I recently blogged about an article that I contributed to in the February 2012 Reader’s Digest called “13 Things Your Housecleaner Won’t Tell You”. There is now a print version out on news stands, two online versions (each is different) and it was also featured on Good Morning America, thus becoming becoming the most popular story in Yahoo News and ABC News.
Pretty cool, huh? Well, you would THINK.
Here are two of the Good Morning segment that aired last week. Take a peek and see if you can spot the source of the scandal that erupted afterwards:
ABC Top News: Good Morning America segment “Top Secret Cleaning Techniques From Housekeepers”
Since the article went viral, I have been barraged with criticism from the maid service industry. It was nothing short of a scandal based on the hysterics that ensued.
Apparently there were some elements of the article that made the industry look less than stellar. I later figured out that those contributions were likely submitted by a stand-up comic who used to be a maid, but no one will ever know for sure unless she claims the information herself. Whether the information was meant to be read as a joke or not, what happened afterward was nothing to laugh about.
For the record, here are the ‘shady’ elements of the online article found here. I have seen the entire article picked apart, but these items are the most controversial:
6. Be wary if I give you my price over the phone. Reputable cleaners come to your home and give you a free estimate.
8. Training? What training? In this economy, a lot of people are turning to housecleaning to pay the bills. I clean my own house so I think I know how to clean.
10. Come home unexpectedly every once in a while and see what we’re doing. Good housecleaners won’t watch your TV, talk on the phone, or eat on your bed.
12. I know more than you think. I see the piles of bills marked “past due” and know you’re having money problems. I find drugs and condom wrappers in kids’ bedrooms. And I can tell who’s unfaithful because the cheaters always start hiding laundry.
And the shadiest elements of the original online article are found here:
8. When using a new maid service, leave a few dollars hanging out of a pants pocket or lying on the counter.
If we take a dollar or two, you’ll know we’re probably going to take other things.
11. If you leave your personal life out for us to see, we most definitely will talk about you.
We may even send pictures to our friends and relatives.
Aside from item #6, which was a variation of my words and taken out of context, I had nothing to do with the other items. I don’t agree with the information, but the fact remains that none of it is UNtrue. It just holds true for NONprofessional maids.
There is a very big difference.
I held my client’s privacy to the highest standards. I never would have dreamed of allowing my employees to eat on someone’s bed while watching TV because the employees I hired were too busy working so they can earn a paycheck. Stealing even a penny from a client was grounds for termination. I once fired a maid on the spot for taking an item out of a client’s trash so she could repurpose it in her own home. It wasn’t because she didn’t know better. My expectations of my employees were very clear. I ran a professional maid service, period.
The standards of a professional maid versus a nonprofessional maid are distinctly different. The fact is, there are a LOT of nonprofessionals out there.
So what was the fuss all about?
My colleagues, claiming how ‘unprofessional’ the article was…became unprofessional in the course of their response to the article. How ironic!
One maid service owner blogged about it in a not-so-nice way. Others just came out of the woodwork, including a founder of a nonprofit that I had given 60-80 hours a week at no pay to help her run her nonprofit and …despite the fact that I had written a wonderful article for her in the past in a major media outlet, just had to point fingers and defend her business as though I had personally denigrated her through these articles. And, last but not least, the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International, and organization that I served as an ambassador (again, on my own time) to help bring a positive light and industry standards to every member — they responded strongly with a cease and desist letter and attorney involvement of some sort.
On the ARCSI Facebook page, one maid imagined a conspiracy with this:
And How much money did Bona pay them? I have never heard of vinegar and water ruining a finish plus many hardwood floor installers recommend it as the best way to clean hardwood floors.
Since I was the one to recommend Bona and said that the use of vinegar may void a warranty on hardwood floors, I was shaking my head at the irony of it all. ARCSI never stepped in to defend me, or correct her misinformation. This was a maid who was defending her ‘professionalism’ but did not know basic information about how to best clean hardwood flooring. So, I responded with this:
Bona did not pay them a dime. I told them about Bona because it is pH balanced and most recommended for wood flooring, a very universal product. I also told them about the FACT that some manufacturers warranties for hardwood floors would be void if you used vinegar. I would have hoped that ARCSI would have told the industry this by now, but I recommend you do your research to find that it is true. Of course installers will tell you to use it. That means they get more business installing flooring that got ruined in the first place! 
Others called it “appalling”, “disgusting”, and one of the contributors to the article called it “fiction.”
It was not pretty at all.
I posted my explanations via LinkedIn to the incorrect wording of item #6 in great detail, even citing my original article in 2010 that inspired this whole story. You can clearly see the twist of the wording.
I also posted my official statement about the articles HERE. In it I suggested a way to make the articles POSITIVE for their own businesses.
Finally, on the ARCSI Facebook page, I posted this after the uproar got to the point of believing I (and another) should follow suit by demanding to have our names removed from the articles. Neither of us had a desire to have our names removed. It was just one person who went to extremes to denounce her role in the articles, which she was entitled to do:
I think everyone is making a much bigger deal out of it than they need to. I don’t want, and never wanted, my name removed from the articles – regardless of which version appears. I did, however, state for the record that neither myself, you or Theresa were contributors to the erroneous information and had no problem defending our good names when they came in question. No one did that for me that I can see, not even ARCSI. It should have been enough for the membership would know we weren’t advocating some of the information in the article. And honestly, even the ‘bad’ information is true…just not with professionals like us. Instead of people seeing it for what it was and just voicing why they liked or disliked the information, I’ve been belittled multiple times, implying I was the source of bad information, and many ‘professionals’ in the industry became unprofessional in the process of reacting to this article. I have said and will continue to say that everyone who has a problem with it can make it into a positive by itemizing each thing in the article and use it as a marketing tool to educate their clients on what your company will or will not do for their clients. Additionally, I will be blogging about this experience, the articles, and my reaction to the good vs. bad information on my own blog. But having my name removed is not on my list of things ‘to do’ and never has been.
And still, more people came in to argue about it after all that effort on my part to explain and facilitate a positive outcome for everyone involved.
I have much better things to do with my time and so should they.
People would rather argue to minutia and pound their mules to impunity about being right (even if they are wrong) than doing the right thing. How professional is that? Not very, at least to me.
I am not ashamed of my contributions to this article, nor do I wish to have my name removed. I am proud to have contributed GOOD content and will not apologize to anyone for the choices that Reader’s Digest made in presenting their article.
I am ashamed at how some of these ‘professionals’ acted in the course of this story going public. They probably did more harm to themselves than the articles ever could.
So, let’s set the record straight! Here are the items that I DID contribute word-for-word:
3. Do you want to keep working after you get home? Neither do we. Some of us actually hire someone else to clean our homes. (this is a variation of my words found in this article: Confessions of a Maid Service Owner“)
6. Want to save money on high-priced maid services? Instead of booking a regular appointment, ask to be on our on-call list to fill last-minute slots at a discount. Or see if you can be a “training home” for new cleaners. (Again, a variation of my words in the article linked above.)
9. Make sure we’re bonded and have liability insurance. Otherwise, you’re on the hook if we break something or get hurt on the job.
12. Recommend us to your friends. We may give you $25 to $50 off a cleaning for each referral—if you ask.
The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is your friend. It will cut your cleaning time in half for bathtubs, sinks, countertops, and dirty walls.
A wet pumice stone will clean a dirty oven faster than any spray-on product.
To damp-mop wood floors, use plain water or a water-based floor cleaner like Bona. Don’t use vinegar. The acid in it will pit your polyurethane finish, can void your warranty, and may reduce shine over time.
Our biggest secret weapon? A powdered product called Bar Keepers Friend (amazon.com). We use it on everything. Its active ingredient is rhubarb powder, which really cuts through grit and grime. It cleans glass-top stoves, counters, toilets, porcelain and more. Your sink will never be shinier.
To clean your microwave oven, microwave a cup of water with some baking soda in it until it’s boiling. That eliminates odors and makes it super easy to wipe away all that stuck-on stuff.
And here are the other items I discussed, but not presented in my exact words (and likely parroted by other contributors too):
2. I wish you wouldn’t insist on bleach and other harsh cleaners. For almost every situation, there’s an eco-friendly option that’s just as effective.
3. After I leave, check the base of the toilet and the top of the fridge. If they’re clean, you know I’m thorough.
4. Many cleaning companies do not run any sort of background check or even check references. I answered an ad, I was on time and presentable, and I was willing to take the job. That is all most companies care about.
So there you have it, folks. I will be sharing more cleaning ‘secrets’ in the upcoming months in my “Swift Kick in the Butt – Getting your life back under control” series. I hope you will join me for some GREAT advice that will save you money, time and your sanity.
I’ve only just gotten started in sharing ‘secrets’ with readers. You can guarantee it!
What cleaning tips would you like to see more of? Share them in your comments below!
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