{"id":1633,"date":"2021-05-19T21:44:39","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s37407.p1377.sites.pressdns.com\/resources\/should-you-charge-more-for-the-first-cleaning\/"},"modified":"2021-05-19T21:44:39","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T21:44:39","slug":"should-you-charge-more-for-the-first-cleaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/should-you-charge-more-for-the-first-cleaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Should You Charge More for the First Cleaning?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to getting a first professional cleaning, a house&rsquo;s level of cleanliness and number of rooms count. Many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/housekeepers\">housecleaners<\/a> charge more for an initial scouring, but is that a good idea?<\/p><p>A typical initial cleaning &mdash; getting the house in shape from top to bottom &mdash; can cost 30 to 50 percent more than follow up visits. Opinions vary, but several experts weigh in with pros and cons of charging more for a first house cleaning.<\/p><p><strong>It Makes Sense to Charge More if:<\/strong><br>Seasoned housekeepers, such as Adina Sweitzer, known as the Rag Mop Maid, believe you should charge more. &ldquo;There should most definitely be a higher charge for the first-time cleaning,&rdquo; Sweitzer says.<\/p><ul><li>The home has not had a professional cleaning in the recent past.<\/li><li>Multiple, extensive tasks are required, such as moving furniture to dust underneath, scouring kitchen appliances, such as the oven and refrigerator, washing exterior windows and dusting off ceiling fans.<\/li><li>The home has not been cleaned for some time. Holt suggests asking the client to rate the cleanliness of their home from one to 10, with one being the dirtiest. &ldquo;Very few people are overly dishonest, and as a general rule of thumb, any client measuring their home below a six absolutely requires an initial deep cleaning,&rdquo; he says.<\/li><li>Closet, basement or attic cleaning is required.<\/li><li>Vertical surfaces such as baseboards, cabinets and trim will be cleaned.<\/li><li>Any extensive, out-of-the-ordinary tasks, such as cleaning chandeliers or washing rugs is required.<\/li><\/ul><p>Lisa, founder of the top management blog, <a href=\"https:\/\/thedomesticlifestylist.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Domestic Life Stylist<\/a>, has been on the receiving end of the practice of charging more, which she feels makes it harder for consumers to afford a professional cleaning service on a regular basis. &ldquo;Consumers sometimes are simply moving from one cleaning company to the next, in the quest to find a good match,&rdquo; she says.<\/p><p>Acknowledging that some clients may be turned off by being charged more for this initial go-round, Sweitzer, now retired, came up with a solution. &ldquo;I always offered a discount on the next visit and following visits and used an ad for one-time cleaning job discount coupons as well.&rdquo;<\/p><p><strong>Do Not Charge More if:<\/strong><br>&ldquo;In some cases, there is no reason to charge a higher fee for the initial cleaning,&rdquo; says Ron Holt, CEO and founder of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twomaidsfranchise.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Two Maids &amp; A Mop<\/a>. Some of those reasons may include:<\/p><ul><li>The home has been extensively or professionally cleaned within the last one or two months.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>The client is requesting light, surface cleaning instead of deep cleaning.<\/li><li>The home is small, such as a studio or one-bedroom apartment.<\/li><\/ul><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/housekeeping-jobs\">House cleaning jobs<\/a> are as varied as houses themselves and different regions may have different protocols for first-visit costs as well. When in doubt, it may make sense to visit the home first or have an in-depth phone conversation before establishing a price. Keeping in mind that people may fudge their answers (after all, who wants to admit they haven&rsquo;t scrubbed the toilet in a month?), asking specific questions about the state and number of each room and the client&rsquo;s expectations can help you to establish a price that is fair to you and your customer.<\/p><p>Do you charge more for a first-time cleaning? How much more? Share your habits in the comments section below.<\/p><p><em>Corey Whelan is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. <\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to getting a first professional cleaning, a house&rsquo;s level of cleanliness and number of rooms count. Many housecleaners charge more for an initial scouring, but is that a good idea? A typical initial cleaning &#8212; getting the house in shape from top to bottom &#8212; can cost 30 to 50 percent more <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/should-you-charge-more-for-the-first-cleaning\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":927,"featured_media":8727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"enable_toc":false,"care_reviewed_by":0,"care_post_updated_flag":false,"care_updated_date":"","last_update":"2021-05-19","view_count":4349,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"member-type":[5],"vertical":[19,9,18],"platform":[2],"class_list":["post-1633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","member-type-provider","vertical-careers-home-care","vertical-house-home","vertical-home-care-advice-tips","platform-resources"],"acf":[],"created":"2014-02-19","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"member-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/member-type?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"platform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/platform?post=1633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}