[Vesper Sparrow]

This is embarrassing but I've had a cleaning lady (two hours every two weeks, through an agency) for years. I've never tipped her after each cleaning, but I give a nice tip at Christmas ($100 or so). Should I be tipping every time as well?

[SillyHorse]

I think what you are doing is correct.

[ybiaw]

Nope. Your tip at Christmas is fine.

[LittleblackMorgan]

Mine doesnt work for an agency, she works for herself so I don't tip her. On Xmas I gave her $50 (half what I pay every 2 weeks).

Sidebar-I hate when you hire a cleaning person and have to supply all the cleaning stuff, paper towels and vacuums. I went through 3 that did this. The lady I have now rocks. The only things I give her is granite polish and End-dust for allergies. She uses whatever she has, unless I have a request.

[ybiaw]

Mine doesnt work for an agency, she works for herself so I don't tip her. On Xmas I gave her $50 (half what I pay every 2 weeks).

Sidebar-I hate when you hire a cleaning person and have to supply all the cleaning stuff, paper towels and vacuums. I went through 3 that did this. The lady I have now rocks. The only things I give her is granite polish and End-dust for allergies. She uses whatever she has, unless I have a request.

I've always provided the supplies - never thought it was odd. I'd rather the cleaning lady use my own vacuum especially, so no germs or allergens from other cleaning jobs make their way into my house.

[Vesper Sparrow]

I've always provided the supplies, too, although a couple of people have said they would bring their own.
Thanks for replying, I had a substitute this week and she seemed to be hinting that she wanted a tip. These women work really hard, my current one has three part-time jobs and I'm sure the agency gets a good cut. Wanted to make sure I wasn't stiffing them.

[kasjordan]

I've supplied the cleaning supplies and the vaccum/mop. I've never tipped for regular cleaning, paid the hourly rate and never thought about adding to it. If the cleaning person would do something extra, I would have thought of tipping...I think it's great to tip at the holidays but other than that, nope.

[vtdobes]

Just curious but what do you all pay for cleaning? I've been thinking of looking into having someone come every other week or so. It just seems I'm so busy with the horses and the dogs with training, classes and shows (oh yeah and my 40 hr/week job!)....when my day off comes around the last thing I want to do is clean the house. And it shows...

[TarheelJD]

Just curious but what do you all pay for cleaning? I've been thinking of looking into having someone come every other week or so. It just seems I'm so busy with the horses and the dogs with training, classes and shows (oh yeah and my 40 hr/week job!)....when my day off comes around the last thing I want to do is clean the house. And it shows...

It really depends on the size of your house, the market in your area, and how often they come. I would ask around locally about what people are paying.

[kasjordan]

I'm not using right now but when I was, it was $50 (took her about 2 1/2 hours).

[Beau's mom]

$85/visit for a little more than 2 hours every 2 weeks. Tip at Christmas. I feel pampered when I come home on Tuesday nights after she's been there.

[DarkenStormy]

I tip occasionally - say about 3-4 times a year, that includes Christmas. I have someone come in every other week and I pay them 80.00 for the regular stuff. If I have them do an extra room or something, I will give them an extra $20. My house is big and we don't use all the rooms all the time. So they clean the main floor, the Master bed/Bath and vaccum the upstairs hall, stairs and basement. The rest of it I clean as needed like the guest rooms.

Does anyone else clean/pick up before they come? We straighten our mess and pick up all the dog toys

[SPF10]

$85/visit for a little more than 2 hours every 2 weeks. Tip at Christmas. I feel pampered when I come home on Tuesday nights after she's been there.

This exactly except mine comes on Wednesdays ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image.

[saddleup]

Mine come every other week, two ladies that work for two hours. I pay $125 per visit, and they provide all the cleaning supplies, except for the wood floor cleaner. I only tip at Christmas, the equivalent of one visit. My house is about 3,700 sq. feet.

[Gloria]

How did you ladies find cleaner that are so reasonable? I once used a service. The portion she cleaned is about 1800 sf. I believe she stayed for probably two hours, each time, and the house was NOT cleaned. She wanted $120 per visit, which made it $60/hour. I dropped her after two visits and never tried another service since.

[Tha Ridge]

We pay $80 every two weeks for a 600 square foot apartment. (Yay, New York! )

But, yeah, we follow the same tipping model as you. I'd go broke otherwise!

[cranky]

Those of you who have dogs, how does your cleaning person handle the situation? I've thought about getting someone in to clean, but I don't want to have to give up part of my weekend to supervise. Taking my dogs to doggie daycare on the days a cleaning person would be coming in would be an option except that most days I leave too early and it would also then add an additional cost onto the the cleaning day. Still, might be worth it once a month or so. I am so busy, housecleaning tends to take a back seat and having a cleaning person in could help eliminate some stress.

[pony4me]

We pay $90 each visit and tip/gift at Christmas. We provide the supplies. She just puts whatever she needs on the shopping list and we have it for her the next time she comes. We've had the same person for about 20 years.

[seabreeze]

I don't tip weekly. I give a week's pay as a Christmas gift. $10/hr, 4 hours per visit (all the basics plus an "extra" each week, like washing the shower curtains or opening the windows and wiping down inside the sills). I provide the cleaning supplies.

Regarding the dogs: Our cleaning lady handles them (but she is a dog lover). We live in a rural area, so they go out without being leashed, but she keeps an eye on them or puts them in the pen, or works around them inside. I let her decide what she wants to do with them.

[Tha Ridge]

Those of you who have dogs, how does your cleaning person handle the situation? I've thought about getting someone in to clean, but I don't want to have to give up part of my weekend to supervise.

If I had a dog that was bothersome, I'd make sure he was at doggie day care or otherwise contained. My dog mostly hangs out under the bed while the apartment gets cleaned, so I don't do anything special. If your dogs are equally relaxed, I wouldn't worry about it.