Underpricing is the most common reason cleaning businesses struggle. It is easy to look at what the cheapest local cleaner charges and match it, then discover that after travel, products, insurance and the odd cancelled clean there is almost nothing left. This guide gives you a simple method to price every type of clean with confidence.
Start with your real hourly cost
Before you set a price, work out what an hour of cleaning actually costs you. Include:
- Wages or your own pay: at least the National Living Wage for anyone you employ, plus employer costs such as holiday pay, pension and National Insurance where they apply.
- Travel: time and fuel between jobs. Twenty minutes of driving between two-hour cleans adds about 15% to your costs.
- Products and equipment: cloths, chemicals, vacuum bags, steam cleaner servicing.
- Overheads: insurance, phone, software, advertising, uniforms.
- Unpaid time: quoting, messages, invoicing, training.
Add these up for a typical month and divide by the number of hours you actually clean. That is your break-even hourly cost. Your price needs to be comfortably above it.
Regular domestic cleaning: price by the hour
Weekly and fortnightly cleans are usually priced by the hour, with a minimum visit length of two or three hours. Hourly rates vary a lot by area. London and the South East are higher, and many towns are lower. Rather than copying a national average, check what established local firms charge and position yourself on service, not on being cheapest.
Things that justify a higher rate:
- insured, vetted cleaners
- the same cleaner each visit
- products and equipment supplied
- a guarantee, such as re-cleaning anything missed within 24 hours
- easy online booking and payment
For regular cleans, Direct Debit is worth offering. It removes the awkward "can you leave cash on the side" conversation and means you are paid automatically after each visit.
One-off and deep cleans: fixed prices by size
Customers booking a one-off clean want to know the total, not the hourly rate. Estimate the hours by property size, multiply by your rate, then round to a sensible fixed price.
| Property | Typical deep clean time (1 cleaner) |
|---|---|
| Studio or 1-bed flat | 4 to 5 hours |
| 2-bed flat or house | 5 to 7 hours |
| 3-bed house | 7 to 9 hours |
| 4-bed house | 9 to 12 hours |
These are starting points. Adjust for condition, number of bathrooms and whether the property is furnished. Our cleaning price calculator lets you play with hours, rates and extras.
End of tenancy cleaning: price by bedrooms, then add extras
End of tenancy cleaning is a specialist job within cleaning. The standard is higher than a normal deep clean, because the letting agent or landlord will check it against the check-in inventory, and the tenant's deposit may depend on it. Expect to clean inside every cupboard, appliance and window, descale bathrooms thoroughly and remove every mark you can.
Most firms publish fixed prices by number of bedrooms, then add extras:
- Oven clean, often the single biggest time cost in the kitchen
- Carpet cleaning, priced per room or as a package
- Inside windows and sometimes outside windows on the ground floor
- Fridge and freezer, especially if it needs defrosting
- Walls, spot cleaning or full wash-down
- Balconies, conservatories and garages
Pricing these as optional extras on the quote lets the customer choose, and makes your base price competitive without giving away the expensive parts of the job.
Protect yourself on end of tenancy jobs
- Take a deposit to secure the date, because move-out dates change at short notice.
- Agree what happens if the property is in worse condition than described. A clause allowing a reasonable extra charge, agreed before you continue, avoids disputes.
- Take timed before and after photos of every room.
- Use a room-by-room checklist and leave a cleaning report with the agent or landlord.
- Offer a re-clean guarantee within a set number of days if the agent raises something you missed, but only for items on your checklist.
Commercial cleaning: price by the hour or by the visit
Office and commercial contracts are usually priced per visit or per month, based on the hours needed and the frequency. Include consumables if you supply them, out-of-hours working, and the time to travel between sites. Review prices every year, because wage costs rise.
Do not forget travel and parking
If you work in cities, parking and congestion charges can wipe out the profit on a short clean. Either include a travel charge for jobs outside your core area, add parking costs to the quote, or set a higher minimum visit length in areas where parking is expensive.
Raise prices properly
Costs go up every year, especially wages. A small increase each April is easier for customers than a big jump every few years. Give regular customers a month's notice, explain briefly, and thank them for their loyalty. Most stay.
Checklist for a profitable cleaning price
- Your price covers your true hourly cost plus a profit margin.
- Minimum visit lengths are set.
- Extras are priced separately, not given away.
- End of tenancy jobs have a deposit and photo evidence.
- Travel and parking are covered.
- Prices are reviewed every year.
Cuppaflow's cleaning starter pack loads example prices for regular, deep and end of tenancy cleans, with optional extras, room-by-room checklists, cleaning reports and Direct Debit for regulars, so you can quote in minutes and change the prices to your own.
Spend less time on paperwork
Cuppaflow handles quotes, jobs, invoices and payments for trade businesses, with your brand on everything. Try every feature free for 14 days, then plans start at £19 a month.