What a visit covers
We agree the checklist room by room before the first visit. This is the usual starting point, and we adjust it to your home rather than ask you to accept it.
Every visit
- Beds made or changed as agreed; linen laundered or bagged
- Bathrooms: sanitary ware, glass, mirrors, taps and fittings descaled and dried
- Kitchen: worktops, splashbacks, sink, hob, outside of appliances, inside the microwave
- Dusting throughout, including skirtings, sills, picture frames and lamp bases
- Floors vacuumed; hard floors mopped to the right dilution for the surface
- Mirrors and interior glass; handles, switch plates and fingerplates
- Bins emptied and relined, recycling separated to your borough's scheme
On rotation, weekly through monthly
- Interior windows, reveals and shutters
- Oven interior, extractor filters, inside the fridge
- Upholstery and curtains vacuumed with the right head
- High level: cornicing, coving, pelmets, light fittings
- Under and behind furniture that moves safely
- Brass and metalware to the agreed schedule
Anything heavier than this, inside every cupboard, behind fixed appliances, built-up limescale, belongs to a deep clean rather than a regular visit. If you are not sure which you need, there is a page explaining the difference.
How it works
We visit the house first, walk every room with you, and agree the checklist. Nothing starts until you have approved it.
The checklist is then what the visit runs on. It records the surfaces, the products, the rooms on rotation and the things that are not to be touched at all, so the work does not depend on anybody remembering it or on how the day is going.
If we need to send someone different, we tell you beforehand rather than on the morning, and they work to the same written checklist. A stranger arriving unannounced on the one week it matters is what undoes a year of trust.
Most homes settle into weekly or fortnightly. We also work daily where a household wants it.
What we use, and why
Our default is a pH-neutral cleaner. Most surfaces in a period London house, marble, limestone, sealed timber, lacquered brass, painted plaster, are damaged by the acidic and alkaline products sold as all-purpose, and the damage builds up invisibly until it is not. Where something stronger is needed, it is chosen for that surface and used only there.
Cloths are colour-coded and kept apart by area: one colour for sanitary ware, another for kitchens, another for general dusting. They are never carried between those uses within a visit. Everything comes back to us and is laundered at 60°C; nothing is rinsed out and reused in your home.
Vacuums are HEPA-filtered, and we use the right head for the surface rather than one head everywhere. A beater bar on a wool rug does irreversible damage in a single pass.
We do not use steam on unsealed stone, unsealed timber, or anything painted or gilded. Where a surface is unfamiliar we test out of sight and ask before going further.
Homes we work in
Period terraces and townhouses. Four to six storeys, original joinery and plasterwork, often listed. Product choice matters and stairs take time.
Mansion flats. Porters, service lifts booked ahead, fixed delivery windows. We build rounds around buildings so that access stops costing an hour.
Lateral and new-build apartments. Specified stone, home automation, unforgiving lighting. These run to a detailed written checklist.
Houses with gardens. More glazing, constant traffic between outside and in, and a seasonal pattern we plan for rather than react to.
Mews and studio houses. Compact, steep, no service access. Equipment choice matters more than scale.
Questions
Common questions
Will I get the same cleaner every time?
That is what we aim for, and it is how we build the rounds. We will not promise it absolutely, because holiday, illness and people moving on are real. What we do promise is the written checklist: anyone who covers works to the same document, so the standard holds even when the person changes.
Are your cleaners employed or self-employed?
Self-employed, and engaged directly by us rather than introduced to you. We find the work, agree the specification with you, provide the materials and equipment, and pay them ourselves. Your contract is with us, and our public liability cover applies to the work.
Do you bring your own equipment and products?
Yes, as standard. Where a household prefers its own products, for allergy, fragrance or surface reasons, we use them and note it on the checklist.
What vetting do your cleaners have?
A current Basic DBS check before a first visit, and an Enhanced check where the role is eligible, households including children or vulnerable adults. Two references taken up directly by us, right-to-work verification, and photographic identification carried on every visit.
Do you hold keys?
Yes, where you would prefer it. Keys are held in a numbered safe, never labelled with an address, and signed in and out against a named cleaner on each visit.
How is this different from a deep clean?
A regular visit maintains what is visible and in daily use. A deep clean reaches what regular cleaning deliberately leaves alone: inside appliances, behind fixed furniture, above head height, and built-up limescale. There is a full comparison on our deep clean page.
Coverage
Where we provide this service
Central
Next step
Request a consultation
Or email us directly at info@elevatedpolishedcleaning.co.uk, or call 020 0000 0000.