Two completely different arrangements
This is the part that catches foreigners out, and it is worth five minutes before you book anyone.
Cleaning by the hour (limpieza por horas) is what most short-term residents want: someone comes for a block of hours, once or twice a week or every fortnight, cleans, and is paid for the visit. They may clean for six other households. It is a service you are buying.
A registered household employee (empleada doméstica, or personal de casas particulares) is an employment relationship, and Argentine law treats it as one. Regular, ongoing work for the same household is meant to be registered with the tax authority (now ARCA, the body that replaced AFIP), which brings real obligations: social contributions, workplace accident cover (ART), paid holiday, the aguinaldo — an extra month of pay a year, paid in two half-month instalments, in June and December — and severance if the relationship ends.
The line between the two is about regularity and hours, not about what either side calls it. Expats routinely assume they are in the first bucket and drift into the second without noticing. If you are having the same person in every week for a while, get actual advice — an estudio contable deals with this constantly, and registering is neither expensive nor difficult when it is done on purpose.
Everything below is about the by-the-hour arrangement, which is what the people listed on this page do.
How the booking actually works
The unit is a block of hours, not one hour — a visit is typically three or four, because that is what a flat needs and because crossing the city for sixty minutes is not worth anyone's morning. Trying to book a single hour usually gets a polite no.
Agree in advance what the visit covers. "Cleaning" is not a fixed scope: a routine visit and a limpieza profunda — a deep clean, oven and inside the cupboards, the thing you want when you move in or out — are different jobs, take different time, and should be priced separately. Ironing (planchado) is commonly offered and is usually its own line, not something bundled in for free.
Sort out the practical things in the first conversation: who supplies the productos de limpieza (most often you do — cleaners generally expect the household's own products and cloths, and will tell you what to buy), how they get in, and what happens with keys. In a building with a portero or encargado, leaving keys with them is a normal arrangement, but ask rather than assume, and tell the encargado who is coming.
What it costs, and why nobody should print a number
Hourly rates for domestic work in Argentina are anchored to a minimum scale that is renegotiated and updated repeatedly through the year — in a high-inflation economy it has moved several times in a single year. Any rate written on a web page is therefore wrong within a couple of months, and the internet is full of forum threads quoting figures that were accurate a decade ago.
So: ask for a current rate, and ask what it is per visit rather than per hour, so you are comparing the same thing. If someone you are hiring regularly asks for an increase after a few months, that is not a negotiation tactic — it is the currency, and it is normal and expected here.
Payment is cash or local transfer. If you are paying cash, have the right notes ready; making someone wait while you find change at the end of a four-hour clean is a bad look.
What to ask in the first message
- Which days and hours do you have free, and how many hours per visit?
- Do you do a deep clean (limpieza profunda) as well as regular visits, and is it priced differently?
- Do you do planchado?
- Do I provide the products, and what should I buy?
- What is the rate right now, per visit? Cash or transfer?
- Is this a one-off, fortnightly or weekly arrangement — and am I hiring you by the hour? (Be explicit. It protects both of you.)
If you are letting a flat short-term
Turnover cleaning between short-stay guests is its own product, priced per changeover rather than per hour, and it usually includes laundry and re-making beds against a deadline. If that is what you need, say so up front — it is a different job from a household clean, and someone who does it regularly will have a fixed per-turnover price and a way of handling keys and linen.
Common questions
How much do you pay a house cleaner in Buenos Aires?
It varies, and it changes often — the minimum scale for domestic work in Argentina is updated repeatedly through the year, so any figure published on a web page goes stale within weeks. Ask for a current rate, and ask for it per visit rather than per hour so you are comparing like with like. Expect a periodic increase if you hire someone regularly; that is inflation, not a negotiation.
Do I have to register a cleaner in Argentina?
It depends on the arrangement. Occasional cleaning by the hour is buying a service. Regular ongoing work for the same household is an employment relationship under Argentine law, which is meant to be registered with ARCA and carries real obligations — social contributions, accident cover (ART), paid holiday, the aguinaldo paid in June and December, and severance. If you are having the same person in every week, get proper advice from an accountant rather than guessing.
What is the aguinaldo?
It is a mandatory extra payment for registered employees in Argentina, the sueldo anual complementario — effectively an additional month of pay per year, paid in two instalments, in June and in December, each equal to half a month. It applies to registered household employees, and it is one of the obligations expats most often do not know exists.
Do cleaners in Buenos Aires bring their own products?
Usually not. The normal expectation is that the household supplies the cleaning products and cloths. Ask in the first conversation what they want you to have in the flat — most cleaners are specific about it and will give you a list.
Can I book a cleaner for just one hour?
In practice, no. The usual unit is a block of three or four hours, because that is what a flat takes and because travelling across Buenos Aires for a single hour is not worth it. Book a visit, not an hour.