Once you have booked a cleaner, the process is simple: you get a confirmation, you settle a few details about access and priorities, the cleaner arrives within an agreed window, works through the home room by room, and leaves you to check the result. The details that decide whether the visit goes well are mostly agreed before anyone turns up. This guide walks through each stage in order, so you know what is normal, what to prepare and what to do if something is missed.
TL;DR
- After booking, confirm the date, arrival window, access method and your priorities in writing. Most problems start with unclear details, not poor cleaning.
- Tidy surfaces and floors, put away valuables and secure pets. You do not need to clean first, but cleaners can only clean what they can reach.
- A standard clean covers the main surfaces, bathrooms, kitchen and floors. Ovens, fridges, inside windows and cupboards are usually extras you ask for.
- Walk through the home after the visit, starting with your priorities, and raise any concern quickly, with the room, the task and a photo.
- The first clean usually takes longer than later visits, because build-up has to be dealt with once.
Table of Contents
- What happens straight after you book
- The questions to settle before the day
- Getting the home ready
- The day itself: arrival and the first ten minutes
- How the cleaning is carried out
- What a standard clean includes, and what costs extra
- How long a visit takes
- After the cleaner leaves: checking the work
- Our perspective
- Booking a clean with us
- FAQ
- Sources
What happens straight after you book
The booking is a short agreement about what will be cleaned, where and when. A good confirmation should tell you the service you chose (standard, deep, end of lease, carpet and so on), the date, the arrival window, any extras you added and how access will work.
Read it properly. If you asked for the oven, the inside of the fridge or the balcony and it is not listed, say so now, not on the day. Extras that are not written down tend to be left out, and it is rarely anyone's bad faith: the cleaner simply works from the job sheet.
Expect a window, not an exact minute. Cleaners travel between jobs across Canberra, from Gungahlin to Tuggeranong, and traffic on Northbourne Avenue or the Parkway can move things around. A window of an hour or two is normal, and a reputable service tells you if it changes.
When you book with us, you choose a service and a time through our online booking, and there is no lock-in contract. If your plans change, tell us as early as you can. Rescheduling is far easier with notice than on the morning itself.
The questions to settle before the day
Between booking and the visit is the best time to clear up the small things. Send a short message covering:
- Access. Will you be home, or are you leaving a key, a lockbox code or a building fob? For apartments, mention visitor parking, lift bookings and intercom codes.
- Parking. Street parking in inner suburbs such as Braddon, Kingston and Belconnen town centre can be limited. A note about where to park saves time.
- Pets. Say what animals are in the home and whether they will be shut in a room or outside. If you want pet-safe products or have an animal with allergies, our guide to pet-friendly cleaning in Canberra explains what to ask for.
- Priorities. Name the two or three things that matter most to you, such as the shower screen, the kitchen benchtop or the skirting boards. The cleaner then spends the booked time where you will notice it.
- Delicate or off-limits items. Natural stone benchtops, timber floors, antique furniture, a home office desk, a bedroom you want left alone.
- Products. If you prefer fragrance-free or have sensitivities, say so. We use eco-friendly products, but a reaction to a specific ingredient is worth mentioning anyway.
- Equipment. Ask whether the cleaner brings their own vacuum, mop and products. Most professional services do, but independent cleaners vary, and it is a one-line question.
If you are booking something specific, the preparation changes. Carpet steam cleaning, for example, has its own requirements about moving furniture and clearing floors, covered in these carpet cleaning preparation steps.
Getting the home ready
You do not need to clean before the cleaners come. That is the point of hiring them. What you do need is to make the home cleanable. Time spent moving piles of clothes or toys is time not spent scrubbing the bathroom.
A sensible half hour of preparation looks like this:
- Put away valuables, medicines and paperwork. Cash, jewellery, prescriptions and bills are best out of sight, in a drawer or a room you have marked off-limits.
- Clear floors and surfaces. Clothes, toys, shoes, charging cables and stacks of mail get in the way of vacuuming and wiping.
- Empty the sink and run the dishwasher. Dishwashing is generally not part of a standard clean, so dishes left in the sink stop the cleaner reaching the taps and the basin.
- Secure pets. A dog excited by a stranger and a vacuum cleaner is stressful for everyone, and an open door is a risk for cats.
- Check the water and power are on. It sounds obvious, but a switched-off hot water system or a flat prepaid meter stops a clean.
- Leave access instructions. Key, lockbox or a note on when you will be home.
- Write a short priority list. Five lines on a sheet of paper on the bench is plenty.
We have a longer checklist in what to do before cleaners arrive at your home. If you find tidying is the part that never happens, a few habits to keep your house tidy naturally day to day make the pre-clean reset much shorter.
One more point: do not feel you need to hide the mess. Cleaners see all kinds of homes. A cluttered, heavily used home is exactly what they are there for, as long as the surfaces can be reached and anything fragile or private is set aside.
The day itself: arrival and the first ten minutes
The cleaner arrives within the window, introduces themselves and, if you are home, starts with a quick walkthrough. This is your chance to point out the priorities, the delicate surfaces and the areas that need extra attention, for instance a shower with heavy soap scum or a stovetop with baked-on grease.
This short conversation also lets the cleaner flag anything that affects the time. If a home is much dirtier than the booking suggested, a good cleaner explains that before starting, so you can agree whether to extend the visit, drop some tasks or book a deep clean. You should never discover on the way out that half the job was skipped.
If you are not home, the cleaner works from the notes you left. That is another reason to put your priorities in writing.
Staff are police-checked and insured with us, and you should expect the same from any provider you are letting into your home. It is fair to ask about it before you book.
How the cleaning is carried out
Professionals work in a set order, and it is worth knowing why, so nothing looks strange when you watch.
- Top to bottom. Dust and debris fall, so ceilings, light fittings, shelves and benches come before floors.
- Dry before wet. Dusting and vacuuming first stops dirt turning into mud once you start using water and spray.
- Product dwell time. Bathrooms often get sprayed first so the product can work while the cleaner moves on to another room.
- Floors last. Vacuuming and mopping finish each room, and the cleaner works out of the door so no one walks across a wet floor.
They will typically go room by room: kitchen, bathrooms, living areas and bedrooms, then a final check. Expect noise from the vacuum, a smell of cleaning products (milder with eco-friendly ones) and some doors left open to dry floors.
You do not need to hover. If you work from home, tell the cleaner which room to leave until last.
What a standard clean includes, and what costs extra
The most common misunderstanding after booking is what "a clean" means. Industry descriptions of a regular, base-cost clean, such as this Domain guide to hiring a professional cleaner, list vacuuming or mopping floors and wiping down surfaces as the core of the job. Providers differ on the detail, so check your own booking. As a rough guide:
| Usually included | Usually an extra |
|---|---|
| Kitchen benchtops and appliance exteriors | Inside the oven |
| Bathrooms, toilets, showers, basins and mirrors | Inside the fridge and freezer |
| Dusting of reachable surfaces | Inside kitchen cupboards and drawers |
| Vacuuming carpets and rugs | Interior windows and tracks |
| Sweeping and mopping hard floors | Carpet steam cleaning |
| Emptying bins | Washing dishes, laundry, ironing |
Ask for extras when you book rather than at the door, because they change the time needed. If your needs are bigger than a standard clean, there are dedicated services for them: end of lease cleans, post-construction cleans, spring cleans, event cleans and office cleaning. You can see the full list on our services page.
If you are cleaning to leave a rental, the expectations are stricter because an agent will inspect against the entry condition report. Our guide to end of lease inspection cleaning shows how to match the two.
How long a visit takes
There is no single answer, because time depends on home size, the number of bathrooms, how much has built up and the extras you added. Two things are reliably true.
First, the first visit is longer. Dust, soap scum and grease that have built up over months take real effort once, and then regular visits maintain a baseline. Many providers allow extra time or suggest starting with a deep clean for this reason. Our article on starting with a deep clean, then choosing weekly or fortnightly cleaning explains how that plays out.
Second, a short booking covers fewer tasks. In a two-hour visit, expect a cleaner to reach the kitchen, bathrooms, floors and main living areas properly, but not a long list of extras. If your list is long, book more time or fewer tasks. A short, honest conversation at the start about what will fit is better than a rushed job.
Small homes and apartments are quicker; large family homes with several bathrooms need longer or more than one cleaner. We can tailor a plan to the property, which is why our packages are customised rather than fixed.
After the cleaner leaves: checking the work
If you are home, ask for a final walkthrough. If you are not, do your own as soon as you can, ideally the same day.
- Start with your priorities. Check the things you named first.
- Compare with the booking. Go through the included tasks and any extras you paid for.
- Look at the edges. Skirting boards, corners, behind taps and the base of the toilet are where rushed cleaning shows.
- Check for damage. If something is broken or marked, photograph it straight away.
- Report quickly. Contact the provider within a day or two, naming the room and the task, with photos. Prompt, specific feedback is easy to fix and hard to dispute.
A good provider will return and correct a missed, included task. Our 100% satisfaction guarantee exists for this reason, and for end of lease cleans we back the work with a bond-back guarantee. Check the exact terms and time limits in your own booking, since each provider sets its own.
Also be fair about what was agreed. A stained carpet, a worn grout line or limescale that has etched glass may not come back to new with a standard clean. That is a matter for a specialist service or a repair, not a failed visit.
Our perspective
Most bad cleaning experiences are not about effort. They come from two people holding different pictures of the same job. The customer imagined a deep clean, the cleaner had a two-hour standard clean on the sheet, and both feel let down.
So we push clarity at every step. We would rather ask you three extra questions at booking than have you disappointed afterwards. We build packages around the property and what you want, we are upfront about what fits in the time, and we do not tie anyone into a contract, because the work should keep you coming back, not the paperwork.
Our advice to Canberra households is simple. Book the right type of clean first (a deep clean to reset, then a regular schedule), write down your priorities, make surfaces reachable, and inspect the results while the cleaner's visit is fresh. If you do those four things, you will rarely have anything to complain about, and if you do, we want to hear about it quickly so we can fix it.
— Deng
Booking a clean with us
We clean homes and businesses across Canberra and the ACT, including regular and one-off cleans, end of lease and bond cleans, carpet cleaning, spring cleaning, office and strata cleaning, post-construction clean-ups and emergency jobs. Every clean is planned around your property, with police-checked and insured staff, eco-friendly products and flexible scheduling.
If you are ready to book, see our full list of services, or start with house cleaning if you want a regular home clean. Selling or moving out? Our end of lease cleaning comes with a bond-back guarantee.
FAQ
Do I need to be home when the cleaner comes?
No. Many people leave a key, a lockbox code or a building fob and a written list of priorities. Being home for the first visit is useful, though, because you can do the walkthrough in person and answer questions on the spot. After that, most regular clients are happy to be out.
What should I clean before the cleaners arrive?
Nothing needs to be scrubbed. Clear floors and surfaces, put away valuables and medicines, empty the sink and secure pets. The aim is to make everything reachable, so the booked time goes on cleaning rather than tidying.
What can a cleaner do in two hours?
In two hours a cleaner can usually do a proper standard clean of a smaller home: kitchen surfaces, bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming and mopping. Large homes, heavy build-up and extras like ovens or windows need more time. Tell the cleaner your top priorities so they are done first.
What if I am not happy with the clean?
Contact the provider as soon as you notice, ideally within a day or two, and name the room and task with photos. Included tasks that were missed should be put right. Check your provider's guarantee terms, because the time limits differ.
Should I tip my cleaner?
Tipping is not expected in Australia, though a thank-you or a cold drink on a hot Canberra day is always appreciated. If you are very happy, a good review or a rebooking means more to a local business.