I would not tip.

I generally do not tip house keepers at each visit.

oh, this is a one-time thing. i fully intend to be back on my feet once my back issues are taken care of at which point i will be able to keep up with it all. to be honest, i don't particularly want to have to do it but at this point, i don't have any other choice. friends are always telling me to chill out and that my house is spotless but i just don't see it that way! one can't live in a smallish house with 2 great danes and not see the drool on the walls. bleh!!

I would not tip.

interesting. maybe i'll reconsider doing it.

thanks for the responses.

We've used housecleaners regularly for years and have never tipped them other than a gift at year end.

I would not tip for a special one time cleaning . Like fun and elmer, I give our two a Christmas gift.

Nina, yes if you can afford to tip them, please do. Having cleaners on a regular basis is very different, so not sure how those above comments with regular cleaners apply to your situation.

i use an independent woman so all money goes to her. She gets a generous Christmas bonus.

Services like what you will use need to split the ”pie” among the owner, possible overhead etc.

Again if you can afford to, I would give each $20 as a tip.

I keep extra envelopes with $20 during Christmas in case my cleaner brings extra staff to help.

I hope you get to quickly check first. i would hate for you to give extra and not have what you asked for done.

These ladies/ gentlemen work hard.

And, I so appreciate that there are people willing to clean up other people’s messes!

@ eld6161 that's more along the lines of what i was thinking. i will be here the whole time they are working so i'll be able to point out anything they may miss. i know all too well that good help is hard to find so i don't mind rewarding them for a job well done.

in the meantime, i have been lecturing the dogs that they will be relegated to the hallway when these ladies are here so they can work without having to deal with them begging for attention. frank seems to be saying "oh yeah??" 😂

I had a one-time deep clean from a service after the debacle with the duct cleaner -- where they blew the dirt from one section of ducts back *into* the house. It, too, was three women, but at $80 each. Our house is 2900 sq ft. The charge was $720. They did a wonderful job, and without breakage! I didn't even realize what a great job they did until I started my own normal day-to-day cleaning later. I under-tipped them at $20 (cash) each.

I will be here the whole time they are working so i'll be able to point out anything they may miss.

$40 each.

😂

haha! FOS, let's not get carried away! 😂

“It, too, was three women, but at $80 each. Our house is 2900 sq ft. The charge was $720. ”

Could someone explain this math to me please. Typo?

maddielee -- The crew was here for three hours. The duct dirt was on every surface -- about 1/16th of an inch of heavy grey 'soot' on beds, upholstery, pictures, lamps, bathtubs, vanities, fixtures, shelves, appliances, floors. I'm still finding bits of construction wood and plaster on clothes I take out of my closet. We'd never had duct cleaning since rudmentary cleaning the contractor did immediately after we built the house 20+ years ago. Fortunately, I'd sent all our wool rugs out for washing before the duct cleaners arrived. And, fortunately, our Aprilarie air cleaner intercepted a lot of the recirculating dirt.

Yes, $80 per 'woman hour'.

@chisue, maybe you meant to write $80 each, per hour?

The tip would depend on what the ladies actually make in that time. You are talking about what a company charges--so it sounds INSANELY expensive for the work and education needed. My inclination would be no tip if they pocket that amount. Tipping was to help LOW WAGE service workers make ends meet. There's no way to know if this remotely qualifies.

Even worse, we didn't really need duct cleaning. I asked one of the crew how dirty the ducts were, on a scale of one to ten, ten being dirtiest. He said, "A two." I'm sure the Aprilaire air cleaner and adequate humidity was all this two-adult, no pets household required.

After weeks of nasty resistance, the owner of the company did cover the cleaning cost.

I have to say that the women really *worked* the whole time. Think of every item in your house needing to be cleaned on every surface. I know I do not have the stamina or patience to do this. And, I have never had hired help that didn't manage to break *something* -- not this crew.

My question is : If the cleaners are their on their own, do not work for a company, so say it's the owner and a helper, do you still tip?