To ask about your cleaner?

[thenewaveragebear1983]

If you have a cleaner do you mind if I ask a few questions please? I’m hoping to start a small cleaning business (staff of me!) in January/Feb

What’s your cleaner’s Hourly rate? (We are in the midlands)

What’s your agreement if you (the client) cancels a week?

What if the cleaner cancels?

Do you have a rolling ‘contract’ or do you agree say, 4 weeks upfront?

Would it help to pay via PayPal or do you leave cash?

Does he/she take holiday?

What other services could you/would you pay for? Eg ironing? Puppy company? Batch cooking/lunch prep/shopping/waiting for deliveries/ general companionship for elderly family members such as making lunch, light housework/washing, company for a few hours?

Deep cleans? Playroom organising, decluttering, kitchen deep clean etc?
(These are all things I’ve seen or heard about as extras but I’m just wondering how feasible they are)

One off deep cleans (or even gift cleans for new mums, Mother’s Day etc)

I am trying to work out how to state in my contracts about cancellations and other services and I’m at a loss as I don’t know what the norm is!

Hello! I have had a few cleaners and look forward to being able to afford another one soon.

I’m in London and paid around £12.50 ph to an agency for a regular clean, £15ph for the odd one-off clean.

Normal cleaning:

I’d want the following done weekly

Hoover throughout
Mop hard floors
Dust surfaces
Clean bathroom and downstairs loo
Clean kitchen
Make beds

Attention to detail often was lacking so there’s be cobwebs left and dust in the alcove I keep the iron which irked but I coped with.

On a more ad-hoc basis

changing bed linen
Cleaning windows and mirrors
Sorting kitchen cupboards
Kitchen deep clean
Bathroom deep clean
Bedroom deep clean

If they cancel I wouldn’t pay but would if I cancelled.

I like paying by bank transfer after each session and paid as soon as I got home.

Cooking is a bit personal so prob not but I dream of being able to afford a housekeeper who’d do meal planning, shopping and some cooking too.

My cleaner is through an agency who have little involvement except taking money off me every few months for their own fees. I pay my cleaner direct by BACS after she has finished the clean.
If I need to cancel I usually text her and we re arrange another date (usually the following week, she comes every other week). It works both ways, if she cancels she lets me know the next available time she can come over.
If she offered ironing I would probably pay her to do my bedding!
I can ask her to do a deep clean in the kitchen or bathroom instead of maybe doing the other rooms that week, but if I wanted it in addition I would ask her and I believe we could arrange an alternative date which she will confirm with the agency who then charge me more.
I love my cleaner, she cleans and tidies as she goes. She always displays my children’s soft toys on their bed in such a fun way for the kids and she will put out towels etc if I haven’t put out a hand towel. We love the little touches that she leaves

I pay in total £14p/h inc agency fees and in the South East

I love my cleaner. £10 an hour privately. Hoovers, dusts, mops, polishes. Blitzes kitchen and (main family) bathroom. She does 2 hours per week; if I cancelled I’d pay her and if she cancelled I would not expect to pay.

Haven’t had a holiday yet (she’s been coming 6 months already) so guessing would not pay for that if pre-arranged she wasn’t coming for one or two weeks.

She’ll always do one extra deep clean thing, like the skirting boards or the cutlery drawer.

Honestly she is priceless to me.

Don't suppose anyone with an amazing cleaner is in Oxfordshire??

We pay £12/hr by bank transfer to our cleaner. North London based. She isn't via an agency. She is fantastic. Does 7 hours on one day a week.

At Christmas we give her 4 weeks money as a bonus. If she's off sick we pay her. If we need to cancel, we pay her. If her normal day (Thursday) happens to be a bank holiday, we pay her. She's never abused this.

My logic is - we both had/have paid holidays, paid sick leave, bank holidays off, and a Christmas bonus. So, how could I justify employing someone and treating them differently?

She does everything that's needed in the house. All the washing, ironing, bed changing, mopping, kitchen, bathrooms, etc., etc. To be honest we've never even given her any instructions - she just does whatever needs doing.

We all acknowledge that we will be borderline suicidal if she ever leaves, and if we have money trouble we'll go without food and clothes before even thinking about losing our saviour.

She did leave for a year once, to go home. We tried about four other cleaners. They were all terrible! I think we've been spoiled.

Oooh thanks everyone.

Is there a timescale for cancellations? So: cleaner comes in on a Monday. You cancel a particular Monday a few weeks in advance? Would you still pay? Obviously short notice you would still pay?

I was thinking of saying my holiday ‘off weeks’ in advance (just so I can plan childcare etc) but by these comments I think maybe that’s not necessary so far in advance?

Also that’s great, she sounds like a diamond.

I am really looking forward to starting this venture now after years of teaching!!

Alsoappearing, my approach is the same as yours. I pay her for sick pay and can't understand why people who can afford a cleaner (which, lets face it, does mean that we are pretty comfortable) and claim to value them won't pay when she is unwell. To these mean people, I hope the cleaner drags herself in to clean for you when she has a sickness virus and spreads it to you in return for your stinginess. No one should have to work when unwell.
I pay £15 an hour, but its just once a fortnight. I live in Surrey. I used to live in Slough and paid £12 an hour as it is cheaper to live there. I expect a good job to be done, and in return I believe in paying a genuinely living wage.

What’s your cleaner’s Hourly rate? (We are in the midlands)
£13 per hour in Buckinghamshire

What’s your agreement if you (the client) cancels a week?
I still pay her

What if the cleaner cancels?
I don't pay her

Do you have a rolling ‘contract’ or do you agree say, 4 weeks upfront?
Don't have a contract

Would it help to pay via PayPal or do you leave cash?
I an happy to pay her cash

Does he/she take holiday?
Yes and does not get paid for that period but it normally coincides with her birthday for which I give her cash so it's normally covered IYSWIM

What other services could you/would you pay for? Eg ironing? Puppy company? Batch cooking/lunch prep/shopping/waiting for deliveries/ general companionship for elderly family members such as making lunch, light housework/washing, company for a few hours?
None of the above (Isn't housework cleaning?)

Deep cleans? Playroom organising, decluttering, kitchen deep clean etc?
(These are all things I’ve seen or heard about as extras but I’m just wondering how feasible they are)
By mutual consent she will occasionally do a double shift when she will take down curtains so they can be washed, or cleaning out the fridge or kitchen cupboards etc. Pay for the extra hour is at same rate as normal hour

One off deep cleans (or even gift cleans for new mums, Mother’s Day etc)
I think I covered this in the last question

You may also need to know if you will be using the client's equipment
and products or taking your own. My cleaner uses my mine.

I wish you every success.

I pay £10/hour (South East). If she cancels I don't pay, if I cancel I don't pay (I've never cancelled, we just move days if I'm not going to be in). If she wants to take a holiday I don't pay but I do give her the opportunity to work more hours if she wants to earn more money, and I generally overpay her most weeks. She's cancelled on me when she's had childcare issues or she's been sick. I've never paid her for these as I've lost earning time having to do it myself.
She does the whole house every two weeks. I pay for deep cleans every six months. I wouldn't pay for any of the other services you mentioned, I just want a cleaner.

Silvery the housework bit was more like things such as folding washing and putting it away, changing lightbulbs etc. Things that maybe an elderly person wouldn’t be able to do but a cleaner wouldn’t necessarily do iyswim? When my gran was elderly my mum used to pay a lady to come in to her at lunchtime and do light chores like make her lunch, sort her tea, put shopping away or change the bed but not clean as such, and give her some company on days my mum couldn’t go to her.

Teebee why would you overpay her? (Just curious!)

My problem might be rescheduling as at first I am only going to have 2 days available each week to work. I will need to think through how I will deal with that

Those that don’t have contracts, what kind of agreement do you have? Simply verbal?

Oh, and I'm self-employed. I don't get paid if I'm sick or cancel on my clients. If I don't work, I don't get paid. If my cleaner doesn't work, I have to cancel work to clean. I'm not going to pay her to do it as well as losing my own earnings. Her childcare issues are generally not a problem as she just brings them with her, which is an inconvenience when I'm trying to work but it's just one of those things.

What’s your cleaner’s Hourly rate? (We are in the midlands) in Scotland I pay £10ph

What’s your agreement if you (the client) cancels a week? We don't have a formal arrangement but I think I would always pay if I cancelled unless I gave at least a few weeks' notice

What if the cleaner cancels? I don't pay

Do you have a rolling ‘contract’ or do you agree say, 4 weeks upfront? We have no contract. I pay weekly.

Would it help to pay via PayPal or do you leave cash? I prefer PayPal or bank transfer, much easier for me!

Does he/she take holiday? She can take holiday whenever but it would be unpaid

What other services could you/would you pay for? Eg ironing? Puppy company? Batch cooking/lunch prep/shopping/waiting for deliveries/ general companionship for elderly family members such as making lunch, light housework/washing, company for a few hours? I would pay for ironing and puppy company. I don't have need for help for family members but sounds like a good idea!

Deep cleans? Playroom organising, decluttering, kitchen deep clean etc?
(These are all things I’ve seen or heard about as extras but I’m just wondering how feasible they are) I could imagine seeing myself paying for these

One off deep cleans (or even gift cleans for new mums, Mother’s Day etc good idea! You could do one off deep clean vouchers

Other things that might be worth thinking about:

Insurance - to cover you if you break something valuable and they want you to pay

Cleaning materials - will you provide your own or use theirs? Worth specifying

harshbuttrue Having a cleaner does not automatically mean being 'pretty comfortable'. I am on a limited income, retired, disabled and have to go without something else to be able to afford my cleaner. I am physically unable to do it and would be living in a filthy hovel if it were not for her.

It's true I don't pay if she cancels but think I make up for it in other ways, with cash gifts for her birthday and Christmas and she normally ends her hour with her feet up drinking a glass or two of sherry and a slice of cake before she heads home. I don't get the impression she feels hard done by.

But thanks for being so judgemental.

I overpay generally I can't be bothered to faff with one of us having to find change. If I know she's had a long day, I think at least she can get a bottle of wine or a take away.

I'm a cleaner in West Yorkshire £12ph. Ive had clients cancel on me a day before & not pay me. I've suddenly gone off them!

I will definitely be telling any future new clients I expect reasonable notice or they have to pay me.

All you who pay sick & holiday pay that's brilliant! Is truffle for a bottle of wine at Christmas.

Ooh,I would love if my cleaner took in my online shop!

Having a cleaner does not automatically mean being 'pretty comfortable'-
totally agree with silverysurfer's post

Mid-sized cleaning business owner here. I've been in this industry for 20+ years and demand is strong but you have to be tough and have the shoulders for domestic cleaning.

You need to decide on your business model before you begin so you can set the business up accordingly for example:

What will you choose to do? What is within you service and what is not.
ie for us we are domestic only and cleaning only, no ironing or housekeeping just quality cleaning.

When you come to add staff will you operate as an agency as described by pp above and arrange work for self-employed cleaners or will you be a private company like us and hire and train your staff?

Will you be fully equipped or will you use client's supplies and equipment?

Will the service be fully managed and all comunications go through you or will the client manage the cleaner directly and you just supply the work/cleaner for them?

Staff are notoriously hard to come by so you may have to turn away work sometimes.

As for cancellations, we don't charge unless we were not given 24 hrs notice (and even then we tend to waiver the fee for the first offence or for a genuine emergency. You may decide to be firmer than that - it's all up to you how you run things.

If you want to do it like we do you MUST set your price with growth in mind. There must be a profit margin or it's a lot of tricky work for no money and you become a 'busy fool'. Even as a solo cleaner £10 will never cut it as a self employed role (unless you don't mind coming in at less than min wage after business costs) and when you add the staff you are legally obliged to pay at least min wage plus statutory benefits, this costs you above £9 per hour so you must be charging enough to cover this labour cost plus all your other costs AND have a decent margin.

We are charging £18 per hour including VAT (North of England) and we are often unable to hire and train in time to meet demand. Margins are still tight for us and it takes a LONG time to see much of a wage for yourself once you stop cleaning yourself so charging enough is essential to 'keep the lights on' in the business as it were.

Protect yourself with insurances but remember that all policies have an excess of at least £100 - ours is £250. Occasionally a client will try to defraud your insurance policy so please do set clear terms and conditions about limiting your liability in certain circumstances to help protect you and your insurance company from this kind of thing.

Don't be competitive with other cleaning business owners, stand together and support one another. There's enough work for everyone so try to get some allies onside in the field. You never know when you'll need the support, it's an unusual industry in a lot of ways and finding your peers who understand will help you to cope when it get's rough.

If you have any questions just pm me and I will do my best to help.

Thank you dangly your post is very helpful.

The going rate around here is around 12.50 an hour and I was thinking of doing £25 for 2 hours or £36 for 3 hours weekly (as less petrol costs, admin time etc).

I am going to experiment over the next few weeks with products because I would really prefer to use cruelty free products, but have never attempted to cost out how much these would actually be.

Insurance is something I’d though of but not fully researched so will look into that.

At the moment it’s just me; I’m hoping for enough work to do 4 cleans a week and fit in around school hours.

Thanks so much for your advice everyone. Keep it coming!

we pay £10/hr in london, she comes once a week and works however many hours it takes (4-5 usually), if we cancel or she cancels we don't pay (and she does cancel sometimes, we usually don't). There is no contract in place.

What’s your cleaner’s Hourly rate? (We are in the midlands) £10ph (Birmingham)

What’s your agreement if you (the client) cancels a week? It's fine by her. She doesn't mind and doesn't get paid

What if the cleaner cancels? Fine by me, The agreement is mutally flexible

Do you have a rolling ‘contract’ or do you agree say, 4 weeks upfront? She just comes - no contrat, nothing in writing.. If I wanted to stop I'd give her notice and I think she would too, but nothing formal.

Would it help to pay via PayPal or do you leave cash? I give her cash

Does he/she take holiday? We have a 'term time only' arrangement. She also works elsewhere and has a school age child so doesn't generally take holiday when I need her.

Are there a lot of cleaners already in your area OP?

I just ask as someone in my home town has recently started a home help service (she's a former cleaner) she's got a waiting list as long as her arm. She basically provides the services of a carer for people that aren't entitled to the help funded. She's very much for 'supporting independence' such as assist them into the shower, taking them out shopping then back to cook, providing companionship & does cleaning/ironing etc too.

Honestly I was sceptical at first but she's made a great business of it & she's got customers queuing up so if there's already a lot of cleaners where you are that might be something to think about & a gap in the market??