These professional housekeeping tips will help you achieve high standards in the least possible time. Click To TweetHousekeepers often face a set of common problems when cleaning. These can be overcome with some ingeniously simple common-sense tips and tweaks to the way you work. These 5 professional housekeeping tips will help you achieve high standards in the least possible time.
Professional Housekeeping Tip 1:
Tasks taking too long to complete? Cost of cleaning products escalating?
Keep all your products together with the tools. Efficiency is important and preparation can save you a lot of time. There’s no point in having the product. But not the cloth you need to do the job! A set of colour-coded microfibre cloths is invaluable. A microfibre cloth is the most versatile tool in your toolbox.
Streamline the number of products you need to a minimum. Equally, whilst having the right product to speed up the job. It’s important not to have too many products to slow you down. Correct use of products will also ensure your housekeeping is done swiftly.
Take your tools and products with you. A caddy with cloths and products, which you can pick up and go as you move from room to room is handy. It will ensure you have everything you need in reach. Cutting out unnecessary trips to storage areas.
Embrace rubber gloves. With a pair of rubber gloves on you can move efficiently and without worrying around those less than pleasant areas. Pop those gloves on at the start of cleaning in the bathroom and kitchen, your hands will be protected and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can complete the room.
Professional Housekeeping Tip 2:
Rooms looking less than perfect, a little grubby around the edges?
Clean with the best possible light. Day light is best and getting as much as you can do, done first thing when the quality of light is highest will ensure you can see where you are cleaning and get all those finger prints.
Open all the curtains and blinds let in as much light as you can. But this isn’t always possible, there is poor quality light in the winter, fewer hours of daylight, or you can only clean the area in an evening when there are no guests. In this case switch on every light you can in the room, the more you can see the better you can do your job.
Professional Housekeeping Tip 3:
Areas in a room are missed?
To avoid missing areas, work your way around the room methodically. Start at the doorway and then move clockwise or anti-clockwise, working from the top down. Always start at the top as dust disturbed will fall down on to the surface below and you only want to clean a surface one. Finish by vacuuming or mopping the floor working your way back to the door.
Use a checklist. A checklist with all the tasks to be done in each room will also ensure nothing is forgotten about.
Professional Housekeeping Tip 4:
Heavy traffic areas look poor in comparison to the rest of the room?
Clean high traffic areas little and often. Embedded and caked on dirt will always take longer to remove. A regular quick vacuum and wipe down of the surfaces will ensure that nothing has time to become embedded and stuck. Each clean will be quick rather than a time and labour intensive clean every week.
Professional Housekeeping Tip 5:
Losing the edge as the day goes on?
Eat the frog first. There are jobs we all hate doing and these are typically the hardest ones, cleaning the shower, cleaning the cooker, our frogs. Start with the frog in the room, the frogs usually take longest and once you have tackled it, the rest of the room will seem like a breeze. You will feel a sense of accomplishment too.
Eating your frog first will ensure it gets cleaned well too, rather than feeling like you are running out of time and a quick whisk over will have to do.
Listen to music. If you are able to listen to some high energy music, something you like, it will make you move faster. It will keep you going and ensure you are smiling whilst you work. Earphones are great if you are working on your own or need to keep disturbance to a minimum.
Training with Polo & Tweed
Did you find these 5 professional housekeeping tips helpful? Or would you like more guidance and advice? We can help! Polo & Tweed offer professional housekeeper training, teaching students the skills needed to provide the best possible service to principals and guests. Practical training with hands-on practice ensures students understand what they are doing and why.
Our highly experienced and qualified trainers work with students to ensure they understand and can demonstrate the skills needed to maintain the highest standards.
If you would like help with improving the way your housekeeper or housekeeping team work, Polo & Tweed can offer training specifically designed to meet your needs.
Be that a whole overhaul of the working of the department or a refresher course for staff. We can all also offer training to support the housekeeping management team, working on budgets, troubleshooting, team building, and staff management to name a few.
Perhaps you are a housekeeper looking to improve your chances of promotion or gain the skills required to offer a 5* service? Polo & Tweed offer online as well as in-person group training course where you can join like-minded people to learn housekeeping skills.
To learn more about the training Polo & Tweed can offer please get in touch or call +44(0)203 858 0233 to speak to a specialist advisor.