Do you tip house cleaners? How much do you tip? The answer depends on who comes to clean your home and the service they perform. Tipping etiquette differs for self-employed house cleaners, independent cleaners, and cleaning services. Weekly, move-out, and deep cleaning also require different tipping strategies.
Should You Tip Your House Cleaner?
Many years ago I hired a cleaning service and asked the Internet for tipping help. I posted these questions to my website:
- Do you tip house cleaners?
- Do you tip a specific amount or a percent of the overall cost of cleaning?
After receiving over one hundred comments, I realized the rules for tipping house cleaners aren’t as straightforward as they seem. You should tip your house cleaner, but how much you tip depends on who comes to clean and what service they perform.
Do You Tip House Cleaners? How Much to Tip?
Is it customary to tip house cleaners? It depends on who you ask. Tipping house cleaners depends on many factors, including how many people clean your home and how often. It also depends on whether the cleaner works for a large company or is self-employed. This post will guide you through the details.
But first, here are some general rules.
| How Much to Tip House Cleaners | |
| Cleaner Who Works for Herself | 15-20% |
| Self Employed House Cleaner | 15-20% |
| Independent House Cleaner | 15-20% |
| Cleaners from a Company | 15-20% |
| Deep Clean Service | 15-20% |
| One Time Cleaning Service | 15-20% |
| Multiple House Cleaners | 15-20% |
| Move Out Cleaners | 15-20% |
| House Cleaners at Christmas | $50 & up |
Most homeowners provide 15% to 20% tips for house cleaning services, which is an excellent place to start. That means a $100 cleaning will cost you $115 to $120. If you need a little help calculating the amount, simply type the cost of your service and the tip percentage into this calculator.
The location of your home will make a difference in how much you pay a house cleaner. A cleaner in NYC will ultimately receive a higher tip than a house cleaner in Chicago, Toronto, or Kansas City. It’s best to pay a percentage of the service rather than a flat rate. Similar to the way you would pay a waitress or server.
How Much Should You Tip House Cleaners?
Before deciding how much to tip, you’ll need to ask yourself a few questions.
First, who is performing the cleaning:
- Self Employed Cleaner (cleaning person who works for herself)
- Cleaners from a Cleaning Service
- Multiple Cleaners
Next, what service are the house cleaners performing? Here is a list of common cleaning services:
- Deep Clean
- Move Out Clean
- Weekly Clean
- One Time Cleaning Service
Let’s walk through each scenario.
Scenario 1: Tipping a Self Employed House Cleaner
An independent house cleaner is a cleaner who works for herself. They are also known as self employed house cleaners. Do you tip a self employed house cleaner? Yes. Tip between 15-20%. A self employed cleaner or owner of a cleaning company can raise prices to cover missing tips, but it’s still important to tip them. Tipping 15-20% is customary.
Tipping a house cleaning service is different from tipping an owner or self employed cleaner. A self employed house cleaner can set prices to the exact amount they want to get paid. They also earn the total amount for each home that they clean.
Tipping a House Cleaner Who Works for Herself
But, a house cleaner who works for herself still deserves a 15-20% tip. Tipping independent cleaners isn’t as important as tipping cleaners who work for large agencies, but it’s nice to provide a tip if you can.
Do you tip independent house cleaners? Yes. If you use a self-employed or independent cleaner to clean your home, save up for a Christmas gift in addition to tipping each time they clean.
Scenario 2: Tipping a House Cleaning Service
How much do you tip a house cleaning service? Believe it or not, the best way to find out is to email, chat, or call the cleaning company directly.
You can ask whether customers should tip and how much to provide. Most cleaning companies will provide a dollar amount or a percentage of your purchased service. Most will suggest a 15-20% tip.
Do You Tip Merry Maids?
House cleaners from big cleaning companies like Amazon, Groupon, Molly Maids, and Merry Maids don’t expect tips, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t leave one. Merry Maids’ prices don’t include tips. If you want to leave a tip, provide a cash bonus or add the bonus to the Merry Maids app.
If you feel unsure of tipping etiquette, call or email the company to ask about their tipping policies. They can tell you whether it is customary to tip and how much to give.
Scenario 3: Tipping Multiple House Cleaners
How much should you tip multiple house cleaners? If a crew of house cleaners arrives at your house, tipping 15-20% of the cleaning service cost is a great way to show your appreciation. If service in your area costs $100, leaving a $15 to $20 cash tip for the entire crew is perfectly acceptable. You don’t need to tip each member individually, but it does help to provide smaller denominations—for example, two $10 bills rather than one $20.
Keep in mind that a professional house cleaning service or maid service may not pay their cleaning crews a living wage. If a house cleaner performs a good job, provide a cash tip or a prepaid gift card because you never know how much cleaning companies pay them.
Scenario 4: Tipping for a Weekly House Cleaning
How much should you tip for a weekly house cleaning? If the same cleaners arrive each week, you can tip them once a month. If you receive a different cleaner or group of cleaners each week, tip every time they clean.
Of course, this is standard practice. If you prefer to tip every single time a cleaning crew finishes, that’s perfectly fine too. A 15% to 20% tip is standard for weekly house cleaners.
Scenario 5: Tipping for a One Time Cleaning Service
Tipping depends on how often you get your house cleaned. How much should you tip for a one time cleaning service? If you hire a company for a one-time cleaning, provide a tip between 15% and 20% of the bill. Present the tip in an envelope marked “tips” or hand it to the crew before they leave.
When to Tip More
Consider the amount of work a cleaner might need to do inside of your home. If you keep your home neat with little dust and dirt, then you might not need to provide a big tip.
On the other hand, if you have lots of children dragging crumbs throughout the house and dogs and cats leaving fur behind, you should consider tipping more. If your home is cleaned weekly, it requires less work than a home that is cleaned less often.
Scenario 6: Tipping House Cleaners for a Deep Clean
How much do you tip house cleaners for a deep clean? Deep cleaning involves more heavy lifting than a regular cleaning, so tip house cleaners for their extra work and effort. Tip house cleaners at least 15 to 20% for a deep clean, if not more.
As part of the deep cleaning process, a house cleaner will scrub appliances, dust the baseboards, polish the doorknobs, and clean windows. Show appreciation with cash tips for the additional work and effort involved.
Scenario 7: Tipping Move Out Cleaners
How much do you tip move out cleaners? If you fail to clean the dirt and grime, your landlord can keep your security deposit. A move-out clean helps you get your money back by making your former rooms look spotless.
If you are moving out of your house or apartment, you’ll need a move-out clean, which includes much more work than a typical cleaning and costs more too.
How much should you tip move-out cleaners? Usually, double your standard tip. If you typically tip $10, provide $20, especially if you left a real mess behind.
Scenario 8: Tipping Cleaners at Christmas Time
How much should you tip your house cleaners or cleaning lady at Christmas? Generosity is always appreciated during the holidays, and many homeowners provide a Christmas bonus or tip to house cleaners before the year ends.
An average Christmas tip is $50. Some homeowners pay double that amount, while others provide a monetary tip plus a small physical gift, including candles, ornaments, or baked goods.
How much you tip your house cleaner at the end of the year depends on how often they clean and how much they charge per week. Remember, $50 is the average tipping amount. Some homeowners tip $20, while others tip $100.
How Much to Tip a House Cleaner at Christmas?
Again, it depends on whether the cleaners are self employed or work for a larger company. It also depends on how many cleaners arrive at your home.
Tipping during the holiday season is always appreciated. If more than one cleaner arrives each week, you’ll probably want to divide the tip among them. Somewhere between $20 and $50, each is appropriate based on the size of your house and how dirty it gets between cleanings.
Leave the Christmas gifts for your house cleaners in a holiday card and make sure to hand it to them directly, or leave a prominent note on your counter if you aren’t home when they clean.
A Christmas bonus is a nice treat for housekeepers and house cleaners. In addition to a cash tip, you can provide a batch of cookies, a gift card, or a nice bottle of wine. It’s not required, but it’s an extra special touch that feels good to give around the holidays.
Final Thoughts: Tipping House Cleaners
The truth is there isn’t a gold standard for tipping house cleaners, but there are general tipping rules you can follow. These rules should apply to any cleaning lady, housekeeper or maid who works hard inside your home.
- When the house cleaners arrive, offer them water and other cold drinks. This rule is especially true for house cleaners performing deep cleans or move-out cleans, which may require a lot of heavy lifting.
- Contact the cleaning company and commend the house cleaners for exceptional cleaning. Doing so doesn’t cost you anything but could result in a raise or promotion for cleaning staff further down the line.
- Thank your house cleaners before they leave.
The bottom line, tipping housekeepers isn’t mandatory, but just because it’s not required doesn’t mean it’s not the nice thing to do. Should you tip house cleaners? Most definitely. Show appreciation for those who are bending over, cleaning your toilets, scrubbing your floors, and shaking out your rugs.
If you find a great cleaner who provides exceptional service and keeps your house sparkling clean, definitely tip them. Cleaning homes for a living isn’t an easy job, and everyone likes to feel rewarded for a job well done.
Your Thoughts
Do you have any thoughts on this topic? Do you tip house cleaners? If so, how much do you tip them? Please leave your comments below.
Remember, most of the time, tips are greatly appreciated. It’s highly unusual for anyone to complain about unexpected generosity.
We do not tip each visit, but rather at the holidays take the cost of a cleaning and divide it up among the number of cleaners we normally get (3-4) in the form of gift certificates to a common store.
I try to always leave out glasses and cans of Coke when they visit to make themselves welcome to have a drink as they work.
It's probably a nice idea to tip them, since I'm sure they do not get paid that much. If it's a one off thing, then maybe a small tip (like $5 each?), but if it is a regular thing I like what Heather said.
I don't know how long it usually takes to clean a house, but the two women that showed up were here for nearly 3 hours. I left out bottled water like Heather suggested and paid them a small tip as me in millions suggested. I am so happy the house is now clean!
I have two women who clean every other week. They work for a company. They used to come 60-65 minutes now it’s 40-45. Cost is $123. I tipped each $50 at Christmas and didn’t even get a thank you. I was disappointed. Now Christmas is coming again. Not sure what to do. Little things that used to be cleaned no longer are. I always clean the toilets the night before they arrive. Thanks for thoughts.
If you don’t feel like your cleaners are doing a good job I would talk to them about what you’d like to see improved. There are tons of cleaners out there that can do the job if your current ones can’t.
We've had a cleaner come in on a biweekly basis for several years now and consider it money well spent. However I have never tipped her and don't know of anyone else who has either. At Christmastime, I leave her $20 extra, as well as a gift, such as a bottle of wine and a card expressing our appreciation for her service.
Anonymous — The women who cleaned my home definitely aren't used to tips. When I handed it to them they were as giddy as two school girls on the first day of summer. I don't know if I'll ever use their services again so I couldn't wait for the holidays and I was so happy to have my bathrooms sparkling that I really did want to give them something extra. Especially the one woman who spent the majority of time at my house scrubbing the bathrooms 🙂
My wife and I are office Cleaners and Trust me, A tip is GREATLY appreciated. Please take into consideration that we provide service all year around , in all kinds of weather, Cleaning your floors in the winter is the worst. Cleaning in HOT offices at night in the Summer. Scrubbing all your Bathroom messes. Most people forget about the cleaning people because as I say " OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND" . While most people tip the Mail Man or Fed EX guy or Water Delivery guy,, think about it, the previous 3 are in and out of your office in a matter of seconds are even a couple of minutes. While a cleaning person is in your office at least an hour some accounts are even 2-3 hours. Put yourself in the Cleaning Peoples place and than think about how you would feel about not getting tipped !!!
So how much would you recommend for 2 hours of work done by two people as an appropriate tip?
I’m a cleaner I make 20 percent on the total clean. I really need the tips I get which range from 5 to 20 depending on the size of house and or job requirements.
I am a cleaner and most clients leave me a days pay extra at Christmas… people who dont have a lot of money will leave me a small gift and a card with gratitude. Then there are some who leave nothing, or just a very small amount. Kind of upsets me because I do not charge alot, I do extras they ask of me throughout the year, I travel in all kinds of weather, adjust schedules to meet their needs. It is a lot of work! So, please tip your cleaning person generously, they truly maintain the cleanliness of your home.
Nobody tips the mailman or FedEx guy. Nobody.
I tip my mailman at Christmastime. Delivery services have a lot of different people, who we don’t really get a chance to know like the mailman.
It’s a courtesy for good service. I appreciate a delivery person that comes in with a smile and stays to chat for a minute or two.
We always get the mailman at our office a gift card (usually $50) for Christmas. I should tip the UPS guy too because we always get the same driver and I order a lot of stuff on Amazon LOL
We always tip the mailman and UPS driver at Christmas and I know so many others who do as well. They really appreciate it and go out of their way to make sure our packages are covered in rainy/snowy weather. Both are awesome!
My whole block tips our mailman, Geoff- whether it’s a small gift or cash, we try to let him know he is appreciated. I baked cookies and left it for him with a small gift card. He sought me out to tell me he loved the cookies. It’s not an easy job, and clearly it can be thankless.
FYI – it is illegal to tip a US Mail delivery person more than $20 cash. Gift cards are a good alternative.
Federal and city employees are not allowed to accept cash tips or cash equivalents. They can accept gifts that are under $20. I remember my mom giving our mailman some homemade cookies at Christmas time when I was growing up. That can be harder to do these days. I live in a community where the mailboxes are all grouped in one area, so I don’t really see a mailman.
I always tip the mailman at Christmastime. . .($20)
I tip the mailman. Mailman, school bus drivers (2x a year), garbage and recycling guys, guys that cut our grass, furniture delivery people, gift certificates to teachers 2x a year.
FedEx guy….if it was always the same person i absolutely I would. We had a UPS guy that was pretty frequent, and good, and I wasn’t sure about the tipping with him so I instead wrote a letter to UPS corporate and his district supervisor and told them how happy we were with him. But I’m from the NY city area and the tipping is standard there. I remember my parents running out to catch the sanitation guys and in my first home at Christmas it was common to see envelopes attached to cases of beer or a bottle out at the curb for those guys. Oh and newspaper carrier back in the day.
HAHAHA, as I am writing this I thought “no wonder why I never have any money!”
I love everything about this comment. We do the same with the sanitation folks who pick up our trash 😉
Me too! I have done the same with mailman, sanitation, etc. I have also missed them on occasion and most times make it up with a January/February tip then. I also tip the heating/cooling guys, the plumber, the pool guys and whoever comes to fix the refrigerator, etc. When the landscapers have done projects I put a cooler of water and went to get bagels & cream cheese for mid morning snack. I can’t always do that much but if I happen to be there you bet. These guys are sweating their behinds off laying flagstone, doing the literal heavy lifting for me.
The cleaning lady? I had one woman for over 15 years and I miss her dearly. I began to wonder if I was paying her enough and started asking friends and increased her pay and also gave her a generous bonus at Christmas time. I use a service now and it is ho hum at best and lately have just been doing it myself. We have a vacation home and discovered a woman who is a gem so yep, I’m tipping her 15-20% even though she is “self employed.” She comes in when I’m not there and we are trusting her with everything we have. She’s great, does extra stuff now and then and well worth every penny!
I have been using a home cleaning service monthly for about six months. I have (since the beginning) left a tip for the two ladies who spend about 3 hours here.
That investment has repaid itself many times over. We have a comfortable, mutually respectful relationship. At Christmas I left them a tip plus two ornaments. One of the ladies gave me a personalized hand-made candle.
More importantly, after several months of assessing my cleaning needs, they consulted the cleaning service owner about reducing the fee since they did not need the full allotted time to clean. How many businesses would do that?
It took me many years to get over reluctance to having someone in my home, handling my things. I now consider it one of the best decisions I've ever made. Providing a generous tip is the least I can do to show my appreciation to these lovely ladies.
Thank you! I clean houses and only make $8 an hour and I work my tale off. I ensure I do a thorough job and when I don’t get a tip it’s seriously discouraging. Im a mom of two young little girls and I count every penny. I have cleaned small houses to make a big tip and big and fancy houses and made nothing. It’s ashame more people don’t tip. We work so hard for our money. Luckily the company I am with sells the tipping information with their packages but still you would be surprised how many people could care less. In the end,my work is much better when I know I am working for someone who is appreciating what I do.
So if you cleaned a house every week for 3 hours at a time and there were two of you, how much would you consider to be a fair enough tip? I want to make sure I’m taking care of my girls.
I also clean houses depending on size of house the smallest I have gotten was 5 the most is 25 I get from one of my regulars.
You ladies need to start your own business!! I am paying my housecleaner, who is her own boss, $200 a clean, which takes her a little over 4 hours to do. That’s almost $50 an hour!! Why are you working your tails off for $8??
You definitely need to ask for at least $25 per hour or more, depending on the average pay in your state etc. You are worth every cent, believe me!
Aubrey,
Don’t forget that the business owner has overhead…… insurance, supplies, etc. They have to charge more. It’s not like it’s all profit.
Here at Ontario, we are getting cleaning services from Sunrise cleaning services. We always used to tip them on every visit. Because I am really impressed with their staff. They are really nice guys. They take care of everything from start to finish. Each day they came with some cleaning tips for my wife.
As a cleaning lady I TIP to all who use cleaning service: here is a Big secret : doesn’t matter how much you tip $5, 10 or more, JUST TIP.. This way you show to person who cleans your home that you appreciate her/his hard work. And next time you will be very surprised ! It’s a huge difference between what we must to do and want to do. You tip a cleaning lady , she will tip you back doing a little extra work . If there is more then one cleaner at the moment in your house, no need to tip to each one. They will share. Coffee, soda, juce are not a tip. And never offering coffee do the comment as : “have some coffee so you will have more power to clean” .
And guys , be nice to cleaners. If they missed some spot or cleaned the way you don’t like just easy explain it in polite way.
If you ask cleaning lady to do some work which is not her duty- tip a must!!!
I can tell you as a cleaner if it were not for my cleans that Tip I wouldn’t make it. We only receive a small percentage of the whole clean. Most of my cleans I make 16 dollars. When you tip it makes our day. You have no idea how Manny times our dinner has depended on my tips. And at Christmas its REALLY important.