You come in from work and your home is a disaster. You do just enough to keep it picked up, but a real cleaning and sanitization would take hours that you just don’t have. Hiring a cleaning service feels like a luxury and you have no idea how to convince your spouse that it’s a good idea. Here are some common objections and how to head them off at the pass.
“We can’t afford it.”
Take a look at the budget and agree to pull funds from existing expenditures. Asking for a reallocation of funds, rather than requesting additional funds from your savings, may be an easier win. Be first to volunteer expenditures you could easily forego like the calorie-packed $5 latte you buy every morning ($140/month!) or all those subscriptions to magazines you never have time to read. You can schedule service to whatever frequency your budget will allow (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly). While weekly cleans keep your home in tip-top shape, less frequent service is budget-friendly and can still shave time from your weekly up-keep regimen.
“It’s a luxury we don’t need.”
Unlike going out for a fine meal or a movie, cleaning and sanitization is necessary to preserve the value of your home and your family’s health. A cleaning service also buys time for you as a couple and as a family. Remind your spouse that time spent with family is not a luxury, but a fleeting and precious thing. Your children will never look back and say “We were so lucky to have a clean home growing up!” They will remember the places you took them, the attention you gave them, and the traditions you created as a family.
Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.” — Michael Leboeuf
“How hard can it be to keep this home clean?”
Make a list of all the chores involved with cleaning a home properly. Use MaidPro’s 49-point checklist as a guide. Now split the chores for one week between your spouse and yourself and commit to doing them all. The exercise will underscore what a daunting task it is to maintain your home properly week after week and why it’s an activity worth funding to ensure it gets done consistently and effectively.
“We are clean people. Our home doesn’t look dirty.”
Ask your spouse if he or she is comfortable ingesting skin cells, pet dander and insect parts? Place a bit of common dust under a microscope and that’s what you will find — plus much more. Moving around your home stirs these particles into the air, causing you to inhale them and absorb toxins through your skin. Still don’t care? Children ingest 10 grams of dust per day on average. Your children’s systems are still in development, and they are put at high risk of household contaminants when your home is not cleaned properly.
“You worry too much. Just relax.”
Sometimes people simply don’t share the same standards for cleaning. But if you are feeling stressed or unhappy, it will affect your spouse and your family. Help your spouse understand how your stress affects him or her directly: “I am always too tired to even think about enjoying an evening out, entertaining friends or cooking a nice meal for the family.” Persuade your spouse by demonstrating how you both stand to reap the wonderful benefits of a happy, healthy and clean home.
“I don’t like the idea of letting strangers into our home.”
Agree with your spouse that there are significant risks to hiring just any cleaning service, especially those that are undocumented or operating under the radar of tax and other authorities. Then show him or her all of the exceptional security measures and other protections, such as bonding and insurance, offered routinely by professional cleaning companies.
“Fine, but a good clean once or twice is all we need.”
When the surfaces of your home are cluttered and dusty, the surfaces of your mind are too. In reality, clutter and a home that is dusty or unkempt burns up precious energy in your mind, saps energy from your relationships, and dulls your focus. Ever wonder why it feels SO GREAT to come into a sparkling clean home? Because we’re wired to pay attention to whatever surrounds us. Make sure that your circuits don’t go on overload because of unnecessary input. A clean house = a clean mind = more productivity & better quality family time.
Still not convinced? Purchase a one-time clean to show your spouse the value of professional cleaning before signing on for recurring service. Although a one-time clean can be more costly on a per-clean basis, it’s worth the extra money if it can help demonstrate the value of a cleaning service. Enjoy how it FEELS when you and your spouse walk into a clean home; assess how much more productive and energized it makes you feel.