Author: Boston Maids

Cleaning Tips and Fun Ideas For Snow Weather

You may be asking yourself how to pass the time whilst you stay inside riding out the snow storm instead of just cleaning after the kids staying home from school. Here are some great ideas that will help pass the time and make it a fun day for you and your kids.

1. Ice Bubbles: You must wait for the temperature to dip below 32 degrees and then start making bubbles and they’ll crystallize and freeze right before your eyes. This is a great way to get the kids outside and have some unexpected fun.

2. Playing in the snow: Although this may seem obvious, there are different things you can do in the snow like making snow animals, tic-tac-toe in the snow, painting in the snow with food coloring or spray paint. In other words- PAINT YOUR YARD!

3. Stay Warm Outside: How fun would it be to build a winter bonfire and make s’mores? Give it a try after walking your dog or taking a walk with the kids.

As for cleaning tips, be sure to keep th fun outside ton ensure the house does not get messier than usual. If you do choose to stay inside, cozy up and watch a movie with the entire family or grab your favorite book.

Give us more ideas on how to make the most of this weather and enjoy yourselves out there.

Cleaning Halloween Cobwebs? They are not fake

Some scary places in our homes sometimes get that way because we tend to avoid our house cleaning. It suits us during Halloween because we can always say is part of the decoration, but after Halloween it is a good idea and I recommend a deep clean.

The winter holidays are fast approaching and whether you have family planning to visit you here in Boston, a clean home feels great since we are going to be spending more time indoors. This means you’re going to start noticing the areas that perhaps gathered some dust through the summer or may you just had better things to do. Whether you’re putting your Halloween decorations away and replacing them with your Thanksgiving or Fall decorations, remember that as good as they look they will atract dust and will leave dust behind. One cleaning tip is when to remove decorations and store them in sealed containers so you don’t have to dust them next time you take them out. The key to maintain a house clean is to declutter regularly and not to let the build up grow.

Another item that needs attention during the deep Fall Clean is the oven. Nothing gets in the way of baking some delicious cookies or pies like an oven that hasn’t been cleaned in a while.

So get ready before time flyes by and get your home a seasonal cleaning.

Why The Maids charge premium prices

Hi,

Thanks for visiting again! People frequently ask us why we charge more than other maid services in the Boston area. Here is my answer to the question.

I am very lucky to own a residential cleaning company, I get to do a market research and I regularly get my house cleaned by other companies or independents. We compare, service level, quality, reliability, consistency, presentation, cleaning supplies, process, it’s an extensive list, but worth reviewing. We may be idealistic, but we believe if fairness and opportunities for our employees and our community.

Unfortunately, many customers find maids service to be a “commodity” and they may only focus on the price. Cleaning homes is not rocket science but it’s up to you, the reader to identify what’s important to you. The amount you pay or the peace of mind and the quality of the service delivery and the cleaning? It’s on you to do your homework and find out who you are really inviting to clean your home.

I really like when people go beyond the “how much” and ask more important questions, such us, “how do we take care of our employeees” “do we offer benefits”, “do we pay a fair salary”. Its common to see in this industry employers taking advantage of the workforce.

Theft: Just about anyone can create a fancy website and put a phone number, without any verifications or validations. They show up in your home with a bucket and a broom. There’s nothing wrong with that… down the road, one or two months later, you find out your identity has been stolen or your jewelry is missing and the only person who has access to your home other than you is your maid, you try to call the cellphone provided on the website and the company no longer exists. How would you feel about that? Was it really worth saving a few bucks just to go with a cheaper service? Here at The Maids we are a solid, well established company. We have been in business for almost 10 years and have provided over 50,000 clean. We do back ground checks, social security verification, and our teams show up uniformed and in Yellow Maids cars, clearly identified. You can call us and you’ll know where to find us. We carry liability and workers compensation insurance and we automatically email it to our customers when confirming the first reservation. Ask your maid service to show you the copy of insurance, call the insurance, and do your homework. Protect your home and protect yourself.

Employee Tenure: We have very little rotation. After an employee has been background checked and we have verified his/her social security, the employee goes through 2 week training with videos, manuals and on the field training. Then the new team member is assigned to a team. That team consists of 4 team members that will provide services to your home on a regular basis. We provide a fair salary according to skill levels, employee benefits, transportation,  uniform, we provide the cleaning supplies and equipment, we also provide paid training and even a birthday cake to every employee. Our focus is on our employees first, then our customers, why? Because by having a stable, solid and happy workforce allows us to provide consistency and high quality, instead of incurring in high costs by losing employees and have a high turnover.

We pay our employees through our third party payroll service, we pay all our taxes and responsibilities.

Flexibility and Availability: Call us, email us, text us, visit our office. We are available to talk to you, answer any questions, concerns, comments, feedback. We have nothing to hide. In regards of flexibility, you may request, next day, same day cleaning and it’s very likely that we may have one of our teams in your area, the majority of the time; we are able to do a quick turn around and WOW you with our prompt and efficient team of professionals!

Cleaning Supplies: The company provides the cleaning supplies and equipment. We use nontoxic, eco-friendly, biodegradable cleaning products and heap filter back pack vacuums along with micro fiber cleaning clothes. We train our employees to use our products depending on the surface we are cleaning. The other reason why we use these products is good for the employees, the customers and the environment.

Our Vehicles: Something as simple but necessary is to have a reliable vehicle to get to your house. Our employees drive company cars, you will never hear “my car broke I can’t come to clean your home today”. Our employees dont have to incur in gas and maintenance expenses. As it is also covered for the company.

Yes, we charge a premium for our services, but you will receive premium services and the peace of mind your home is safe, secure and well taken care of. And if you are as idealistic as we are we believe in a better world and doing things right. We are happy to know as an owner I can go to bed with the peace of mind I really am taking good care of my people. You can spend days looking for a reliable service, interviewing maids, navigating on the web, or call us, we do the hiring for you.

Valentine’s Day Starts With A Clean Home

Although Valentine’s Day is the day everything is supposed to go smoothly, it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes we forget to plan ahead even though we promised ourselves we would not procrastinate this year. A good Valentine’s Day should have a great morning, a spontaneous gesture during the day and a very romantic evening planned.

The beginning of the day gives you the opportunity to do something unexpected like a great breakfast in bed or the place in which you first shared breakfast. Having to worry about daily chores like cleaning your home will distract from the bonding moments this holiday brings. Taking the rest of the day just to enjoy each other’s company is the best plan. If this means you and your loved one will take the day off and take that walk you have been thinking about just to remind yourselves how much you enjoy each other’s company without letting work or anything else get in the way.

The mid day surprise should be just that. An unexpected gesture that you’ll cherish and it will be just for the 2 of you. A great idea is to have a picnic that reminds you of your first date. Making the time to enjoy each other’s company is going to make all the difference. This can also mean getting pampered together like a couple’s massage. Those great bonding moments have a lasting effect and will inspire you to keep surprising each other.

This brings us to the romantic evening of this great holiday! If you weren’t able to plan ahead and make reservations at you favorite diner spot, that doesn’t mean you won’t have a great time. A quiet evening at home may be what you both need after making new exciting memories all day. But who really wants to get ready for the most romantic day of the ear by cleaning all day the previous day or even all day on Valentine’s Day to prepare for the romantic evening. Whilst you’re enjoying yourself and the new memories you are making, you can have a “Hotel Day” at home and get your home cleaned by the professionals.

Having a clean home will give you that piece of mind and let you enjoy your date. Tell us other ways you use to prepare for this Valentine’s Day!

How Can Your Boston Cleaning Service Help You With Winter

Now that snow has started to fall and we are thinking about enjoying the season. Remember that your can take care of the inside of your home so you can focus on the rest of the home prep. Taking a good look at what your Cleaning Team sees you may find some items you may have overlooked in your inspection whilst getting ready for this winter season. This also reinforces the great communication you must keep with your cleaning team to maintain your home in the best shape possible.

flickr credit: joanna8555

One great advantage of having a team of taking care of your home is that you have another set of eyes looking at the areas in your home that may be ready for weather proofing this winter. If your windows are leaking out the heat, your Cleaning team will notice while they clean the window sills and let you know so your heating unit is not over working to keep your home nice and cozy. Your home cleaning service should also keep your vents free of lint and debris so the dust circulating your home is minimal. It is helpful to replace the vent filters since they can gather dust and restrict airflow and strain your heating. It is also a good idea to ask your cleaning service to focus a bit more around the fireplace since it will be a gathering place during this season.

flickr credit: revjim5000

Since your cleaning team will be helping you keep th inside of the home not only clean but also focusing on keeping it winter ready, you can focus on other tasks around the outside. This means insulating your exposed pipes, stocking up on the always needed firewood. Reversing the direction of your ceiling fans will push warm air down which is welcomed when sitting near the fireplace. Keeping your gutters free of debris will prevent ice and other obstructions from gathering. This will allow you to spend more time around the warm fire.

Tell us about how you prepare for the winter both inside and outside.

Who does the home cleaning when holiday decorations need to come down?

Have you asked yourself what it takes to clean your home after our holiday decorations are put away? We all like to get in the spirit of the seasons and decorate our homes but we all dread having to clean it up and put up new ones. Whether it is Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, having a plan on how they will be put up and taken down will save you time and prevent some stress. Finding the decorations that work for you and won’t make you rearrange your home is usually a good start. Here are some tips on finding that balance and still show your personality through your decorations.

Decorating for Halloween is both fun and it adds another touch of your personality to your home. Even if it’s tempting to let cobwebs gather before Halloween, it’s not a good idea especially if you’re expecting children to be around your decorations. This may cause them to get caught on them and pull on drapes or other fixtures.

When hanging the very popular cotton spider web, be sure to hang it or wrap it around places that are easy to reach and will not damage your furnishings. If using paint or coloring on walls or clothing, use washable paints and resist using food coloring on clothing unless it is a piece you will not use again. There are a lot of window decorations available that are easy to remove and even reusable. These are definitely recommended for all Holidays. The always popular Halloween silhouettes are available with easy to remove adhesive so go nuts. Having real pumpkin jack-o-lanterns is great but it is always easier to buy the plastic ones because with an easy dust off they are ready to use again. Besides, they are supposed to look aged aren’t they?

Thanksgiving decorations are very unique because they consist of plastic fruits and vegetables that tend to get dusty and need constant cleaning. It is always a good idea to use the right cleaning Product on these items. Use something mild that won’t damage them and will still remove all the dust. Whether you are buying new decorations or using some that have become a tradition in your home, to have a thorough house cleaning to be sure your decorations stand out and have the desired effect.

This time a year, people tend to bake more, its always fun to bake your own dishes, cookies and pastries, its a great way to warm up the house and make it cozy, besides its a fun way to keep your little ones busy while keeping them indoors during cold winter days, of course, while having little helpers in the kitchen, it becomes more work for you, you end up picking up and cleaning up more than what you wanted or expected.  Now you find yourself juggling with cooking, decorating and entertaining your child. There is not time to do a deep cleaning and getting on your hands and knees to pick up all the crumbles and sprinkles from the floor.

Now that we know how to put the decorations up and how to take them down, now comes the clean up. After taking down your decorations you will find that underneath those decorations there are going to be areas that have not been reached during you routine cleaning. There will also be some dust that has been moved around while taking down your decorations. This will present you with a cleaning challenge. We would suggest a thorough cleaning be done to get your home back to what it was before the decorations or ready for new ones. Tell us about how you prepare your home for our decorations as well as some ideas for storing and cleaning after you take them down.

And the Best Maid Service in Boston Goes to… The Maids

We are very proud to once again be honored as the best maid services in Boston by Boston Magazine Best of Boston. We could not have done it without what we consider the backbone of our company, our teams. They are after all the ones who deliver what we promise our customers and help us build relationships with them as well.

Our teams take a lot of pride in what they do and making our customers’ lives that much easier by not having to worry about their cleaning service. We know there are a lot of choices for anyone who is looking to get their home home cleaned. But having it cleaned by a reliable company that they trust and can build a relationship with is not easy. We have earned their trust of over 2,000 homes here in Boston through out these past 7 years of operation and a great group of employees.

Having the convenience of a four people team of cleaning professionals to come into you home and clean it thoroughly and without having to inconvenience your day, that is what makes us the best choice. Our customers value us and our teams because we stand by what we deliver. Even if the clean does not go as planned (which may happen on occasion, we are still human), we will do our best to make things right. Our service goes beyond the wiping and dusting, we provide a proven cleaning system that maximizes our quality and efficiency and do it with a smile. If you want maintenance in order to prevent the dust build up to come back, we can do that. The holidays are coming up, if you’re looking for cleaning before or after a party or event at your home, we can do that.  As long as cleaning and disinfecting needs to be done, we’ll be there.

If you choose to do your own home cleaning then here are a few tips to creating a cleaning habit that will ensure build up does not occur in your home.

First, inspect your home so you can make a plan of attack and you don’t have to go back and re-clean areas that you may have missed.

photography credit: aadamsinspection.com”

Second, section your home into manageable areas so you don’t spend a lot of time cleaning the entire house. This will be a life saver and won’t overwhelm you. This will allow you to clean the common living areas and rotate between the hard to reach areas in your home such as door frames, baseboards and window sills.

Third, keeping up with your cleaning is key. Whether you do it yourself or have a Boston cleaning service take care of it, keeping up with your cleaning will save time and money.

Our customers definitely understand this and that is why they keep us around. There is no better feeling than coming home after a long day of work and finding your home spotless! You can then kick off your shoes and relax.

photography credit: t0.gstatic.com

Tell us more about what is most impressive about the cleans you get from The Maids in Boston.

My Maid: Getting to Know Who Cleans Your Home

I love to see how much our customers enjoy meeting our team members when we clean their homes.  It makes me realize even more how valuable the relationship between our teams and our customers really is.  That being said, I thought it would be a good idea to let our customers get to know their team members a little more.

I could think of no better person to start with than the longest tenured employee at The Maids Boston office–Reyna Gutierrez. She is currently a member of the Red Team, she’s shy and quiet, very organized and dedicated and has been a team member since September 2005, bringing an enormous amount of experience to every home she cleans.  Reyna is originally from Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic and arrived in Boston in 2001.  Being The Maids her first job in the US. She has been married for 18 years and they have three children.

Reyna enjoys reading and watching television in her spare time but says she maintains an immaculate home!

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Cleaning Service

When I coordinate cleaning services with my customers, I often ask very specific questions to be sure we are all on the same page when it comes to the scope of work and so the notes I take and communicate to the cleaning crew are as clear as possible. Some of the items covered are as follows: Depth of clean, areas to focus on and areas to avoid.

Scope of clean: There are different reasons why customers hire a Boston cleaning service. Some customers may call because they need to get rid of their pet’s hair, others  may not have pets but may not have time to maintain their homes cleaned. Some customers call because they are moving in/out and need the place professionally cleaned.  A lot of our customers have asthma or allergies or respiratory problems, some more are physically impaired to take on the tasks of cleaning their home by themselves. Cleaning is not an easy task and often not as rewarding or exciting, leave it to the professionals.

In order to have a successful job, we would need to identify what your needs are and the reasons why you are hiring a Boston Maid Service.  Quality is always a priority for The Maids, so we need to make sure we show up prepared to accomplish the cleaning that you expect. For example, we would ask for the type of flooring to make sure we bring the proper cleaning products and equipment. If you call us to make sure we remove mold from your bathroom shower, we’ll pay specific attention to your concern.  Your dog likes to play in that corner of the living room and needs extra attention to remove build up and pet hair, we need to bring the proper cleaning agent to remove pet odors and pet hair.

Each house is different and you know your home better than anyone else. That is the reason why the initial call may take several minutes, we are trying to connect and identify what you need and make sure we deliver the service that you want.

The depth of clean also refers to the inside of the appliances. Usually vacant units require the inside of the appliances to be cleaned, sometimes the inside of the cabinets, drawers, closets are also included in this type of cleaning, windows are also added in this service.  In order for us to provide you with an accurate estimate of the time we’ll need to clean your home and cover the areas you are requesting, we need to be very well informed and make sure it gets communicated to the team and added to the work order.

Areas to focus on: This refers to specific requests my customers may have. Sometimes we have some customers that appreciate art and antiques. These items require special care and attention. For example; antique rugs cannot be vacuumed with the same tools we vacuum a high traffic office space carpeted area, antique or delicate rugs will need to be lightly vacuumed with a specific attachment. Antique vases and frames as well as electronics will need to be dusted with a dry microfiber cloth. Delicate paintings and picture frames would also require dry dusting. Focusing on the details is what sets the quality of your Boston cleaning service. A lot of my customers also ask me to be mindful of the areas they know to be of high traffic and use. This means build up in the kitchen sink and stove as well as the counters and tables. Areas such as restrooms also require a detail cleaning process, build up like soap scum, hard water marks and even mold and mildew need to be property treated and contained.  A cleaning tip to avoid mold is to make sure the bathroom is well ventilated. Another focus point is of course the mirrors and windows. Getting details on the mirror sizes will prepare the team to bring what’s needed to avoid streaks.

Areas to avoid: I’m not suggesting that the maid service should leave areas untouched, but coordinate with the customer what is not allowed to touch or what rooms will be out of the scope of cleaning in order to achieve the desired clean without disrupting. A lot of our customers have home offices and a lot of times they do not want their desks to be touched or cleaned, this is what I like to call an “organized chaos”, are you familiar with this term?

Picture Credit: Geiluminacion.com

Specific instructions should be followed for these areas. One of my customers mentioned that if the desk in the home office is cleared, then it’s ok to clean the surface. If there is paperwork, then cleaning don’t, just to go ahead and clean around the desk, so we add these comments to our work order and make sure the team leader reminds the rest of the crew of the instructions. One thing that should never be cleaned by the maid service is the back of the computer because of the cabling. Another area that may need “avoiding” is some art pieces. Make sure to have a “do not touch” list when calling Boston Maids.

Getting on the same page with your cleaning service will help the clean go smoothly and will prevent any damage. By being specific about your needs, a quality maid service will be able to meet them.  Do you have a story to share with us when you hired a maid service and they were not able to deliver the requirements you requested and whether this caused more than just a poor cleaning. You wouldn’t want this happening again, would you?

Different Types of Services Offered by Maids

When asking my customers what they are looking for in a cleaning service, I often get this response: Home cleaning is all the same isn’t it? And the answer is yes and no. The end result may be very similar but depending on your needs, that will determine the approach a cleaning professional will take. I have identified 4 types of services that most cleans fall into:

1. Move-out/Move-in clean. These are very similar because in both cases, the home is being brought up to a healthy standard for the new owner or tenant. This is accomplished by disinfecting and removing any buildup in all the surfaces in kitchen and restrooms as well as cleaning light switches and doorknobs, the mayority of the time we suggest the customer to include the cleaning of the inside of closets, cabinets, drawers, fridge and oven and windows.

Picture credit: MoveInCleaning

2. Spring clean/Deep clean. Besides the basics we all know like vacuuming and dusting, there is the build up to consider. By this I mean the dust on door frames, window sills, ceiling fans and baseboards. Soap scum and in some cases mold needs to be removed.

3. Recurring clean/Maintenance clean. Once you’ve had your deep home cleaning done by a reliable Boston cleaning service, it is time to keep it clean! This means setting up a schedule that is convenient for you and will allow you to enjoy your summer.

4. After construction/Remodel clean. This type of clean also requires a detailed approach due to all the dust and debris generated by the construction. This dust can get into some places that are not in the scope of work for your cleaning service. Be sure to specify and be on the same page with the contractor and the company in charge of the clean so there will be no misunderstandings later.

Picture Credit: fixthehome

Knowing the different types of services and whether a company can accommodate your needs will save you a headache and help you plan better. Tell us about a time when a cleaning service might not have gone as planned.