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A very flexible and accommodating service. They clean as much or as little as you want at a time to suit you.

-Mr C – Dunton Green

We are really happy with the efficient service provided by Clean Home. They have sourced a cleaner who is not only reliable and trustworthy but also cleans our home to a high standard.

-Ms G – West Malling

I am delighted with the service from CleanHome. I have had the same cleaner since I signed up and she is great!!! Philippa offers a very personal approach and I would have no difficulties if I ever had cause for complaint.

-Ms S – Sevenoaks

Really happy with Cleanhome, very helpful and professional. After a visit to our home to discuss our requirements we were recommended a cleaner quickly. After she was no longer available we were quickly recommended a replacement who we’re very happy with. Communication is always quick which is much appreciated. Would recommend!

-Mrs A – Sevenoaks

I used Cleanhome when my wonderful cleaner left after 7 years and I didn’t know where to start. Cleanhome have constantly kept in contact with me, organised the very best cleaner, who is at one with my animals and children; and even sorted it for me, when my tidy fairy goes on holiday. It’s seamless and so far, I have had nothing but gorgeous and efficient people in my home. Totally recommend.

-Mrs D – Speldhurst
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Too much paper? Go digital.

Back in the halcyon days of the nineties, when all we had to worry about was qualifying for international football competitions or who would win out of Blur and Oasis, the internet was born, and went through its toddler stages as we moved towards the millennium. It was a strange new technology. Some, like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, quickly identified that this was a turning point for humanity. Others feared and rejected it as a dangerous or unpleasant world they didn’t want to get involved in. There was a consensus, however, whichever way you looked at it: print was dead.

Why would people need paper any more? 

The paperless office and paperless society was on its way and there was nothing anyone could do about it. And to some extent, they were right. Sales of physical newspapers have plummeted in the decades since the millennium, and the popularity of digital books, magazines and newspapers, as well as audiobooks and podcasts, have exploded. Tablets, phones, phablets, Kindles – the devices to consume these ‘new media’ have become manufactured and sold in their millions.

 

Paper, though, hasn’t disappeared. I can understand it too. Try as they might, the makers of the digital alternatives haven’t been able to replicate the aesthetic of print on paper. That je ne sais quoi about the experience of reading a paperback novel or leafing through a magazine. And despite the resolution of screens on handheld devices and laptops achieving crispness previously only achievable by high quality photography, we still prefer reading from paper.

Our preferences, however, can lead to our demise. 

The dream of the paperless office was not just one of a tidy workplace but of a more efficient one too. I have found myself hunting for lost notes from a meeting or conversation more times than I’m prepared to admit, and when even I can’t find those notes, what hope is there for my colleagues to be able to access them?

A moment of clarity.

As I write this article, I am doing so on a clear desk. I’ve turned a corner. Working from home on a small desk has all but forced my hand on this, but I think this is a habit that’s going to stick.

I’ve gone fully native. Totally digital. Pixelled to the hilt.

Yes, I’ve adopted a mantra of clear notes, kept in a single place and without a scrap of paper in sight. My colleagues can see them (or I can share them as required), and they’re sorted and searchable so leafing through them is easy.

And I’m working with online to-do lists: tasks that I can arrange, rearrange, delegate, or share so keeping track is simple. 

Try it.

I recommend it, especially if you’re working remotely (like a lot of us, locked down with the Covid-19 response at time of writing) or if you’re just up to your waist in waste.

 

I’ve put a few options together of apps to try on all sorts of devices, but my list is far from exhaustive, so shop around and try things.

Notes apps

There are loads of choices, including ones that come with the common devices we work on.  Microsoft has OneNote for Windows (also available for other platforms) which I haven’t used but receives excellent reviews. 

 

Apple Notes on macOS and iOS – which I use – is an excellent and full-featured Apple-only solution that allows a wide range of information and files to be collected and then – importantly – found again. 

 

Google has Google Keep for Android, Apple and Windows devices and on any browser, so is a good choice if you work a lot with Google Docs. 

 

A great choice, though, if you’re looking for a powerful notes app, is one that’s been around for many years and has the features to show it: Evernote. It’s clever software that can store just about anything for you. Add a photo and it will do a decent job of recognising what’s in it. Add a PDF or an image with text and it will find it again if you search for it. Give it a go – but just be aware: if you get really into it, it will cost from US$7.99/month.

To Do apps

For my to-do list, I could use Apple’s own Reminders, which has gone through a bit of an overhaul recently, but our team has opted for Asana, a browser-based planning tool that allows all team members to add their own tasks as well as sending messages and tasks to others. Since being confined to our respective homes, this has come into its own and allowed more seamless collaboration without more calls and Skypes than necessary.

 

There’s also Microsoft To-Do, which has absorbed the brilliant Wunderlist, an app created in Germany with a concentration on ease of use and a really nice interface. If the same team is building Microsoft’s app, it should be a joy to use. 

 

Other alternatives include Todoist, which is lauded for elegance and ease of use, and Google Tasks, another for those whose lives revolve around the big G.

 

Most of these solutions are either free or have a free trial and then a small amount per month. Be sure to take a look around and try a few until you find the ones that suit you.

 

There’s a caveat here. 

I’m not advocating the end of print, as was prophesied by commentators 25 years ago. I like paper, I appreciate the feel of it and the smell of the ink. I don’t want to see it gone when it comes to books and newspapers. These media occupy a precious place in human culture that is thankfully far from being subsumed by digital rivals. But when it comes to day-to-day work, making notes and organising oneself, it’s time to pick up the best tool for the job once and for all and decide that using paper is a thing of the nineties. Where it should rightly have remained.

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Cleanhome West Kent (Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells +)
0800 612 2988
4 The Glade, Bishops Down Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8FS

COVID-19 5th January Update

 

Just to let you know we are open for business as usual and you can continue to have your cleaner clean your house.

The government has made it clear that cleaners are still permitted to work inside peoples' homes as long as Government Guidelines on social distancing and staying safe are followed (see below). In summary:

You can be outside of your home for work purposes where your place of work remains open and where you cannot work from home, including if your job involves working in other people's homes.

The full text can be found here New National Restrictions from 5 January (in England; there are similar texts available for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Specifically relating to cleaners, the guidance continues: 'This guidance applies to those working in, visiting or delivering to home environments. These include, but are not limited to, people working in the following areas:

  • 'This can include work in other people's homes where necessary - for example, for nannies, cleaners, social care workers providing support to children and families, or tradespeople (this is not an exhaustive list)'

Note this guidance is for people who are fit and well, and is dependent on the following social distancing guidelines being followed:

  • No work should be carried out in a household where people are isolating or where an individual is being shielded.
  • The cleaners can continue work, providing that they are well and have no symptoms. No work should be carried out by a cleaner who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild, or when someone in their own household has symptoms.
  • No work should be carried out in a household where any occupants are clinically extremely vulnerable to coronavirus, or households with a possible or confirmed case of coronavirus.
  • Whilst in the house. a cleaner should maintain a safe distance of at least two metres from any household occupant at all times, and ensure good ventilation in the area where they are working, including opening the window.
  • Upon entering the home, cleaners should wash their hands using soap and water for 20 seconds.
  • Cleaners should wash their hands regularly, particularly after blowing their nose, sneezing or coughing, and when leaving the property.

The good news with regard to cleaning is that the cleaners can social distance from their clients very easily, and we would advise that, if you are at home when they are there, that you remain in a separate room to your cleaner.

If you are happy to adhere to the government guidelines - and if your cleaner has not been in touch already - then please just call the office and we will ensure that your cleaning continues.

Best regards

The Cleanhome Team