Getting Your Home Ready for a Cleaning Crew When You Have Pets

August 27, 2026 · Residential and commercial cleaning in Bloomfield

No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Start prepping the day before your cleaning appointment, and do a final walk-through about 30 minutes before the crew arrives. That two-step approach gives your pet time to settle and gives you time to handle anything a quick tidy won't fix.

The short answer

The main prep window is the night before through 30 minutes before arrival. The night-before pass covers the bigger stuff: litter boxes, food bowls, chewed-up toys, accidents that need soaking or a stain treatment before anyone tries to clean around them. The final 30 minutes is about logistics: where the pet will be, what doors need to stay shut, and making sure nothing is left out that could scare or distract the crew, or get knocked over by an excited dog.

What changes the timing

A few things push this earlier or make the day-of prep more involved:

• Type of pet. Cats often just need a closed door and a fresh litter box. Dogs, especially younger or more anxious ones, usually need a plan for where they'll be during the visit, and sometimes a walk beforehand to burn off energy.
• How your pet reacts to strangers. If your dog barks at the doorbell or your cat bolts and hides for hours, plan for that the night before, not five minutes before the doorbell rings. A crate, a back bedroom, or a friend's house down the street all work better with some lead time.
• Size and layout of the home. A one-bedroom apartment with a calm cat needs almost no prep. A house with a yard, multiple pets, and rooms the crew needs full access to takes more planning, since you may need to relocate pets room by room as the cleaning moves through.
• The cleaning company's own pet policy. Some crews are comfortable working around a friendly, leashed dog. Others ask that all pets be confined or crated for insurance reasons. Ask when you book, not on cleaning day.

Signs your current routine isn't working

If you've had cleaners over before with pets in the house, watch for these signs that your prep needs adjusting:

• The cleaner mentions finding pet hair, litter, or waste in areas you thought were handled.
• Your pet is noticeably stressed for hours after the crew leaves, not just during the visit.
• Cleaning takes longer than quoted because the crew keeps stopping to deal with an underfoot pet.
• You find toys, bones, or bowls that got moved or accidentally cleaned around instead of picked up.
• The crew asks the same question every visit, like where to put the dog, because there's no set plan.

Any of these is a sign to build a short, repeatable pre-cleaning routine instead of improvising each time.

What happens if you skip the prep

Skipping prep doesn't usually ruin a cleaning, but it causes friction and sometimes real problems. A cleaner who runs into an unexpected dog can get bitten or knocked over, which is a liability issue for everyone involved, not just an inconvenience. Litter boxes and accident spots that aren't flagged ahead of time might get cleaned around rather than properly treated, so odors linger. Loose items like small toys or food left on counters can get shifted, put away in the wrong spot, or in rare cases damaged if a cleaner doesn't realize what they're looking at.

There's also a cost in time. Crews are usually quoted for a set number of hours based on the size and condition of the home. If a chunk of that time goes to managing a loose pet or working around mess that should have been handled beforehand, either the job takes longer than planned or some tasks get skipped to stay on schedule. Neither outcome is what you're paying for.

Basic prep on your end usually comes down to a short list:

• Scoop litter boxes and take out any full trash or waste bags.
• Pick up pet toys, chews, bones, and bowls from the floor.
• Vacuum up the worst of the pet hair yourself if it's heavy, especially on furniture the crew won't be deep cleaning.
• Decide where your pet will be during the visit and set that up before the crew arrives, whether that's a crate, a closed room, a fenced yard, or a walk timed to the appointment.
• Leave a note or tell the crew directly about any quirks: a cat that hides under the bed, a dog that's fine once he's sniffed someone, a bird that gets loud with vacuum noise.

None of this takes long once it's a habit. Most pet owners get it down to ten or fifteen minutes before a visit, plus whatever they did the night before for litter boxes or bigger messes.

At Shar's Cleaning Services, we work with a lot of homes that have dogs, cats, and the occasional bird or reptile, and a short heads-up about your pet's routine goes a long way toward a smooth visit for everyone, including the pet.