Before the cleaner arrives, put every cleaning product and laundry packet in a latched or high cabinet, post Poison Control's number (1-800-222-1222) by the phone, and decide which room the child will be in. Arrival is a window of usually 2-3 hours, so plan the nap around the window, not a minute.
The day before
- Post the number. CHOP says "Don't forget to post the Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) and emergency numbers by every phone in the house."
- Latch or lift. Poison Control says "Store cleaning products in cabinets with child-resistant latches." Under-sink cabinet first, then the laundry area, then anything left on a counter or the washer.
- No mixing. The AAP says "Never mix cleaning products." Poison Control says "Never mix household cleaning products."
- Name the room. Our suggestion, not a promise: if one room matters, such as a nap room, write it in the optional Arrival notes card on the booking form.
Where each product lives
| Where it lives | What the page says | Page | Before the visit (our suggestion) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under the kitchen or bathroom sink | "One of the most dangerous places to store cleaners is in an unlocked, low kitchen or bathroom cabinet." | Poison Control, spring-cleaning page | Latch the cabinet or move the products somewhere high |
| The laundry area | "A high, locked cabinet is best." "Do not store products on top of the washer and dryer or in storage drawers under laundry machines." | AAP, Laundry Room and Detergent Safety (2024) | Clear the top of the washer and the drawer under it |
| Laundry packets | "Single-use laundry packets in particular are very concentrated and toxic." | AAP, 5 Common Household Products (2019) | If you use packets, put them in the same high cabinet |
| A spray bottle or bucket left out | "Remember to store spray bottles up and away, too." | AAP, Laundry Room and Detergent Safety (2024) | Put it away instead of leaving it by the sink |
| A product poured into a decorative jar | "Always keep products in their original packaging." | Inquirer opinion column, Dr. Libby Wetterer, June 8, 2026 | Keep products in the container they came in |
| The room being cleaned | "If possible, keep children and pets out of areas where household cleaners are being used." | Poison Control, spring-cleaning page | Decide before the window where the child will be |
The jar row is Dr. Libby Wetterer's, a Penn Medicine family physician, writing in an opinion column: "In Philadelphia alone, 84 children under the age of 5 were hospitalized for poisoning in 2024, the latest available data show." That figure covers all poisonings, not cleaning products alone, and she writes that the statistics "do not include details on how these incidents happened." The room row is general household advice from Poison Control, not advice about a visit.
Laundry packets and your own detergent
The AAP's packet advice is about what a household buys: "If children age 6 years or younger live in or visit your home, consider purchasing traditional detergent products instead of single-load packets." The Dream Home checklist includes "Laundry Wash & Dry (2 Loads)", and our laundry add-on guide found that the add-on card and booking page do not say whose detergent is used. So say it: name the detergent you want used in the Arrival notes card, which is recorded with your booking, and keep the rest locked up. What the cleaner brings by default is in the supplies guide.
For any product of your own, Section 1.4 of our Terms asks you to "inform us during booking and provide clear instructions for their safe and effective use before the service begins." A cleaner can decline items they find "unsuitable, unsafe, or incompatible with their professional methods", so write it down early instead of leaving it on the counter.
The window, and where the child is
Section 2.5 of the Terms says "We'll provide an estimated arrival window (usually 2-3 hours)" and "We cannot guarantee exact arrival times". The arrival window guide covers the 2-hour window the booking step sells against the 2-3 hours the Terms describe. For a nap that means a window, not a minute: settle the child in a room away from the work before the window opens. "I'll be home" is one of the six options on the booking form for how the cleaner gets in, covered in the access guide.
A note that covers most of it, three lines in the Arrival notes card: which room is off limits, which detergent to use, and where the rest is locked up.
What CHOP's Poison Control Center adds
The household cleaners page is about combinations. "A common house-cleaning mistake is combining ammonia with bleach." "This combination results in an irritating fume called chloramine gas." It adds "Another toxic fume can develop when bleach is added to a product containing acid." And: "Make sure to open the windows while cleaning and take a break immediately after feeling uncomfortable."
CHOP's Poison Control Home Safety Checklist, on a page dated October 2013, opens its kitchen section with "Household cleaning products are involved in 10 percent of poisonings in children under 6." Treat that as a 2013 figure. Its laundry-room section says "Bleaches are the most common household cleaning product ingested by small children." It lists bleach, laundry detergent and disinfectants as items to keep out of children's reach.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to lock up cleaning products before a cleaner arrives?
The AAP's wording for a home with children is "Always put products away out of sight and reach of children and pets." A visit is a good day to check every cabinet and the top of the washer.
What do I do if my child swallows something?
CHOP's page says "If your child has swallowed something that you suspect might be poisonous, call the Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222."
Can the cleaner use my own detergent?
Section 1.4 says to inform us during booking, and that a cleaner can decline items they find unsuitable. Name the detergent in the Arrival notes card and ask early.
For the general list, see how to prepare for house cleaners; with pets in the house, house cleaning with pets covers that side. When the cabinet is latched and the notes are written, start a booking.