Guides
Hiring a cleaner, explained
What the trade actually does, what things should cost, what a quote ought to contain, and how to check somebody is who they say they are.
What a cleaner charges an hour in the UK
A self-employed domestic cleaner charges roughly £15 to £22 an hour outside London and £20 to £30 inside it. An agency charges more because the rate covers cover, insurance and replacement.
End of tenancy cleaning and what a landlord can deduct
A landlord cannot require a professional clean as a condition of the tenancy in England. They can deduct the cost of returning the property to its check-in condition, less fair wear and tear, and the inventory is what decides it.
What is actually in a deep clean
A deep clean reaches what a regular clean never touches: inside appliances, behind and under furniture, limescale, extractor grilles and skirtings. It takes two to three times as long and is normally priced by the job.
Insurance and DBS checks, and what they really mean
Public liability insurance is not compulsory for a cleaner but is standard. Employer's liability is compulsory if they employ anybody. Domestic cleaning is not an eligible role for an enhanced DBS check, so anyone offering one is offering something else.
Domestic or commercial: which kind of company you need
The two halves of this trade run on different hours, different equipment and different contracts. A company set up for offices is not usually the right answer for a house, and the reverse is more often true than people expect.
Questions worth asking a cleaning company
Eight questions that separate a business that has thought about how it works from one that has not. Most of them can be asked in a single phone call, and the answers matter more than the price.
What a cleaning quote should have on it
A usable quote names the property, the scope room by room, the hours or the price basis, what is excluded, and what happens if the job runs long. Anything shorter is a number, not a quote.
Carpet cleaning methods, and which one suits your carpet
Hot water extraction cleans deepest and takes four to twelve hours to dry. Low moisture cleaning dries in one to two and cleans less deeply. The right answer depends on the fibre, the soiling and how soon the room is needed.
How to find a cleaner who stays
The hard part of this trade is not finding somebody, it is finding somebody who is still coming in two years. What predicts that is a clear arrangement, a fair rate and a realistic scope, agreed before the first visit.