How to Prepare for Your First Cleaning Visit

Your first cleaning visit goes best when we know your home and you know what to expect. Most of our new customers in Seattle feel a little unsure before the first appointment. Should they tidy up? Will they need to be home? What happens to the cat? These are good questions, and the answers make the difference between a nice first clean and a great one.

Hannah has walked hundreds of new clients through their first booking since FreshNest started. Here is everything she wishes every customer knew before the crew rings the doorbell.

Before the day: a quick walkthrough call

After you book, we call to go over your home. It takes about 15 minutes. We ask how many bedrooms and bathrooms you have, what flooring is in each room, whether there are pets, and which rooms matter most to you. If there are surfaces that need special care, like unsealed marble, a vintage clawfoot tub or hand-oiled wood floors, this is the time to tell us.

We also ask about priorities. A first clean often takes longer than later ones, because we are catching up on buildup. If you have a three-hour visit and the oven, the baseboards and the inside of the fridge all need attention, we would rather know which matters most than run out of time on the one you care about.

Should you tidy before we come?

Yes, a little, but not a lot. Our crew cleans surfaces, floors, fixtures and appliances. We are not set up to sort personal belongings, and we will not move piles of papers or open drawers, because we never want to misplace something important.

Here is the five-minute pickup that helps the most:

1. Clear kitchen counters of dishes, mail and small items you want to keep where they are.
2. Pick up clothes, toys and shoes from bedroom and living room floors so we can vacuum edge to edge.
3. Put away anything valuable or sentimental, like jewelry, cash or keepsakes.
4. Load the dishwasher or stack dishes in the sink if you want us to run it.
5. Leave a note on anything we should skip, like a home office desk or a child’s art project drying on the table.

That is it. You do not need to pre-clean. We have seen it all, and nothing in your home will surprise us.

Getting us in the door

About half of our clients are home for the first visit, and half are at work. Both are fine. If you will be out, choose one of these options when booking: a lockbox with a code, a smart lock code just for us, a key left with a neighbor, or a hidden key at a spot you describe. We keep all access details in a secure part of our scheduling system, and only the crew assigned to your home can see them.

Parking is worth a mention in Seattle. If you live in Capitol Hill, Queen Anne or another neighborhood where street parking is tight, let us know if there is a driveway, a guest spot or a loading zone nearby. Our crews carry a vacuum, a mop bucket and a full caddy, and a long walk from a parking spot adds time to the visit.

The best first visits happen when the client tells us exactly what bugs them most. Then we fix that first.

Hannah Wells

Pets, kids and quiet spaces

We love pets, and most of our crew members have them. Still, for everyone’s comfort, please let us know about every animal in the home. Some dogs are thrilled by a vacuum. Others are terrified. A cat that slips out an open door in Ballard can be hard to find.

If your pet is anxious, a closed bedroom or a crate works well. We will clean that room either first or last, with the pet in another space for those few minutes. If you work from home or have a baby napping, tell us which room to leave for the end and we will keep the vacuum away until you give the word.

On the day: what our crew does

A typical first visit for a two-bedroom, one-bath home takes a crew of two about three to four hours. Larger homes take longer. Our crew starts with a quick walk through the house with you or with your notes, then splits up. One person usually takes the kitchen and bathrooms, the other dusts, wipes and vacuums the living spaces and bedrooms. We work top to bottom in each room, and finish with the floors.

Before we leave, the crew lead walks the house one more time with our checklist. If you are home, we invite you to walk it with us. If you are not, we send a short summary by text, along with anything we noticed, like a slow drain or a loose cabinet hinge.

Supplies and equipment

Our crews bring everything: vacuums with HEPA filters, microfiber cloths, mops and a set of cleaning products chosen to be gentle on finishes and safe around kids and pets. If you have products you prefer, or a sensitivity to fragrance, just leave them out with a note and we will use yours. Some clients also like us to use their own vacuum on delicate rugs, which is fine too.

The one thing we ask you to provide is working water and power, which sounds obvious until a crew arrives at a home where the water has been shut off for a plumbing repair. If anything like that is happening, call us and we will reschedule without a fee.

After the visit

Within a day, we will ask how it went. Please be honest. If we missed a spot, tell us within 24 hours and we will come back to fix it at no charge. Your feedback also goes into your home’s profile, so the next crew knows that you like the throw pillows standing up, or that the guest room only needs a quick dust.

What about tipping?

Tipping is never expected, and our crews are paid a fair hourly wage whether or not they receive one. If you want to thank them, a kind note or a review means a lot too.

Questions new clients often ask

Will the same crew come every time? We do our best to send the same two people for every regular visit. When someone is sick or on vacation, we send a team member who has read your home’s notes.

What if I need to reschedule? Give us 48 hours’ notice and there is no charge. We understand that plans change, especially with kids, travel and Seattle’s occasional snow day.

Do you do laundry or dishes? We will run a loaded dishwasher and wipe the sink, and we can change bed linens if fresh sheets are left on the bed. Full laundry service is an add-on you can request when booking.

Is my home insured while you are there? Yes. FreshNest carries liability insurance and every crew member is bonded. If something is accidentally damaged, we report it to you the same day and make it right.

Ready for your first visit? Call us at 555-0128 or email hello@freshnest.example, and Hannah or someone on the scheduling team will set up your walkthrough call this week.