Guide & planner
How many hours of cleaning help do I need? What is realistic in 2, 3 or 4 hours
Your hours planner: pick tasks, get hours, build a monthly plan
Three steps: describe your home and choose what your cleaner should do. The planner recommends weekly hours and shows what no longer fits with fewer hours. One click on "OK" turns it into a monthly plan to copy, print or send by WhatsApp.
1. Your household
Size
People
Bathrooms
2. What should your cleaner do?
Always included: the weekly baseThis is the base of every week. It is always counted.2 h 25 min
- Vacuum and mop floors, dust surfaces (all rooms, hallway)1 h 5 min
- Kitchen: counters, stove, sink, fronts, floor35 min
- Bathroom and WC, complete35 min
- Set-up: materials, walk-through, putting things away10 min
Every week, in addition1 selected · 8 min
Pick what comes on top every week.
Once a month (rotation)5 selected · 3 h 10 min
The planner spreads these over the four weeks: one per visit.
Estimated effort
3 h 21 min per week
Guide values from cleaning companies and experienced household cleaners (± 20 %). Your cleaner knows your home best: go through the plan together.
Most Clino households book 2 to 6 hours a week, 4 hours at the median. For the weekly base clean (bathroom, kitchen, floors, dust), plan 2 hours a week for 1-2 rooms, 3 hours for 3-4 rooms and 4 hours for 5 rooms. Laundry, ironing and windows come on top. In the canton of Zurich, 3 hours a week at the usual wage of CHF 29 an hour cost about CHF 441 a month, holiday pay and employer contributions included.
How many hours Clino households really book
Guide values are one thing. Here is what 36 households on Clino actually agreed with their cleaner.
4 h
Median per week
2–6 h
Middle half
CHF 30
Median gross wage
Contracted weekly hours, 39 cleaners
- up to 2 h31%
- 2.5–3 h10%
- 3.5–4 h23%
- 4.5–6 h15%
- 6.5–10 h8%
- over 10 h13%
People almost always book round packages: exactly 4 hours (9×) or exactly 2 hours (6×). Exactly 3 hours, often called the Swiss standard, was agreed by only 2 of 39. Close to two thirds sit between 2 and 6 hours; one cleaner in eight works more than 10 hours a week in the same household.
The agreed gross wage has a median of CHF 30 an hour, with the middle half between CHF 27.50 and 35 (28 contracts with a gross wage). Those who agree a net wage pay a median of CHF 33 net (11 contracts). In the canton of Zurich (18 cleaners) the picture is the same: median 4 hours, CHF 30 gross.
Method: 39 active cleaners paid by the hour in 36 households, as of 4 October 2026. Contracted weekly hours from the employment relationships registered on Clino, not timesheets. Test, demo and internal accounts excluded; no figure based on fewer than 5 cases.
What is realistic in 2, 3, 4 and 6 hours a week
"What does a cleaner get done in 3 hours?" Honest answer: it depends on the home. Here are four typical weekly packages with what fits in a normally kept household. Estimated guide values, not measurements and not a standard.
2 hours
Fits
1-2 rooms, 1 bathroom, single or couple.
Included: Bathroom, kitchen, vacuum and mop floors, dust, fresh bed linen. Plus one piece of a monthly task per week: one room of windows, the doors, the sofa.
Not included: Laundry and ironing, all windows in one go, oven and fridge inside. From 3 rooms up, it only covers the weekly base without extras.
3 hours
Fits
3-4 rooms, 1 bathroom plus guest WC, 2 people.
Included: The full weekly base, beds, and inside windows as a rotation: one room per week. The whole monthly rotation needs 3.5 hours.
Not included: Laundry plus ironing (70-100 minutes together) break the frame. With children or pets it gets tight.
4 hours
Most booked on ClinoFits
4-5 rooms, 2 bathrooms, family of 3-4. Or 3-4 rooms with laundry and ironing.
Included: Weekly base, beds, one load of laundry or the ironing, plus the whole monthly rotation: inside windows, fridge, oven, doors, upholstery.
Not included: Laundry AND ironing AND tidying together. Then it is more like 4.5 to 5 hours.
6 hours
Fits
House with 6+ rooms, 2-3 bathrooms, family with children and a pet. Often better as 2 × 3 hours.
Included: Everything from the 4-hour list, plus laundry and ironing, tidying, kids' rooms, balcony. Two visits a week keep the house clean continuously instead of "rescued" once a week.
Not included: Outside windows, inside cupboards, carpet shampooing, curtains: that stays a deep clean, twice a year.
Rule of thumb (estimated, not measured): about one minute per square metre for floors and dust, plus 30 minutes for the kitchen and 25 minutes per bathroom. For 90 m² with one bathroom and a guest WC that is a good two hours of weekly base. The first three to four visits take 20 to 30 percent longer: new home, new routes, new materials.
Weekly base, extras, rotation: what belongs in the weekly hours
Most misunderstandings arise because "cleaning" does not mean the same to you and to your cleaner. Split the work into three tiers: what happens every week, what rotates and what is a separate appointment.
Tier 1: weekly base, every week
Bathroom and WC complete, kitchen (counters, stove, sink, fronts, floor), vacuum and mop all floors, dust on clear surfaces, hallway. This is the core. Without it, no hour figure makes sense.
Tier 2: weekly extras
Fresh bed linen (8 minutes per bed), laundry (25 minutes of hands-on time per load), ironing (45 to 90 minutes per basket), tidying before cleaning (20 minutes), dishwasher, balcony, plants. Every extra is legitimate, but each costs time that comes off the weekly base unless you raise the hours.
Tier 3: monthly rotation
Inside windows, fridge inside, oven, doors and radiators, upholstery, grout and drains, shelves, kitchen cabinet fronts. Not everything every week, but one task per visit. Windows can even be spread as "one room per week". The hours stay the same and everything still gets done.
What a household helper can take on is in the room-by-room task list. What materials you should provide is in the cleaning supplies checklist.
What you can expect from your cleaner, and what not
A good cleaner is thorough, reliable and honest. She is not a magician. These six points clear up the most common frictions in advance.
Clean yes, tidy no
Cleaning means cleaning, not creating order. If clothes, toys and mail are lying around, the first half hour goes to tidying. Either you tidy the evening before, or you book "tidying" as an extra.
The first visits take longer
Where is the vacuum, which cloth for what, how does the oven open? Expect 20 to 30 percent more time in the first three to four weeks. Judge the hour figure only after a month.
Quality before speed
What does not fit into 3 hours does not get faster, it gets worse. A cleaner who says "I can't do that in the time" is honest, not slow. Drop a task or add half an hour.
You provide the materials
Vacuum, mop, bucket, cloths and cleaning products belong to the household, not to the employee. If something is missing or broken, it costs time. A short list on the cleaning cupboard prevents that.
No ladders, no furniture, no outside windows
Outside windows on the third floor, moving heavy furniture, ceiling lamps: anything with a risk of falling or injury does not belong in the weekly plan. Your cleaner is insured against accidents with you, but you do not want the case in the first place.
She is your employee, not a company
Your cleaner comes alone, without a substitute and without a quality manager. In return she knows your home better than any company after four weeks. Setting priorities is your job: say what matters and what may wait.
How to check pace and thoroughness on a trial day and how to arrange access to your home when you are out are best settled before the first visit. So is why accident insurance from the first hour is compulsory.
How to organise it: the monthly rhythm
A plan on the fridge door replaces twenty WhatsApp messages. Here is how to build it without it turning into bureaucracy.
The same base week after week
The weekly base is the same every week, in the same order: bathroom and kitchen first, then floors, then dust. That order matters. When time runs short, the most important part is done.
One monthly task per visit
Week 1 windows in the living area, week 2 fridge and oven, week 3 bedroom windows and doors, week 4 upholstery and bathroom deep. That is exactly what the planner above builds. What is left over slides to the next week, not into an argument.
The priority list for tight days
A note with three lines: "If time runs short: 1. bathroom, 2. kitchen, 3. floors. The rest can wait." The most important agreement of all. It spares you the feeling "she didn't do everything again" and your cleaner the constant pressure.
After four weeks: time check
After the first month, ask concretely: what takes longer than expected? What is left over? Adjust the plan or the hours. If the same thing is left week after week, your cleaner is not too slow, the plan is too full.
For the twice-yearly deep clean there is the spring-cleaning checklist; for the room-by-room plan as PDF the cleaning schedule template. What counts as standard and what as extra is settled by the cleaning checklist.
Hours and obligations: what your weekly hours trigger
The hour figure is not just a question of cleanliness: in Switzerland a few obligations hang directly on it. The figures apply for 2026.
From the first hour
Register with the compensation office. In a private household there is no trivial-amount threshold: AHV contributions are due from the first franc, even at 2 hours a week.
Read more →2From 5 hours a week
The standard employment contract for domestic work (NAV) applies: binding minimum wages, holidays, notice periods, sick pay. Almost every cleaner with a fixed weekly workload falls under it.
Read more →3From 8 hours a week
Non-occupational accident insurance (NBU) becomes mandatory, in addition to occupational accident insurance, which is always compulsory. A leisure-time accident of your cleaner is then insured through you.
Read more →4Up to CHF 22'680 annual wage
That is how long you stay in the simplified payroll procedure. At the usual wage of CHF 29 an hour (with holiday pay) that is around 13.5 hours a week. Above it, the ordinary procedure applies and the pension fund (BVG) becomes compulsory.
Read more →The planner above shows you live which of these thresholds your hour figure touches.
Frequently asked questions about hours and expectations
What does a cleaner get done in 2 hours?
In a 1-2-room flat the full weekly base: bathroom, kitchen, floors, dust, bed. From 3 rooms up, 2 hours only cover bathroom, kitchen and floors, without extras and without monthly tasks. Laundry, ironing or all windows in one go do not fit into 2 hours.
Are 3 hours a week enough for a 4-room flat?
Yes, for the weekly base with beds and a small monthly rotation, such as the inside windows room by room. With laundry and ironing, children or pets, 3.5 to 4 hours are more realistic. The planner above works it out for your selection.
Weekly or every two weeks?
Weekly is more efficient: less dirt, a fixed routine, no laundry piles. Every two weeks works for singles and couples in small flats, but with a longer visit: about 1.5 times as long as weekly.
Should I agree fixed hours or pay by effort?
Fixed. A fixed weekly workload gives both sides certainty, is the basis for the employment contract and the payslip, and prevents the argument "but today it was less". Extras such as a deep clean or a guest room you settle separately at the same hourly wage.
What if my cleaner regularly finishes early?
First, be glad: she is fast. Then bring a monthly task forward or add an extra to the plan. The agreed hours are paid even if she finishes 20 minutes early. Reduce the workload only if it is permanently too big, and in conversation.
What if she regularly does not finish?
First look at why: unplanned tidying, added extras, missing materials? Usually the plan is too full, not the person too slow. Drop a task or add half an hour. Only when time and plan are right and the quality still is not, is it a performance issue.
Are laundry and ironing part of a cleaner's tasks?
Only if you agree it. Both are common but not a given, and both cost time: laundry about 25 minutes of hands-on time per load, ironing 45 to 90 minutes per basket. With laundry and ironing a 4-room flat needs 4 rather than 3 hours.
What is the maximum number of hours my cleaner may work for me?
What matters is the wage cap of the simplified procedure at CHF 22'680 a year: at the usual wage of CHF 29 an hour, around 13.5 weekly hours. Above it you switch to the ordinary procedure and the pension fund (BVG) becomes compulsory. Not a problem, but good to know before you add hours.
How many hours do other households book?
On Clino, a median of 4 hours a week; the middle half is between 2 and 6 hours (39 cleaners in 36 households, as of 4 October 2026). Exactly 4 or exactly 2 hours are the most common; 3 hours is rare. The agreed gross wage has a median of CHF 30 an hour.