House Cleaner: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a house cleaner

Having a regular house cleaning service helps free up time otherwise spent tidying up your domestic spaces. You might choose to recruit a house cleaner if you need to tidy a property before a viewing or after a tenant has left your property. You might also employ a house cleaner to conduct a deep clean if you are a tenant and are moving out of a property.

Qualities of a great house cleaner:

• uses cleaning tools designed for domestic maintenance
• is respectful and trustworthy, leaving the property in a good condition
• offers a variety of different services such as polishing, washing and bleaching surfaces.

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance house cleaner

Recruiting a house cleaner on a permanent basis may be useful if you are looking to free up time in the long term. This may be useful if you are busy with work outside of the home, and need someone to keep your house looking presentable to family, friends and guests. You might employ a cleaner on a permanent, part-time basis if you run a holiday rental service, and need someone to tidy guest rooms or flats throughout the year.

Employing a cleaner on a contract basis may be useful to you if you are looking to tidy a property on an ad hoc basis such as before private viewings, when you are looking to sell or rent out a property. Some freelance or contract cleaners will ask for cash in hand.

What are the different types of house cleaner?

What cleaner is right for you will depend on the services that you need completing. If you are looking for someone to look after your house, then you might recruit a professional housekeeper who is experienced with working within a client’s home. Some housekeepers live in your home, in which case you provide lodging as well as a paycheck. Other housekeepers live outside your home. You might recruit a professional house cleaning services company to run maintenance checks of BnB or holiday rental properties that you own, so that you can ensure that they are tidy and hygienic for future guests. 

• Live in housekeeper: a live in housekeeper resides onsite, usually assisting disabled or elderly clients with cleaning, household maintenance and/or shopping duties.
• Live out housekeeper: assists with the cleaning and maintenance of a domestic property, usually with tasks like dusting, sweeping, hoovering, wiping and/or polishing of surfaces.
• Hotel room cleaner: helps to tidy before and after guests arrive to ensure a good standard of hygiene and appearance in your guest rooms.
• BnB or holiday rental cleaner: helps to make your holiday lets or bed and breakfast spaces clean and presentable before and after your guests arrive.
• Au pair: lives with a host family and is involved with domestic duties like looking after children, cleaning and/or cooking.

Where to find a house cleaner

To find the right house cleaner for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Networking with local tradespeople: speak with tradespeople in your area to find local cleaners based on professional advice or recommendation.
• Looking through local brochures or newspaper advertisements: local cleaning companies or individual cleaners may advertise their rates and services in your local newspaper or community brochure.
• Advertising on community noticeboards: post a help wanted advertisement in community noticeboards in your local community, such as in cafes, shops, restaurants and jobcentres.
• Asking for personal recommendations from colleagues, friends or family: ask trustworthy colleagues, friends and family members of their own personal experiences or recommendations regarding local cleaners.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a house cleaner on Indeed to find and attract quality house cleaner candidates.

Skills to look for in a great house cleaner

A great candidate for a house cleaner role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• excellent hygiene standards
• thoroughness and attention to detail
• knowledge of different cleaning equipment and chemicals
• care with property and delicate household items
• customer service skills

Writing a house cleaner job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified house cleaner candidates. A house cleaner job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your  job description for a house cleaner, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for house cleaners, according to Indeed data:

• cleaner
• cleaning
• housekeeper
• house cleaner
• cash in hand
• domestic cleaner
• immediate start
• self employed

Interviewing house cleaner candidates

Strong candidates for house cleaner positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• on-the-job experience
• knowledge of different cleaning chemicals
• risk management regarding household cleaning chemicals
• customer service experience
• attention to detail.

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of house cleaner interview questions for examples (with sample answers).