Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we offer a selection of products that are considered “Green” or Eco-Friendly. However, everyone has a different meaning or interpretation of what is considered safe, green or eco-friendly. When submitting your estimate request, be sure to indicate your preference for the type of cleaning products. Please keep in mind that from our experience, green or eco-friendly products do not clean as well as regular/standard products and we will require more time/effort to clean and as a result will cost more.

When determining your home cleaning cost, we recognize that every home is as unique as the homeowner, and every home cleaning fee is individually based. Things that will affect your home cleaning cost include number of residents, number and type of pets, clutter, floor types, size of your home and how often you want our cleaning technicians to clean.

The first visit usually costs more than subsequent visits, generally at that first cleaning our cleaning technicians get the home up to Virginia Housekeepers standards. Once the first cleaning has been completed, your home’s cleanliness can be easily maintained with our regular visits. Regular home cleaning services are charged as a flat fee. You will receive an estimate for both the initial and the regular home cleaning services up front. Once the initial home cleaning has been completed, we will confirm the regular home cleaning price. But after one month without cleaning we will consider the following visit, like a first time cleaning.

While we can commit to a specific day, there are many factors throughout the day that may affect our actual arrival time, but it will usually be the same day and time. We always call, email or text you the day before to remind you of the schedule cleaning with us. If you need to change the day and/or time for the cleaning, please email or text us with no less than 24 hours notice.

It’s as simple as this:

Don’t spend any time cleaning before we arrive! Cleaning homes is what we do, after all, right? You only have to:

• Remove clutter so we can effectively clean all surfaces,
• Find a good spot for your pets so they are comfortable while we clean,
• Put out clean sheets if we will be changing your linens.

It’s your choice. In fact, most of our customers prefer not to be home when we clean. However, if you like to be at home it will be no problem for us. If you choose to provide us with a key, the garage code, and/or assigns us a guest alarm code rest assured that your security is our highest priority.

Call, email or text us within 24 hours and we will re-clean the area at no cost.

A team of cleaning technicians, trained and employed by Virginia Housekeepers, will clean your home, and it will be the same team each time.  This approach helps our team get to know the unique needs of your home, thus ensuring a consistent, quality cleaning each and every time. Using this method also permits you, as the customer, to know who is in your home and ultimately leaves you feeling more secure.  Occasionally, there may be a change in a team member due to illness, vacations and staff changes. Each team includes a team leader who will be familiar with your home, to ensure that all the tasks are completed managers will check in with you periodically.

Follow this link and submit within 48 hours of your scheduled appointment time. Be sure to review/understand our policies and fees regarding changes.

We provide all cleaning equipment and products. If you have a special cleaning product that you would like for us to use, please be sure to let us know.

Just as with rescheduling fees, if you lock the team out on cleaning day, you will be assessed a lock-out fee. The lock-out fee is $100.  In the event of an accidental lockout, we will attempt to contact you to see if the issue can be resolved on the spot.

If you have pets, we prefer them to be restricted from entering the areas that we clean to allow us to clean your home better and more efficiently, however we are pet friendly and will be very careful around them. Please let us know in advance what kind of pets you have so we can take care to not startle them or accidentally let them outside. We also ask that you secure them as appropriate in case visitors make them nervous. For sanitary and safety reasons, our teams are not permitted to clean flea infested homes or pick up animal excrement.

If you have special valuables, heirlooms or irreplaceable items, please put them away or instruct us not to touch them. A closed door or drawer is your signal to us that you do not want that area cleaned. Virginia Housekeepers carries all the necessary insurances in the event of any damage.

Follow this link. Payment is due the day of each scheduled cleaning. Most of our customers pay electronically using Zelle or Venmo or simply leave a check on the counter. In the event you forget to leave your payment, please let us know immediately to avoid any late payment fees.

Be sure to review/understand our policies and fees regarding changes.

Check policy: If your check is returned for any reason by the bank, a processing fee of $50.00 will be charge.

All cleaning services can be canceled up to 48 hours in advance without any fee. If you cancel within the 48 hour period prior to the scheduled appointment, you will be responsible for 50% of the estimated cleaning fee. We do not like to charge this fee but since we will have to eat the non-billable time, we feel as though it is only fair since our cleaners expect/plan on a certain level of income and make plans for associated personal expenses as a result. For example, most have to pay for childcare regardless and therefore, this change in plans is very costly. Be sure to review/understand our policies and fees regarding changes.

If the team is unable to enter your home due to the customer’s fault (door is locked, pets not contained, power outage, water is shut off or if the team is turned away at the door) there will be a lock-out fee assessed in the amount of $100.

Your Virginia Housekeepers cleaning team will always take every measure possible to assure safe handling of your things while cleaning your home. Since sometimes accidents cannot be prevented, Virginia Housekeepers and its employees are insured and bonded so that you can be rest assured that you are protected against loss and/or breakage. When you entrust your house key to a Virginia Housekeepers manager, it will immediately be incorporated into the Virginia Housekeepers lock box system. The physical keys and corresponding location list are kept in two separate locations to provide an extra security measure for your home.

All of the cleaners that work for Virginia Housekeepers have a tax ID and the credentials to work in the United States and pay taxes accordingly.

Virginia Housekeepers pays all local, state, federal and social security taxes. So when you hire Virginia Housekeepers to clean your home, there is no need to be concerned with tax forms and paperwork because Virginia Housekeepers will properly handle those issues.

We would greatly appreciate it if you can communicate any special instructions directly to the office via e-mail so that we can update your file accordingly to enhance the cleaning experience you receive. This will help us update the notes available to any team that may clean your home in the future, as well as a reminder for your regular team.

We would need an extra time to clean your house thoroughly during the initial cleans to bring it to Virginia Housekeepers standards where we can maintain on a recurring visits. During the initial cleaning, Virginia Housekeepers will clean your home top to the bottom. Initial cleaning takes longer since your house has not been cleaned at Virginia Housekeepers standards. The initial cleanings based on the amount of time it takes to clean your home. Our recurring services will help to maintain your clean home.

Our cleaning services can be provided on a weekly, every other week (bi-weekly), or monthly, depending on your cleaning needs. Virginia Housekeepers also offers cleanings for special occasions, as well as move-in, move-out cleaning services.

Virginia Housekeepers cleaning crews consist of two people. Occasionally, we may send our quality control manager with the team to ensure the quality of our services.  Larger homes may require a third or fourth team member.

We make every effort to ensure that our regularly scheduled customers have the same cleaning team come to their home week after week, however, we may send a different crew due to illness, vacation or scheduling conflicts.  All of our cleaning crews are trained to provide a consistent service each time. Our cleaning crews do not smoke, eat or drink in your home.

Virginia Housekeepers is unique in how we operate. For all of the major holidays (listed below), all of our cleaners have the option, if interested, to earn double pay during these specific days. Our cleaners are paid for these holidays but in some cases, they may not celebrate that holiday and as a result they may wish to earn double pay for that day. Therefore, we may be able to clean on any of these holidays.

In the event your regular cleaning falls on a holiday and your regular team is not working, we will reach out to you a couple of weeks in advance to reschedule your cleaning.

• New Years Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day (July 4th)
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving & Black Friday
• Christmas Day

Please ensure that if your home is equipped with a security system it is turned off or disarmed on the day of your scheduled cleaning. If you choose to provide us with instructions for arming or disarming your security alarm, we will not be responsible for any alarms that may be set off or associated dispatch fees for first responders.  If you live in a gated community, please be sure to add your specific housekeepers name to the authorized entry list.

Our team members are compensated based upon reviews and the quality of their service and do not expect tips, however, the teams do appreciate them and are allowed to receive them if you would like to leave them a tip as recognition for exceptional work. You can leave a tip in an envelope or you can ask us to add it on your charge.

Call us or email us within 24 hours and we will re-clean the area, free of charge.  Pictures can always help us, so please take a picture and send it to us (if necessary).

We do our best to handle your things with the utmost care; however, sometimes accidents cannot be prevented.  Should damage or breakage occur while we are cleaning your home, we will make every effort to repair the item or replace the item should repair not be possible. Insurance claims will be filed when appropriate.  Pictures can always help us, so please take a picture and send it to us (if necessary).

Depending upon the type of service, interior window glass cleaning is included along with cleaning the window sill and frame (up to 8ft). We can offer exterior window cleaning (up to 8ft) for specific types of windows for an additional charge (the kind that fold-in and are accessible from the inside of the home). We offer a service to clean the window or sliding glass door tracks as well which is an additional charge.

Here at Virginia Housekeepers our goal is to provide a consistent, quality cleaning services to all of our customers during each visit. We customize our house cleaning services to fit your home’s unique needs and budget. To provide this level of exceptional service to all our valued customers there are some areas and items in your home that Virginia Housekeepers does not clean. We do not offer the following:

• Ironing
• Carpet Cleaning
• Cleaning or removing pet or rodent excrement
• Cleaning vomit, blood or fecal matter
• Power washing
• Organizing services or decluttering
• Cleaning drapes or steam cleaning any furniture/upholstery

We pride ourselves on attracting the best cleaners available. Combining hourly wages and bonus programs we offer some of the best pay in the industry – to ensure we have the finest cleaners. We screen our cleaners carefully, we train meticulously, we inspect relentlessly and we insure adequately. We do all this so that you can have the highest confidence to trust our cleaners with the care of your home.

Mildew is a parasitic fungus. It requires moisture, warmth and a food source to exist. It reproduces itself by growing microscopic spores in enormous quantities. These spores are always present in the air and spread via normal air currents. A spore lies dormant until favorable moisture and temperature conditions occur for it to germinate. Mildew thrives in warm moist areas that have poor air circulation. In the average household, mildew is typically found in the bathrooms. The corners, cracks and crevices of the tub, shower, sink and toilet are the most common areas affected. It ranges in color from a pinkish-orange to black.

Your Virginia Housekeepers’ team will be able to impede the growth of mildew by removing the built up food sources that it lives on, such as soap, skin, hair, etc. However, as long as moisture and warmth are present, the spores will immediately germinate and mildew will again be growing on the host area.

To stop the growth of mildew, the area must be kept dry or it must be chemically treated to make it an undesirable environment for the spore to germinate. Although not part of a green cleaning program, chlorine bleach is a very good sanitizer to use on an infected area.

We recommend that the bleach can be diluted up to 50% with water to reduce the pungent odor. The most practical application method would be to lightly spray the area, although it can be wiped or sponged on. It is not necessary to saturate the area or to treat uninfected areas. Leave the bleach in contact with the surface area for at least an hour. Rinse any area that you will touch in later use. Repeat the application on a bi-weekly basis or when mildew reappears.

Insurance restrictions do not permit our cleaners to use some forms of bleach. Further, bleach is not part of our Green Clean Certified® program because of the toxic nature of this substance. As a Virginia Housekeepers customer, you may choose to use bleach independently to help control mildew growth between our cleaning service visits. If you choose to do so, please do not use bleach for two days preceding a scheduled house cleaning by Virginia Housekeepers because a chlorine residue could combine with the other cleaning solutions our cleaners use and cause the formation of a toxic gas. Also, please ventilate the treated area well to clear away harmful vapors quickly.

We hope the above discussion explains why mildew is such an on-going maintenance challenge. Working together, however, it can be controlled.

In one word — absolutely! All of our cleaners are experienced professional housekeepers. We rarely hire someone without specific experience cleaning several homes a day. Cleaning houses takes a very specific type of personality, patience and attention to detail. We receive a large number of applicants every month and most of which do not meet our standards and of the ones that meet our standards,
they are tested with several of our existing teams to insure their professionalism, quality, reliability and work ethic.

Of course we are!  But unlike independent cleaners or agencies, Virginia Housekeepers’ insurance includes the most important insurance…workers compensation.

Follow this link.

Because cleaning is a very personalized and subjective service, we highly encourage our customers to provide specific feedback so we continually improve your service. The feedback we receive helps us to serve you better, correct any problems and give praise to the cleaning teams who meet and exceed expectations.

If you move or need to change your address, just call us at (703)858-2266 or send an email to info@virginiahousekeepers.com

If you need to change your payment method, just call us at (703)858-2266 or send an email to info@virginiahousekeepers.com

If you have received an estimate already, simply reply to the email containing the estimate. If you need a different date than the date proposed, simply indicate the preferred date in the reply. If you need an estimate, follow this link.

We know that it is important to earn your trust on each house cleaning visit, which is why we do not ask you to sign a contract. We operate through open communication and honest evaluation of our service. We encourage feedback that will help us serve you better.

You can rest assured that all of our professional housecleaners are fully trained and insured. We respect all of our customers by never smoking, drinking, eating, or using appliances during our home cleanings. We wear our recognized uniforms with pride and confidently carry out services that exceed expectations. We also undergo regular training to ensure that we’re always up to date with all of the latest and greatest cleaning techniques. For additional safety and peace of mind, the work we perform for each customer is held accountable by a trusted and experienced supervisor.

This method involves the practices and products used by cleaning companies to promote a better environment and a healthier home. Green cleaning solutions don’t contain ozone depleting chemicals or flammable substances that can irritate the skin and cause respiratory illnesses.

While most green cleaning products cannot remove all harmful forms of bacteria, Virginia Housekeepers strives to use the most appropriate methods for each service. In order to protect the environment, we utilize microfiber cloths and pads during our services, rather than paper. Not only is this practice better for the environment, microfiber picks up 99% of bacteria while cotton-based mops only pick up 30%.

Many cleaning companies falsely advertise green cleaning practices. We strive to be as transparent as possible and are happy to answer any questions you have regarding our eco-friendly practices.

We’re recognized for being affordable and flexible. Some individual cleaning companies are able to offer lower rates because they don’t cover liability insurance or workers compensation. Virginia Housekeepers is proud to provide these benefits that ensure our customers’ peace of mind while still being able to offer competitive rates for our services.

Many cleaning companies are owned and operated by one person or a family and as a result they offer discounted pricing in order to survive and capture new business. However, these services generally do not stay in business very long since the reduced price they offered does not lead to enough profits to sustain the business. In addition, many of these smaller cleaning companies do not pay the appropriate taxes, licensing fees, worker’s compensation or have the appropriate insurance to conduct business. Some pay their employees or contractors in cash or under the table and avoid withholding taxes. These tactics are not good for the industry, the community or the business since it will eventually catch up with them.

Virginia Housekeepers is rated as one of the best, if not the best, residential cleaning companies in Virginia. We are licensed, bonded and insured. Our pricing is very competitive considering our position, size, quality standards and level of professionalism.

Yes!  We offer a $100 credit for any referral that becomes a regular recurring customer for more than 90 days. Use this link to send us a referral.

All of our housekeepers are employees that are thoroughly screened and trained.

No, we just look like one because we are just as professional.  But, we have the freedom to provide you with a more customized service and our prices are usually much lower than the franchises.

No!  You can cancel any time you wish.

Yes, we work on Saturdays but not on Sundays. If you are interested in regular recurring cleaning services on Saturday, please keep in mind that our teams/cleaners that work on Saturday are not always the same team/cleaners and therefore, our “Same Team Pledge” cannot be honored. In addition, Saturday cleanings tend to get rescheduled more than weekday cleanings as people change their plans or go out of town for the weekend which results in numerous scheduling changes. This will therefore impact the arrival of your cleaning if there was a cancelation for the home prior to yours. Meaning, arrival times for Saturday cleanings will vary. However, you will always know the night before when you receive your reminder text with the arrival time.

Many of our customers elect to do a Spring Cleaning every year as it is a good practice to clean the following: