Ask a House Cleaner

Bribes don't work. If you want to know the real way to get kids to clean their rooms it comes down to a community. Everybody wants to belong to a community. And kids love structure and schedules. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says cleaning is easy when it's routine. Create a cleaning system and family cleaning projects. This goes beyond chores for kids. It's teaching kids responsibility and accountability. Teach kids how to clean and hold a room inspection.

Need to know how to fix gouges, dents, dings, scuffs, and scratches in hardwood floors and wood furniture? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru show us in this Guardsman furniture repair kit #ProductReview Learn how to repair scratches in wood furniture using wood fill sticks and furniture markers. Filler sticks may be the secret sauce to making hardwood floors look great again. Furniture touch up markers and furniture crayons are a great investment to every cleaning caddy.

Angela Brown's Top 10 gloves for house cleaners, maids and Airbnb hosts give you ultimate hand protection. We cover AmerCare latex gloves and Ammex Corporation clear vinyl gloves. And Big Time Products Firm Grip Nitrile disposable gloves. The nitrile gloves are latex free, powder free. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru will show you reusable gloves like the Playtex living gloves. You'll also see Mr. Frog silicone dishwashing gloves.

Should you start a cleaning business with your spouse? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru shares the pros and cons. Anytime you go into business with your spouse, you challenge your marriage. You sign a prenup when you get married and should have prenup agreements in place with your spouse as business partner. When you start a cleaning business you need moral support and a business plan. And if you add a business partner to the list to spin #businessideas you also need boundaries.

Here are the do's and don'ts of guestbook reviews for your #vacationrental or Airbnb. Some housekeepers or house cleaners want to leave a tips envelope for turnover services. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says the Airbnb host needs to make the Airbnb guest feel like a celebrity first. Then guestbooks will fill with positive ratings and reviews. And that's social proof you're the king of Airbnb hosting, STR (short-term rentals) or VRBO.

Did you know that a pre-walkthrough is THE SECRET to house cleaning? Professional house cleaning and DIY cleaning both need a house cleaning walkthrough. This allows you to arrange your multi-task cleaning and stick to your cleaning schedule. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says a cleaning routine is great. But use a flashlight to clean. You might even have a cleaning light on phone in hand.

Do you want to know how to make money with a drill brush power scrubber? We'll show you how in today's #AskaHouseCleaner Drill bit brush set #ProductReview Angela Brown uses a drill brush for leather sofas after applying Meguiar's leather conditioner. And she uses Murphy oil soap and a drill brush for kitchen cabinets. It's an upsell but she uses a drill brush for grout cleanup in icky showers. And she even made a drill brush splatter guard for the grout clean up .

Angela Brown's Top 10 Furniture polish rundown will open your eyes to what's hot right now. Did you know that some house cleaners don't use furniture polish at all? And some have their favorite go-to wood cleaners. Interesting fact, all wood is not created equal. Neither are all wood furniture polishes sprays and waxes. On today's #AskaHouseCleaner we look at Therapy, Thomasville, Endust, Pledge, and Scott's Liquid Gold. We also cover Method, Murphy Oil Soap and Old English Lemon Oil.

"Can I use IM to grow my cleaning business?" House cleaners and maids are looking for inexpensive ways to drum up new business. The problem is that instant messenger is not the place for a cold sales pitch. Email, a phone call, texting, and even advertising in a Facebook Group are great ways to follow up once you have built trust. But if you want to close business spamming people you don't know via Instant Messenger is only going to land you in Facebook jail.

What is the difference between STR vs. Airbnb vs. VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner)? Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru answers this on today's Vacation Rental Mailbag. Shared housing or Airbnb is often where you rent a room in a house. And you may share a bathroom with another guest or even the homeowner. There is often a coffee bar. #VacationRental are more for vacations. And STR (Short-Term Rentals) for long stay business trips.

Here are 5 lies you've been told about Dog poop. Many pet owners get dogs because they are cute and don't have poop and scoop plan. Many assume the house cleaner or maid will clean up the fecal matter as part of the house cleaning. But there are lots of hazmat, fertilizer, toxic waste, parasites misunderstandings about dog poop. Is dog poop harmless? Can dog poop make you sick? Is dog poop toxic? And what do you do if the cleaning lady doesn't clean up dog poop?

How to get the icky, sticky, greasy gunk off kitchen cupboards is today's #AskaHouseCleaner. You'll see Angela Brown cleaning with Murphy's Oil Soap. Any house cleaner can upsell #Cleaning services to a kitchen cabinet gunk remover package. The Drill Brush Power Scrubber will make cleaning extremely thick grease from kitchen cabinets a breeze. Once you know how to clean kitchen cabinets - you can fill in the slow months of your house cleaning business with this upsell.

Angela Brown's Top 10 repair creams or hand creams for house cleaners will give your cracked skin relief. If you have rough hands and need an itch defense or a formula with vitamin E, you're in the right place. Dry chapped skin that needs an intensive hand cream, we've got you covered. From Aveeno, Bag Balm, Curel and Cetaphil every house cleaner can find a hand lotion. Vaseline, Eucerin, Gold Bond and O'Keeffe's Working Hands are also on our list.

Ageism  - Age discrimination for house cleaners is our topic of today's #AskaHouseCleaner. Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru says never assume you're too old to clean. You need to know how to ace a job interview and sell your strengths in house cleaning. Age discrimination and ageism in the workplace are against the law.  Highlight the best of your employment history and make the Age Discrimination in Employment Act work in your favor.

"Our Airbnb guests ruined towels and linens - what do we do?" Angela Brown, The House Cleaning gives options for ruined towels and linens in today's Vacation Rental Mailbag. You can list in your house rules an extra charge for ruined towels and linens. In your standard amenities include makeup remover, makeup remover wipes, and makeup remover towels. OxiClean is a good product to get white towels white. And the housekeeper, partners or Airbnb Host who does the turnover service can do that.