How much to charge someone for cleaning their house?
The answer to this question is mostly controlled by region but the hourly is not a bad approach but don’t forget about the material costs: Cleansers, rags, sponges, etc. These are things that drive the costs too. Try not to reuse sponges for the cleaning. Mentally it sets a client’s mind at rest when they see a new sponge being opened and used in their home versus the thought of bringing some other homeowner’s grunge and dirt into their home. To address the cost issue I recommend a unit cost approach. I would charge approx. $0.15-$0.20 per s/f for wet washing walls and ceilings. $4.50-$7.50 for cleaning the inside of windows each. I would charge $0.17 per sf for vaccum of carpet. $0.32/sf for shampooing carpet, $0.08 – $0.10/sf for dustmopping floors. I would charge hourly for dusting nic-nacs and bric-a bracs. Good luck budding entrepreneur!
