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Guide · Checklist

How to prepare your home for a professional cleaning.

A professional clean goes furthest when the time goes on cleaning rather than tidying. None of this is required, and a messy house is no reason to put off asking. It just means more of the visit lands where you want it.

By Core Cleaning Ontario · Updated

  1. 1

    When you ask for the quote

    Most of what makes a visit go well is said before it is booked. The quote form has a place for all of it; anything without a box goes in the notes.

    • Say how the place has been kept: cleaned regularly, a bit behind, or not cleaned in a long time. Condition can change the final price, which is why we confirm it before booking.
    • Name the rooms you want the most time spent on, and any room to leave alone.
    • Mention pets, allergies and any product preference: eco-friendly, fragrance-free, or your own.
    • Say how access works: you at home, a key, a code or a lockbox.
    • Flag anything fragile, antique or awkward, and anything that should not be touched.
    • Mention stairs to the entrance or no parking outside. In a condo, check whether the building wants contractors registered or an elevator booked.
  2. 2

    The day before

    Tidy, do not clean. The point is that surfaces can be cleaned rather than worked around.

    • Pick clothes, toys, papers and clutter up off the floors and surfaces.
    • Clear the dishes from the sink and the counters, or load the dishwasher.
    • Put away jewellery, cash, medication and anything private or valuable.
    • Leave out fresh bed linen if you want the beds changed, and fresh towels for the bathrooms.
    • If you have asked for inside the fridge or the oven, empty the fridge and take anything out of the oven.
  3. 3

    The morning of the clean

    A few minutes, no more.

    • Settle pets in a room or a crate, or make sure we know where they will be.
    • Leave access as agreed: the key, code or lockbox ready, and the alarm off or its code arranged with us beforehand.
    • Make sure there is power and hot water.
    • If you are home, a quick walk through your priorities at the start is worth more than a long note.
  4. 4

    After the visit

    The sooner something is raised, the easier it is to put right.

    • Walk through the rooms that mattered most while the visit is fresh.
    • If a task in your agreed scope was missed, tell us, the same day if you can, and we review it.
    • On a recurring schedule, tell us what to change next time. Your preferences travel with every visit.
A white linen sheet settling over a bed in a sunlit bedroom

What you do not need to do.

Pre-clean

Nobody needs a clean house before the cleaners come. Tidy surfaces help; scrubbed ones are the job.

Supply products

Products, cloths and the vacuum come from the service partner. Leave out your own only if you would rather they were used.

Be home

Access is agreed before the first visit and written on the work order. Many visits happen with nobody home.

What a visit covers once it starts is written down room by room in the Core Cleaning Ontario Standard.

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Need cleaning help?

Tell us what type of property you have, where it is and what needs cleaning. We will help you work out the right service and give you a straightforward quote, in writing, before anything is booked.

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