What should you charge for carpet cleaning?

Carpet cleaning has one famous trap, and you've probably seen the ad for it: "$99 whole house." It works as bait, and it loses money on the truck unless every other line (oversized rooms, stairs, pet treatment, upholstery) is priced honestly. The headline gets the call; the add-ons and an enforced minimum make the day pay. Here's how to price so you're not the one eating the bait.

Per room or per square foot

Both models are legitimate; the right one depends on the job:

• Per room ($30–$60) is simple, fast to quote over the phone, and what most homeowners expect. The catch is the word "room." A 12×12 bedroom and a 20×25 great room are not the same job. Protect yourself with a room-size cap (commonly up to ~200–300 sq ft) and count anything bigger, or a combined living/dining space, as two rooms. State the cap when you quote so it isn't a fight on arrival.
• Per square foot ($0.20–$0.40) is more precise and removes the room-size argument entirely. It's the standard for large homes and commercial work, where "rooms" stop being meaningful.

A practical approach many pros use: quote per room to homeowners for simplicity, but measure on site so an oversized room gets priced fairly. The customer hears a clean number; you don't clean 600 square feet for the price of 200.

Steam (hot water extraction) vs encapsulation

Method affects both your cost and your price, and the right choice is about the carpet and the situation, not dogma:

• Hot water extraction ("steam cleaning") is the deeper residential clean. It flushes soil out of the fiber and is what most homeowners picture. It uses more water and has a longer dry time (hours), and it generally prices higher because it's more thorough. A truck-mount unit is the workhorse here.
• Encapsulation is a low-moisture method where the chemical crystallizes around soil and is vacuumed up later. It dries fast, covers large areas efficiently, and is common for commercial maintenance cleaning where the space has to go back into service quickly. It often prices lower per square foot because it's faster.

Neither is "better" in the abstract. Heavily soiled residential carpet wants extraction; a big office floor on a maintenance schedule wants encapsulation. Price each method to its own cost and speed, and recommend the one that actually fits the carpet.

Stairs, upholstery, and the add-ons that carry margin

The base clean is competitive; the add-ons are where a route gets profitable. Price each as its own line:

• Stairs. Slow, awkward, hard on your back, never free, never "part of a room." A common rate is $2–$4 per step, so a typical flight adds $30–$60. Count them and quote them.
• Upholstery. Priced by the piece: a sofa often $70–$150, chairs less, sectionals more. It's a real second service with its own tool and time, not a throw-in.
• Pet treatment. Enzyme/odor treatment for urine, and sub-floor or pad issues, are an upcharge, and worth being honest that severe contamination may not fully resolve from the top down. Set expectations before you treat.
• Spot and stain treatment. Heavy traffic lanes and set stains take extra product and dwell time.
• Carpet protectant. A fiber protector applied after cleaning is an easy, fair upsell with real value.
• Area rugs. Often priced separately by size or per square foot; delicate or wool rugs are a different specialty.

Residential vs commercial

Commercial work prices differently from residential. The square footage is larger and the per-foot rate is usually lower, but the dynamics change in your favor: repeat scheduled contracts (monthly or quarterly maintenance), encapsulation for fast turnaround, and after-hours work to avoid disrupting the business, which can carry a premium. Commercial accounts smooth out the feast-or-famine of residential and are worth pricing for volume and reliability rather than chasing the highest per-foot number.

What moves your price

Two same-size homes can fairly price differently. The honest drivers:

• Soiling level. Lightly maintained carpet versus years of traffic and pets means more passes, more chemical, more time.
• Carpet type and condition. Delicate fibers, berber, and wool need more care; very worn carpet may not respond well, and saying so up front protects you.
• Access and setup. Long hose runs from a truck-mount, upper floors, and tight parking add time. No nearby parking for the truck-mount is a real factor.
• Furniture moving. Decide whether you move furniture or clean around it, and price (or exclude) it explicitly.
• Minimum. The floor under everything. A one-room job doesn't cover a truck roll without your $99–$150 minimum. Enforce it.

Carpet cleaning is a volume, route-density, repeat-customer business. The operators who win book efficiently, show up in the window, and make rebooking and paying simple. Claver runs that side: online booking, route-friendly scheduling, invoicing, recurring commercial jobs, and card or Stripe payment on site, so you can keep the wand moving and the calendar full.