AIBU to wonder if I am being overcharged for cleaning?

[2026baby]

So I am a cleaner in London and charge £20 per hour. Whenever a new client gets in contact they seem to think I am ridiculously expensive, they always try to negotiate and lately I have been refused work based on my hourly rate.

I am currently heavily pregnant so not working but also not coping with my own housework so thought let me get some help in! I didn't think I was cheap so was willing to pay someone else around £20 too (perhaps more even!) and thought that was reasonable.

So far I have been quoted £200 for a basic bathroom clean that should take 2 hours at the most, £350 for exterior window cleaning (I live in a flat and have 4 windows, all accessible from the inside....) and the minimum price per hour seems to be £25 for individual cleaners and £30 if a company!

Is this normal?! Am I wildly undercharging?! Where do I find clients who are willing to pay these prices?

And more importantly where do I find the cheaper cleaners that my clients claim they can get?! Or at least someone charging similar to me!

@Lexibletheflexible we’re supposed to clean inside the cistern?! Why is that?

Quite a lot of toilets have concealed cisterns anyway, in one flat I had you needed to unscrew a wall panel to get to it.

These are the pictures I went for the quote. I asked for the toilet, sink, bath, shower and mirror to be cleaned. I made it clear that I didn't want the tiles/grout cleaning as this is stained and we are regrouting soon and they quoted £200. Grateful if you could let me know how much you would have charged me so I can understand if I am being unreasonable. I can then make sure to start charging my clients whose bathrooms are way worse £300 every week 😂 I only need two clients a week then to meet what I currently make from 10 clients so win for me!

As a cleaner for 18 years I would be embarrassed to charge someone £200 for a bathroom that hasn't been cleaned for just a couple of weeks but I guess we are all different.

I am in the midlands. My window cleaner comes every 8 weeks and charges me £15 to do a 4 bed detached house! For an extra £5 he will do the conservatory windows as well. I only get them done twice a year.

As for cleaners, the going rate round here for a regular clean seems to be about £20 per hour. If you want a more deep clean, it goes up (more products, harder work etc). I don't have a regular cleaner but occasionally have a deep clean or blitz clean which involves doing a bit more (exactly what seems to vary from company to company) and costs a bit more. I pay up to £25 per hour. In a couple of weeks, I am paying £200 for 2 cleaners for 4 hours (so 8 hours of cleaning). I have been quoted almost double that by another company but just didn't go with them! These ladies have been before and I was very happy with them. Shop around would be my advice.

Edited to say someone quoting £200 just to clean your bathroom is crazy! I would want my whole house doing to a decent standard for that (incl 2 bathrooms and a downstairs loo) - although when my cleaners come, I will ask them to spend more time on certain rooms and miss out certain ones (or just do them quickly) if they don't have time.

If you can get in it, yes. It can smell and cause limescale issues. Even plumbing. I do mine about twice a year but always do it on a move out clean.

Yes that's my whole point. I think it is beyond unreasonable to quote me £200 for just a basic bathroom clean! You can see from the photos that its hardly filthy. I just haven't been able to do it properly for the last few weeks but I still rinse the bath every time I use it and spray the glass door after every shower to prevent water marks!

Do not even get me started on the window cleaners! I know my mum pays £25 a month for her 4 bed house, unfortunately living in a flat people don't advertise like they do in other areas and everyone just does their own as they are easy to reach. (As I did before becoming the size of a house!)

For a one off job, proper deep clean with steam etc, I'd charge £100 but probably £80 to you at the end and tell you to spend the rest on the baby/postnatal treats for you.

But I am a solo cleaner who works hard to keep my outgoings low. I don't pay vehicle costs for instance whereas some cleaners have to factor that into every job. Some people have higher insurance than others because they are covered for more (some people have no insurance at all). Some people have income protection fees. That creeps up the price of every job.

You know, you could find someone cheaper than me and probably more than adequate on a task app.

How many times, it is not a deep clean! I last cleaned it 2 weeks ago but I still rinse it after every bath, spray the shower door after every shower and bleach the toilet every night.

Surely you aren't actually suggesting its filthy and requires a deep clean from the pictures sent?!?

If any other posters think my bathroom is filth based off the pictures posted and needs scrubbing for 5 hours please let me know as obviously my standards must have slipped after 18 years of professional cleaning.

Sounds mad OP. £200 for a bathroom?! Just call a company like Fantastic Services, etc etc as you're in London. I have 5 hours for £90 (so £18 per hour). There are loads of agencies which can send someone the next day.

Sorry I see you say you've already tried Fantastic Services - but how was it £26 per hour with them? It's not - I pay £18. If you want a cleaner who brings all their own stuff (usually this means 2 cleaners come and do day, 2.5 hours rather than 5), it's a little more (like £20 per hour). FS will generally try to upsell you though, eg, oven cleaning or carpet shampooing. It may be they were adding something on?

I've just checked again and it looks like its £24 per hour most of the time and £26 in evenings etc. I've attached a screenshot of the prices quoted for the bathroom clean and it says 3 hours minimum (which it doesn't need but I couldn't select less)

I wonder if these prices are as a new customer? Have you been using them a while? Perhaps you are locked in at a lower price. A couple years ago I did AirBnb cleaning and whenever I wasn't available the landlord used Fantastic so I was surprised at the price quoted as thought they were cheaper than me.

Only other thing I can think of is if they charge different prices depending on where in London you are?!

Or are you a member? That brings the price down to £19ph it seems but at £89 for the membership its not worth my while to become a member as I would be spending more than I'm saving!

Deep clean for me includes inside cupboards etc, if you want to pay £30 to someone to do it, it wouldn't be me because it isnt worth it for me to come for a one off clean for £30. Even if it only takes me an hour.

That is why I'd offer you a deep clean for £80 or nothing.

I said that you should try airtasker for a budget option.

But I don't want a deep clean or the cupboards cleaned?!

I wanted someone to come once a week for the next few months to clean the bath, sink, toilet and mop the floor at £20 an hour so £40 a week? I don't think that's unreasonable?!

Most of my clients are 3-4 hours a week as they live in houses but those that live in small flats do not need more than 2 hours every week and I am perfectly comfortable charging them £20 an hour (so £40-80 each every week) for standard cleaning.

Can I come work for you and get £40 an hour please?! 😂

I (and most good cleaners) wouldn't have space to offer you 2 hrs a week right now. I have regular clients and am fully booked. I do keep a weekly space where I can do one off jobs and that is where I could fit you in.

I start all my jobs with a deep clean of wherever I am meant to do at an hourly rate because I set it to the standard I am prepared to maintain. So the average flat that takes 2 hours for a Maintainence clean will probably start with a 4-5 hour deep clean.

As soon as someone starts suggesting we leave things out, I prepare to walk away.

I think you'd be better off looking on airtasker or one of those apps where someone who is starting out is seeking jobs to build their client list as they have the availability to take someone new on at a base price without it being a waste of their time.

You see if I came and did that bathroom for you at 15-20ph, it would be unproductive for me, because I can't have you as a regular client, so that 30-40 isn't a downpayment for further work. I am not investing in a ongoing working relationship.

For someone building a client list, it is worthwhile for them to have these trials with customers for that price. I could be using that time to forward my business in ways that are worth more than the money.

As I've said multiple times I've been a cleaner for 18 years and have a full client list every week, my newest client has still been with me over three years so I know how to maintain a business.

Ok then you understand why nobody will clean your bathroom for £40 unless they need you to take them on a regular basis which a fully established and busy cleaner will not need.

Many business owners take the route of overpricing a job if they don't want or need to do it for whatever reason. That is why i am suggesting you find someone who doesn't have the client list that I (or you) have. Someone looking for a regular client.

I am looking for someone for at least 5 months, probably longer. But apparently every cleaner in London who charges less than £25 per hour doesn't need clients as you say or charges through the roof for first cleans despite their being no rationale once photos have been seen.

There is a rationale.

1. to get it to the standard you want to maintain as the cleaner*

2. to make that trip worth your while. Imagine if you end up not committing to 5 months of regular work? You going to pay me upfront for that so I know that the 2 hours now is a productive use of my time?

*people think that if it is good enough for them, it is good enough for the cleaner. No it doesnt work that way, a bit like tattoo artists. You get good enough that you dont want poor work in your portfolio. I don't want someone coming to your house, seeing a filthy shower seal, and thinking that is MY standards just because you don't want to pay me for the actual time it takes to clean your bathroom properly. I wouldn't have the client base i have if I did things that way.

To be honest this conversation with you has become exhausting. I'm not going to repeat myself so think I will tap out now and no longer respond to you. Thank you for your input.

I think you need to stop coming from the position that you are doing anyone a favour by offering your bathroom for cleaning. Good cleaners get to choose their jobs and clients. I repeat my advice for you to find a cleaner with little client base as they will have the availability for your £40 to be worthwhile to them in the hopes you may give them regular work in the future.

I hope your business gains more traction

My cistern is behind tiles and completely inaccessible! We were advised that the only entry is by removing the flush so I have never cleaned mine and never had an issue.

As a cleaner, I also don't clean my clients cisterns as part of a regular clean. You also need to be careful with the products you use inside a cistern as some can damage the plumbing etc

I’m in Worcestershire and my cleaner charges £18 per hour and brings all cleaning products (except the specialist wood floor cleaner I need her to use). She does 2 hours per week inc changing beds. There are cleaners round here who charge upwards of £20 and don’t bring products so £20 in London is quite reasonable I think.

I do think £20 is reasonable. Its more the higher charges I am questioning i.e. £350 to clean four windows!

Whatever the going rate cleaning is a physically demanding and difficult job. £20 is fair especially if you’re providing the products.

Lots of people aren’t answering the question, they are just confirming that the OP’s own personal rate of £20 per hour is cheap

OP is actually asking if the quotes coming in from the cleaners she’s been trying to hire during her pregnancy were too expensive at £100 per hour etc (since she only charges £20 per hour herself for comparison)

I think she was hoping to get a clean done for a similar amount that she usually charges herself but is finding that impossible, so wants outside opinions on those kind of prices, but just keeps getting her own price commented on instead 🥴

Anyway my opinion is that, yes those £100 per hour companies are too expensive, I’d be looking more at £25/35 per hour as within normal range, I think OP’s price is at the lower end of the price range (but she already knows that part, hence that wasn’t in the question)

Without actually "seeing it" in person, no sane person is going to give a "discounted" rate based on your say so. They're going to quote on a "worst case" scenario to cover the likely reality. Even showing pictures doesn't show the full picture - they couldn't "smell" it, and no doubt the householder would deliberately avoid any "bad" bits being in the pictures.