San Fran CA: House cleaning service or specific person recommendation?

January 20, 2015 1:38 PM

Can you give me from personal experience a recommendation for a house cleaning service or (preferably) a specific person who cleans your home? I've had terrible luck with both in San Francisco and I'm reaching a point with work that I just don't have time to do it all any more.

I've tried services, which were reliable and did a horrible job and one let one of my cats out of the window and it's only by a miracle that she didn't get lost or killed.

I've also tried one specific person who was recommended by a woman I worked with who was kind of picky and snobby so I thought her recommendation would be good; it turned out that the cleaner was completely unreliable and broke things, and when I finally quit her, I told the woman who had recommended her, who told me she had fired the cleaner months previously.

I have a small apartment but I have three cats, one of whom is currently on a jag where he tries to make a break for it about every fourth time the door is opened. It's an interior doorway so at least he wouldn't run straight into the street, but since I'd like a housecleaner who would clean while I was at work, it would just be better all around if there were no escapees.

Anyone with personal recs? I'd really appreciate it.

posted by janey47 to Home & Garden (1 answer total)

My housekeepers were very good but sadly have closed their business. However, I found them on Redbeacon, which was a pretty good experience; you put up a job listing describing what you need and people bid on it. It's a little more work than a service in that you need to vet people & call references yourself, but it didn't take me too long to find someone good.

Another thing to try is Nextdoor, which is pretty active in SF and I often see people asking for housecleaner reqs. A third thing is to ask your landlord (if renting) who they use when turning over/cleaning out apartments.
posted by annekate at 9:27 AM on January 21, 2015