ABOUT EMILIA
Where my standards began
I didn’t learn to clean from a training manual. I learned from my mother.
Growing up in our family hotel in Portugal, cleaning wasn’t just a chore — it was a standard. There was no cutting corners, no rushing through a room, and no cleaning only what people could see. Every room had to be ready, every detail had to be right.
My mother taught me the importance of time management, consistency, attention to detail, and respecting the client.
I didn’t realise it at the time, but those early experiences shaped the way I run Emilia Cleaning today..
Building Emilia Cleaning
When I moved to Australia and built Emilia Cleaning, I brought those same values with me — consistency, professionalism, and respect for the client.
I chose to grow the business carefully because I know how quickly standards can slip in this industry. That was never going to be Emilia Cleaning.
From day one, I chose to run the business properly — always legitimate, declared, and above board. It was harder financially, but it was the right way to work.
Cleaning is not glamorous work, but it matters deeply. Whether it is an elderly person wanting to remain independent at home, a worker recovering from an injury needing reliable support, or a business wanting its workplace maintained to a professional standard — people need to know they can trust the person walking through their door.
Managing my own mother’s Support at Home care showed me how important reliability, consistency, and trust really are — and the difference a dependable cleaner can make to both comfort and peace of mind.
That is why I focus on long-term relationships, consistent service, and high standards across both residential and commercial cleaning.
Quality over quantity is not a marketing slogan. It is how I was raised.
30 YEARS IN THE MAKING
Emilia founded her first business in Wollongong, providing home cleaning and pet minding services throughout the Illawarra.
After nine years of building a trusted reputation, Emilia expanded into strata and office cleaning, founding So Clean to serve commercial clients across Wollongong.
Bringing together decades of experience, Emilia launched Emilia Cleaning — focused on quality over quantity, serving aged care clients, insurance-referred clients and commercial facilities across the Illawarra.