What does a housekeeping cleaner do?
A housekeeping cleaner is an individual who provides general cleaning services. Your tasks may vary but typically include vacuuming, dusting, mopping floors, and cleaning bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. Other tasks that you will perform include changing towels and sheets, emptying bins and taking waste to disposal areas, and replenishing supplies such as toilet paper and soap. In addition, you will be responsible for cleaning windows, woodwork, and walls and lifting and moving lightweight equipment and objects. You will also be tasked to clean and maintain hallways.
Housekeeping cleaner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real housekeeping cleaner resumes:
- Train and manage several maids and achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
- Maintain high standards of cleanliness with bakery machinery/equipment to detail outside of machinery as well as deep clean inside machinery/equipment.
- Run errands such as taking laundry to the cleaners and buying groceries.
Housekeeping cleaner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Housekeeping Cleaners are proficient in Light Fixtures, Guest Rooms, and Cleanliness. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Mechanical skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Housekeeping Cleaners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Light Fixtures, 19%
Clean kitchen appliances, cabinets, windows, bathrooms, floors, light fixtures
- Guest Rooms, 17%
Replenish guest rooms and baths with amenities, supplies, and linen and terry in accordance with Company standards.
- Cleanliness, 10%
Ensured cleanliness and functionality of facility equipment on a regular basis.
- Window Sills, 9%
Dusted and wiped clean furniture, fixtures, window sills, glass tops, wall hangings, fixtures.
- Patient Rooms, 5%
Housekeeping-cleaned patient rooms & waiting areas
- Laundry Room, 5%
Help fold towels and wash cloths in laundry room and make sure laundry room is clean and ready for next day
Common skills that a housekeeping cleaner uses to do their job include "light fixtures," "guest rooms," and "cleanliness." You can find details on the most important housekeeping cleaner responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a housekeeping cleaner to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what housekeeping cleaners do because "janitors and building cleaners must interact well other cleaners and the people who live or work in the buildings they service." Additionally, a housekeeping cleaner resume shows how housekeeping cleaners use interpersonal skills: "observed management working in a union environment further developed interpersonal skills working around so many different employees and patients"
Mechanical skills. Many housekeeping cleaner duties rely on mechanical skills. "janitors and building cleaners need to understand general building operations and should be able to make routine repairs, such as to leaky faucets.," so a housekeeping cleaner will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways housekeeping cleaner responsibilities rely on mechanical skills: "shampoo and clean carpets or buff and polish floors which will require the use of mechanical equipment. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of housekeeping cleaners is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday housekeeping cleaner duties, as "janitors and building cleaners often must lift and move heavy cleaning materials and equipment." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "demonstrated the physical ability to handle and control heavy powered equipment, and perform minor maintenance on this equipment. "
Time-management skills. For certain housekeeping cleaner responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a housekeeping cleaner rely on this skill, as "janitors and building cleaners must plan and complete tasks in a timely manner." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what housekeeping cleaners do: "cleaned residents rooms maintained professional courtesy towards residents followed policies and procedures completed tasks correctly and on time. "
The three companies that hire the most housekeeping cleaners are:
- CARE33 housekeeping cleaners jobs
- MaidPro14 housekeeping cleaners jobs
- Service Master Clean13 housekeeping cleaners jobs
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Compare different housekeeping cleaners
Housekeeping cleaner vs. Maid
Maids are individuals who perform domestic chores like ironing, grocery shopping, cleaning, and laundry. Primarily, maids oversee the maintenance of wardrobes, serve meals, and lay out clothes. They can carry out their job independently and adhere to the strict schedules set for them. They maintain the cleaning records as well as the supply inventory in organizations or residences. Maids are expected to be equipped with physical capabilities, along with cleaning, time management, customer service, and organizational skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, housekeeping cleaner responsibilities require skills like "caulking," "cleanliness," "patient rooms," and "polishers." Meanwhile a typical maid has skills in areas such as "taking care," "customer service," "bed sheets," and "clean rooms." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Maids tend to make the most money working in the construction industry, where they earn an average salary of $27,826. In contrast, housekeeping cleaners make the biggest average salary, $28,192, in the health care industry.maids tend to reach similar levels of education than housekeeping cleaners. In fact, maids are 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Housekeeping cleaner vs. Janitor
Janitors are primarily responsible for maintaining the sanitation and cleanliness of the workspace. They are in charge of sweeping and mopping floors, wiping surfaces, and ensuring that the area they are assigned to is properly sanitized. They manage the inventory of supplies and ensure that they would never run out of cleaning supplies by properly tracking the usage of each material. Some skilled janitors are also responsible for doing minor repairs to different office equipment and fixtures. They also help in company event setups and cleanups, as well as in liaising tasks that the office might need.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real housekeeping cleaner resumes. While housekeeping cleaner responsibilities can utilize skills like "caulking," "guest rooms," "patient rooms," and "laundry room," janitors use skills like "patients," "customer service," "work ethic," and "bathroom fixtures."
Janitors earn a higher average salary than housekeeping cleaners. But janitors earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $30,059. Additionally, housekeeping cleaners earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $28,192 annually.In general, janitors achieve similar levels of education than housekeeping cleaners. They're 0.1% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Housekeeping cleaner vs. Guest room attendant
A guest room attendant's main specialty is in servicing and cleaning guest rooms. Your job as a room attendant is to ensure that all rooms and bathrooms are made inviting and clean for guests. You may also be required to attend to guest queries and provide knowledgeable answers to them. That's not all; your job responsibility may also include picking and providing necessary amenities for guests.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, housekeeping cleaners are more likely to have skills like "caulking," "light fixtures," "guest rooms," and "patient rooms." But a guest room attendant is more likely to have skills like "guest service," "customer service," "excellent guest," and "safety hazards."
Guest room attendants earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $29,238. Comparatively, housekeeping cleaners have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $28,192.When it comes to education, guest room attendants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to housekeeping cleaners. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Housekeeping cleaner vs. Cleaning and maintenance worker
Types of housekeeping cleaner
Updated January 8, 2025
