How to Hire Cleaning Employees: A Step-by-Step Guide for Business Owners

If you’re having to turn down jobs, work late into the evening, or spend your weekends catching up on admin, it’s probably time to hire some extra help. 

However, hiring cleaning employees isn’t as simple as posting a job ad and hoping for the best. Finding people who are reliable, trustworthy, and a good fit for your business takes time, and making the wrong hire can often create more problems than it solves.  

So if you’re looking to expand your team and want to make sure you get it right, this guide is for you. We’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to hire cleaning employees, including when to start hiring, how to recruit cleaners, and how to set new employees up for success. 

Key Takeaway

• If your calendar is consistently booked two to four weeks in advance, that’s usually a sign it’s time to hire another cleaner.
• Before you start recruiting, it’s important to decide if a W-2 employee or a 1099 contractor is the best fit for your business. 
• A detailed job description will attract stronger candidates and help filter out the wrong ones.
• Because cleaners work in clients’ homes and businesses, thorough background checks are essential. 
• A structured cleaning employee onboarding process gives new hires the best chance of succeeding and staying with your business in the long term.

A 7-Step Guide on How to Hire Cleaning Staff

Ready to grow your team? Here’s our 7-step guide on how to hire cleaning employees. 

Before you start recruiting, it’s important to make sure your business is actually ready for another pair of hands. This isn’t always obvious, but there are a few signs to look out for. 

For example, if you are: 

• Consistently booked out two to four weeks in advance.
• Regularly turning away new customers.
• Putting commercial opportunities on hold because you simply don’t have the capacity.

Then it’s probably time to think about hiring someone soon. 

Once you’ve decided it’s time to grow and scale your cleaning team, the next step is making sure you’re prepared to support a larger team behind the scenes. This means your services should be standardized enough that someone else can learn and deliver them consistently, and you should have enough cash flow to comfortably cover wages, payroll taxes, and the inevitable learning curve while your new hire gets up to speed. 

The next step is defining exactly what you’re hiring for. Do you need a residential cleaner, a commercial cleaner, a team lead, or someone to cover part-time shifts? If you’re hiring your first employee, it’s usually best to focus on cleaners who can take jobs off your plate before investing in management roles.

You’ll also need to decide whether to hire a W-2 employee or work with an independent contractor (1099). A W-2 employee gives you more control over schedules, cleaning procedures, and company standards, helping you deliver a more consistent experience for your customers. The biggest trade-off, though, is that you’ll also be responsible for payroll taxes and other employer obligations.

An independent contractor can be a more flexible and cost-effective option, but they have more control over when and how they work. That means you can’t manage them in the same way you would an employee.

The right choice depends on your business model and local employment laws. Since worker classification rules vary by state, it’s always worth checking with a local accountant or employment attorney before deciding.

Now that you’ve defined the role, it’s time to create a job post that encourages the right people to apply. 

As a general rule of thumb, when creating your job description and job ad, the more specific you are, the better. That means clearly explaining the day-to-day responsibilities, physical expectations, expected hours, pay range, and whether the role involves traveling between jobs.  

Just as importantly, give people a reason to apply. Maybe you offer consistent schedules, paid drive time, opportunities for career growth, or a supportive team environment. Small details like these can make your job posting stand out from the rest.

Last but not least, keep the post concise and easy to read, as shorter job ads often attract more applicants. 

If you’ve never written a job description before and need a place to start, check out our cleaning job description templates for ready-to-use examples you can customize for your business.

To reach as many qualified candidates as possible, make sure to advertise your opening in a few different places rather than relying on a single platform. Start with popular job sites like Indeed and ZipRecruiter, then share the position in local community Facebook groups where people often look for work or recommend others.

Don’t overlook referrals, either. Some of the best hires come through people you already know. Ask your current employees, friends, family, and even trusted clients if they know someone who would be a good fit. Referred candidates are often more reliable and tend to stay with a company longer.

If you have a website, consider adding a simple careers page where interested applicants can learn more about the role and apply directly. Using a mix of recruitment channels will help you reach a wider pool of candidates and identify which ones work best for your business.

Once applications start coming in, it’s time to narrow down your shortlist. A quick 10-minute phone or video call is a great way to identify promising candidates before investing time in a full interview.

Use this initial conversation to confirm a candidate’s availability, discuss the role, and make sure they’re comfortable with the physical demands of the job. If everything checks out, you can invite them for an in-person interview or, even better, a paid trial clean so you can see how they work in real life. 

During the interview, try not to focus solely on what’s listed on their resume. Experience matters, but qualities like reliability, attitude, and problem-solving are often just as important. The best way to assess this is by asking behavioral interview questions for cleaners that encourage candidates to share real-life examples, such as, “Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer,” or “How do you stay organized when you have multiple tasks to complete?”

If you’re hiring multiple cleaners at once, group interviews can also be helpful for identifying candidates who communicate well and present themselves professionally. 

After interviewing several candidates, you’ll probably have an idea of who you want to hire. 

However, before jumping straight to an offer, make sure to contact the candidate’s references and verify their employment history. Where local laws allow, it’s also worth running a criminal background check. And if the role involves driving between jobs or using a company vehicle, you’ll also want to confirm they have a valid driver’s license and appropriate auto insurance.

Keep in mind that background check requirements vary by state and country, so be sure to follow the laws in your area. It’s also helpful to explain to candidates that these checks are a standard part of your hiring process and are designed to protect both your customers and your team.

Once you’ve found the right candidate and verified their information, it’s time to make an offer. 

In your offer letter, it’s important to be upfront about pay, working hours, benefits, and what they can expect from the role. Providing a predictable schedule and paid training can also make your offer more attractive and help improve long-term retention.

From there, focus on onboarding. A structured onboarding process gives new employees the best chance of succeeding from day one and can significantly reduce early turnover.

For a standard residential cleaning business, the onboarding process typically starts with having the candidate complete any required tax, payroll, and employment paperwork. This is followed by hands-on training covering cleaning products, equipment, and workplace safety. 

It’s also worth walking your new hire through your standard operating procedures (SOPs), room-by-room cleaning checklists, and quality expectations before their first shift. 

After you hire: keep your growing team on schedule

Hiring another cleaner is a huge milestone, and it does solve your immediate capacity problem. However, once your team starts growing, the next challenge is keeping everyone organized. 

The easiest way to stay on top of it all is with cleaning business software specifically built for growing teams. 

For example, with MioCommerce, you can:

• Assign jobs and reschedule changes in real time with Drag & Drop Dispatching, so you can quickly reassign work, balance workloads, and keep your entire team aligned as schedules change.
• See every cleaner’s schedule in one place with Smart Calendar, making it easy to manage appointments, spot scheduling conflicts, avoid double bookings, and keep everyone working from the same up-to-date schedule.
• Schedule around your team’s actual capacity with Real-Time Availability, which automatically factors in working hours, staff schedules, buffer times, and operational rules to prevent overbooking and overloaded crews.
• Automatically schedule recurring services with Recurring Bookings, so regular customers stay on the calendar without manual rebooking. Recurring Booking Attachments ensure customer preferences, gate codes, checklists, photos, and service instructions carry across every visit, so every team member arrives fully informed.
• Keep your office and field teams connected with the MioCommerce Mobile App, giving service providers instant access to bookings, schedules, customer details, notes, recurring booking attachments, and real-time updates while they’re on the go.
• Track check-in and check-out times, upload photos and videos of completed work, and create a clear record of every visit to improve accountability and provide proof of service.
• Coordinate your entire team with TeamChat, keeping schedule changes, job updates, and internal communication inside the same platform instead of scattered across personal text messages or chat apps.
• Automatically notify your team about new bookings, schedule changes, cancellations, and important updates with Email & Mobile App Push Notifications, ensuring everyone stays informed without manual follow-ups.
• Monitor team performance with Reports & Dashboards, giving you real-time visibility into bookings, service providers working hours, operational activity, and overall business performance to help make better staffing and scheduling decisions.

And with everything you need to manage your business all in one place, you’ll never have to rely on whiteboards, a messy group chat, or spreadsheets ever again. 

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Find and Hire Employees for a Cleaning Business

When should I hire my first cleaning employee?

If your calendar is consistently booked out two to four weeks in advance, and you frequently have to turn away work, that’s usually a sign that it’s time to hire your first cleaning employee. 

Should I hire W-2 employees or 1099 contractors?

It depends on how you want to run your business. 

W-2 employees generally give you more control over scheduling, training, and service quality, while 1099 contractors can offer more flexibility and lower upfront costs. Employment rules vary by state and country, so it’s important to make sure you’re classifying workers correctly.

How do I find reliable cleaners fast?

The fastest way to find reliable cleaners is by recruiting through several channels at the same time, focusing heavily on referrals from current staff or clients, local job boards, and community Facebook groups.

Do I need to run background checks when hiring house cleaners?

Yes. Since cleaners often work unsupervised in clients’ homes and businesses, background checks can help protect both your customers and your reputation. Just be sure to follow all local laws and regulations when screening applicants.

How do I manage cleaners once my team grows?

As your team grows, cleaning business software can help you stay organized by handling scheduling, dispatching, customer management, team communication, recurring bookings, and field operations into one place. This helps keep your team organized, reduce scheduling conflicts, and ensure every cleaner has the information they need before arriving on site.