A great way to keep your house sparkling clean without sacrificing all of your hard-earned free time is to hire a professional maid service to clean your home.
Doing so will save you the time and effort of cleaning on your own, but one aspect of hiring a cleaner seems to cause confusion among even the savviest of homeowners: should you tip your house cleaner? And if so, how much and how often?
Although tips are never required and there is no definitive answer to these questions, there are several factors to consider when determining whether to tip your house cleaner and what amount to give. To help ease the confusion, here’s our complete guide to tipping your house cleaner.
Should You Tip Your House Cleaner?
Just as other service providers do, cleaners always appreciate being rewarded for their hard work through tips. However, when it comes to hiring a cleaner, there are some cases where a tip may be more appropriate than others. Factors such as the size of the company, their tipping policy, the state of your home, and the quality of work all contribute to whether or not you should tip your cleaner.
Self-employed Cleaners vs. Agencies
The first thing to consider is the size of the cleaning company that you are working with. Are you hiring an individual self-employed cleaner who runs their own business, or are you turning to a larger cleaning company with many employees? Individual owners are generally able to set their own rates and do not lose a portion to a larger company. Because of this, they do not usually expect extra tips. Meanwhile, employees of cleaning companies do not get to determine their wages, get paid only a portion of the full service rate, and may even rely on tips to make a living wage. Taking this into account will help you determine whether a tip is necessary.
Tipping Policies
Another thing to factor in is the tipping policy of the specific company you are working with. Many cleaning companies have begun to pay their employees a higher wage, eliminating the pressure for their customers to tip the cleaners. Other companies may build the tips into their standard rates. In this case, the service agreement should clearly state how the rates are determined and whether the tip is included. Still other companies may have a policy that does not allow cleaners to accept tips, and in these cases your cleaner will respectfully decline any tip you may offer. If you are ever unsure of the company’s policy on tipping, there is no harm in asking – in fact, they might also be able to give you guidance on what other customers have done and how much they have tipped.
The State of Your Home
In addition to the size of the company and the tipping policy, you may want to consider the state of your home when deciding whether to tip your cleaner. If you have an especially difficult task like an unusually filthy bathroom or an extremely messy kitchen, or you know that your house has not been cleaned in quite a while, you may decide to tip your cleaner even if you usually wouldn’t.
The Quality of Work
You should also consider the quality of work you receive from each service before you decide whether to tip your cleaner. If your cleaner has provided substandard work then a tip should not be given, especially if you have to call the company to provide a follow-up clean. On the other hand, if your cleaner has done an extraordinary job and your home is left sparkling clean, you may want to reward their efforts.
How Often and How Much Should You Tip?
Once you’ve decided that you wish to tip your cleaner, you may still wonder how often you should tip and what amount is appropriate. For this question, you should consider things such as what kind of services you have requested, whether you have the same house cleaner or a different cleaner each time, and how your rates are determined.
Requested Services
The first thing to take into consideration when deciding how frequently you should tip your cleaner is the type of services that you have requested. If you have booked only a one-time service, such as a deep clean, or a move out clean and you do not intend to hire a cleaner often, then you might offer a one-time tip or choose not to tip at all. If you decide to book multiple sessions, you might have more choice in how frequently you tip your cleaners.
The Same Cleaner vs Different Cleaners
If you have booked a recurring cleaning service, the next thing to consider is whether the same cleaner always visits your home or if the company sends different cleaners for each service. If a different cleaner appears every week, you will need to leave a tip each time you feel it is appropriate because you do not know if you will see that cleaner again. However, if the same cleaner returns each time, it is not expected that you tip them every single week they clean your home. Instead, you may want to tip a larger amount once a month or every few months instead of tipping a small amount for each service.
How Much to Tip
So, you’ve now determined whether it is appropriate to tip your cleaner and how frequently you should tip them, but there’s still the question of how much. This is going to depend largely on the area you live in, the rates you are paying for the cleaning and how they are calculated, and as mentioned above, the state your house is in when the cleaner enters and quality of service they provide. If you received good service, it’s a good idea to tip between 15-20% of the rate you pay, and you can tip a little on the higher end if you feel that your cleaner did an exceptional job or if you asked them to complete an especially dirty project. Likewise, if you know that the cleaners who work for the company you choose rely on tips for a living wage and they are not built into the rates you pay, you may consider tipping closer to the 20% mark.
Acceptable Forms of Tipping
The last thing you might be wondering is how you should tip your cleaner – should you tip in cash or some other form?
Cash is the most common form of tip, and it is also the most preferred option among cleaners, especially for one-time services. However, if you have a maid who visits your home frequently and you don’t feel comfortable tipping in cash, there are other ways to show your appreciation. If you know your house cleaner well, you could gift them with something personal such as a nice bottle of wine, or a gift card to one of their favorite shops or to a local café or restaurant. Putting that personal touch into your tip will let your cleaner know that you appreciate them as a person, not just as a cleaner.
To Tip Or Not To Tip? That Is The Question
Tipping is never mandatory, so you do not ever have to feel obligated to provide a tip, but cleaners certainly appreciate being recognized for a job well done. Keeping things like the size of the company, the frequency of your services, the difficulty of the task and the quality of the work in mind will help you determine if and when you wish to tip your cleaner, and 15-20% is always a good amount to start with.
The professional cleaning staff at Maids 2 Match will never ask for tips from our clients, but if you believe you have received extraordinary service then you can always add a tip to your bill.
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