If you’ve been reading along with my blog for any amount of time, it’s likely that you’ve come to know that I am kind of Type A. I love order and lists and tidiness and I can be a bit anxious and compulsive when it comes to keeping things “just so”. For this reason, there is a fairly good chance that if you were to drop by my house unannounced, you would find it to be in a presentable condition. I can’t promise that the floors would be swept, but I can pretty much guarantee that there probably wouldn’t be clutter or dishes in the sink.
The truth is though, that despite my compulsion for tidiness, I’m actually not a very “clean” person. This really drives my husband insane. He cares far less about clutter, but is more “clean”. He appreciates bathroom floors you could eat off of and windows without fingerprints. These are the things I overlook. I’m far more interested in the appearance of clean than in actual clean. That’s not to say that I have never wished that my house was really “actually” clean, but with all the things on my plate, I was willing to sacrifice shiny surfaces in lieu of not stepping on Legos in the name of time management and sanity. #Priorities.
BUT…when the ladies at Soleil Clean reached out to me and offered up their services for a deep clean I was all kinds of thrilled. They are a new company just starting out on their own, but the sisters Verity and Harmony who run this business are definitely no strangers to the cleaning business and have years of experience in the field…not to mention a love for the lost art of a clean home. These ladies were looking to get the word out about their new business in exchange for an honest review of their services and I as a mama almost in the 3rd trimester of my 3rd pregnancy was more than happy to sign up for it!
A clean house, that I didn’t actually have to scrub myself? Is this even real life? It felt too good to be true!
The week before Soleil showed up to my home, we had a quick FaceTime consult over the phone. I was able to walk them through my house and point out “problem areas” and the things that were truly on my “cleaning wish list” for when they arrived. It was so nice for me to be able to ask questions about what to expect since I had never had my house cleaned professionally and also nice for them to be able to see what was needed in order to prepare accordingly.
The day of my clean, Verity and Harmony showed up promptly and set to work. It was my kid-free writing day at home, so I was there most of the time working in my office while they were cleaning, but they weren’t any bother at all. There was even a bit of a snafu regarding a disconnected drain pipe in one of the sinks in our bathroom (something I completely forgot to mention to them) and the result was a mess of water on the floor. I felt awful for forgetting to mention it so they wouldn’t turn on that sink, but the girls took it in stride and had such good attitudes about cleaning up all the water noting that it was a good opportunity to get the floors extra clean.
I have to admit, that before having my house deep cleaned I honestly had no idea how truly “dirty” I was. Tidiness can play tricks on a person, making them think their house is cleaner than it actually is. Now I know the truth. I am a closet slob. Please never look in my refrigerator or in the tracks of my windows or at my baseboards or walls or my stove. Also, definitely don’t look in my heater vents, because apparently you’re supposed to vacuum those out. YOU GUYS…I legitimately did NOT know that vacuuming out heater vents was even a thing people did, but they do, and now I know why despite my endless sweeping I had chronic dog hair dust bunnies flying around my house anytime I turned the heater on. Lesson learned. The Soleil ladies vacuumed out every vent in our house (including the suuuuper dusty ones on the ceiling), which was no doubt a big task and it has made such a difference in the dust bunnies around my house. Who knew?!
And now I’m going to show you some before and after photos to let the true public shaming begin, because you guys…SO EMBARRASSING. I can’t even believe this much grossness existed in my house. But in the name of truly showing you how awesome this deep clean was, I feel like I need to sacrifice my pride a bit hear, because it was seriously nothing short of magical.
HALLWAY WALLS/BASEBOARDS. This is one of those things that I never even thought to clean, because obviously the walls needed to be patched and painted, so why bother? But with a house that is an ongoing project (seriously ONGOING…it was abandoned for over a year before we bought it and practically condemned needing new floors, a new roof and basically everything else) things like painting walls always seem to take a backseat to more obvious projects. Thus we were living with dirty walls that I had completely stopped noticing. Even with the unfinished baseboards this looks a MILLION times better!
Speaking of walls…check out our designated “dog wall”. Ugh. SO DIRTY. There was a permanent dirt stain from where our dog likes to lay after coming in from our muddy backyard. It was one of those things I had tried to clean in the past (I even tried a magic eraser), but eventually gave up on assuming we just had to live with it until we painted one day, but Soleil proved me wrong. They told me that all they used was a magic eraser and some elbow grease, but I am slightly skeptical that actual magic may have been involved. They also vacuumed my dog’s disgusting dog bed which is pretty much my most unfavorite task ever. She loved the girls and they were so good with her!
WINDOWS/WINDOW TRACKS: Our house has SO many windows that the very idea of setting out to clean them is enough to make me tired (especially at 7 months pregnant). Basically the idea of cleaning windows is too overwhelming, so I just don’t do it…except maybe like twice a year. The sliding glass door in our room was particularly gross, because it was filled with dirt and mud and pine needles and dog hair and mold from all the traffic coming in from the backyard. We replaced all the other windows in our house, but this giant sliding door was too pricey, so we’ve been putting it off, which means I’ve put off cleaning it because “we’re just going to get a new one anyway”. I’m thankful that now we can live with it in a much nicer state and that we hopefully aren’t going to die from inhaling mold now. I can’t believe how clean they got this!
BATHROOMS. For some reason the water in our house leaves a pink-tinged, filmy build-up on our white fixtures over time, so even when I scrub it’s hard to get them completely sparkly, but these before and afters show what a great job the girls did with it. I wish I had better pictures of the toilets, because Verity is truly a bathroom wizard and somehow even managed to get the hard to clean cracks in between the toilet lid sparkling white.
Alright, now here is my crowning moment of shame you guys: the refrigerator. It seriously makes me want to cry looking at how gross these photos are. I would like to say that there are no living organisms residing in my refrigerator. The grossness built up was a mixture of flaxseed and almond meal that spilled (and was promptly forgotten) and condiments (pretty sure it’s a mixture of salad dressing and maple syrup). The little, round black things that look like bugs are spilled blueberries. Anyway, the disclaimer makes me feel slightly better about showing you these, but only slightly. Clearly I run a classy joint around here. It was worth it for the after photos though – they even wiped down the condiment bottles before putting them back into the fridge.
After the cleaning, we made a reaction video, but sadly it wouldn’t load on here, but basically my reaction was like those guests on Oprah when she starts telling them that everyone gets a new car (“And you get a car! And you get a car! And you!”) – over-the-moon elated and holding back tears.
I never knew having my house professionally cleaned could make such a big difference but it really did. There were just so many things that as a busy mom I could never get to. I had to pick and choose my priorities and for me that meant now attending to soap scum showers or sticky finger-printed windows in favor of home cooked meals and a sink free of dishes. But Harmony and Verity tackled all of these things that I couldn’t and made my house cleaner than it has ever been, which in turn has made cleaning easier for me to keep up with. It also inspired me to tackle some of those “extra” projects I always put off (think purging bathroom cupboards and the like). They even made me a list of things I could do daily/weekly/monthly to help keep up with the deep clean they had done which has been incredibly helpful.
House-cleaning would make such a great gift for any busy person in your life, but I can pretty much guarantee that you would make a pregnant or new mama (or really any parent) cry with happiness to receive such a gift. And house cleaning is actually something you can even add to your registry over at BabyList (which side note is totally brilliant and I am obsessed with, but I digress…) or gift someone with a gift certificate!
So in summation: having my house-cleaned was magical and wonderful (I’m pretty sure having my house cleaned is my new love language) and the ladies at Soleil Clean went above and beyond in every area and I would whole-heartedly recommend them.
ALSO…they are offering 10% off to any of my readers who mention that they heard about Soleil Clean from me. You can contact them here. Your sparkly, clean house will thank you :).
love and clean refrigerators,
Lauren
I dream of having maids come weekly. That would be such a relief.
However, I received a gift this Christmas that as a busy mama with a full time job, hour each way commute, AND I’m in grad school at the moment was a LIFESAVER. My Dyson cordless vacuum. I thought of it as a gadget that I would never use. It vacuums carpets better than my upright. Also the battery only lasts about 10 minutes. So, its like the darn things says, “its ok darlin’ you’ve done enough.” Ha! It is a little pricey, but they go on sale often. My mom has the pet version, but we haven’t really noticed a difference in the performance between the two. So, I am not really sure it is worth the money. If you do get one, really use the base thingy that comes with it. I really could go on and on about how much I love it, and how much cleaner my floors are on a regular basis. 🙂
I hesitate to tell you this, but… that pink stuff in your bathroom is actually bacteria. I couldn’t figure out why the bottom of our shower was turning pink and then in biology lab in college we learned about this bacteria that changes colors and… yep. That’s the stuff growing in my shower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serratia_marcescens
@Rachel – Ugh. So gross. I wonder why I’ve never had an issue with it in previous places I’ve lived though since my cleaning habits definitely haven’t changed? I still wonder if it has something to do with the water here? Thoughts?
I know I’m a month late in reading your post but I wanted to let you know that if your bathroom gets grimy and stained (and you should totally wipe that junk down at least once a week to keep that bacteria at bay) you can eradicate it with a mixture of baking soda and dawn dish detergent and a really good scrubbing! I make a paste with the baking soda and dawn and a dash of water and let sit for about 10/15 mins (you can pour some hydrogen peroxide on too as it will help the baking soda work its magic) and then scrub. Your shower will look amazing after. And you can do the mixture on armpit stains on t-shirts and dress shirts then wash regularly in the laundry and they will come out looking new! No joke, my hubs is tough on the armpits and I’ve saved some shirts this way.
I am the opposite of you as in I leave a trail of clutter but I’m crazy about being clean like I deep clean both of our bathrooms once a week, vacuum 2-3 times a week, wipe down my microwave 1-2 times per week, dust 1-2 times per week, mop/vacuum the kitchen floor at least twice a week (we have dogs) and scrub my counters and kitchen sink daily. I hate fingerprints, food particles, dust, dog hair…etc. But cluttered surfaces don’t bother me as much, lol. I do need to attack my fridge…
I don’t use a lot of chemicals and I know you’re very much into being all-natural which is great except essential oils don’t always cut it with bacteria. I use Lysol in my kitchen and I use Method anti-bac spray in my showers, Method all-purpose lavender spray for dusting and Sprayway glass cleaner for windows/mirrors. I use Lysol as a toilet bowl cleaner as well. We’re on sceptic and all of the above is safe for septic. I also use bleach minimally as needed b/c the smell really hurts my lungs. What I’m saying is, you don’t have to use Napalm to have a clean house but you do have to do a bit each day. I strive to get at least 1 hr worth of cleaning done per day. No judgements, I know you’re a busy Momma and writer!
Good luck and happy cleaning! 😀
Loved this! So rewarding to see the before and after photos! I read this hesitantly … Waiting to realize where I am secretly dirtier than I knew. But I’m crazy and I do all the things, I guess! I have a much smaller house (assuming) so it’s easy for now. Not looking forward to what will happen someday if I get a bigger house and have to choose between all the work or the cleanliness. Wished I was local so I can hire these women!
I seriously love how real this post is. You are awesome! I feel like I’m having a good day if my house is PICKED UP, let alone actually clean. I am definitely guilty of “quick cleaning” with baby wipes if I know guests are coming over. haha!