Labour is 50 to 70 per cent of an honest cleaning price. I can’t make an hour of cleaning cost less than it costs, and I’d be wary of anyone who says they can.
What you and I can change is which hours get worked, how many separate trips there are and what gets done on each one. That’s scheduling. It’s the one honest way I know to bring cleaning costs down without the place getting dirtier.
The numbers behind all of this are in my pricing guide. This post is about landing at the low end of them.
The same clean costs more on a Sunday
The cleaning award sets wages by when the work is done, and the price follows the wage. From cheapest to dearest:
- A weekday in ordinary hours: $33.85 an hour for a casual cleaner
- A weekday shift that starts before 6am or ends after 6pm: $37.91
- Saturday: $47.39
- Sunday: $60.93
Those are the award minimums for a casual Level 1 cleaner from 1 July 2026, before super.
We’ll turn up on a Sunday if that’s what you need. But if the weekend is only habit, move it. A weekday evening or an early morning comes in under a Sunday every time.
Sometimes the dearer slot is the right one. At Siora Tiramisu one of the two floor cleans each week is on a Saturday morning, because that’s a time that keeps us out of the way of trading and prep. A weekend clean chosen on purpose is fine. It’s the accidental ones that cost you.
Why a call-out costs more than a routine visit
A weekly program is around 20% cheaper per visit than calling someone in occasionally. A space that’s cleaned every week never gets far from clean, so each visit is shorter. One that’s left until it looks bad is a bigger job every time.
Every separate trip has a floor under it as well. Our minimum booking is two to three hours, like most of the industry, because the drive, the unloading and the set-up take the same time however small the room is. A string of short call-outs is the dearest way to buy cleaning.
That isn’t an argument for more visits than you need. The cheapest program is the lowest frequency that still holds the place, and I’ve written about finding it in daily vs weekly office cleaning.
Put carpets and windows on a visit we’re already making
Carpets want extraction at least twice a year, and quarterly is common for windows. Neither needs its own trip.
In the pricing guide, carpet extraction is $50 to $200 a session and window cleaning is $30 to $140. You get the low end of those ranges when the job rides along on a visit we’re already making. Send us across town for the windows alone and the travel and set-up are in the price again.
If you’re on a regular office cleaning program, tell me which periodic jobs you want and I’ll put them on visits that are already in the diary.
The first clean is the dear one
A first clean is usually 1.5 to 2 times a regular visit, because bringing a place up to standard is a bigger job than holding it there. You pay that once.
Keep it in mind before you pause a program to save a month’s fees. There’s no lock-in, so stopping for a while only takes reasonable notice. But a place left for a few months slides, and getting it back is first-clean work again.
Where the saving stops
Everything above moves hours around. None of it makes an hour cheaper. Standard office work runs $35 to $65 an hour, and a quote that lands significantly below $35 should raise questions: either the job is being rushed or the scope is thinner than you think.
If the budget is still short after the schedule is sorted, drop a visit. That’s a smaller clean at an honest price, which beats the same clean at a price nobody can deliver.
What people ask about timing
What is the cheapest time of the week to have an office cleaned?
A weekday in ordinary hours, which is the base rate, provided we can get at the desks, kitchen and bathrooms while people are in. If we can’t, a weekday evening after 6pm adds about 15% and still comes in well under a weekend.
Is a flat price or an hourly rate better for a regular clean?
Take a flat price for anything recurring. Your bill is the same every visit, and if the job runs longer than I allowed for, that’s my problem. Hourly suits a one-off where nobody can predict the hours, and then you should ask for a cap.
Will cleaning less often always bring the bill down?
The monthly total falls and the price per visit climbs, because each visit has more to put right. Go far enough and you’re paying call-out prices for a place that never looks clean.
Send me your floor area, the hours the place is empty and how often it’s cleaned now, and I’ll tell you what I’d move. Call 0409 385 707, I answer at any hour, or send the details through the form. Quotes are free and I reply the same day.