Carpet cleaning estimate template

Carpets often don’t get the care and attention that they deserve.

Beyond the occasional pass of a vacuum, many people don’t think about deep cleaning their carpets until they spill a glass of red wine or their puppy decides to mark their territory in the living room.

For many, these are incidents that warrant the cost of professional carpet cleaning.

As a professional carpet cleaner, you know that carpet cleaning requires more than just a sprinkle of OxiClean to get stains and underlying debris out.

That being said, you need to be able to estimate the cost of carpet cleaning accurately for your customers. This guide will help you price your carpet cleaning work in a way that’s fair and profitable.

Keep reading to learn how to create a carpet cleaning estimate template that will streamline your estimating process and demonstrate the value of your services to your customers.

Factors to consider for a carpet cleaning estimate

Before creating a carpet cleaning estimate, you need to familiarize yourself with the job at hand.

To get the most accurate estimate, visit your customer’s home or business to check out where you’ll be working. This is a great time to ask your customers questions to get a clear understanding of what needs to be done and answer their question of: “How much does carpet cleaning cost?”.

When you perform your walkthrough, our investigation demonstrated that you should look out for these elements.

Type of carpet

Image credit: Alex Plesovskich via Unsplash

Our findings show that the first thing that you should determine is the type of carpet that your customer has.

Naturally, the more difficult a type of carpet fabric is to clean, the more work it will take you, and the more you should charge.

Some popular carpet materials that you may encounter include:

• Wool.
• Cotton.
• Berber.

Wool carpets are the most expensive types of carpet, and they’re more difficult to clean. Cotton is also a costly carpet material. Our research indicates that wool and cotton carpets can cost up to 30% more to clean than other types of carpets.

On the other hand, Berber carpets are affordable and don’t require as much careful attention to detail to clean.

Stairs

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Carpet on stairs can be tricky to clean, so expect a higher professional carpet cleaning cost than average. Not only is cleaning here often neglected, but the angles can also make it difficult to reach every nook and cranny.

Most carpet cleaning businesses charge a separate carpet cleaning stairs cost and even exclude them from the square footage count. We determined through our tests that this additional price ranges from $2-$3 per step.

For jobs that require stair cleaning, add a section in your carpet cleaning estimate template titled “additional costs.”

Stains

Just like stairs, you should also present stains as an extra charge in your carpet cleaning estimate, as they usually require special cleaning products and extra care to remove.

Examples of common carpet stains include:

• Pet stains.
• Food spills.
• Blood.
• Ink.

Of course, the harder the stain is to remove, the more that it will cost in your carpet estimate and be above the average carpet cleaning cost.

Moving furniture

In an ideal world, every customer moves furniture before you arrive.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, and you may find yourself spending an hour moving obstacles before you begin working on the carpet.

Since you aren’t a moving business, and this requires extra time, you should charge an additional fee for moving your customer’s furniture before you begin the cleaning process.

To avoid this and ensure that you are working in a clean home, explain to your customers beforehand how they should prepare their home for carpet cleaning.

Type of home

Finally, the type of home plays a part in how you estimate the cost of carpet cleaning, mainly because of the square footage.

A three-story home typically has more square footage and stairs, so you need to price it at a higher rate than your carpet cleaning cost for 1 bedroom apartment.

Let’s take a closer look at how the size of a home helps you estimate carpet cleaning costs.

Estimating carpet cleaning cost

Through our practical knowledge, there are two main ways to estimate the cost of a job as a professional carpet cleaner: per square foot and per room.

Per square foot

Our research indicates that the average carpet cleaning cost per square foot is $0.25.

Take your rate per square foot and multiply it by the square footage of the areas of the house that you clean to get your total estimate price.

Rate per square foot x Total square footage = Final estimate price

For commercial carpet cleaning prices per square foot, you will use the same formula but likely with a different rate that’s based on the difficulty and frequency of the job.

Charging per square foot is the easiest method of estimating carpet cleaning costs, but make sure you factor in any variables, such as different types of carpet in separate rooms or stairs.

You can add this formula to your carpet cleaning estimate template so that all you have to do is plug the numbers in.

Per room

The average cost of carpet cleaning per room is $25 – $70. However, if you choose to charge your customers per room, you have to keep in mind the size of the room.

If the house’s main bedroom is twice as big as the other bedrooms, it will take more time to clean, so you should adjust your carpet cleaning cost per room accordingly.

Estimating per room lets you consider other factors in your calculations more easily, such as the type of carpet in each room.

Now that you know how to estimate the cost of carpet cleaning, let’s look at the cleaning methods you can use and how they affect your prices.

Various methods to clean carpets

The different factors that influence carpet cleaning prices affect how you clean your customer’s carpet. Consequently, this affects your prices to be more or less than the average cost for carpet cleaning.

Our findings show that there are three main cleaning methods professional carpet cleaners use:

• Steam cleaning.
• Shampoo cleaning.
• Dry cleaning.

Let’s discuss all three options in more detail.

Steam cleaning

Steam cleaning is the most popular carpet cleaning method amongst professionals and is the preference for most homeowners. Drawing from our experience, when people think of steam, they often think of a “deep clean.”

Steam cleaning uses pressure to insert hot water and product into the carpet fibers to loosen the dirt.

Another benefit of steam cleaning for your customer is that it usually doesn’t affect their carpet warranty, which other forms of cleaning such as shampooing will.

The cost of steam cleaning carpets ranges from $100-$500.

Shampoo cleaning

If you need a heavier duty option for tough stains, carpet shampooing is a trusted method.

However, over time, we found that shampoo cleaning is used less and less these days because of the number of chemicals and water consumption it requires.

Shampoo cleaning costs range from $80-$400.

Dry cleaning

Dry carpet cleaning, also known as encapsulation carpet cleaning, is usually used for quick and light cleaning. This is because it uses fewer chemicals and much less water than other cleaning methods.

Dry cleaning isn’t completely dry but only uses a small amount of moisture. It still requires a couple of hours of dry time after the cleaning.

After putting it to the test, we found that the cost of dry carpet cleaning ranges from $75-$350.

Now that you know the top cleaning methods and the average cost to clean carpet with these approaches, it’s time to determine how much to charge for carpet cleaning services.

How much to charge for carpet cleaning

Based on our firsthand experience, knowing how much your business should charge for carpet cleaning services is the first step towards creating your carpet cleaning estimate template. To help you out, below are some of the most common carpet cleaning jobs and their average prices.

Remember, these are professional carpet cleaning costs averages. Your business does not have to charge these exact prices to be competitive.

To determine the right prices for your business, you should have a thorough understanding of:

• How much does it cost to get carpets cleaned.
• How much is carpet cleaning per square foot.
• Your competition’s prices.
• The market rate for your services in your area.
• Your overhead.
• Your desired profit margin.

House carpet cleaning

Depending on the size of the house and how many rooms you’re cleaning, house carpet cleaning can cost anywhere from $175 for a typical three-bedroom home to $600 for a larger house.

If your customer requests cleaning for the carpet in their entire house, it’s more efficient to charge by the square foot. If the carpet varies throughout the house, you should charge per room.

Apartment carpet cleaning

Because apartments are usually smaller with more uniform flooring than single-family homes, it’s more efficient to charge per room.

When estimating the cost of apartment cleaning, make sure you understand what type of building your customer lives in because this affects how much you should charge for overall services.

For example, suppose your customer lives on a high floor or, even worse, in a building without elevators. In that case, you should charge an additional fee for the inconvenience of transporting your equipment.

Commercial and office carpet cleaning

While there isn’t a magic commercial carpet cleaning cost calculator, most carpet cleaning businesses charge less for commercial cleaning services than for residential cleaning services. Here’s why.

Based on our observations, commercial spaces such as offices usually have less furniture than a home, making the carpet easier to access and faster to clean.

Larger offices also prioritize the overall appearance of the space rather than fussing over individual stains.

Now that you have all the information you need to price your carpet cleaning jobs, you’re ready to start creating estimates.

How to create a cleaning estimate

Creating an estimate is much easier when you have a carpet cleaning estimate template or carpet estimating software ready for use.

Here is some information you should include in your carpet cleaning estimate template to ensure that you always give your customer all the information they need.

Your business information

As indicated by our tests, the first thing that should appear on your carpet cleaning estimates is your business information and your customer details.

You should include your:

• Business name.
• Business address.
• Email address and phone number.

Your customer information section should include:

• Customer name.
• Customer address.
• Customer contact information.

Get your customer to confirm that all of their information is correct when you give them their estimate.

Logo to brand your business

If you have a logo for your business, add it to your carpet cleaning estimate template so that it appears on every estimate.

If you don’t yet have a logo, consider creating one to brand your business and make it recognizable in your field. As per our expertise, it will help differentiate yourself in your field and draw more customers in.

Estimate number

For organization purposes, every estimate should have its own unique estimate number. If a customer calls inquiring about services you performed, you can use their estimate number to pull up their information easily.

Based on our firsthand experience, you’ll thank yourself for using estimate numbers when it comes time to review your sales and revenue for the past year.

Estimate date

The date is another important piece of information to include for organization purposes. It’s helpful for both you and your customer to have as a reference.

Make sure to also note the date that you perform the work.

Labor and supply costs

Labor is your business’s largest expense and is a huge factor to consider when establishing your prices.

Since carpet cleaning businesses usually charge per square foot or per room, you don’t need to represent labor in your estimate. However, make sure you cover your labor expenses when factoring in overhead.

Likewise, standard materials you use for every job, such as a vacuum, do not need to be listed in your estimate. However, if a job requires specialized supplies, such as a certain cleaning product, you should include it as an additional cost.

Discount (if applicable)

If your business is running a sale or offering a discount, be sure to honor it and adjust the final price in your estimate.

Make it clear to your customer that the discount was already applied to the final total when you give them their estimate.

Carpet cleaning estimate FAQ

• How much should I charge to clean carpets?
• How to create a carpet cleaning estimate template.

How much should I charge to clean

The amount you charge for your carpet cleaning services depends on several factors, including:

• The type of carpet.
• When carpet installation took place.
• The condition of the carpet.
• How big the house is.
• The number of rooms to be cleaned.
• Whether any objects or junk need to be removed before cleaning.

Consider each of these factors when estimating how much a job will cost, then charge per square foot or room.

Image credit: Lightfield Studios via Adobe Stock