Recommending My Cleaning Lady

I keep getting emails for the name and info on my cleaning lady, Derly, so I've decided to put all the info you'll need on her here. Please make sure you tell her Lisa sent you! She works homes in South Charlotte, upper Union county, a bit of Mint Hill and in Cabarrus just above Mint Hill. Here goes:

Derly (704-449-5668) has been helping us keep our house neat for a bit over 2 years now, and she's been doing a terrific job. Before her, I had several other folks that helped with the cleaning, but they were downright terrible. It wasn't even that they didn't clean too well (one person didn't even lift up stuff to dust under it), but the worst thing was that they were never consistent with the day or time they came. I had one person that literally called or emailed me every week to ask if they could change the day they were coming that week. There was always an excuse: dentist appointments, doctor visits, school meetings, English classes--it was really unbearable.

Thankfully, Derly has never changed the date or time on me once since she's started pitching in. She's also very thorough and usually comes with a partner to help her, so it's like you're getting two people for the price of one. Lastly, she's also very honest. I have mistakenly left a credit card and even the check book out in the open, for example, and it was not touched. There have been a few times where I wasn't going to be home and I've given her access to the key for her to get in and out, and everything has been perfectly fine.

Derly is Portuguese, so you need to be a little patient in terms of the communication side of things. When you call her the first time, you'll likely leave her a message and her young daughter will call you back and do some translating for you. She'll set up the first appointment where Derly will come over and give your place a once over to get you a price. Feel free to haggle with her a bit until you come to a fair price you both feel comfy with. Just don't think you're going to low-ball her, because she's not a stupid woman and quite a shrewd business person. She will be cheaper than services like Merry Maids, you can trust me on that. But she's not going to let you rake her over the coals on price either.

I have no trouble telling her exactly what I want done, as Derly has mastered all the important words of her trade that enable her to do her job. She'll ask you for example, if you want your baseboards cleaned of not? Fans? etc. She's also pretty flexible, and I've tossed her some extra money to clean the inside of the windows (she doesn't do the outside) or clean out the fridge.

What I love about Derly is that she's thorough. More thorough than I am. For example, she gives a quick dust to all the oil paintings that I have on the walls. Now, I don't even do that normally. But she sure does. She even takes the garbage out of every pail in the house--including the baby's diaper pail. A couple of times I rushed out of the house because I had a few appointments, and didn't have time to make my son's bed. Well, Derly did it for me without asking. (Ok, I confess, that the beds are never made unless I have guests or Derly is coming over. Who has time for that?!).

Last, you'll need to buy all your own cleaning supplies. I just keep mine in a crate on the floor in the pantry for her to utilize. I have a box of kitchen garbage bags and a couple of rolls of paper towels and that's what she uses. When something is empty, she'll put it in your counter to signal you need to buy more. Make sure your vacuum cleaner is handy, too. She uses her own broom, and her own mop. What I love about her mopping, is that she uses this massive squeegee that she wraps a small towel around. It gives a much better cleaning than a string or sponge mop, and the everything is nearly dry, too.

I can't say enough about Derly. She's worked out perfectly for us, and those that have used her after I've recommended her just love her too. See if she a match for you. I'd love to hear what you think.