Barbara asked Judith about how we use good communications within The Cleaning Biz, and then recorded an interesting chat for about 10-15 minutes all around the topic.  If you are a human being, there’s something to learn here.   If you are a business person, it’s vital.   If you are a client or a cleaner or an existing or potential licensee of The Cleaning Biz, it’s essential listening.

The recording is entitled Honest Conversations and you can listen to it here:

Good!   Then we have a little business opportunity for you.

The Cleaning Biz is always looking for lively people with time on their hands who want to top up their income.   And we think this could be an ideal opportunity for the right sort of retired person.   After all, 60 isn’t even old these days, is it?   And remember, if this isnt right for you but you introduce us to someone who goes on to work with us, we pay you a fee of

Get Rid of Caked-On Oven Dirt

Power Product: Lakeland Limited Oven-Mate,

Keeping Whites White

Power product: Add a scoop of Oxi Clean (

Power Product – Leifheit Spray Window Cleaner (

Wipe away worksurface stains with…

Power Product – Cillit Bang Universal Degreaser,

The first cleaning headache on the list is:

1.   Clean up a grimy shower cubicle

Power Product: We were sceptical that, at

In March Bill Clinton was in London giving a speech at Guildhall on Globalisation and Progressive Politics. My husband was in the audience and over supper that evening he told me all about it – at some length. The only thing that stuck in my mind was his account of how, towards the end of the talk, Clinton had got all mawkish. He asked everyone in the audience to take a minute or two to think about the cleaners who had cleaned the fine hall in which they were sitting.

I do not need Bill Clinton to tell me to feel guilty about cleaners. I feel more than guilty enough about mine as it is. Indeed, when it comes to a tricky relationship between boss and subordinate there is none worse than that between the domestic cleaner and their employer – and guilt is a large part of the problem. When you invite someone to clean your house it is as if your wealth and good fortune are stacked up against their lack of either.

The relationship is further marred by embarrassment. Your cleaner knows too much about you for comfort. In the office (unless things have gone very wrong indeed) your underlings have no knowledge of the untidy state of your knicker drawer. Your cleaner knows all about these. She can also read your love letters and bank statements and is familiar with the contents of your bathroom cabinet.

Domestic cleaning is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. According to Myhome (a cleaning company formerly owned by Unilever), 2.7 million households in the UK spend

"I’m a legend in my own family for being a neat freak and a cleanaholic. Once a month, I even remove the gas cooker, washing machine and fridge so I can clean behind them.

Housework for me is a habit, it’s as if I’m on auto pilot – I do it without thinking. Saturday mornings are when I go thoroughly through the house, but every day there’s something to be done.

On weekdays, I get up at 6.45 a.m. to clean before leaving for work at 11 a.m. I start by wiping my worktops down and giving the kitchen a good going over, then I have breakfast and get the children ready for school.

After the school run, I make the beds, vacuum throughout, clean the bathroom and shower and give everything a good polish. I’m very particular about the rugs in my sitting room, and shake them outside every day.

My children don’t miss out, though; they’re number one in my life. I do the housework when they’re busy with sport or playing outside. We always sit down to tea together, I help them with their homework and Saturday and Sunday afternoons are reserved totally for them.

My idea of a good morning is to take all the food out of the corner carousel in the kitchen, throwing out what I don’t want before wiping it and putting it back in order – I then feel a lot better. The windows get cleaned every two weeks, although if I see any handprints in the meantime it’s straight out with the Windolene.

I also do washing every day, even if it’s only half a load, and the moment anyone’s used a towel it goes straight in the machine – our clothes are always outside on the line.

Every Friday night, I half-fill the bath with washing powder and water, leaving it overnight – it comes up lovely and shiny.

We’re not a telly addict family, I’d rather do something active.  On Saturday mornings the children are out playing sports, my husband is either cleaning the car or doing the garden then we all go out in the afternoon.

Craig does the ironing on a Sunday morning, and he’s also good at cleaning the shower in the bathroom – he was brought up by his mum to do it. I give the kitchen worktops a going-over while he does that.

My Mum’s clean, but she’s not as houseproud as me. When I go to my sister’s I sometimes feel a bit twitchy, and the last time I was there I saw a mark on her radiator and had to wipe it off before I could relax.

Sometimes a friend might say: "You’re not coming into my home because yours is always so spic and span," but I really don’t worry about other peoples’ homes, although I always have my wet wipes with me. When I go on holiday, I take my own toilet cleaner, but that’s it.

I’m houseproud, but it’s also stress relief. I get rid of my frustrations and feel satisfaction in a job well done."

Don’t feel like Louisa about keeping your own house clean?   No, we thought not!   You can see Louisa on Cleanaholics on the Discovery and Health Channel and for those of you with a life, we can send you a cleaner you will enjoy having in your home, freeing up your precious time.

www.thecleaningbiz.com

Its about my car.   I would like someone to come round about once a week and collect it, clean it obviously(!), fill it with petrol, check the air in the tyres, the screenwash, the oil levels and give it a general tidy up.

Their responsibilities would also include finding out when I was intending to drive it into London that week and sourcing carparking, and paying the Congestion Charge in advance for those days.

Also they would be required to keep a note of when my insurance was up for renewal and then to shop around for the best deal for me, reminding me to report my speeding offences to the insurance company since this is a requirement of motor insurance apparently, and then taxing it when necessary and getting the MoT and taking it for a service etc.

What would you call this motor angel of the road?   Well, that’s probably it, of course.   Motor Angels.

The Motor Angels would take care of everything to do with my car, and I do mean everything so that all I have to do is get in and drive.   Oh, and pay their immaculately itemised bill, of course.

A closely related service I used recently at Gatwick Airport is called BCP.   This is airport valet parking.   You just drive up to the terminal, leave the engine running, and they take your car away, park it, wash it and bring it back to you at the terminal when you fly back in.   This mean we could be away from the airport within 35 minutes of landing – and in a clean car.   Beat that!