08/18/2026
🎯 Know what you’re doing or find something else to do!
I might come across as a mean girl but it needs to be said.
I don’t watch CleanTok, it’s not my thing. I’m more of a news kind of gal. Anyway, last night I got a video on my FYP and on the caption, the cleaner said they started their business the same time I did. So I watched because it felt nice that we had that in common.
Well, pretty quickly I knew something was wrong. The video was of a bathroom deep clean. They called the chrome faucet…stainless steel (in multiple videos). Then, they used Method All Purpose to clean the exterior of the toilet, no sanitizing/disinfecting the flush lever or seat. Think about it…three years and a toilet hasn’t been taken care of properly.
So, of course I ended up getting more cleaning videos right after. I scroll for HOURS (thanks adderall 🥲). This is what I saw:
1. An 8 month newbie commercial cleaner shared her DIY disinfectant recipe. Water and antibacterial Dawn Dish Soap in a spray bottle. Antibacterial and Disinfectant are NOT interchangeable. Antibacterial Dish Soaps will not eliminate bacteria on surfaces, only human skin. Someone is trusted AND paid to clean public spaces and they do not have the knowledge that’s necessary to do the job they were hired to do.
2. Another cleaner was talking about the products she brings for her plant-based cleaning service. She said for sanitizing purposes she uses Simple Green All Purpose. That product is not plant-based and it does not sanitize. There’s a client out there most likely being charged extra for this service and it’s not being done properly.
3. I saw a cleaner show how she deep cleans a toilet. She poured Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner in the bowl, but the bowl had a higher water level than usual. She didn’t force flush so, the toilet bowl cleaner got too diluted too quickly to work properly. Then, she sprayed Scrubbing Bubbles Easy Clean on the exterior. It removes grime but does not sanitize or disinfect. While spraying the seat, she sprayed over the toilet bowl cleaner. Now they’re mixed, which is not only dangerous but now the toilet bowl cleaner is even more ineffective.
4. I saw a video of a new house cleaner saying cleaning is the easy part and growing the business is difficult. She was going to show how she, as a professional cleaner, deep cleans a toilet. She uses OdoBan Disinfectant, which I love to do as well. Except, she assumed the cleaning and disinfecting happen simultaneously. It does not. To use OdoBan as a cleaner and a disinfectant, it has to be used in two rounds. Before using any disinfectant, you have to pre-clean the surface. Growing a business is absolutely hard work but, knowing how to properly clean and disinfect surfaces takes some research.
5. A house cleaner decided to start taking on biohazard jobs. She would be using a specialized Enzyme Cleaner as her all purpose. I’m a huge fan of enzyme cleaners but, there was a MASSIVE amount of grease and grime in the home. The product simply wouldn’t work fast enough to cut through it all because it lacks surfactants. Which means the grease would just end up getting smeared. Biohazard cleanings are no joke. You should get a certification by going through proper training. I can almost guarantee while the home might have looked clean in the end, I’m almost positive no surface was taken care of properly.
6. An Airbnb cleaner was showing how she washes and refreshes linen. She didn’t sanitize any of it. Then, she grabbed the bedding, made the beds and sprayed OdoBan Disinfectant all over because, “if you’re not disinfecting the sheets, wtf are you doing?!” OdoBan’s disinfecting claims are only for hard surfaces, not fabrics. Guests are checking into Airbnbs (that already charge insane cleaning fees) and yet they’re plopping their asses on toilets that weren’t cleaned and disinfected correctly, and bed sheets that were washed in the wrong water temp and not sanitized. Please think about that for a second.
I could go on and on.
Look, I don’t know everything. I will never claim to. I’m constantly trying to learn something new because I want to be great at what I do.
This is going to sound bitchy but at this point I do not care. Cleaning services aren’t cheap. Most clients that hire us are just like us, middle class people that need some help. This economy is 💩. Homeowners add us into their budget. Many save up for just one cleaning. It is not okay to take someone’s money, have them trust that you’re a professional, and yet you do not have the knowledge that is required to provide this service.
There are a TON of courses you can take online, there’s books, cleaning brand websites have pages worth of info on their products, etc. There simply is no excuse to not know the basics. Not only that, but there were videos I saw from cleaners that have been in the industry for 10+ years and they couldn’t clean a toilet properly. I really need you to digest that. It’s bonkers to me.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
