Domestic Cleaners
Clean and tidy private dwellings such as houses, units, flats, apartments and townhouses.
Four houses in one day
You are a self-employed domestic cleaner, working alone through four homes on a busy Friday, each with its own client and its own surprises. It is 8am and you are about to start the first house. You have a booked time at each one, a car full of supplies and not much room for error. The day will test your honesty, your boundaries and your sense of what to say.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Good morning! Before you start, could you also clean the oven and wipe down all the windows? I know you only booked the bathrooms and floors, but I have visitors tomorrow. It would only take an extra hour, wouldn't it?
Say yes and do the extra work, then rush through the next house to try to make up the lost time
Mrs Okafor is delighted, but you arrive late at the next house, rush the job and miss a bathroom. The next client complains. Saying yes to everything usually means failing someone.
Say you would be happy to, but it needs more time and a new quote, and offer a day that suits
She agrees to book the oven and windows for the following week and is happy with the plan. Your day stays on track, and you have a new booking.
Say you cannot do anything outside the booking and leave it at that
You are clear, but Mrs Okafor is left with no solution and a house of guests on the way. A little more help with a plan would have kept her as a happy client.
I just wanted to check, you haven't moved anything on my shelf, have you? There was a small china bird I was fond of. I can't see it now, and I've only just noticed. Did you break something?
Tell him honestly it slipped while dusting, apologise and offer to help replace it
He is quiet, then says thank you for telling him. It was his late wife's, but honesty matters to him more than the bird. He keeps you as his cleaner.
Say you haven't seen it, and that it may have been moved by someone else in the house
You hope the matter will drop, but the pieces are in the bin outside and he finds them the next day. He feels deceived, and the loss of trust is worse than the bird.
Say you will have a look at your next visit, but do not mention the china bird at all
You are putting off an honest answer. By the next visit, he has found the broken pieces, and he feels you ought to have told him sooner.
Please use my special stone cleaner on the kitchen bench, it is in the cupboard under the sink. It is quite strong, but it works wonders. My cleaner last year always used it, so it is fine.
Use it as asked, since she is the owner and she says it is fine
The cleaner is too harsh for that bench. It leaves a dull patch that cannot be polished out. She holds you responsible, even though she asked for it.
Test it on a hidden corner first, read the label and let Ms Reyes know what you find
The test is sensible, and the product is fine on that stone. But you did not check the whole label, and the instructions said to rinse well, which you nearly forgot.
Check the label, test a hidden spot and message her if it looks unsafe
The label says not to use it on this type of stone. You message Ms Reyes, who thanks you and asks you to use a gentler cleaner instead. The bench stays beautiful.
How it went
You finished the day tired, on time and with four clients who trust you. Domestic cleaning is more than scrubbing, because you are welcomed into people's homes and need honesty, tact and boundaries. Would you like to work for yourself, one door at a time?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The tap under the sink
A fictional case set in a one-person home cleaning business, visiting houses and units across a fictional coastal suburb.
The situation
Mei Ling cleaned a client's kitchen every second Thursday. While wiping out the cupboard under the sink, she noticed a faint dampness on the base, and the wood had begun to swell near the pipe. The owner, Mr Haddad, was out for the day and had not mentioned any leak. Mei Ling had four more houses to clean and a rule of not touching plumbing. It would have been easy to wipe it dry and carry on.
What they did
Mei Ling dried the area and took a photo, then sent Mr Haddad a message with the picture, saying what she had seen and where, and that she had not touched the pipe. She suggested he might want to have a plumber look at it. She added a note in her book to check it on her next visit and finished the kitchen as normal.
How it turned out
Mr Haddad called a plumber the same afternoon. The pipe fitting was loose and slowly leaking, and it was fixed before it damaged the cabinet floor. He thanked her at the next visit, and recommended her to two neighbours.
What would you do?
- Would you have mentioned the leak even though it was not part of your job?
- Why did Mei Ling send a photograph rather than just saying there was damp?
- What is the difference between telling a client something and fixing it yourself?