The Costs of Carpet Cleaning

The carpeting industry recommends that you have your carpets professionally cleaned every 12 to 18 months.  By contrast, the average homeowner has his/her carpets cleaned every seven years (keep in mind that this is the average, so over half wait even longer than that).  The reason that most homeowners don’t do this frequently is that many people simply don’t know, and there are some misconceptions about the costs involved.  Below, we’ll clear up some of these issues:

The Average Cost
The average home has approximately 1000 square feet (sq ft) of carpet.  On average, carpet cleaning costs on a home of this size comes to approximately 30 cents per foot, which brings the total carpet cleaning cost to $300.  Divide that by seven, and the typical home spends $43 for clean carpets.  If you have a bigger home, chances are, you have more carpet.  In this case, you’ll most likely get a “per square foot” discount, since your home is a bigger job. 

Less Space, More $
From the cleaning companies’ perspective, they have to make a profit.  So if you have a smaller home (i.e., less than 1000 square feet of carpet), they’ll have to raise the price per square foot.  They have to do the same amount of prep work (setting up and breaking down of equipment, carrying of the hoses, driving ot your home), which takes more time than you’d think.  So don’t think they’re ripping you off if your price per square foot is higher than your neighbors’, because ultimately, you’ll still end up paying less overall.

Money-Saving Tips
If you do find that your carpet cleaning costs are more than you’d like them to be, here are some tricks that might save you some money. 

1) As we mentioned above, most homeowners have their carpets cleaned every seven years.  If you schedule a regular yearly cleaning with your company, they’ll get to know your name and face, and you’ll be in a better position to ask for a discount, since you are a regular customer. 

2) Next, most companies who clean carpets also do other cleanings, like your upholstery or heating ducts.  If you hire a company to do a bunch of these chores at the same time, the entire cleaning will cost more, but you’ll save money on each individual process, since they’re only making one trip.  After all, if they do a good job, you’d most likely use them for other jobs, right?  Why not combine and save?