Let’s face it, for most of us, cleaning is one of the least popular tasks on our weekly to-do lists.
Between organising the kids, doing extra hours at work and a schedule full of hobbies, most Australians are no strangers to letting household chores fall down their priority list in favour of more favourable tasks.
In fact, more and more Aussies are turning to professional services to help tackle those mundane home chores as a time-saving solution to continual household maintenance.
Whether it’s weekly once-overs, monthly visits or even full bond cleans, specialist services can help ensure the value of your home is maintained and your time is saved, without lifting a finger.
But how much do these services cost? And what is the considered good value for money?
So rip off those rubber gloves, drop the mop and let Build-it apply the elbow grease as we look into how to keep housekeeping costs to a minimum in 2024.
Price
Cleaners in Australia typically charge between $35-$65 per hour depending on location and experience level.
But it will be the size of your home and the level of cleaning needed that will be the most defining when it comes to receiving your home cleaning bill.
Having a large number of rooms or requesting detailed services such as a bond clean will significantly add to your final bill.
However, some cleaning services only charge fixed rate fees based on clean type and property size, gardless of how much time the job it takes.
Choosing between an independent cleaner or an agency will also affect your costs.
Agency cleaners typically cost more due to higher overheads, but they do offer greater reliability and work quality guarantees.
Time
As mentioned, the time it takes to clean your home has the greatest impact on final costs.
Meanwhile, knowing how long the cleaner could take will help you plan the rest of your day around their services.
Presuming no additional deep cleans or bond cleaning services are required, a standard monthly clean of a 3-bedroom house should take around 3 hours 30 minutes.
A good guide is to add or subtract 30 minutes per bedroom to reach a final estimate.
What’s included?
A standard weekly or monthly house clean should include the following tasks as part of the service. However, if a fixed number of hours has been agreed not all tasks may be completed in time.
Basic home cleaning includes:
Vacuuming
Dusting
Tidying up line-of-sight areas
Sweeping/ Mopping
Bin emptying and changing
Bathroom cleaning – toilet, sinks, showers, baths, floors etc
Kitchen clean – benchtops, floors, exterior of appliances/ cooking apparatus etc
What’s not included?
One of the biggest disappointments when it comes to professional home cleaning are the tasks not included as part of your typical standard service.
Non-standard tasks are typically available for an additional fee. However, it is important to negotiate this beforehand with your cleaner to ensure enough time is allocated for completion.
Additional fee services typically include:
- Fridge cleanse
- Cleaning inside of appliances
- Under furniture vacuuming/ mopping
- Doors, windows, frames dusting
- Grout cleaning
- Carpet cleaning
- Window cleaning
- Washing and ironing
- Additional tips
Discuss with your cleaners what tasks are most important to you so they can give you an accurate estimate of time and costs and ensure essential areas are left spotless.
For large-scale cleans, Build-it recommends choosing a fixed rate service ahead of an hourly rate cleaner to ensure tasks are completed without time constraints.
Don’t schedule other essential tasks immediately after your home clean, as some cleaning tasks may take longer for your cleaner to complete.
A cleaner will bring their own professional-grade cleaning products with them. However, you can typically request some of your own cleaning supplies to be used on individual surfaces or appliances.
If choosing an independent cleaner, do your due diligence to check for correct insurance, references and reviews.
