No one knows cleaning better than those employed by hotel cleaning companies; these dedicated professionals clean hundreds or even thousands of rooms each year, in the process developing expert strategies for cleaning quickly and efficiently.
As hotel room cleaning is not altogether dissimilar to housecleaning in nature, many of their strategies can be equally useful when applied to domestic applications. As such, if you’re looking for new ways to enhance the speed and efficacy of your cleaning efforts, the tips outlined below—all courtesy of cleaners working for hotel cleaning companies—are likely to prove useful:
Always Have a Plan
Have you ever walked into a particularly messy room and had no idea what to clean first? Did you get completely overwhelmed as you tried to muddle through several jobs in that room at once? There’s a solution to this, says Karen Mitchell, director of housekeeping at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, USA; “You need a very scientific approach to cleaning—For example, the room attendants are trained to walk into the room and strip all linen first.”
It might seem like creating more work for yourself to develop a plan for cleaning each room, but if you have a lot of cleaning to do, it will almost certainly save you time in the end if you create a list detailing what you’re going to clean and in what order. You won’t get distracted by each new task that you think of, and you won’t wind up repeating steps in the ensuing confusion.
Work in a “Top Down” Manner
Don’t start by cleaning the floor (unless there are obstacles in your path, of course); work from the “top down”, cleaning higher surfaces first. Why? Dust and debris will fall as you clean, so if you work from the bottom up, you will likely have to clean the floor twice rather than once.
Don’t Neglect the Furniture
During domestic cleaning, many people focus on the hard surfaces of their homes (the floor, counter tops, etc.) but neglect to pay much attention to upholstery beyond a basic brush-off. This, however, both traps dust and other allergens and gradually ruins to the look and feel of the upholstery—something hotel cleaning companies, in charge of protecting the investments of the hotels they work for, are well aware of. “Vacuum [upholstery] with an attachment to remove dust and dirt particles that can break down the fabric over time,” advises Jerry Messing, executive housekeeper at Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort in Florida, USA.
Don’t Forget to Dust your Light Bulbs
Have you ever gone to change a burnt-out bulb and noticed a thick layer of dust resting on its surface? Light bulbs are a frequently-forgotten gathering place for dust, and this dust, in addition to being a major allergen, dims the light coming from the bulbs—making your home appear dimmer and dirtier. It’s therefore standard practice for the employees of hotel cleaning companies to gently dust each light bulb in the rooms they clean. Just make sure to turn the lights off and allow them to cool down before you attempt to dust them, advises Messing.
Use Caution when Cleaning with Chemicals
Chemical cleaners are not only dangerous if consumed—they can be very harmful to human health if mixed. “Never, never mix chemicals,” warns Messing. “Some chemicals can create harmful vapours when mixed, so stick with what the chemical label recommends and let the chemicals do the work.”
If you find that you have a hard time remembering which products you are using (and what is in them) while you are busy cleaning, try developing a colour-coding system to prevent errors. “Consider using different colour rags for each cleaning project or chemical (i.e. one for dusting and one for cleaning windows),” recommends Muriello.
Clean During the Day if Possible, in Natural Light
Many people dash through a quick clean after work or after dinner, with lamps providing their only light, but this makes it harder to see details. Devote at least one day per week to cleaning in natural light, and try opening the window if you are working with harsh chemicals, so as to reduce the damage done to your lungs.
Create a Schedule which Outlines the Cleaning Projects you need to Undertake
How do hotel cleaners make sure everything gets done? They schedule it beforehand. “We provide a monthly calendar for the [housekeepers],” explains Mitchell. “Each day a ‘project of the day’ is established and the rooms are kept very clean because everything is dusted or cleaned as needed. For example, one day they dust the baseboards in all rooms or dust the lamp shades.”
Adapt this to a domestic setting by creating both a schedule for daily tasks and a list of all those jobs which are accessory to your basic daily cleaning efforts (e.g. organising all your books or magazines, cleaning out the refrigerator) and allot time during the month to get each job done. With the big things out of the way and the smaller details running like clockwork, maintaining a clean home will become easier than ever.