Seasonal tips
Spring cleaning checklist: room by room, timed for your home
Pick the size of your home and the list adds up the time per room and for the whole job. Tick it off, print it or send it on WhatsApp. Below: what it costs if your cleaner does the spring clean.
Your spring cleaning checklist
28 tasks in six rooms. The time follows the size of your home, and every task you tick takes its minutes off.
0 of 28 done
Spring cleaning checklist
4 rooms · 1 bathroom
Guide time
13 h 40
Kitchen
2 h 55Bathroom
1 h 10Living room and bedrooms
4 h 35Windows and blinds
3 h 10Balcony
50 minCellar
1 hFaster this way
- Top to bottom, and from the back towards the door.
- Let the cleaner soak and carry on meanwhile.
- Do the windows on an overcast day.
Guide time ±20 % for an experienced person in a normally kept home, hands-on work only: soaking and machine time are not counted. The minutes come from the time model of Clino's hours planner; cupboards inside, outside windows, curtains, balcony and cellar are Clino estimates.
clino.ch/en/blog/spring-cleaning-checklist
This is the big clean once a year. For the week there is the cleaning checklist for you and your cleaner, and the hours planner works out how many hours the week needs.
Who does the spring clean?
Three ways, worked out for your checklist above: yourself, your employed cleaner, or a company.
Yourself
13 h 40
Your time and the cleaning products. Best room by room, spread over several days.
13 h 40 from your checklist
- Wage with holiday pay
- CHF 444.26
- No supplement (NAV ZH)
- CHF 0.00
- Employer contributions AHV/IV/EO, ALV, FAK, UVG
- CHF 35.23
- Your cost
- CHF 479.49
The NAV ZH provides no overtime supplement for part-time staff, unless your contract says otherwise. With her agreement, time off of the same length can replace the money (Art. 321c para. 2 CO).
30 days free, then CHF 19.90/month · cancel anytime
A cleaning company
By quote
You pay an invoice and the company is the employer: no AHV, no accident insurance, no payslip for you. The price is a company price, not a wage: social charges, travel, materials and margin are in it. Get two or three quotes for a fixed price.
One person without a company of her own is usually your employee: bogus self-employment
Clean safely
Never mix bleach with acid
Never use anything with chlorine (bleach, chlorine toilet gel, many mould sprays) together with an acid: descaler, vinegar, citric acid, acidic toilet cleaner. It releases toxic chlorine gas. One after the other only, with clear water in between and the window open.
145Poisoning, day and night: Tox Info SuisseLadder, windows, blinds
Outside windows up high, blinds and ceiling lamps only from a stable ladder, never from a chair or the window sill. As the employer you make sure your cleaner can work safely (Art. 328 para. 2 CO): what cannot be reached safely is left out or goes to a company with the right equipment.
If she is registered, a fall at work is an occupational accident, insured from the first hour. She is insured against accidents in her free time if she works at least 8 hours a week for you.
Spring cleaning: frequently asked questions
When is the best time for spring cleaning?
As soon as you can air the rooms for long again, usually in March or April. For the windows, pick a dry, overcast day: in the sun the water dries too fast and leaves streaks. So the big jobs do not pile up during the year, put them in a cleaning schedule with seasonal tasks.
How long does spring cleaning take?
As a guide, about 9 h 40 for a home with 1 to 2 rooms and 19 h 45 for 6 rooms or more with two bathrooms; balcony and cellar are included both times. That is one to three working days. The checklist above works it out for your home.
Do I have to register my cleaner for the spring clean?
Yes. Paying someone for work in your household makes you an employer, in principle from the first franc: AHV/IV/EO, ALV and accident insurance. If she is already registered, the extra hours go on that month's payslip. Withholding tax: in the simplified procedure you deduct 5 % from everyone; in the ordinary procedure it depends on her permit and residence.
What does the spring clean cost if my cleaner does it?
Extra hours are overtime: the wage plus a supplement of at least 25 % (Art. 321c para. 3 CO), unless something else was agreed in writing or she takes the hours back as time off. Example with 8 hours at CHF 30: in the canton of Bern CHF 352, with holiday pay and employer contributions. In the canton of Zurich part-time staff get no supplement (NAV ZH Art. 24 para. 2), so there it is CHF 281.
What cleaning products do I need for spring cleaning?
All-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, descaler, oven spray, microfibre cloths, a vacuum with attachments, a mop and a window squeegee. If your cleaner does it, you provide the materials, unless agreed otherwise (Art. 327 para. 1 CO).