r/housekeeping

I just took on a new client a couple months ago and she insisted on me using her supplies which is no problem at all. What I’m stuck on is she wanting me to use 3 different vacuums for different things throughout the house. She has 13 rugs, some antique some not so she prefers me to use the different vacuums for the various rugs and the hardwood. Never experienced this before. Also her home is huge so trekking each of the vacuums throughout the home is a pain and she won’t let me use an extension cord. I don’t know how to feel about this situation and the job itself takes me way longer because of this process. What would you do?

I am at my wits end trying to explain to my clients that my availability is completely booked. When I first started out, I was cleaning irregularly for an elderly couple who I barely made $100 from but agreed to water their plants and check on their house in the winter when they travel to warmer areas. Last summer I was able to squeeze them in here and there but this summer I am completely booked out. I informed them that when they return in June, I will not be able to clean for them because I don’t have the time. She responded with, “oh no, does that mean I missed out on scheduling for July, August, September and October? Maybe you could manage once a month for us”. And I don’t know how to politely tell her that I couldn’t block out random days during the summer months for her especially if I’m getting paid half what my other consistent clients pay me. She doesn’t seem to understand.

AND THEN, I am traveling for a week in May and sent out an advanced notice to my clients that week that I will not be in town and cleanings will be canceled. I had a biweekly client ask to reschedule. I tried telling her I don’t have the availability to do so and she’s pushing me because I’ve swung weekend cleanings for her in the past. How do I explain to them that I have a completely full schedule so I cannot fit them in before I leave or after, that they will simply have to wait until the next cleaning? Everything I type out feels rude but I’m so irritated at being pulled at like this.

Cross posted on cleaning.

I have a client with a large master shower 5x5x9. Glass door, partial glass wall, and large floor to ceiling tiled walls. The shelf insert is small octagon tiles (1”), and the floor is medium octagon tiles (maybe 3”).

The white tile grout is a mix of dark mold and pink slime at every single bi-weekly clean. I could easily spend an hour in this shower every visit, but I just don’t have an hour, I have about 15minutes. I really don’t know how to handle cleaning this grout/shower in any sort of efficient manner. Im at a loss.

I do the best I can with the time, but I am never happy with the outcome.

What are we doing?

Never worked kn a nursing home not a Rn i just signed up and got it whats it like

How much would you charge lake house 4 bedroom 2.5 bathroom 2 kitchens deep clean no one has lived there in 7 months super dusty ovens need a good cleaning and baths stand up showers i spent 9 hours there already and going back to finish it’s a lot for one person with how much needs to be done! Stuck on pricing

After a time gap of approximately a year - is it appropriate for a house cleaner to raise their price by 85% for the first visit and 50% for future visits without a warning? I asked before they came to confirm the price was the same as before and did not receive an answer, just a confirmation that they were coming. I was fully expecting to pay the old price. After the cleaning they texted new amount increases. I would not have hired the cleaner for these rates. How much is appropriate for me to pay them since they did do the work? I want to make sure I am not being unreasonable. I will be looking for a new house cleaner.

A few notes to add: they previously cleaned my house for 5+ years; I was using another cleaner in between so the house was well maintained; I provide cleaning supplies, gloves and paper towels. They come with their own vacuums, mops, dusters, and rags. The cleaner in between wasn't consistent in coming and would cancel day of - no bad beef there they were just cheaper which is why I switched. No bad beef with the pricey cleaners up until this current situation.

I’m curious to hear how you ladies handle safety when it comes to solo residential jobs. I had a really unsettling encounter a few days ago that I can't stop thinking about.

I was cleaning the exterior doors of a commercial building when a man in a luxury SUV pulled up and asked me to clean his home. He claimed his wife was sick and he needed extra help. What made it weird was that he had two young women in the back seat who he said would be "assisting" me, but they looked incredibly uneasy and didn't even smile.

When I told him I only do commercial work, he got pushy and irritated before finally speeding off. It felt so predatory—why would someone try to hire a total stranger off the side of the road instead of just Googling a local company? My husband is worried it could have been a trafficking lure.

Have any of you felt unsafe working alone for male strangers? What safety measures do you have in place to protect yourselves in this industry?

I know everyone is different and there are tons of variables. I clean about 4-5 days a week. Usually 2 houses per day. I've been so so tired, the past month I've been coming home and taking a 2 hour nap and it still feels like I could sleep. I go to bed around 11 and wake up around 6:30-7:30. Anyone else work about that much and feel constantly tired?? Also, I have the responsibility of cleaning my own place. I live with my partner and pets, I'm pretty much the only one that cleans. I'll end up getting bloodwork done, I'm just so overwhelmed and so tired constantly. I can't stand it!

Hi all! Happy Monday, I hope all of you are well!

So basically the title, I’d love any advice 🥲 I’ve had my cleaning business for 5 years and I basically gained all my clients in my first couple of months that I still have to this day not counting the ones who moved or sadly passed away as my client base is mostly retirees. I’ve never increased my pricing to existing clients, but any new ones I could fit in I did charge closer to my area average for cleaning services and that kind of offset the difference for a while. I started having health issues and dropped off some of my clients that were lower paying and I knew they probably wouldn’t be ok with a price increase. I started looking for other jobs not knowing this job market was terrible. After applying for months and not getting any offers, I decided to put more effort in building my business back up but my area is one of the fastest growing and there is not a lot of industry here for working class people so there is so much more competition! I’ve barely gotten any leads and the few I did told me my prices were more than they were looking to pay.

So I’ve been scared to raise my prices for my legacy clients that I still have but as we all know, things are so expensive now and I just can’t afford not to. If my clients were to get services from a licensed and insured cleaning company they would have to pay over double than what they are now. Even cleaners in the Facebook groups that maybe are not insured or licensed but pretty reliable, trustworthy and knowledgeable enough to not damage a clients property would still charge them more than they are getting charged by me just to put into perspective.

I know my legacy clients are probably never going to get up to what I charge new clients, and I know they took a chance on me when I was first getting started so I’m happy to keep their rates lower. But I do need to increase some, how much would be too much and how much of a notice of price increase is reasonable, 30 days? I really appreciate any advice! :)

My client works at a clinic where they use iodine. Is has stained their laminate wood floors months ago and nothing has worked to remove the stains.

Is this permanent or is their a magic solution for something like this? Esp after it has sat for so long.

Thanks in advance!

Every time someone says they're coming over i go into full 15-minute panic clean mode. I usually just grab whatever's visible first like dishes, clutter on tables, and anything on the floor. After that I just try to make the space look "okay" from a distance and hope they don't open random corners. It's not deep cleaning at all, just enough to make things presentable fast. Curios what you all focus on first when you're short on time before guests arrive.

I live in Massachusetts. Just started cleaning a house. I have a few more clients coming up next month. I would like to be insured. Would general liability insurance be the way to go? I plan on starting my own cleaning business once I have the funds saved for my LLC, insurance, workman's comp, supplies...ect. Thank you in advance.

Hello all! I’ve been cleaning since 2019 and have had my own business for almost two years now. Initially I didn’t think I needed nor did I want a contract or cancellation policy but at this point I have three clients who continuously cancel or want to be moved for usually silly reasons and I’m pretty freaking fed up. These past two weeks, the same three clients have cancelled or asked to be moved and that’s over $500 I’m losing out on just because they want to move dates. My schedule is really full and they are aware of this and that doesn’t leave me with many open spots to move them to.

At this point I’m just asking for help or guidance/advice in how to type up a cancellation policy. What should it say? How much notice should they have to give? What should the fee be if they cancel or reschedule? I’m not very good at constructing things like this but I’d like type something up and have them sign it. I’m worried some may not really like this and I have anxiety behind that but I also understand that I am running a business and need to stand my ground. Thoughts? Should I have them sign and if they aren’t home do I just leave it on their counter and let them know? Any help is much appreciated.

I recently contracted for a well-reviewed service to give our 2BD/2Bath, 2,000 sq ft house a deep-clean. No laundry, dishes, tidying, or organizing: just floors, baseboards, shower glass, interior windows and window-sills, ceiling fans, etc... No weird messes, but plenty of dust to deal with.

The owner of the 2-person company came by for a walk-thru, and totally seemed to understand what we want. Her quote seemed spot-on for what we were asking: $350 for what she estimated to be about 6 - 8 hours, on her own.

The owner of the company will be doing the cleaning. Am I still expected to tip her?

I hope that doesn't sound douche-y. In the past I've tipped cleaners who worked for a larger agency; in this case I'm paying directly to the woman who owns the company. I value her time, but not sure if paying a gratuity on top of her quoted rate is expected... ?

Ya'll let me know, please!

I work for a large community with 6 clubhouses with pools and fully equipped gyms and 3 parks w/ bathrooms. That’s about 25 bathrooms! I clean it all with one other coworker and the same thing happens to her as well….when we are cleaning the women’s restrooms and a woman comes in she sees me and quickly excuses herself usually apologizing and says she will come back later. Unnecessary but very kind to give me space to finish my job. When I’m in the men’s room they walk in, see me and proceed to the urinal or stall. No care at all. I quickly exit. One man even told me once, “You can stay I don’t mind.” We ordered signs that we now hang on the outside of the men’s rooms that says closed for cleaning. (Most of the restrooms do not lock to avoid people just hanging out or whatever). Did this solve the problem, No! The men still walk right in and see me and continue on to relieve themselves. No care at all that I’m uncomfortable being alone in there with a strange man wiping it out.

Also I’ve said this a few times on Reddit. Men are not washing their hands after using the restroom. Not using soap at least. I rarely have to put refill soap in the dispenser of the men’s rooms. They don’t flush the urinals either. Women’s fly through soap! Good jobs ladies being so polite and washing those hands!

My wife is looking to start a cleaning company but with so many options it's like which one do you choose? Is Oreck a good choice still? She has the sweeper down but what's a good choice for heavier tasks like actual carpeted rooms etc?