First, the good news: you don’t have to clean before we get there.
People ask us this all the time, and we get why. There’s a real instinct to tidy up before the cleaners come, the way you’d straighten the apartment before a guest arrives. Skip it. Cleaning is the part you’re handing to us.
What actually helps is a few minutes of setup the night before or the morning of. Most of it is confirming things you’ve already done. Here’s the short version.
Check your booking confirmation
Before anything else, pull up the confirmation email you got after booking. Take a minute to verify that we have the right address, the right apartment number, and the right scope of work. If you booked a standard clean but you really need a deep clean, or the address auto-filled your office instead of your apartment, that’s a lot easier to fix now than when your cleaner is standing in the wrong lobby.
The email also has your terms and conditions, cancellation policy, and scheduled window. Read through them once. They’re short, and they answer most of the “wait, what if” questions people have after hitting the book button. If anything looks off, reply to the email or call us. We’d rather sort it out two days early than two minutes late.
Sort out building access
This is the step that burns the most time when it’s not handled before the visit. A cleaner stuck in a lobby waiting for clearance is a cleaner not cleaning your apartment.
- Check with building management first. Some NYC buildings require a certificate of insurance (COI) from service providers before they’re allowed upstairs. If yours does, let us know a few days early. We carry full coverage and can send the certificate directly to your management office.
- Register your cleaner at the front desk. Leave the cleaner’s name or “Cleaning Chief” with the doorman or concierge so they’re expected. If your building uses a visitor log or a sign-in sheet, make sure we’re on it.
- Confirm the timing works for your building. This is the one people miss. Some buildings don’t allow service work after 5 PM. Others don’t allow it on weekends at all. If you’ve booked an evening or Saturday slot, check your building’s house rules or call the super before the day arrives. A booking that conflicts with building policy means a wasted trip for everyone.
- Walk-up or buzzer: make sure the buzzer works and we have the right apartment and floor. If you won’t be home, arrange a key handoff or a lockbox code and send it through your confirmation.
- Parking: if there’s a spot or a loading zone we should use, mention it. Otherwise we figure out NYC parking like everyone else.
Your building’s house rules or the city’s tenant resources at NYC.gov can tell you what’s required for outside service providers. You don’t have to be home for the cleaning. Plenty of our clients hand off access, head to the office, and come back to a finished apartment.
Clear the surfaces you want cleaned
We clean around your things, but a counter buried under mail and a phone charger gets a quick wipe, not a real clean. If you want a surface to actually shine, give us a clear shot at it.
Run a quick pass through the kitchen and bathroom: stash the mail, move the small appliances you’d rather we not unplug, and drop loose items into a drawer or a bin. You’re not cleaning. You’re just deciding what gets touched. Anything you leave out, we’ll clean around with care.
Put away anything precious or private
This is the one that matters most in a city where your cleaner is letting themselves into your home. Our cleaners are background-checked and insured, and the same person comes back each visit so you build a real rapport. Even so, the right move with valuables is the simple one: put them away.
Tuck jewelry, cash, watches, and small heirlooms into a drawer or a safe. Same with anything sensitive: documents, prescriptions, a laptop that’s mid-project. Vetted or not, putting valuables away just takes the question off the table for everyone. If a piece is fragile or genuinely irreplaceable, like an art object or a family antique, leave us a quick note and we’ll clean around it or leave it untouched, your call.
Sort out your pets
Most pets are no trouble, and our cleaners are used to working around a curious cat or a friendly dog. But cleaning day brings a vacuum, unfamiliar sounds, and an open front door, which is a lot for some animals.
If your pet spooks easily or doesn’t love strangers, set them up in a closed room, a crate, or with a walker for the window we’ll be there. Let us know about pets when you book so your cleaner isn’t surprised, and flag anything we should know, like a dog that bolts for the door or a cat that hides under the bed. If anyone in your home has allergies, that’s worth a note too: our vacuums are HEPA-filtered, which pulls out the pet dander and fine dust that trigger reactions, but the ASPCA’s guidance on household cleaning around pets is a good read if you want to go further.
Flag the special requests up front
If there’s a room to skip, a surface to leave alone, or a problem area you really want handled (the oven, the inside of the fridge, hard-water buildup on the shower glass), tell us before the visit, not after. Reply to your confirmation or note it when you book.
Same goes for products. Our default kit is professional-grade and chosen with families in mind, and several of our products carry the EPA’s Safer Choice certification. If you’d rather we use something you have on hand, skip a particular product, or go fragrance-free, just say so.
What you can skip entirely
To be clear about where the line is, here’s what you don’t need to do:
- Don’t pre-clean. Really.
- Don’t do the dishes for us, though if the sink’s full, a quick clear-out means we can clean the sink itself.
- Don’t move heavy furniture. Tell us what you’d like reached and we’ll handle it safely.
- Don’t buy supplies. We bring everything: cleaning products, microfiber cloths, mops, the works. The two things we do need from you: a working vacuum cleaner and a stepladder. If you’d rather we bring those too, just add equipment delivery when you book.
What happens on the day
Your cleaner arrives in the window you booked. They’ll do a quick walk-through with you if you’re home, confirm anything you flagged, and get to work. When they’re done, you get exit photos so you can see the result even if you were out. If anything isn’t right, tell us. We’ll come back and make it right, no charge. That’s the whole promise: if you’re thinking about cleaning, we’ve failed.
When you’re ready to book your next one, request a quote or a visit here. Most of our clients settle into a rhythm with the same cleaner, which is when the whole thing stops being something you manage and starts being something that just happens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to clean before the cleaners come?
No. Cleaning is exactly what we’re handling. A few minutes clearing clutter off the surfaces you want cleaned is helpful, but you don’t need to pre-clean anything.
Do I have to be home during the cleaning?
No, as long as we have secure access: a doorman who’ll let your cleaner in, a key handoff, or a lockbox code. Many clients are at work while we clean and come home to a finished apartment.
What should I do with my valuables?
Put jewelry, cash, watches, and sensitive documents away in a drawer or safe before the visit. Our cleaners are background-checked and insured, but securing valuables means nobody has to think twice.
What about my pets?
Most pets are fine. If yours spooks easily or doesn’t like strangers, set them up in a closed room or arrange a walker for the visit, and let us know about them when you book.
What if my building has restrictions on service providers?
Check your building’s house rules for timing limits (some don’t allow work after 5 PM or on weekends) and whether management needs a certificate of insurance on file. Let us know and we’ll send whatever paperwork they require. Just give us a few days’ notice so it’s sorted before the visit.
What if I want a specific product used or avoided?
Tell us before the visit, either when you book or by replying to your confirmation. We can match almost any reasonable request, including fragrance-free options.
What if something isn’t cleaned the way I wanted?
Let us know and we’ll come back and redo it at no cost. We’d rather make it right than have you live with a clean that isn’t.
