Make your bed – and be ruthless: 14 expert rules for a clean, healthy, happy home

Is your place crying out for some TLC? Housekeepers reveal how to keep it looking its best – and when it’s OK to let standards slip

L ife is busy and there is only so much time to spend cleaning and tidying. What are the non-negotiables of a well-managed home? Here, housekeepers share their tips and hacks for making a chaotic house feel more orderly.

There are four elements to a well-run home, according to Matt Church, AKA Mr Housekeeping , from Maldon in Essex. These are keeping the place “clean, tidy, decluttered and organised,” he says. “I call myself a housekeeper because it’s not just cleaning. Cleaning is one element, but some cleaners wouldn’t tidy, empty bins, make beds, put laundry away or organise cupboards. They are all jobs I get involved with.” People laugh about tidying before the cleaner comes, but they are different things entirely, Church says.

“When you take on somebody’s house, a lot of it at the beginning is about listening,” says Georgie Cutbill, who runs The Bruton Housekeeper , a household management service in Somerset. “People have very particular ideas about what they want, so you’ve got to get into their headspace.” Cutbill has found herself in all kinds of surprising scenarios, from organising parties involving miniature donkeys to sourcing Tadelakt [Moroccan lime-based plaster] specialists. “No two days are the same,” she says.

Lisa Williams is head of housekeeping at The Grand hotel in York and chair of the UK Housekeepers Association . During the pandemic, when hotels were closed, Williams worked in hospitals and learned a great deal about using chemicals to avoid infection transmission.

Guests expect to check in to a room that is spotless, but “obviously you’ve got your time constrictions,” says Williams, explaining that it is not the same as cleaning a home. “You have to clean 11 rooms within an eight-hour day. And obviously, if guests don’t check out on time, that can put tremendous pressure on you.” Sometimes things get broken or there is other damage to a room: “We appreciate that guests sometimes can be sick, but they don’t always tell you. It’s great if guests can be honest, because then we can deal with it straight away. If it’s left there all night and all day, it’s harder to get out.”

At home, Williams says it helps to have a regular cleaning routine that you stick to, otherwise you are constantly “chasing the dirt”.

“It makes a massive difference when you go to bed for the bed to be made,” says Church. “It can make a bedroom feel a lot tidier than it is.” Should you do it as soon as you get up? “Yes, in your own home,” says Church. “It’s the last job I do before I leave a client, because if you make the bed and then you start dusting the light fittings above it, you end up with dust all over the sheets, so I make the bed last.” How often should you change the sheets? “Once a week is good,” says Church, but more frequently is preferable in hot weather. Sam Hodges, who owns Hectic Housekeepers in Hastings, suggests twice a week if you have pets that sleep with you.

“There is nothing nicer than a fresh bed,” says Williams.