Tipping house cleaners question

[sadlebred]

Since my OHS (open heart surgery) in Jan., I had friends give me money towards a house cleaning. It's $400 for a deep clean (4 hours +1/-) with 2 cleaners. They work for a local franchise of a larger company. They were the cheapest....and it's still not cheap. Anyway, what would you tip each of them each? This will be a one-time clean. I can't afford to keep them every month.

I will have to make up the difference of about $100 from what my friends gave me and the cost. I got several quotes all in the $400-500 range. OUCH! I live in a MCOL major metro area.

[Jalapeñomel]

Have you looked on FB for a private (or at least not a corporate) cleaner? They tend to be so much cheaper. I had a friend who found one though Amazon services and another through Task Rabbit.

I’d tip them $40 a piece, so 20% in total.


I hope your DH’s surgery goes well and has a healthy recovery.

[expectantsteelerfan]

Agree with tipping 20%, or $40 each if you go with them (and get it if you aren't looking for tips on trying to find anyone else). But also agree that finding a private cleaner will likely be cheaper (and IME a better clean). If you know any realtors or have a FB group where realtors post, asking them for recs for a move in/move out type clean would be my suggestion. I think I paid closer to $250 for a move out clean.

[sadlebred]

Ya'll, I had quotes from several private cleaners---they were much more expensive! I asked around the neighborhood for recommendations. There is a limit to what I can afford. Sadly, this WAS the cheapest. Most quotes came in at 3.5-4 hours. My house is NOT gross. No mold growing in the tub or toilets, etc. I deep cleaned myself in mid-Jan. before surgery and have been doing light stuff the last 3-4 weeks. (Ie no mopping or scrubbing tubs but picking up, sweeping floors, keeping the kitchen clean, light dusting.) The house just needs to get back to baseline, and I can take it from there. I just don't have time to scrub tubs, mop, etc. with work and obligations the next few weeks.

Maybe I just shouldn't do the cleaning......I can cancel til tomorrow at 10 am.

[polarbearfans]

I wouldn’t tip. You are already paying for the service. $300-$400 is the average cost for a deep clean here.

[jinkies]

I also wouldn't tip in this situation.

[daisyduck]

I wouldn't tip for this.

[melmel4854]

sadlebred, Keep the cleaning! Your friends gave you $ for it and I think you will feel great after it is done!

[Roc A Bee]

I feel like companies charge more for 1x cleaning. My housekeeper charged $300 for a deep clean the first time, but she knew I was going to be a long time climate.

I wouldn’t tip here.

[sadlebred]

Apr 14, 2024 18:21:36 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Have you looked on FB for a private (or at least not a corporate) cleaner? They tend to be so much cheaper. I had a friend who found one though Amazon services and another through Task Rabbit.

I’d tip them $40 a piece, so 20% in total.


I hope your DH’s surgery goes well and has a healthy recovery.

It was my surgery. There is currently no serious candidate for the next Mr. Sadle.

[wanderingback]

I personally would tip 20% split between the 2.

We had a deep clean done on our other house last year (just a 1 time thing) and that’s what I tipped. I think the service might’ve been $500I think "tipping culture" is a bit out of hand in general, but I do personally feel it was appropriate to tip in that situation.

[Jalapeñomel]

Apr 14, 2024 21:37:08 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Apr 14, 2024 18:21:36 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Have you looked on FB for a private (or at least not a corporate) cleaner? They tend to be so much cheaper. I had a friend who found one though Amazon services and another through Task Rabbit.

I’d tip them $40 a piece, so 20% in total.


I hope your DH’s surgery goes well and has a healthy recovery.

It was my surgery. There is currently no serious candidate for the next Mr. Sadle.

Well, shit, I misread. I'm sorry! I hope that you are healing well then! 

[purplepenguin7]

Hope you are recovering well! I'd tip $20 each in this case. I'd go up to $40 if you can...but that is a huge burden. I think they will be happy with anything extra.

[macmars45]

I wouldn't tip sadlebred. My EoW cleaners get paid more than I do per hour. Tipping is getting out of hand IMO.

[mommin]

I had a deep clean done just this morning and it’s fantastic! We are listing our house for sale this week so it was a must. Our realty company pays for the initial clean but I tipped them each $25.
They will be returning weekly for kitchen, bathrooms, and floors until we move (5 weeks) at our expense. I plan to tip $15 each time, probably.

[mommin]

Apr 15, 2024 14:49:57 GMT -5 mommin said:

I had a deep clean done just this morning and it’s fantastic! We are listing our house for sale this week so it was a must. Our realty company pays for the initial clean but I tipped them each $25.
They will be returning weekly for kitchen, bathrooms, and floors until we move (5 weeks) at our expense. I plan to tip $15 each time, probably.

ETA- today’s cleaning was $350, plus the tip.

[sadlebred]

I'm thinking $20 each. Does that sound good? $40 is a bit much. I am also having a tree company come out to cut up some GIANT branches that fell during last week's storms tomorrow. That's $250! Ouch! There is only so much money in my account...

[dreamcrisp1]

I am shocked at that price! I wouldn’t tip but I don’t live in tip culture land.

I pay €50 every week for my cleaner. We just upped her rate ro €60 from May 1 as a raise. $400 is insane. Maybe I will stay living here a bit longer. 😅

[bugandbibs]

Apr 15, 2024 16:32:20 GMT -5 dreamcrisp1 said:

I am shocked at that price! I wouldn’t tip but I don’t live in tip culture land.

I pay €50 every week for my cleaner. We just upped her rate ro €60 from May 1 as a raise. $400 is insane. Maybe I will stay living here a bit longer. 😅

I pay my cleaner $70 every two weeks, up from $60 when she started with me 10 years ago. I have never used a service and I think they do a lot of things that I don't need like change/wash the sheets.  My cleaner does the bathrooms, kitchen, windows and floors mostly with general surface cleaning of other places. It's about 2 hours worth of work.

[sadlebred]

I want to apologize to everyone that was offended at me or the price of what a deep cleaning costs near me by either a private individual or a company. Truly, I can't help that. It must be what the market will pay or none of them would be in business. It was too late to cancel by Monday, and I'd hate for that team to not have a job that morning.

The final cost was $330 + I tipped each of the 3 ladies $20 cash. I'd give them 3.5 of 5 stars. It gets my house back to the baseline that I can maintain. I don't charge myself.