What is “clean”?

The contemporary cleaning service implies using of European standards and having the professional technique.

The complex cleaning is a single cleaning by means of vacuum cleaner and washing of doors and mirrors, cleaning and disinfecting of bathrooms. It costs 1700-2500 grivnas for 100 sq. m.
The contract cleaning is single cleaning services, which are done daily, once a weed or with another periodicity. It also includes the additional services (cleaning of lightning appliances once a week, cleaning of carpets once a two days etc.). The average price of contract for three cleanings is 1500-5000 grivnas for 100 sq. m.

The general cleaning is a single complex cleaning with using of almost all types of jobs, including the windows and facades washing by means of industrial climbing, cleaning of adjoining territory, swimming pools, computer technique and electronic devices, dishes. It costs 2000-15 000 grivnas for 100 sq. m.

The holidays finished, but the mood is still euphoric. The apartment is still an artistic mess. The well-spend holidays can be compared just with the disaster: confetti and tinsel got into the fibers; the parquet has shoe traces and is covered with cigarette butts, lots of empty bottles in the kitchen. The ever question “who will clean?” has its answer: there’re people, who do the cleaning with pleasure while you’re absent. They’ll wipe the crystal chandelier, sweep your carpet, cars and yachts. If you live on the high store, they’ll send a climber to your window. In fact, they’ll clean your apartment professionally.

Girl with Bucket

Never put off till tomorrow what you don’t need to do at all, the others will do it for you. The cleaning services are done for more than one hundred years in the whole world; however it’s not a terra incognita for us anymore. Lately the young cleaning industry in Ukraine develops rapidly, growth for 30-40% every day. The services are done at the high scientific and technical level.

Earlier it was considered, that the cleaning technology “bucket-rag-polish” is universal and the cleaning process is simple: you just need to wash dishes and floor, sweep the carpet, wipe the dust, throw the bottles away. That’s it! The cleaning is done.

“Today we already have the covering of expensive materials – natural silk, tapestry, bamboo, fur (for example, of Australian antelope), floor and trimming from onyx, marble, exotic kinds of trees – sycamore, box-tree, ebony, black and red tree, which requires a special care”, Tatyana Nedrya, the director of Dom-Service, explains, “The massive crystal chandeliers with bronzed candelabras, antique, pictures in golden frames, oriental natural carpets, carpets with long curly pile of from natural cane, or from coconut fibers also need a special care. Each product requires its own approach, special remedies and technologies.”

As the professionals think, the modern apartment with a big number of different decorations, complex technique, expensive coverings needs a professional cleaning only. A regular cleaner without qualification and professional technique, chemicals and knowledge of cleaning technologies may damage your property. The quality of cleaning by means of primitive methods scares: the chemicals may damage the devices and crystal, trimming and covering, and your favorite antelope leather. However the big cleaning companies regularly check the most sophisticated cleaning technologies.

“The new remedies became more caring and universal”, Oksana Sinyavskaya, the selling department manager of Ukrchymcleaning Ltd., told, “For example, there’s a remedy, which cleans textile and plastic and splits the lime deposits on the sanitary engineering and grease on the ceramic tile. The house after cleaning will not have a smell of chemicals”.

One of the newest and interesting technologies of cleaning dirty and greasy surfaces is a foam washing. Arm-chairs, car seating and other fabric surfaces get their preliminary look thanks to the foam extractor, which applies the special foam, created by mixing of air heated by compressor and detergent. Unlike the detergent, the foam doesn’t get deep into the fabric; it gathers dirt on the surface, that’s why it reduces the time of drying. You may clean the paintwork and other firm coverings by means of foam without using of rags and sponges, which gather the dust and motes, which may scratch the surface.

The character of pollutions doesn’t need the special cleaning remedies and serious wastes of time. The cleaning companies offer four main types of cleaning: complex cleaning, contract cleaning, general cleaning and cleaning after construction. These cleanings have lots of different services (dry and damp): washing of everything, which can be washed, cleaning of everything, which can be cleaned.

Dust in the Eyes

Dust is our number one enemy.

“We need at least one professional vacuum cleaner to clean the premise after holidays. It’ll gather the trash (pine tree needles, confetti etc.), and also different stain removers in order to get rid of wine, coffee, tea and grease stains”, – Tatyana Nedrya explains.

The specialists scare us with flying non-organics. The soft plaid fondles not only you and your family, but also bacteria, funguses, pollen and also the scaring dust tick. That’s why the cleaning workers have the brushes of indefinite configurations, razors, huge washing vacuum cleaners (not domestic ones, but professional – they are much more strong). The vacuum cleaner with extract function may do the dry cleaning of the carpet. If the new-year tinsel got into the carpet, it may be cleaned by “vacuum cleaner for confetti” – the mono-disc machine with firm brush.

“It’s possible to clean any pollution with nozzles, brushes and their additional sets”, Roman Griniuk, the manager of selling department of Actual Service Ltd., told, “The workers can come to any object: the apartment, house, yacht. They’ll not only clean the floor, but also the fa?ade of the building – with the high-pressure machines or by means of industrial climbers.”

The work of high-rise workers, which wash the windows and walls, impresses. The extreme cleaning is connected with developing of clients possibilities. For example, one of the permanent trends is aspiration of Ukrainians to extreme entertainments. They prefer celebrating the holidays in the villas, on the yachts with pyrotechnical toys and shows. It may lead to the scratches on the furniture, to the soot on the facades, and to the fires. That’s why lots of cleaning companies also offer the fa?ade care, except for cleaning of houses and villas. They also have such interesting service as cleaning after fire and flood. Almost each cleaning company cleans the adjoining territory, removes the trash.

Price of Shine

You should think about cleaning in advance.

“It’s better to do that before the holidays, because it’s impossible to do the cleaning during the holiday time”, Sergej Gutsaliuk, the manager of Uch-Cleaning, advises, “The 100 sq. m are cleaned by three specialists for four hours. After the holidays the number of orders doubles. These are general cleanings and dry cleanings. The ordering of service is free.”

As a rule, the client always wants to know the total price of the jobs, however, sometimes they don’t even know exactly, what they wants. They need everything to be cleaned. That’s it! Indeed each order of cleaning is individual. That’s why the customer is first consulted by phone and told the approximate price of the order. The price-lists usually indicate the “medium” price of the order, but it may be higher.”

The quantity of square meters doesn’t tell about the complexity of jobs in apartment. That’s why the next stage is to define the level of premises pollution (it depends on the time of work and using of certain equipments, chemicals, technologies). Sometimes the cleaning of two-room apartment needs the same time as the big house, especially in case, when it wasn’t cleaned for year. It’s the most complicated stage of order, that’s why for avoiding the impreciseness of job estimation lots of the companies sent a manager to customer’s place to check the volume of jobs and name the price of it. It’s usually done for free.”

Any individual service has its individual price. The simplest advice: the prices are made by companies for each other, because any individual case has its price and method of calculation. Mostly the price is established for one square meter of area. The price of cleaning the 50, 100 and 200 sq. m may be different. In average, the general cleaning costs 10-20 grivnas for one square meter. Some companies calculate the area of different surfaces separately – of the floor, mirrors, glasses, walls and furniture.

The average cost of services (grivnas for one square meter):

• Cleaning of carpets and coverings – 10-15
• Cleaning and polishing of firm surfaces – 25
• Cleaning of tile, parquet and other kinds of flooring – 15-30
• Dry cleaning of Venetian blinds – 10-15
• Washing of doors, plinths and casings – 10-12
• Washing of tiles and bathrooms – 250
• Washing of swimming pools and pavement tile – 8
• Cleaning of adjoining territories – 5-10

The estimation may be also done for a piece:

• Washing of one window – 70
• Cleaning of computer and video technique – 5

Cleaning of upholstered furniture may be calculated either for one seating place (as the cleaning of yachts) or for each chair and coach (50-75 grivnas); the dry cleaning of cars – 190-250 grivnas for each.

Alas, the contracts of most companies don’t say about the compensations in case of damaging the property. However, everybody says: “It’ll be 100% compensation”. Of course, you would feel yourself more confident, if you had a contract enclosure about compensation, which would be a main fact in the court.

And one more thing about compensation. The delivery of technique and staff is done for free within the limits of city. Offering a cleaning of suburban houses, the cleaning companies require some money for delivery. As a manager of a cleaning company told, it’ll cost as much as a taxi. Lots of companies report to their clients about the transportation expenses. If the company tells that it’s free, you should think about the places, where the free cheese is kept. In these case the company finds out, how to raise the cost of its services in order to “cover the gas expenses”.

Job for Professional Hercules

During the eight hours workday one employee of cleaning company is able to do:

• The damp cleaning of apartment of 40-50 sq. m (with dry cleaning of carpet, wiping of dishes, books)
• Dry cleaning of 100 sq. m of premises
• Cleaning of 200 sq. m of adjoining territory
• Wash 15 standard windows
• Dry clean the 200 sq. m of carpets
• Remove the dust from 100 cupboards, tables and nightstands
• Remove 450 bottles of champagne

Choosing of Company

Don’t rely on a good luck, but choose the checked method of monitoring. Comparing the companies, you should find out:

• How old is a company (four-five years is a good index)
• How much is a company oriented on the cleaning of apartments, not offices
• What is the qualification of specialists (the job experience, certificates and diplomas)
• Which new methods are used here; do the company check the now-how’s
• What is the difference between the prices, conditions, time of order fulfillment
• If there’s a point in the contract about compensation

Opinion

Denis Kish. The general manager of Shaden Group:

—The number of orders grows during the holidays in two-three times. The most popular type of the order is general cleaning. The company’s employees do it much faster and more effective because of using of professional technique. For example, the vacuum cleaner with the brush for carpet cleaning easily removes the dirt from the hard-to-reach places; the aqua vacuum cleaner and the machine for stairs cleaning is perfectly suitable for cleaning in the houses and villas; the air spray perfectly ionize the air and make it smell good. The toners are able to hide the scratches, make the surface shiny after processing; the protective membranes will protect the surface from the following scratches and pollutions, will save the money of customer for the following cleanings. For the last two years the big companies made a big jump in their work: they buy the expensive equipment, more technological tools, attract the specialists from the other spheres (technologists, managers, chemists, industrial climbers), constantly train the staff, doing the trainings and seminars.

Opinion

Michail Korchagin, the general manager of Makcleaningservice:

— Today there’s a tendency of growing the demand for care of upholstered furniture and carpets – the clients have already realized, that the sand, which gets into the carpet, deteriorates it, and professional cleaning make it live four times longer. You should clean the carpets once in a month; you should do the dry cleaning once in a season. Be especially careful with the cigarettes, fires and other pyrotechnical toys on holidays. If they don’t burn the fabric, you’ll never remove the stains from fire. The level of fabric cleaning depends on its quality and components of the pollution. The tracks of the cocktail are very difficult to remove. To remove the stain from juice, fruits, wine, ice cream, it’s important to apply a detergent, liquid soap or even shampoo and call the cleaners. As the ordering of service is preliminary, the method will ease the work with the stain.

Source: “Vlast deneg”