Half of UAE households use outside help to clean their home

ServiceMarket, the largest home services portal in the UAE and Qatar, has released a report on the household cleaning habits of UAE residents.

The analysis was based on an online survey of 200 UAE residents and over 1000 requests placed through ServiceMarket by UAE residents.

With cleaning services readily available, and the UAE’s fast-paced lifestyle, it is unsurprising that half of all respondents (50%) claim to use outside help to clean their homes.

How often do UAE residents hire cleaners?

The analysis showed that around one in ten (9%) respondents have full-time help at home, while about two-fifths (41%) have help on a part-time basis.

A closer look into respondents who hire part-time help for cleaning shows that most respondents (64%) have help at least once a week.

What are the dirtiest areas in people’s homes?

The survey also looked at the frequency that people cleaned various items in their homes.

Over half (67%) of respondents had not cleaned their curtains in the last three months and almost half (46%) had not cleaned their sofa upholstery or their carpets.

Remote controls and door handles are two other areas of people’s homes that appear to be particularly dirty! 65% had not cleaned their remote controls and 60% had not cleaned their door handles in over three months.

How much does it cost to hire cleaning help?

Full-time: If you are looking to hire someone full-time, then the annual cost will be at least Dh32,000, taking into account; sponsorship and visa costs (Dh5500), a monthly salary, medical insurance (Dh700 to Dh800), and annual flights (Dh2000 to Dh4000).

The monthly salary paid to maids in the UAE is typically somewhere in the range of Dh2000 to 4000, depending on experience and duties. Many people in Dubai with children hire a maid who can clean their home and also help take care of the children when required.

Note that this annual cost will be slightly higher on the first year since you will need to pay roughly Dh10,000 for a first time residency and a recruitment fee (Dh15,000+) to the agency you select to bring your maid.

Part-time: The high cost of hiring full-time help means many people opt to hire someone on a part-time basis, which can work out to be significantly cheaper, especially if you only need help on a couple of days a week.

Typically, a cleaning company will charge between Dh360 and Dh420 a month for a 3-hour, once a week cleaning service.

Most cleaning companies in the UAE charge between Dh30 and Dh 40 an hour, excluding cleaning materials.

Some other interesting cleaning stats:

- The average cleaning job lasts 3.2 hours.

- The most common cleaning requests are for dusting, floor cleaning and dishwashing.

- Interior window cleaning and ironing are also popular requests.

- Saturday is the most sought-after day for cleaning services, followed by Thursday.

- Tuesday is the quietest day in terms of cleaning appointments.

- 68% of respondents have never used professional deep cleaning services.

- A large majority (91%) have not cleaned their house keys in the last 3 months, while 69% have not cleaned their wallets during this time.

- Curtains also appear to be cleaned less frequently, with 67% not having cleaned their curtains in the last 3 months.

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