Housekeepers and Maids

The duties of maids vary by the size of the housekeeping staff and the employer (private family, hotel, school, restaurant, other business, etc.). General duties performed by maids include cleaning hallways, rooms, and other living or work areas; making beds and replaceing towels in washrooms, Jacuzzis, swimming pools, spas, and related areas; and washing, folding, and ironing clothes and placing them in dressers or closets. Maids also dust and polish furniture and equipment; use brooms, mops, and other floor-cleaning equipment to sweep, polish, or wax floors; vacuum carpets, rugs, and upholstered furniture; clean and polish walls, woodwork, and windows; and empty trash receptacles and dispose of trash
clean ovens, refrigerators, and other appliances. They also must ensure that inventories of household supplies, such as soap, toilet paper, paper towels, are maintained, and stand ready to perform other household tasks as directed by housekeepers or their employers

Some maids perform errands for their employers, such as shopping for groceries and picking up and dropping off dry cleaning. A few may even prepare light meals. Some use specialized skills to care for silver, crystal, leather, hardwood, marble, granite, silk, exotic fur, and more.

Housekeepers manage maids and other cleaning workers in private households. They direct the staff’s activities, determining a daily, weekly, and monthly schedule for cleaning various areas of the home. They order cleaning supplies, track household expenses, prepare and manage budgets, and hire and fire staff.