All purpose cleaner never touches wood or marble in a home we clean. It is a written standard here, not a preference, because the damage from the wrong product on a natural surface is permanent and it is invisible until it is not. Homes across Carmel, Zionsville and Westfield are full of real hardwood, honed marble, quartzite and natural stone, and those surfaces need to be cleaned with something appropriate rather than whatever is already on the cart.
What actually goes wrong
Acidic and alkaline cleaners etch marble and limestone, leaving dull patches that no amount of subsequent cleaning removes. All purpose sprays strip and cloud the finish on hardwood over repeated visits, and the damage compounds so slowly that nobody connects it to the cleaning until the floor looks tired everywhere except under the rug. Sealed stone loses its seal early when it is cleaned with the wrong chemistry every fortnight.
The damage from the wrong product on a natural surface is permanent, and it is invisible until it is not.
Why written standards rather than judgement
Because judgement varies by person and standards do not. We run detailed written SOPs for every part of a clean, including which tools and products are safe on which surfaces, so that a cleaner in their third month treats your marble the same way a cleaner in their third year does. The whole point of a documented standard is that quality stops depending on who showed up.
Disinfectant is not a default
Disinfectant belongs where disinfectant is warranted. Spraying it across every surface in a house is neither necessary nor good for the finishes, and it is a habit worth breaking. Our standards specify where it is used and where general cleaning is the correct call.
Tell us what is in your house
At the walkthrough we look at floor types and counter materials specifically. If you have something unusual, a reclaimed wood counter, an unsealed stone, a specialty finish, that goes into the notes and follows the job forever.
