A client who is blind cannot check whether a cleaner actually did the work. That is the whole problem, and it is why she had been let down repeatedly before she called us.
She was an elderly woman living alone in her own home. Quiet, independent and extremely kind. On the first call her voice was polite but cautious, and when we met her she explained why.
“Some of them just rush through,” she said. “Some don’t even clean at all… and how would I know?” Then she laughed — not at a joke, but the quiet laugh of somebody who has been let down enough times to expect it.
The problem with verification
Most cleaning arrangements are policed by the client’s own eyes. You walk in, you glance at the bench, you notice the floor. That check happens without anyone thinking about it, and it is what keeps a standard honest.
Remove it and the whole thing rests on the cleaner’s integrity. Which means a provider who cuts corners can do so indefinitely, and the client pays for a service they are not receiving.
| The usual check | Not available here | What we did instead |
|---|---|---|
| Glance at the benches on the way past | Cannot be seen | Described the work out loud after each visit |
| Notice the floor looks done | Cannot be seen | Consistent route so the same areas are covered every time |
| Spot a missed corner later | Found only by touch, if at all | Deliberate attention to corners, skirtings and behind furniture |
| See that someone actually turned up | Cannot be seen | Same technician, same day, same arrival time |
| Judge whether it was rushed | Cannot be seen | Time booked to the job rather than the job squeezed into the time |
What we changed
We worked on the basis that she would feel the difference rather than see it. That meant the parts nobody photographs: the skirtings, the corners behind furniture, the bathroom tiles. Nothing rushed, nothing skipped.
After every visit we walked her through what had been done — not a checklist read aloud, but described so she could picture it. “Today we cleaned behind the fridge.” “We wiped the cupboard handles, they collect grease.” “We mopped the hallway twice, it picks up more dust than the rest.”
She listened closely each time, as though walking through the house with us. “I can tell when you’ve been here,” she said. “The house feels different.”
The deep clean, and what turned up
| Area | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen cupboards | Sticky to the touch, a film of cooking oil and dust | Doors smooth, handles clean, shelves fresh |
| Bookshelf | Layers of dust on the edges, papers pushed behind the books | Every item removed, all surfaces cleaned including the back panel, contents reordered |
| Fridge | Dried spills, out-of-date sauces in the corners | Every shelf scrubbed, drawers cleaned, nothing unidentified left inside |
For a client who navigates by touch, “sticky to the touch” is not a cosmetic complaint. It is how the house reports its own condition.
The kitchen drawer
Then we found the thing that mattered most, and it was not a cleaning problem at all.
Her kitchen drawers had knives mixed in with the everyday utensils. Reaching in meant reaching blind into a drawer containing blades. She mentioned “little accidents” in passing — a bandaged finger, a resigned sigh.
Separated the sharp items
Knives moved to a dedicated slot of their own, away from the utensils she reaches for constantly.
Added tactile markers
So each drawer could be identified by touch before it was opened.
Labelled in braille
So the contents could be confirmed rather than guessed.
Kept the arrangement fixed
The value is entirely in it staying the same, so nothing gets 'tidied' into a new place on a later visit.
On the next visit she laughed again — a different laugh. “I haven’t had a single cut since you sorted my knives,” she said. “It’s like you gave me back my independence.”
What we took from it
Doing the job properly is not about being watched. This client could not check our work, and that made the standard more important rather than less.
It also changed how we brief technicians on NDIS cleaning and aged care work generally: describe what you did, keep the arrangement stable, and treat anything you notice about safety as part of the job rather than someone else’s problem.
What we did not do
We are cleaners, not carers. We did not assess her needs, give advice or take on anything outside cleaning and the drawer arrangement she asked us to keep. Where we notice something that needs attention, we say so — and stop there.
If you are arranging cleaning for someone who cannot easily check the work themselves, talk to us about how we would handle it.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with NDIS participants?
We work with self-managed and plan-managed participants. 3 Piglets Cleaning is not an NDIS registered provider, so agency-managed (NDIA-managed) participants would need a registered provider.
How would I know the work was actually done?
The same technician each visit, a fixed day and time, a written task list agreed in advance, and a record of what was completed. For this client we also described the work aloud at the end of every visit.
Will you reorganise things without asking?
No. Nothing is moved permanently without agreement. The drawer arrangement here was discussed first and then kept identical on every later visit, because the value was in it not changing.
3 Piglets Cleaning
We are a Croydon-based cleaning company serving Melbourne's eastern and south-eastern suburbs. Our technicians are police-checked and fully insured, and those working with NDIS participants and older clients hold NDIS Worker Screening Clearances. More about us.
