House Cleaner: Job Profile and Role

For most of us, a clean house is essential for feeling comfortable, happy and safe. Not every one of us is like Monica from Friends and just cannot get enough of cleaning and learning about the latest cleaning products and techniques. Or we just do not have the time to look after our house in this way. This is where a house cleaner comes in. A house cleaner makes sure that a house, flat or official building is being kept clean, tidy and well-maintained.

Maybe the job of a house cleaner is the job you consider doing since you actually do love cleaning? This blog will now give you all the relevant information you need for this job. We will look into the qualifications and skills as well as into the annual salaries and the potential employers. Furthermore, we will give you three tips for thriving as a house cleaner – after we have given you a glimpse into the day in the life of a house cleaner.

Short Summary

• As a house cleaner, you have to ensure a property’s cleanliness and maintenance. To achieve this goal, you have to do your house cleaning job with attention to detail and utter thoroughness.
• As a house cleaner, you will have to communicate with your clients and listen to their individual needs and requests. It is down to you to make sure that all they have asked for is being followed to the letter.
• As a house cleaner, you have to make sure that your job is being performed according to existing health and safety standards and regulations.

Job description

As a house cleaner, your main responsibility is to ensure the cleanliness of a property. This can be a house, a flat, an industrial property, or a hotel (room). You also need to ensure that the property is well-maintained. Cleaning and maintaining are only two essential parts of a house cleaner’s working day. As a house cleaner, you also need to communicate with your clients, making sure that their individual needs are being met and that their issues are being resolved.

Responsibilities

• Reporting Maintenance Issues
• Cleaning and Sanitising
• Supplies Management
• Bathroom Cleaning
• Time Management
• Bedroom Cleaning
• General Cleaning
• Special Requests
• Kitchen Cleaning
• Organisation

Different types of House Cleaners

• Specialised Cleaner
• Residential Cleaner
• Sanitising Cleaner
• Green Cleaner
• Deep Cleaner

Salary

House cleaners in the UK can expect an annual salary ranging from £20,800 to £23,400. These numbers refer to entry-level wages and salaries for experienced house cleaners respectively. Work experience in this field is one influencing factor. The annual salary also depends on the location, the employer and the company size. Note that the highest salaries might not necessarily be paid in metropolitan areas. In house cleaning, smaller cities tend to pay higher salaries.

Working hours

Your working hours as a house cleaner can range from 10 to 40 hours per week. This mainly depends on your employment type. Generally, part-time cleaners tend to work between 10 to 30 hours a week, whereas full-time cleaners work between 35 to 40 hours a week. These working hours are not restricted to working Mondays to Fridays or from 9 to 5. Depending on your employer and your job description, you may start your working day considerably earlier.

It is also likely that in some cases, you will work in the evenings. Weekend work and working in the festive season will also be part of your working hours as a house cleaner. This can affect the number of hours you work. Note that house cleaning can also depend on seasonal work. If you work in a holiday resort, you will likely work more and longer hours in the summer or the winter.

Employers

As a house cleaner, you can find employment in various sectors. House cleaners are most commonly employed by property management companies, educational institutions, health institutions, the hospitality sector and government institutions. You can also find employment with private persons who are either looking for cleaning personnel for their own homes or for short- and long-term holiday lets.

For these and further employers you have the following options: working part-time, working full-time or being employed as a freelancing house cleaner.

Qualifications

Neither an academic degree nor an apprenticeship is needed to become a house cleaner. Most employers require their staff to have finished their secondary school education. This involves GCSEs in Maths and English. If you are serious about becoming a house cleaner, you can do training at the BCIS, the British Institute of Cleaning Science. Here, you have two training options: a Licence to Practice (LTP) and the Cleaning Professional’s Skills Suite (CPSS).

Furthermore, as a house cleaner, you may be required to have certificates in health and safety and sufficient insurance in case of damages and breakages. This mainly applies to self-employed house cleaners, not necessarily to house cleaners with a steady job.                                                            

Further qualifications can be the following: the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Certification and the British Cleaning Certification Award (BCCA). These qualifications show that you take your house cleaning job seriously and that you are dedicated to being an outstanding house cleaner.

Skills

Being an excellent house cleaner requires quite a set of soft skills. Be it communication skills, time management skills or organisational skills – these are but three essential soft skills you should have as a house cleaner. But this is not all. There are lots of other personal strengths and competencies that will ensure that you do a fantastic job as a house cleaner. Let’s take a closer look at three more important soft skills you should have if you want to become a house cleaner.

Attention to Detail

In order to be a professional and excellent house cleaner, you will in fact need the attention to detail typical for Monica Bing. This means that you will ideally not miss even the most minuscule of dust particles, ensuring that the property you are taking care of is spick and span. Attention to detail is therefore an essential skill to have as a house cleaner. This attention also needs to be applied to everything in the property. This way, you make sure that everything is back in its place after you have finished your house cleaning.

Physical Stamina

Being a house cleaner is a very physical job and therefore requires a certain amount of physical strength and can be seriously exhausting. Especially, when you are being tasked with cleaning large properties from top to bottom or multiple rooms in a care or hospitality facility. Having physical stamina and being above-average fit is another important skill/personal strength to have when you consider becoming a house cleaner.

Resilience

Cleaning is not everyone’s favourite pastime. In fact, some people may consider house cleaning as a negligible task they just cannot be asked to do. As a result, you will likely be confronted with the odd cleaning situation that will make your stomach turn and that might also affect you on an emotional level. Being resilient and not being affected by these scenarios is vital in order to persevere as a house cleaner.

Places where Dirt and Dust collect

Recent studies have found out that dust and dirt have favourite spots in a house or flat. Doorknobs are a particular favourite as is the kitchen with all its appliances. In fact, an average and clean kitchen is rumoured to host more germs than a bathroom. Therefore, as a housecleaner, you should pay special attention to doorknobs and kitchens (which you do anyway, as we are sure).

Career Path

Starting at entry level, for example, as a maid, you may climb your career ladder in the coming years. You may then be in charge of a team of house cleaners, or you might think about starting your own house cleaning business.

Educational Background

Becoming a house cleaner requires no specific training or education. However, most companies/employers prefer potential candidates who have completed their secondary school education, having passed their Maths and English GCSEs.

Gaining Experience

Your general knowledge of those two subjects can help you get started as a house cleaner and get your first experience. Note that gaining experience in this job can be quite a learning curve as house cleaning can be a challenging job, both physically and emotionally.

Continuous Learning

If you want to be more than “just” a house cleaner, you can achieve higher and better positions by continuous learning. Deepening your mathematical knowledge can be one way to achieve different goals as a house cleaner. This continuous learning will enable you to tackle the admin side of house cleaning, setting you up for maybe one day starting your own house cleaning company. Continuous learning also involves learning about the latest (eco-friendly) cleaning techniques and products and staying on top of health and safety regulations.

A Day in the Life of a House Cleaner

You might think that being a house cleaner revolves solely around cleaning houses and flats. Even though that is true, there is way more to the working day of a house cleaner. Are you curious about what other tasks await you in this profession? Then continue reading and find out what a day in the life of a house cleaner looks like.

Preparation and Schedule Checking

Before you head off to your first cleaning job of the day, you need to get prepared for the day ahead. This includes checking you have all the necessary cleaning products in sufficient supply as well as all the cleaning tools you need. Preparing for the day also involves checking your day’s schedule. This way, you know exactly which clients to meet at which time.

Performing the Allocated Cleaning Tasks

The main part of your working day as a house cleaner will consist of cleaning duties. These can range from a light general clean to window cleaning, bathroom cleaning to a deep clean. What all of these cleaning jobs have in common: they need to be performed with the utmost attention to detail and according to your clients’ specific demands and requirements.

Administrative Tasks

After you have finished for the day, you are left with doing some administrative tasks. This can include wrapping up the day’s payments, invoicing, scheduling future appointments and doing your books.  Are all the day’s tasks done and dusted? Then it is now time to relax and unwind.

Tips for Thriving as a House Cleaner

Every profession has multiple opportunities to thrive and to become even better at the job you are doing. Why should house cleaning be an exception? In fact, there are various ways to thrive in this job and to become the best and most successful house cleaner there is. Let’s take a look at three tips for thriving as a house cleaner:

• Be discreet and respectful
• Build trust and reputation
• Attention to customer needs

Be Discreet and Respectful

Not every house you clean will be a pretty sight to begin with. It is very likely that you will be faced with rather unpleasant cleaning scenarios. As a house cleaner, it is always vital to stay discreet and respectful – maybe even more so, when faced with messy properties. As much as it might affect you: never let on, how much. And never, ever talk about your cleaning duties to colleagues, friends or family. Being discreet and respectful is our first tip for thriving as a house cleaner.

Build Trust and Reputation

Discretion and respect go hand in hand with being trustworthy. Building this kind of foundation as a house cleaner is our second tip for thriving in this profession. If you are seen as a house cleaner your clients can trust explicitly, you will quickly build a reputation as the house cleaner to go to for cleaning and maintenance jobs. This will also give you an invaluable advantage over your house-cleaning competition.

Attention to Customer Needs

Being attentive to your clients’ needs is another way to thrive as a house cleaner. House cleaning is much more than just tidying up after residents. Most people want their properties to be spick and span, which can involve regular deep cleans. Other clients might want you to use eco-friendly cleaning products. These are only two examples of your clients’ individual needs and requests. Giving these things the attention they need and deserve is our third tip for thriving as a house cleaner.

Frequently Asked Questions