Independent cleaners out there newbie needs advice !!

[Hughsey09]

Evening all,

I‘ve just started out as a self employed domestic cleaner and have been actively cleaning for clients for 6 weeks, I’ve have amazing feedback so far and am now fully booked but have never done this before and am struggling with what I should be covering in an average 2 hour clean.
I know it depends on the size and current cleanliness of the property but think I may be doing way to too much in a short space of time.
If anyone can give me any advice at what I should be looking to cover in a 2 hour period I’d be so grateful.

I only have 2 clients that have booked me for 2 hour slots all the rest just tell me what they want doing and are happy for me to bill them for however long it takes.

For example the other day I had a 2 hour booking for a new client and did 1 main bathroom, 2 en suites, cleaned all inside windows including frames up and downstairs, hovered all bedrooms inc under beds (3 bed property) all inside windows , sills and frames downstairs and wipe down of all visible areas in kitchen. I managed it all but literally panicked the entire time that I wasn’t going to get it all done and to the high standard that I like to deliver. This client messaged me after to request additional duties in my next clean so can’t help thinking the expectation is to much for 2 hours.

As I am just starting out I’m so keen to please my clients but at the same time don’t want to have the “mick taken”.

Any advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated 😊 TIA

Hi @Hughsey09 it's probably very hard to be firm with your boundaries in any field when you are doing self employed work for the first time.

Have you been an employee cleaner before?

I'm not a professional cleaner, but it sounds quite a lot and I'm never able to clean this much in 2 hours.

Can you be more assertive and message back the client that you can do the additional requests, however that would take extra time, would they like to go ahead.

You sound great, your feedback from all other clients is great, but being self employed you will always meet clients who are trying to be cheeky.

Meant to add hopefully very soon you will be able to choose which clients to take on.

Thank you so much for your reply. I really do appreciate it!.

I did message that particular client back to say the extras he requested would take more time so he agreed an extra 30 minutes!.

I am absolutely brand new to it as a job and started it to navigate away from a stressful and responsible position within the nhs which is clerical so a complete change of job!.

I am now fully booked up so could make the jump to leave my nhs position but wanted to give the cleaning 12 months to ensure it’s viable for me to leave the comfort blanket of being a payee with all those benefits to being self employed.

I definitely do think I’m doing way more than I should be in those 2 hour slots ! 😊

My word, I wish you were my cleaner. I’d be delighted if anyone was able to do so much as you have managed in two hours! The client is, most definitely, taking the mickey if they want more doing in that timescale.
To put it into context, my cleaner cleans two bathrooms, and then cleans the visible work surfaces and mops the floor of (an admittedly large) kitchen in two hours. While I think she could do a bit more, I would never expect her to do as much as you have managed. Like a PP, I hope you feel able to say that you require more time to do anything extra.

I actually got rid of a cleaner last year for being too fast. There's no way someone can be thorough in that time! I could see from the hoover there was barely any dust picked up as she was hoovering too fast. It used to tale her 3 hours.

I gave my new cleaner a list and she told me 5 hours. She picks up far more dust every week than the previous one.

Set your boundaries and say how many hours you need or if they specify the no of hours then set boundaries of what you can clean in that time.

You might be best to tell clients what you do before you start, give them a list, and set a time limit and do 'extras' they request. Let's say up until 2 hours, so some days you might have 10 or 15 minutes extra. To me that would be really great service. Then you could let them know that anything additional over the 2 hours will cost x per hour. That way both parties are clear. I think you'll find as you get used to the houses, it will get quicker so you will start to have extra time and also if it's being regularly cleaned that also makes it quicker and easier to clean. I also think it depends if you work on an hourly rate or set price

Don’t burn yourself out. There is a huge difference between knocking yourself out and going like the clappers for two hours, and being able to work consistently all day.

For example, I could get a lot more done in two hours knowing that I was going to stop and have the rest of the day off, than our cleaner can during two hours out of six that she is here for each week. And she is absolutely amazing.

It is for you to decide how long a job will take, not the client. The client can decide to pay for extra so that they can get the amount done that they would like to be done (assuming you have the extra time to give that client).

My cleaner comes for three hours. In this time she:
Cleans a small kitchen - 2 people sized kitchen - surfaces, shines sink, hoover and mops floor
Hoovers dining and living room - open plan. Mops floors.
Cleans guest toilet, sink and mops floor
Hoover stairs, upstairs hall. Hoovers bedrooms x 2
Cleans two bathrooms.
Has a small tidy in front room - eg arranges cushions.
Some dusting.
empties 4 waste paper bins into main kitchen bin

what you are doing in 2 hours seems an awful lot.
sometimes I will ask her to not mop the fooors/clean a bathroom and instead clean windows or to do an extra job like clean the microwave.
If you work at a breakneck speed you will burn out. From what I can see people want 1. Reliability and 2 a cleaner that actually cleans. 3 think about what you could achieve I your home in the same time. Working at a good but not rushed pace. Some cleaning companies have a tool where people can enter their house sizes and jobs they want and it gives a time needed and costing. Maybe use this to guide you. Eg batmaid . ch has this.
It is hard to get a reliable cleaner. Value yourself. Only take on clients that also value you. If they want extras doing then they pay extra for your time.

I think people are snapping your hand off because you're doing too much and therefore undercharging compared to the value of what you're doing. That won't be sustainable long term as your main/full time work.

2 hours is realistic to me for that. I can clean 2 bathrooms, kitchen, W/C and hoover/tidy a 3 bed house in that time.
You sound great keep going lovely xx

Thanks really appreciate that 😊

Hey how is it going @Hughsey09 ? Hope you're fully established now and could ditch the other job 🙂

We're looking for a cleaner, can you help?

Where abouts are you ? 😊

Mitcham, CR4. Is there such a thing as a hopeful emoji?

So sorry but I’m up in Preston, Lancashire x

Too bad, but thanks for the prompt reply!

I typically factor about 20 mins per room but it massively depends. A bedroom with hardly any nick nacks could be 15 and a bathroom 30 but 20 is a good rule of thumb. Skirting boards and windows aren't necessarily every week (can be for some clients if they want their house constantly immaculate), so you can rotate jobs round and yes, you do get faster as you go.