# How much should I pay my kid to clean my car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987 "2013-10-23T00:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/41 "2013-10-24T03:28:04Z")
My input is show the child how much he is worth, give him full value for that as it goes to his self worth. In my own experience, I was dating a single mom many moons ago. I had a job that required a assistant and her (late teen) son seemed to have that ability so I took him on for this and paid for his service the industry standard. There was no set pay rate established ahead of time for this, and they assumed something similar to minimum wage. When I handed them the check for many times that they were shocked, my g/f wanted me to take that back at first. But it was the real value of his service and then she understood and I do feel it made her son’s sense of self worth increase. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/42 "2013-10-24T04:20:04Z")
> [@cherry](#): > > I know this isn’t a detail but I pay $150 for a detail that takes 4 hours roughly. So my best guess is that I’d offer him $20-$40 if he is doing a basic detail. It’s $80 in my neighborhood for the same amount of time. Off the cuff, I’d say something like $10 for a wash, and maybe $25 for a basic detail from your kid. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/43 "2013-10-25T13:01:28Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Well, first of all, he asked me what he could do to earn some extra money. I offered up washing the car. He didn’t just ask me “how much to wash the car”, he just wanted to know how much I was willing to pay him since I said I would. I really had no idea how much the job was worth and neither did he. > > Second of all, he has been doing his own laundry since he was 10 yrs old and sometimes does the kitchen laundry without being asked. He does his household chores without complaining. He’s an only child, so he has a lot of them. He recently lost his regular lawn mowing gig due to the neighbors needing the money and doing it themselves. He already mows our lawn as part of his chores. > > If you are trying to imply that my kid is acting entitled or presumptuous. You are sorely mistaken. For the record, he’s 15. Pay him by the hour. I used to work for a car wash, and you’d be surprised how many people neglected their filthmobiles for months or years, then expected us to get it showroom clean in 5 minutes. Your car may not have trash in it, but if you haven’t cleaned it in a while I guarantee all the crevices on the dash, doors, and console are filled with dust/dirt. The carpets/upholstery might need scrubbed (foaming cleaners like Tuff Stuff or Scrubbing Bubbles work better than most carpet cleaners). Vacuuming pet hair out of cars takes forever because it sticks to the upholstery and carpets. If you smoke I guarantee your ashtray and console need thoroughly scrubbed out with a good cleaner and a small brush. And that’s just the inside. Is he washing and waxing the outside too? Cleaning the wheels? Windows inside and out? I don’t know how dirty your car actually is or how clean you want it to be, but that just makes more sense to pay him according to how long the cleaning takes/how much work he actually does. I would consider paying him $10 an hour, he can spend 2-3 hours on it, or less if it’s not that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/44 "2013-10-25T14:58:24Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > My Subaru Outback is really dirty. The outside is very dirty. I drive through dusty areas and park in a dirt lot a couple times a week. The inside has some dog hair/slobber and is just kind of dusty and well, hasn’t been really cleaned since Mother’s Day when he cleaned it for me as a gift. It’s not full of stuff or trash or anything, so he would not be dealing with that, just vacuuming, cleaning inside and out. > > My kid is looking make some money. I said he could wash my car, but when he said how much, I really didn’t know and he said, “Why don’t you ask on the Straight Dope?” So I am. I’d say $20 would be fine, given he’s a good kid and sounds responsible. That isn’t necessarily “how much a car wash/cleaning” should cost, but if he’s doing a decent but quick job, seems fair. If you _do_ somewhat care about the job he does, extend the idea of a bonus, then throw in another $5-10, depending on just how bad your car is.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/45 "2013-10-25T17:45:40Z")
I live in the DC metro area, and when I pay to get both the inside and outside of my car cleaned, I pay $30. Keep in mind that the cost of living is rather expensive here, but there’s a data point for you. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/46 "2013-10-30T15:40:48Z")
Thanks for the replies. If anyone is interested we settled on $20 to start. He did such a great job. I only needed to point a few things he missed on the outside like cleaning around the inside of the headlights and the license plate. I had to leave before he finished the inside, and it was dark when I got home so I didn’t check until the next day. I was stunned by such a good job, especially getting the dog hair out of the seats. He actually went through after vacuuming and used duct tape to “lint roll” the seats for the dog hair. He used a toothbrush to get into the crevices in the center console where dust and hair and stuff gather. I ended up giving him $40 total. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/47 "2013-10-30T17:24:35Z")
Now watch him borrow the car to drive dirt roads and walk in mud puddles before entering the car just as soon as he needs another $40. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/48 "2013-10-30T17:37:59Z")
That’s great it shows to me pride of work. Was he happy with the amount? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/49 "2013-10-30T18:01:07Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > He used a toothbrush to get into the crevices in the center console where dust and hair and stuff gather. The important question is whose toothbrush did he use? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/50 "2013-10-30T18:20:10Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > There’s no way that kids should ever make more than half of minimum wage doing household chores. … There’s no way that anyone, at any age, who is hired to do a job that needs doing, should get any _less_ than minimum wage. Call me crazy, but I believe this. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/51 "2013-10-30T19:19:37Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Now watch him borrow the car to drive dirt roads and walk in mud puddles before entering the car just as soon as he needs another $40. 🙂 Well, if he was old enough to drive, he might try that. Though I’m thinking, maybe washing the car is a good trade off for being able to borrow it, when the time comes. 😉 > [@cherry](#): > > That’s great it shows to me pride of work. Was he happy with the amount? He was thrilled. He was hoping for $30. It was really dirty and there was a lot of dog hair. I was impressed that he came to me when he thought he was done and asked me to point out what he’d missed. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The important question is whose toothbrush did he use? Ha! We have several old ones in the laundry room for cleaning. Hopefully it was one of those. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There’s no way that anyone, at any age, who is hired to do a job that needs doing, should get any _less_ than minimum wage. > > Call me crazy, but I believe this. Well, and that’s what I was doing - hiring him to clean my car. That’s the whole reason I started this thread was to see what people thought a fair wage was. In retrospect, maybe I should have said I was hiring the neighbor kid instead of my own son. Maybe some of the responses would have been different. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987/52 "2013-10-30T20:42:03Z")
As I said earlier, if he does a really good job you should tell your friends about him. He could do really well out of this. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-should-i-pay-my-kid-to-clean-my-car/671987.md?page=2)