30/08/2026
“£20 an hour for cleaning? That’s expensive.”
Is it?
Let’s do the maths.
A professional cleaner isn’t taking your hourly rate home as profit.
Before they’ve even earned a penny, there are costs behind every clean.
âś… Insurance
A comprehensive solo cleaner policy can easily cost ÂŁ20+ every month.
âś… Products
A standard 2-hour clean can use around £2–£4 worth of products and consumables.
âś… Travel
Fuel, mileage and unpaid time travelling between clients.
âś… Equipment
Vacuum cleaners, mops, cloths, replacement heads, machinery and everything else eventually needs replacing.
âś… Training & compliance
COSHH, health & safety, risk assessments, documentation and keeping professional knowledge up to date.
âś… Admin
Quotes, messages, invoices, scheduling, cancellations and bookkeeping all happen outside the hours a customer sees.
And then, finally…
There’s the cleaner’s actual labour.
So when someone charges £20, £22 or £25 an hour, they aren’t pocketing £20, £22 or £25.
They’re running a business.
Here’s the mistake too many cleaners make:
They look at what the cheapest cleaner in the local Facebook group charges…
…and price themselves around that.
Wrong benchmark.
Your price needs to cover your costs, pay you properly AND leave enough money for your business to survive.
Because a business that can’t make money eventually disappears.
And clients don’t benefit from that either.
Professional cleaning isn’t “a bit of dusting”.
You’re trusting someone with your home, possessions, keys, alarm codes and sometimes access to your property when nobody else is there.
The cheapest cleaner and the best-value cleaner are not always the same person.
And if you’re a cleaner reading this:
Stop apologising for charging enough to run a proper business.
Build the knowledge.
Build the professionalism.
Build the trust.
That’s exactly what we’re building at SafeToClean.
For just ÂŁ35 a YEAR, cleaners can access training and resources through SafeToClean Academy, get listed on our cleaner directory and work towards becoming SafeToClean Verified.
Because the answer to cheaper competition isn’t always becoming cheaper.
Sometimes it’s becoming the obvious professional choice.
👉 www.safetoclean.co.uk
SafeToClean
VERIFICATION | ACADEMY | COMMUNITY
Raising Standards. Building Trust.