Should I charge more to do a spring clean?

[frustratedashell]

I'm a house cleaner and I charge £11 an hour. I was chatting to a friend the other day and she thinks I should charge more per hour when I do a deep clean. Not sure what to do. So would welcome your opinions. Would you pay more , if so how much do you think would be a fair rate! Thanks

I have a regular cleaner who does the 6 hour deep clean when we are on holiday, Easter, August and December. She charges the same rate as usual, but I leave a £30 tip in a thank you card. So the answer is, I probably would pay extra if she asked. I really appreciate what she does for us. Not sure I would readily do it if it was a one-off not knowing what I'd get though.

I wouldn't pay a bigger hourly rate but ensure you agree to enough hours to reflect the amount of work it's genuinely going to take. Deep cleaning is hard work!

If it's a regular customer, then no. As a customer I'd be very unclear about why you'd want more money (since 6 hours at once feels better for you as there's no travel time or unpaid gaps). If you want to go at a slower (less exhausting) rate for the deep clean, I would be fine paying for extra hours. Would also be fine paying extra for different chemicals or anything that would cost you money.

If it's a one-off/occasional customer then yes you should charge whatever you like as they wont feel put out.

What does a deep clean consist of?

Just wondering what extra things you do on a "deep clean"?

I can't see why you would and your hourly rate is quite high anyway.

What does a "deep clean" actually involve?

I wouldn't buy would add more hours.

For example regular kitchen clean takes say 1hr to wipes sides, Hoover, mop, clear odd clutter, wipe hob etc.=£11. But deep clean I would say is 2.5 hours to wipe all inside cupboards, fridge, entire oven, tiles plus usual. = £27.50

Surely a deep.clean.would take longer, so you would be laid more.as.you charge per hour?

11.00 isn't high. What planet are you on?
Mileage, holidays, travel time between clients it probably equates to less than minimum wage.
Charge a fixed price. That way the client knows what to expect cost wise and the end result. If it takes you less time then great!

If it is a one-off deep clean, yes. (15 quid round here)
If it is a deep clean for a regular weekly customer, no.

I pay £15 an hour for regular cleaning btw, so I think your actually pricing yourself low. It's a hard job cleaning constantly for hours tonothers high standards.

donajimena, no need to be rude. I think £11 is a lot as it is more than cleaners charge around here. At 40h/week and taking standard hols off it works out at about £20k/year - which I think is a lot for an unskilled job. Don't know about OP, but my cleaner tends to clean 2 houses a day and makes sure they are close by - her commuting time between jobs tends to be 10-15min on foot/bus + all products and provided for her - so no extra cost there either.

If you take the same length of time you won't get anymore done surely?
What I would do would be to charge the same hourly rate but over a longer time.

Unskilled? Yes. To a degree. Its not medicine or accounting. But I do think it requires some skill. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many threads on MN complaining about cleaners.
You are hard pressed to fit 40 hrs per week There isn't that much opportunity to fit in two x 4 hr cleans per day in the same area usually you would have 3 x 2 hr stints with travelling in between.
Not many people can clean for 40 hours either at a fast pace. No matter how fit you are.
I pay my cleaner 13.00 per hour. Having done the job myself (still do but only one off deep cleans for which I charge a set price) I think 13.00 is fair.
I pay 1500 per year insurance and accounting and another 500 materials.
I think she pays around 1000 for similar.
If you clean by the book and not as a jobbing cash in hand cleaner 11.00 ph is low.

Thank you for all your replies. It would seem that there are differing opinions on what I charge at the moment. I am in Sussex and £11@ hour is middle of the road. I am self employed and declare my earnings. I could not do a 40 hour week, it would kill me! It's quite a physical job. I do 2 sometimes 3 jobs a day, maximum 6 hours a day. Then there is the travelling in between, though most of my jobs are about 10 to 15 mins apart. If I don't work I don't get paid, eg for sickness and holidays. I would say it is a fairly skilled job, of course not on a par with Doctors, Solicitors etc. I take pride in my work and my clients frequently tell me how much they value what I do.
A deep clean would involve cleaning things that don't get cleaned on a regular basis, wiping down paint work, cleaning out cupboards, moving big items of furniture (weight permitting) . My clients are happy for me to use my common sense usually. It is harder work, that's why a friend of mine suggested to me that I should charge more. She is a cleaner too. Also I appreciate what you say about there being no travelling time between jobs if you are there all day, but as I said it is hard work. Good cleaners round here are very sought after. Well I think I will probably leave my prices as they are. Thanks for your input