As the weather begins to improve and you feel an urge to clean away the winter blues, spring cleaning becomes a priority for keeping your house clean. Sometimes, no matter how good your domestic cleaning intentions are, you just sometimes need an extra hand. To make your spring cleaning more efficient, consider hiring a domestic cleaner from a professional agency. This can be done by following these 10 steps:

1.    Plan a date for your spring cleaning to take place. Set aside a day or two dedicated to the process. Once you have this date locked in a cleaner booked, you are more likely to stick to it and actually get the cleaning done.

2.    Make a list of chores that you want done in each room. Assign the tasks that don’t appeal to you to the cleaner, leaving you to do the cleaning you find easy and enjoyable.

3.    Take note of valuable or fragile items in each room and point these out to the cleaner, or leave them for yourself to clean if you are worried about them being broken or damaged.

4.    Contact a number of different cleaning companies to get an idea of prices charged. It is also a good idea to chat to your friends, family and neighbours to see if they have any recommendations on a quality company.

5.    Tell the company the type of cleaning you want done. Book in a cleaner for a date and time. Make sure you have a fixed price quote or an hourly rate so that you don’t get overcharged.

6.    See if there are any specific tasks that the company specialises in. It is good to use these to your advantage. Some things might include deep cleaning rugs or sofa cleaning.

7.    When the staff come, have a chat and get to know the person who is going to be in your house for the next few hours. Be sure to communicate clearly your expectations and give good directions on what you would like the cleaner to get done. You want to make the most of their time and your time and communication is the key to doing this.

8.    See if this person comes with a range of products and make sure you are comfortable with them being used in your home. If you have kids, pets or allergies, there are certain products that shouldn’t be used. Check the cleaning detergents and either use those, or use your own.

9.    Be confident to speak up if something isn’t being cleaned properly. You are entitled to asking for something to be cleaned in a different way. This is an important part of communicating your expectations clearly.

10.   Be sure to thank the cleaner kindly after their time is up. You will certainly be feeling grateful after seeing the wonderful results produced.

Some general ideas to help you compile of a list of chores can include some of the following tasks:

-    Dust lightbulbs, lampshades and ceiling fans or radiators
-    Vacuum or wash curtains
-    Rotate rugs and deep clean them
-    Dust bookshelves, window sills and other surfaces
-    Deep clean the kitchen, especially behind appliances
-    Focus on oven cleaning
-    Polish any metal surfaces
-    Change batteries in remote controls and fire detectors
-    Wash window screens