement or loss of trust. This assures apartment owners that their apartments and other belongings are always safe and inviolate. Most of these cleaning services run their services around the clock, but will separate their residential and commercial or office works, so that works are carried out for all their customers at times that are convenient. It also allows them to keep their equipment and transport fully engaged, which helps them to control costs.
Most of these apartment cleaning services can also undertake end of lease cleaning, which is essential for getting back deposits from landlords. They may also have linkups with carpet cleaning companies, and help you out when such work needs to be performed. Make sure that any service that you appoint is reliable and trustworthy because in all cases you will be leaving your apartment to them, along with your keys in the instances you may be at work. All the same do take adequate measures of your own to see that you keep your valuables locked up and important papers in safe places so that there will never be any danger of their being carried away.