Hiring a cleaner in Amsterdam is two different transactions depending on whether you go through a firm or hire someone directly, and the difference is not only the price.
Six firms working in the city are below, followed by the rule that applies the moment you employ a cleaner yourself.
Cleaning firms to start with
Two things separate these six and the rating is neither of them: what each one actually cleans, and when it will turn up.
Easy Clean
House cleaning and windows out of Krammerstraat in the Rivierenbuurt, on the longest week here at seven in the morning to eight at night, six days, with a nine-to-six Sunday added.
Its 499 reviews are the largest count of these six, and at 85 per cent five-star the least uniformly happy.
Lotos Clean
The only round-the-clock name on the list, covering homes, carpets and upholstery from Elementenstraat out in the western port area.
That matters little for a weekly clean and a great deal for a Sunday-night flood, and 92 per cent of its 203 reviews are five-star.
Schoonmaakwoede
Deep cleans, post-renovation clear-ups and end-of-tenancy work rather than a standing weekly visit, run from Transformatorweg near Sloterdijk.
Weekdays only, eight until five, with 294 reviews behind a 4.4.
Sofa Doctor
Upholstery is the entire trade at this Oranje-Vrijstaatkade address in Oost, taking sofas, mattresses, chairs, carpets and rugs and nothing else.
It works nine in the morning to ten at night every day of the week, and 98 per cent of its 119 reviews are five-star.
Cleaning With Meaning
Seven in the morning to eight at night Monday to Saturday from IJsselmeerstraat in Noord, with a short Sunday of eight until one.
Very little else is published about it, though 95 per cent of its 131 reviews are five-star.
Puur Schoon
Businesses only, cleaning offices and windows on a nine-to-five weekday from Henrick de Keijserstraat in De Pijp.
This is not the number to ring about a flat, though its 152 reviews average a flat five stars.
Agency or private, and why it changes the price
An agency invoice carries 21 per cent VAT and a privately hired cleaner’s does not, which is most of the gap people notice when they compare an hourly rate.
What the agency premium buys is cover: scheduling, a replacement when your cleaner is ill, and liability insurance if something is broken.
Ask any firm outright whether it carries liability cover and whether its staff are on its own payroll rather than subcontracted.
The rule that applies if you hire directly
Hiring someone yourself for household work on no more than four days a week falls under the Regeling dienstverlening aan huis, which spares you from registering as an employer or withholding payroll tax.
It does not spare you the rest of being an employer: you owe holiday pay, at least four weeks of paid leave a year, and up to six weeks of wages if your cleaner is off sick.
Check with your own insurer before you start, because being the employer changes who is liable if the person working in your home is injured there.
What to agree before the first visit
Settle who supplies the products and the vacuum, since firms differ on this and it changes the rate.
Write down the rooms and the jobs you actually want done, because an unbriefed first clean is where the disappointment happens.
Agree what happens to a cancelled slot on either side, and how much notice ends the arrangement.
Keys and access
Most households end up leaving a key, and the sensible middle ground is being home for the first two or three visits before you do.
If you hand over a key, ask what the firm does with it and whether it is tagged with your address, which it should not be.
When cleaning is not the fix
Mould coming back on the same wall every winter is a ventilation problem, and no amount of scrubbing will settle it.
Water damage under a floor needs drying equipment rather than a mop, which is damage restoration work.
The full list of Amsterdam cleaning services carries addresses, opening hours and phone numbers.
Related guides
- Where to Shop for Furniture in Amsterdam
- How to Choose a Moving Company in Amsterdam
- How to Choose a Roofer in Amsterdam
