No, you don't have to tip your house cleaner, and with Hometress a tip is never required or expected. A tip is a thank-you you choose to give on top of a price that already pays for the clean. Here's how our price is built, what etiquette guidance actually says, and a plain answer for one-time visits, recurring plans, move-outs and the holidays.
Should you tip your house cleaner? The short answer
Tipping a house cleaner is optional. With Hometress, the published price covers the whole visit: the service tier, your bedrooms and bathrooms, your home's size band and any add-ons you pick. If a clean goes well, a tip is a kind extra, and so is a specific review, a note or rebooking. The table below covers the common situations.
| Situation | Is a tip expected? | A good way to say thanks |
|---|---|---|
| One-time clean | No. Optional. | A tip at booking or in person, or a review that names what went well |
| Weekly, every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks | No. Optional. | A holiday or year-end thank-you, if you'd like |
| Deep clean or move-out | No. Optional. | The price already scales with the work. Tip if the result went beyond what you booked |
| Holidays | No. Optional. | Etiquette guidance: up to one week's pay and/or a small gift, with a note |
| Exceptional effort | No. Optional. | A one-off tip or a detailed review |
What your Hometress price already pays for
Our price is built from lines you see before you confirm, and none of them is a tip. Here's a common Philadelphia shape: a 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath rowhome in our Spacious size band, booked as a one-time Standard clean.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Standard clean | $170 |
| 3 bedrooms | +$45 |
| 1.5 bathrooms | +$30 |
| Spacious home size | +$30 |
| One-time service price | $275 |
Add-ons are priced per item on top, such as Clean Inside Fridge at $35 or Clean Inside Oven at $35, and supplies and equipment are included on every visit. These are service prices before any tax, and the booking screen shows your exact total before you confirm. For every line explained, see our Philadelphia house cleaning price breakdown. Current rates are always on our pricing page.
Weekly and every-2-weeks customers: the discount comes first
If you book a plan, the price drops before a tip ever enters the picture. Our cadence discounts apply from the first visit:
| Plan | Discount | Same rowhome, per visit |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 15% | $233.75 |
| Every 2 weeks | 10% | $247.50 |
| Every 4 weeks | 5% | $261.25 |
| One time | None | $275.00 |
So should you tip your weekly house cleaner every time? You don't need to. Our FAQ says tipping is never required or expected. The Emily Post Institute's general tipping chart covers restaurants, travel and salons, and its only housekeeper line is for hotel stays, so it doesn't set a per-visit rule for a home cleaner. If you want to thank a regular cleaner, the holidays are the traditional moment. Still picking a rhythm? Our guide on how often to schedule a home cleaning walks through it.
What percentage should you tip a house cleaner?
We didn't find an authoritative per-visit percentage, and we won't invent one. The etiquette guidance we checked gives a year-end figure for a housekeeper or cleaner, covered below, rather than a percentage for each clean. Conventions vary by city, household and budget.
If you'd like to tip when you book, the payment step of our booking form has an optional cleaner-tip card. Skip is the first choice, followed by 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%, and nothing is pre-selected. Those are the options on the form, not a recommendation. A tip you choose there is figured on your service price after any plan discount, and it isn't taxed. That fits the Emily Post Institute's note in its finer points of tipping that it's "acceptable to tip on the pre-tax amount of the bill."
Deep cleans and move-outs
Should you tip more for a deep clean? The price already scales with the work. On our checklist, Deep is "Standard plus 50% more cleaning time" and Move is "Deep plus 100% more cleaning time." The same rowhome prices at $275 Standard, $360 Deep and $395 Move-in/out, so a percentage tip on a bigger job is already a bigger tip. If the result went beyond what you booked, that's a fair reason to add something, but nothing is owed.
Move-outs have one practical wrinkle: you're often not there. You don't need to be home for a cleaning, and you can leave entry instructions or a lockbox or smart-lock code at booking. If you're handing back keys and won't see your cleaner, choosing a tip on the booking form saves leaving cash in an empty apartment.
Holiday tips for a regular cleaner
This is where etiquette guidance gets specific. For a housekeeper or cleaner, the Emily Post Institute's holiday tipping guide suggests "up to the amount of one week's pay and/or a small gift." The same guide says its recommendations "are not rules," that you "shouldn't feel obligated to go beyond your personal budget," and that "any gift or tip should always be accompanied by a short handwritten note of appreciation."
Note the words "up to": that's a ceiling, not a target. And if you already tip at the time of service, the guide says you "may forego an end of the year tip, or give a more modest holiday thank you."
Thank-yous that aren't cash
Money is only one way to show appreciation. The Emily Post Institute says treating the person who served you with respect "is every bit as important." A few ideas:
- A specific review. "The stovetop looked new" tells the next customer more than stars alone. Emily Post notes that praising the person, or commending them to their supervisor, "can go a long way."
- A clear arrival note. Our booking form has optional quick flags such as "Pet in the home," "No shoes inside" and "Heads-up before knocking," plus a free-text note. It's recorded with your booking.
- Help with the meter. On a Philadelphia block with metered parking, choosing paid parking on the booking form opens an optional "Help cover the meter?" tip.
- Rebooking. A recurring plan holds your preferred day and time, and steady work is a thank-you in itself.
- Small comforts. Leave out a cold bottle of water on a humid July afternoon, or keep the air conditioning on upstairs.
- A handwritten note. Two or three sentences is enough, according to the same holiday guide.
Your cleaner runs their own business
Hometress works with background-checked independent cleaning professionals. Our Terms describe them as self-employed contractors who run their own cleaning businesses and use Hometress to connect with customers. What gets cleaned on your visit is set by the checklist you booked, not by whether you tip. If something on it was missed, our White Glove Guarantee is how it gets reviewed.
Tipping questions, answered
Is a tip expected with Hometress?
No. Tipping is never required or expected, and your price is complete on its own. A tip is always your call.
Can I add a tip when I book?
Yes. The payment step of our booking form has an optional tip card, with Skip as the first choice and nothing pre-selected. Whatever you pick shows in your total before you pay. You can also skip it and thank your cleaner in person.
Should I tip more for a deep clean or a move-out?
You don't have to. Deep and Move prices already scale with the extra work, so a percentage tip scales on its own. Add more only if the result went beyond what you booked.
Do I tip every visit on a recurring plan?
No. Your plan discount is already in the price, and no per-visit tip is expected. If you want to thank a regular cleaner, a holiday or year-end thank-you is the traditional moment.
What should I give at the holidays?
Whatever fits your budget. The Emily Post Institute suggests up to one week's pay and/or a small gift for a housekeeper or cleaner, with a short handwritten note, and says a more modest thank-you is fine if you already tip during the year.
Ready to see your own number? Start a booking, check your exact price, and decide about a tip at the last step, or skip it. Either way is fine with us.