The Next Normal: Residential cleaning services

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) - Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, for many cleaning and disinfecting their homes and businesses has been a crucial part of routines.

But what about those businesses that offer cleaning services?

They have had to find new routines and steps to serve their customers while keeping their staff safe.

When coronavirus began spreading to the U.S., MaidPro in Lufkin said they saw a decrease in customers.

“We lost a good bit of our clients, kind of paused, which was actually really good for us because it gave us a chance to figure out where we needed to go,”’ said Stephanie Hancock, owner and manager of MaidPro Lufkin. “What we needed to do and how needed to protect our staff and our customers.”

Hancock says their corporate office used the downtime to find the most effective way to use their products against the virus.

“You spray it down and then let it soak for ten minutes or so and come back and wipe it off and you’ve killed 99.9 percent of your germs,” said Hancock.

Now, staff pick up sanitized supplies every morning, and between jobs, they disinfect shoes and clothing, as well as the supply bin.

“We are practicing social distancing, so that’s something that’s very new for us,” Hancock said. “You can also expect us to come in with gloves on, which is not something that we did before but we are going to come in with gloves on. Generally, as well as a mask, especially if somebody is home.”

They have received an influx of what they call one-time cleans. Hancock thinks there are two reasons for this.

“One, they’ve been stuck at home with their kids for a while and they just need a lot of help, which, that’s what we do,” Hancock said. “Or two, they’re just like, man, this coronavirus is really bad, we need our house really disinfected really well.”

The company uses hospital-grade products, and Hancock said they haven’t had an issue purchasing those.

Copyright 2020 KTRE. All rights reserved.