How Much Should Carpet, Upholstery and Floor Cleaning Cost?

Neil Worsnop has been professionally cleaning carpets and upholstery throughout South Warwickshire since 2011. He has extensive experience cleaning wool and synthetic fibre carpets, upholstery and hard floors in homes and businesses across Leamington Spa, Warwick, Kenilworth and the surrounding villages, combining practical experience with industry best practice.

One of the questions I'm asked most often is "How much does it cost to clean a carpet?"

It can be tempting to think that there should be a simple price for a room, a sofa or a square metre of a stone floor. In reality, I generally price a job according to the amount of time and work I expect it to take.

As a guide, a typical three-bedroom house might cost around £150, while a three-seat sofa would typically be around £90. These are useful examples, but they aren't fixed prices for every three-bedroom house or three-seat sofa.

Why Does the Time Matter?

Every property is different.

A relatively clean three-bedroom house that is easy to access may take considerably less time than a similar-sized property with heavily soiled carpets, difficult access and a number of stains requiring additional treatment.

The same applies to upholstery. A three-seat sofa isn't necessarily a standard amount of work. The fabric, construction, level of soiling and accessibility all affect how long the cleaning will take.

I'm therefore pricing the work rather than simply counting rooms or pieces of furniture.

Access Can Make a Difference

There are also practical considerations before I even start cleaning.

Can I park the van on the driveway, or will I need to park some distance away? Are there suitable power points? Is there somewhere convenient to dispose of the dirty water?

These things might seem insignificant, but they can add to the time required to set up and complete the job.

Easy access to a driveway and suitable facilities means I can spend more of the appointment actually cleaning.

The Condition of the Carpet or Upholstery

The condition of the item is another important consideration.

A carpet that is regularly vacuumed and has light general soiling is usually much quicker to clean than one that has accumulated years of dirt.

Pet accidents, coffee spills, grease, marker pen and other difficult stains can all require additional treatment and time.

The same is true of upholstery. Some fabrics need considerably more care than others and may require a slower, more controlled cleaning process.

What About Hard Floors?

The same principle applies to hard-floor cleaning.

A tiled floor that has been regularly maintained may be relatively straightforward to clean. A floor with heavily soiled grout and years of detergent residue can require much more preparation, chemical treatment, mechanical agitation and extraction.

The size of the floor is therefore only one part of the calculation.

My Minimum Charge

Like most professional cleaning businesses, I have a minimum charge. Mine is £75.

This reflects the fact that even a small cleaning job involves travelling to the property, unloading equipment, setting up, carrying out the cleaning and then packing everything away again.

For a very small job, these fixed parts of the appointment can represent a significant proportion of the overall time.

Why Larger Jobs Can Be Better Value

There is also an economy of scale when several areas are cleaned during the same visit.

The time spent travelling to the property and setting up the equipment is broadly the same whether I'm cleaning one room or an entire house. As the amount of cleaning increases, those fixed costs are spread over a larger job.

This is why a whole-house clean can represent considerably better value per room than booking individual rooms separately.

Neil's Professional View

I don't believe professional cleaning should be reduced to a simple price list of "£X per room" or "£X per chair".

My aim is to charge a fair price for the time, equipment and expertise required to do the job properly.

The price needs to reflect the cleaning itself, but also the practical considerations involved in getting the equipment to the property, setting up, dealing with particular stains or heavily soiled areas and leaving everything clean and tidy when the job is finished.

If you would like an accurate price rather than a rough estimate, I'm always happy to arrange a survey. Once I've seen the work involved, I can provide a fixed written quotation with no obligation to proceed.

About the Author

Neil Worsnop has been professionally cleaning carpets and upholstery throughout South Warwickshire since 2011. He has extensive experience cleaning wool, synthetic and natural fibre carpets in homes and businesses across Leamington Spa, Warwick, Kenilworth and the surrounding villages, combining practical experience with industry best practice.