Two misconceptions about the cleaning up of deceased estates
Here are some misconceptions about the cleanups of deceased estates.
People cannot use professional cleaners if the deceased's estate contains confidential or personal items
Many people think that a person can't ask professional cleaners to carry out the cleanup of a deceased estate if that estate features lots of confidential or personal items. For example, if the person who passed away kept personal journals or had a career that required them to handle other people's confidential information (for instance, if they were a psychologist), then their relatives might fear that any cleaners they employ to clean up that individuals estate might inadvertently see some information that they should not.
Fortunately, this is not a difficult problem to solve, and a deceased person's family who are in this situation can indeed hire cleaners for this job. All they need to do is prepare the estate a little bit before the cleaning work begins. They can, for example, place cloths or blankets over any bundles of confidential paperwork or journals, and ask the cleaners to keep these coverings on the bundles when they need to move them out of the way to clean the shelves or tables that they're on. This will ensure they don't accidentally view some private paperwork. Family members can also remove personal items from the property beforehand or can place them in the property's lockable safe or cupboard if it has one.
The deceased's family members can clean up their estate just as quickly as professional cleaners
It's a common misconception that cleaners cannot clean up a deceased estate any faster than a deceased person's family could. Whilst there might be rare circumstances in which this could be true (for instance, if the deceased was an incredibly organised person with a very tidy home, and their family members happen to be excellent cleaners), this is not usually the case.
People who try to clean a relative's home normally find the process too overwhelming and lengthy, mostly because when they attempt to, for example, clear out a cabinet and then clean it, they come across various possessions of the deceased that make them think about the person's death and feel sad or that remind them of certain periods of that person's life or that they need to decide to keep or to sell.
Conversely, when a professional cleaner takes on this task, they can get it done very rapidly, not only because of their cleaning skills but also because the items inside the cabinet are not personally significant to them. As such, whilst they will handle these things respectfully, seeing them won't make them lose focus or get emotional, and they will, therefore, be able to do their job quickly.
