Hello, I’m Natalyeah

Why I started this

I started cleaning for other people because I’m good at it and because I liked the part nobody else seems to: walking out of a house that looks and smells completely different from how it looked an hour ago, and knowing somebody is going to come home to that.

Cleaning is one of those jobs people apologise for needing. They shouldn’t. Everybody’s time goes somewhere, and choosing to spend yours on your family, your work or your garden rather than on the bathroom grout is just a sensible decision about what your hours are worth.

Why I stay a one-person business

I could take on staff. Plenty of cleaning businesses do, and it’s how you grow. I’ve chosen not to, for a reason that matters more to my clients than it does to me.

When a company sends a crew, quality depends on who happened to be rostered that morning. You explain your house again. Something gets moved that shouldn’t. The good towels get used. And you’re handing a key to an organisation rather than to a person.

Because it’s only me, none of that happens. I learn your home once. I know which floor hates water, where the cat hides, which door sticks. If something isn’t right, there’s exactly one person to tell, and she’ll be back in a fortnight to put it right.

The trade-off is honest: I can only take on so many homes. When I’m full, I’m full. But it does mean the slot you have is genuinely yours.

Where I work

Everywhere I clean is within about fifteen minutes of my door in Port Hadlock — Port Hadlock and Irondale, Port Townsend, Port Ludlow, and Kala Point and Cape George.

That’s deliberate. A tight area means short drives, which means I can be genuinely reliable about times instead of apologising for traffic, and it means I’m nearby if something needs sorting out between visits.

How I work

• I bring everything. Supplies and equipment are included. If you’d rather I used your products, leave them out and I will.
• I’m careful about what I use. Septic systems, stone worktops, old woodwork, allergies, pets, scents people can’t stand — tell me and I’ll work around it.
• I’ll tell you the truth. If something can’t be cleaned, or needs a different trade, I’ll say so rather than charge you to find out slowly.
• Published prices. You can see what a clean costs on the pricing page before you ever ring me.
• No contracts. Regular clients keep their slot because they want it, not because they signed something.
• Evenings and Saturdays. Not everyone can be free on a Tuesday at ten.

A woman-owned small business

This is my business, in my name, in the town I live in. Every pound of it goes back into a household here on the peninsula rather than to a franchise head office somewhere else — which I know matters to a lot of people around here, because they tell me so.