The best questions to ask a house cleaner cover six things: who actually comes into your home, whether they are insured, exactly what the price includes, what products they use, how scheduling and cancellations work, and what happens if something goes wrong. Ask them before the first visit, ideally in writing, and you will avoid most of the misunderstandings that make people drop a cleaner after a month.
We have been cleaning homes and offices in Vancouver, WA and the Portland, OR metro since 2006, and we hear the same worries from new clients again and again. This guide lists the questions worth asking, why each one matters, and what a good answer sounds like.
TL;DR
- Ask first about people and protection: employees or contractors, background checks, insurance and workers’ compensation.
- Get a written list of what is included, plus the price for anything outside it, such as inside the oven, inside the fridge, windows or laundry.
- Ask who supplies products and equipment, and say up front if anyone in your home has pets, allergies or sensitivities.
- For recurring service, ask whether the same person or team comes every visit, and how cancellations and rescheduling work.
- Ask how complaints, breakage and re-cleans are handled before you need them.
Table of Contents
- Start with who will be in your home
- Ask about insurance and what it covers
- Get the price and the scope in writing
- Ask about products, equipment and sensitivities
- Ask about consistency, scheduling and access
- Ask what happens when something goes wrong
- Questions for the specific kind of cleaning you need
- What to do before the cleaners arrive
- A short script you can use on the phone
- Our perspective
- Book a cleaning with the same team every visit
- FAQ
- Sources
Start with who will be in your home
A cleaner has access to your rooms, your belongings and often a key or garage code. That makes the first set of questions about people, not products.
Are your cleaners employees or independent contractors?
The ISSA, the cleaning industry’s trade association, advises homeowners to ask explicitly whether the people entering the home are employees or independent contractors, because the answer affects training, supervision and your potential liability. If a company’s own employees do the work, the company is responsible for training them and standing behind them. If you hire an individual directly, some of that responsibility can land on you. If you are weighing a company against a private housekeeper, our guide to housekeeper vs. house cleaner and the U.S. tax rules walks through the difference.
Have the people working in my home had background checks?
The same ISSA guidance says to ask whether employees working in your home have had a background check, or to consider completing one yourself. Do not stop at a yes. Follow up: Are checks done on every team member, or just the owner? Are they done before someone’s first day in a client’s home? We wrote a short explainer on what “background checked cleaners” should actually mean so you know which follow-ups are worth asking. At Octomaids, all staff are background-checked, professionally trained and insured.
Can I have references?
The Better Business Bureau lists references among the basics to ask for when hiring a cleaning service. A reference from a client with a similar home and a similar schedule tells you more than a generic review. Ask how long the company has been working in your area and whether it has long-term clients. Longevity is a quiet signal: homes do not stay on a cleaner’s schedule for years unless the work holds up.
Ask about insurance and what it covers
The BBB recommends asking whether the service is insured and whether it carries its own workers’ compensation policy. It also suggests asking whether the cleaner is registered, bonded and insured, and asking for a copy of the bond and the insurance agent’s details. Then confirm that the bond and policies are in effect and check the coverage limits. The details are on the BBB’s page of tips for hiring a house cleaning service.
Why does it matter? Something will eventually break, or a cleaner will slip on a wet floor. U.S. News notes that hiring an established cleaning company is generally less risky because such a company is more likely to have insurance for a broken item or an injured worker.
Good questions to put to any provider:
- Do you carry general liability insurance, and does it cover damage to a client’s property?
- Do you carry workers’ compensation for your cleaners?
- Can you give me the agent’s contact information so I can confirm the policy is active?
- Are you bonded, and if so, can I see the bond?
A professional will not be offended by these. If the answers are vague, treat that as information.
Get the price and the scope in writing
Most disappointment in cleaning comes from mismatched expectations, not bad work. U.S. News reports that experts say dissatisfaction usually stems from miscommunication about what was expected, so defining tasks and boundaries upfront is the single best protection you have.
How do you price a cleaning?
The BBB advises asking for an estimate after a representative has walked through your home, and reviewing a written agreement that says what the cleaners will do and when (BBB). A flat quote given over the phone without any questions about your home’s size, condition, pets or number of bathrooms should make you cautious. Ask:
- Is the price based on the size of the home, the time spent, or the number of rooms?
- Does the price change if the home is much messier than expected?
- Is the recurring rate different from the first visit? (A first visit is often more involved, which is why many services start with a deeper clean.)
- What are the payment terms, and when are you charged?
- Are there fees for cancellations, lockouts or last-minute changes?
If you are wondering whether a given hourly figure is reasonable, a per-hour rate alone tells you little. A cleaner at a lower hourly rate who needs twice as long, or leaves out the bathrooms’ grout and baseboards, is not the cheaper option. Compare the scope, not just the number.
What exactly is included?
Ask for a written list of standard tasks, room by room. The ISSA also recommends asking for a list of what the service will do and discussing tasks such as laundry that may fall outside basic house cleaning. U.S. News likewise says to ask explicitly about items like appliances, windows or laundry, which often carry additional fees.
Here is a quick way to find the gaps. Ask whether each of these is in the standard visit, an add-on, or not offered:
| Task | Standard visit? | Add-on? | Not offered? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside the oven | |||
| Inside the refrigerator | |||
| Interior windows and tracks | |||
| Baseboards and door frames | |||
| Laundry and changing bed linens | |||
| Dishes in the sink | |||
| Cabinet interiors | |||
| Blinds and ceiling fans |
Print it, fill it in during the call, and keep it with your agreement. If you are unsure whether you need a regular visit or something heavier, our comparison of deep clean vs. regular clean and the room-by-room list of what deep cleaning includes will help you describe what you want. We also explain how a written agreement works in what a cleaning service agreement is.
Ask about products, equipment and sensitivities
The BBB suggests asking whether the service provides its own cleaning supplies and what products it uses, especially if anyone in the household may be sensitive to harsh chemicals (BBB). Questions to cover:
- Do you bring your own supplies, vacuum and tools, or do I provide them?
- Which products do you use on stone, hardwood and stainless steel?
- Can you adjust products for a child’s room, a pet’s area, asthma or fragrance sensitivities?
- Is there a product I would like you to use, or avoid?
Say it plainly if you have a cat that licks everything or a family member with respiratory trouble. A good cleaner would rather know than guess. Our article on whether cleaners bring supplies goes deeper on the booking questions to ask.
Ask about consistency, scheduling and access
Will the same person or team come each time?
For recurring service, U.S. News advises asking whether the same cleaner or team will be assigned to your home, since consistency is a key factor in quality. It matters more than most people expect. A cleaner who knows that the guest bathroom fan sticks, that the dog’s bed is moved before vacuuming and which cabinet is off-limits does not need re-teaching every visit. We explain the reasoning in why the same cleaner every time matters, and when rotating makes sense.
Follow-ups worth asking: What happens when my regular cleaner is sick or on vacation? Will I be told who is coming? How do I give feedback on a particular person?
How often should they come?
Be honest about your household. A family with kids and pets might need a different rhythm than a single professional who is home on weekends. If you are choosing between two frequencies, read biweekly vs. monthly cleaning, and see some recurring schedule examples for busy homes.
Logistics and cancellations
U.S. News advises confirming availability, recurring-visit policies, how the cleaners will get into your home, and the procedures and fees for cancelling or rescheduling. In practice, that means asking:
- What days and time windows can you offer, and how long is a typical visit?
- How much notice do you need to skip or move a visit, and is there a fee?
- How do you get in: a key, a lockbox, a garage code, or am I home?
- Who holds my key or code, and how is it stored?
- What happens if I am locked out, or the alarm trips?
- What happens to the schedule over holidays?
Two of these deserve extra attention. Key handling is a trust question that belongs next to your background-check questions. And alarm codes should be agreed on in writing before the first visit, not worked out at your front door.
Ask what happens when something goes wrong
Every cleaning company will, at some point, miss a spot, scratch something or have a visit that does not live up to the standard. The company you want is the one with a clear, calm process for that moment, so ask about it before you need it.
- If something is missed: Is there a re-clean window, and how soon do I need to report it? Do I call, text or email?
- If something breaks: How do I report it, who handles the claim, and what does your insurance cover?
- If I am not happy overall: Is there a satisfaction guarantee, and what does it include in practice?
- If I want to end service: Is there a contract, a minimum term or a notice period?
Get the answers in the service agreement itself. You can see how we put ours in writing in our service agreement. Because we stand behind our work with a satisfaction guarantee, we would rather hear about a missed spot the same day than have you quietly unhappy for a month.
Questions for the specific kind of cleaning you need
Not every job is a standard weekly visit. A few adjustments:
- First-time deep clean: Ask how many people will come, how long it will take, and whether the price is fixed or hourly. Dust, grease and buildup behind appliances take longer than you think.
- Move-in or move-out: Ask whether the cleaning is built to the checklist a landlord or buyer expects. Our move-out deposit checklist shows the areas that matter.
- Short-term rentals: Ask about same-day turnovers, restocking, linen handling and how they report damage or left-behind items. Our short-term rental cleaning checklist lists what to expect.
- Offices: Ask about after-hours access, trash and supply handling, and who is responsible for locking up.
What to do before the cleaners arrive
One last set of questions runs the other way: what should you do? Industry professionals quoted by U.S. News suggest tidying and securing pets before the cleaners arrive, so the team can spend its time cleaning instead of decluttering. Ask your cleaner what they would like you to put away, and see our guide to preparing your home for a cleaning service. If your home is very cluttered, say so on the phone. A good team will plan the first visit around that, without judgment.
A short script you can use on the phone
If you want to keep it simple, these ten questions cover most of what matters:
- Are your cleaners employees, and have they been background-checked?
- Are you insured, with workers’ compensation, and can I confirm it?
- Can I get an estimate after a walkthrough?
- What is on the standard task list, and what costs extra?
- What products and equipment do you bring?
- Can you accommodate pets, kids or sensitivities?
- Will it be the same person or team each time?
- How do cancellations and rescheduling work?
- How do you get into my home, and how do you secure the key or code?
- What happens if I am not satisfied or something is damaged?
For a longer walkthrough of the whole process, our guide on how to hire a house cleaner for the first time takes you from first call to first visit.
Our perspective
Most people come to us with a list of questions they are slightly embarrassed to ask. They should not be. Asking about insurance, background checks and exactly what is included is what a careful homeowner does, and we would rather answer ten questions on the phone than have one surprise on the first visit.
What we have learned since 2006 is that the question underneath all the others is trust. You are letting someone into the place where you sleep and keep what matters to you. That is why we assign the same dedicated team to your home rather than sending whoever is free. A team that knows your house works faster, notices changes and does not need to be told twice. All our staff are background-checked, professionally trained and insured, and we stand behind the work with a satisfaction guarantee.
We are a family-owned company, not a franchise, and we serve both homes and businesses across Clark County and the Portland metro. If you hold us to the questions in this article, we think you will find we have already thought about the answers.
Steven
Book a cleaning with the same team every visit
If you are ready to put these questions to a company that welcomes them, we offer recurring home cleaning with a dedicated team, as well as one-time deep cleaning and move-in and move-out cleaning across Vancouver, WA and the Portland, OR metro. We also clean offices and short-term rentals; you can see everything on our services page.
Tell us about your home, your pets and your schedule, and we will talk you through what is included before anything is booked.
FAQ
What should I ask a new cleaning lady or cleaner on the first call?
Start with whether the cleaners are employees, whether they are background-checked and whether the company is insured with workers’ compensation. Then ask what is included, what costs extra and who supplies the products. Finish with how cancellations work and what happens if you are unhappy with a visit.
Is $50 an hour good for house cleaning?
It depends on your area, the size of your home and what the visit includes, so compare the written scope rather than the hourly figure alone. A lower rate with a short task list can cost more in the end than a higher rate with a thorough one. Ask for an estimate after a walkthrough so the price reflects your actual home.
Should I hire a company or an individual cleaner?
Both can work, but they carry different risks. U.S. News notes that an established company is more likely to have insurance for damage or injury. Ask any individual or company the same questions about insurance, background checks and who actually does the work.
What should I do before the cleaner arrives?
Put away personal items, clear surfaces you want cleaned and secure pets. This lets the team spend its time cleaning rather than tidying. Also tell them about any areas that are off-limits or surfaces that need special care.
Sources
- BBB Tips: 7 Tips for Hiring a Cleaning Service
- ISSA Residential Commonly Asked Questions
- How to Hire a House Cleaner, U.S. News
Recommended
- How to Hire a House Cleaner for the First Time
- Independent House Cleaner vs. Cleaning Company
- Housekeeper vs. House Cleaner: Match the Hire, Check U.S. Tax Rules
- Vetting Trustworthy Home Cleaners: Your 2026 Guide
About Octomaids
Octomaids is a locally operated professional cleaning company serving Vancouver, Clark County, and the surrounding Portland metro area. Since 2006, our cleaning teams have helped homeowners, renters, property managers, and businesses with recurring cleaning, deep cleaning, move-in/move-out cleaning, and commercial cleaning.
Our cleaning articles are reviewed to ensure the information reflects our real-world experience and professional cleaning practices.