The best way to find a cleaner or cleaning services that you can feel at ease with because they are reliable and professional quality is to ask people you know if they have a recommendation.

The independent contractors or freelance house cleaners are honestly going to give you the most for your money and will most likely be your best bet for the long term. There is a huge “but” though and that is to say that just trying random people who are willing to do the work would not be a good idea so getting a personal recommendation (and a name and phone number) from friends and family is ideal. If you can't find someone that way, you can try going on line to access groups and sites that are local and the recommendations given are from individuals who use a particular cleaner that they really like. You can also try something similar to what you've done by asking here on Quora about hiring someone but instead try asking in a on line local community group.

If you still can't find a cleaner who is personally referred to you, last choice would be to go on Craigslist or Angie's list or some “hire a local” type site. Be sure that you don't just schedule someone based on the sites recommended cleaning service without either speaking to the cleaning service on the phone or exchanging emails with them. This will really give you an idea of their professionalism, allow you to ask questions and give you an idea of what to expect in both terms of the cleaning they will be doing and the costs. An individual or company that cannot be contacted by email or phone within a reasonable amount of time is an immediate red flag. Also, you do not need to have someone come in person and look at the house to get an estimate but if you want that, they should be willing to oblige the request. If they cannot give you a rough estimate by getting info from you in an email or over the phone and then stating their per hour rate or per day rate or some other standard pricing system that they use, it's a red flag.