A house cleaner sees your home the way almost nobody else does — empty, open, and on a schedule. Most families put more diligence into choosing a restaurant. The families who do this well follow a short, repeatable process, and none of it is awkward once you decide it's normal.
Know who is actually in your house
Start with the basics: full name, confirmed against an ID; whether they work alone or bring help, and if so, who; and whether you're hiring the person you met or a company that sends whoever is available. None of these have wrong answers — but every one of them has an answer you should know before the first visit, not after.
References: two calls, three questions
- How long have they cleaned for you? Longevity is the single strongest signal in this trade.
- Has anything ever gone missing or broken — and what happened next? The second half of the question matters more than the first.
- Do they hold a key or a code? A yes from a longtime client is the reference speaking as plainly as they ever will.
The paperwork that separates pros
A bonded and insured cleaner can hand you a certificate of insurance and expects to be asked for it. For an independent cleaner, ask what would happen if something were damaged — a professional has an answer they've given before. If a company does the hiring, ask how they screen the people they send; 'we handle that' without specifics is not an answer.
The trial clean answers most of it
Before any recurring arrangement, book a single paid deep clean while you're home. You'll learn how they work, how they treat what they touch, whether the quoted time was honest, and how it feels having them in the house — four answers no interview produces. Only after that visit decide about a schedule, and only well after that decide about a key.
Handing over a key is the smallest version of a decision families make with every in-home role. For the fuller version of that thinking, read preparing your home for in-home care — the same decision, thought through at higher stakes.