Did you know that having your carpets steam cleaned regularly will actually save you money in the long run?
I mean, that’s a pretty big deal right! Who’d pass that up!
If you’ve ever considered getting your carpets professionally cleaned, you’d probably be unsure about how much it costs. Are there factors that influence the cost? How is the cost calculated?
We totally understand that you may have these questions circling your mind when it comes to carpet cleaning season – many of our clients do. Getting your office’s carpet cleaned right seems like a simple task, but there are 5 variables that impact the cost of commercial carpet cleaning.
However, as a general rule, you can expect to pay anywhere from $1.50 per sqm all the way to $15 per sqm.
In this article, we’re going to dive deep into the 5 factors that influence carpet cleaning cost, and also go through different pricing options for different sized sites, and extra cleaning applications such as disinfection and anti-bacterial treatment.
Let’s get into it.
What factors influence carpet cleaning cost?
Calculating the cost of carpet cleaning isn’t as simple as it may seem.
Just like many other services out there, various factors can influence the overall cost you’ll pay.
And it’s important for you to know what will make up your final cost so you don’t walk away wondering, “what’s included in this figure?”
This is exactly what we don’t want for you! So, we’ve decided to give you the top 5 factors that will affect your carpet cleaning cost before we go into actual per sqm pricing.
-
The type of carpet
Carpet’s just carpet….why does the type matter?
Well, generally these days you’ll find 100% polypropylene (plastic) carpet in most modern commercial offices. They’re essentially a bunch of big tiles that are stuck on a floor. If you think about it this way, carpet tiles are like microfibre as they’re tightly woven and don’t get pilling (you know, those small bobs on top of the fabric).
In fact, polypropylene carpet is near on indestructible. Because of its strong, hard-wearing, waterproof, long-lasting, and other special characteristics, it’s easy to clean as it:
- Holds onto less dirt
- Releases stains quickly and easily
- Dries instantly, or very fast if cleaned properly
However, quality carpet (that’s rarely installed in commercial offices these days), is a lot harder to clean because you need to be careful with over-wetting the carpet as they are generally made of wool (natural fibre).
If you have carpet tiles in your workplace, your carpet cleaning cost will always be less than that of a quality carpet (less work etc. needed).
-
Location
Now we’re not talking about where you’re located in Brisbane, but rather where your carpeted areas are in your premises.
Is your office easily accessible on the ground floor?
Or will our cleaners need to make their way up and down multiple floors within your multi-story building?
Depending on where you have carpet in your office, your commercial carpet cleaning cost will be affected.
-
Frequency
If you go to the gym more often, it becomes easier (although who has time for this… 😜).
If you get your carpets cleaned more often, the job is much easier.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Let me explain a little further.
When a carpet is extremely dirty and has a heap of stains all over, it makes common sense that steam cleaning it will be hard and will take a lot of time. What this means for you is that your overall cost will be more (remember, labour is the biggest expense for a cleaning company).
Think about it this way.
If you have your carpet steam cleaned once a year rather than once every few years, the overall cost will be less.
Why? Simple.
Your carpets will essentially be kept up to date (just like servicing your car) and will be clean for much longer rather than being so dirty that it takes extra labour to remove dirt that’s been sitting in the fibres for years.
Having your carpets steam cleaned once a year or more certainly outweighs having them cleaned whenever you feel like it.
After all, if there are ways to reduce your carpet cleaning cost, wouldn’t that be better?
-
Square meterage (size)
Size always comes into play.
When you have a landscaper come in and give you a quote, they always ask about the square meterage of your yard.
The same goes for carpet cleaning.
If you have 100sqm of carpet that needs steam cleaning compared to 1000sqm, then your cost will of course be much lower. You’ll see in the section below that In-Tec work out the cost of carpet cleaning by sqm.
Before you get to the actual pricing, try and work out how much carpet you need steam cleaned. From there, you’ll be able to figure out an approximate cost for carpet cleaning.
-
Additional costs
There are always those hidden costs that companies don’t disclose to you.
But we certainly aren’t one of those companies. To be as transparent and honest as possible to you, we’re going to list the additional costs you’ll come across with carpet cleaning. They are:
- The vehicle required to transport the equipment to and from the site
- Vehicle costs e.g. fuel
- Travel time to get the staff to and from the site
- Extra equipment that may be needed to complete the job e.g. blower (generally needed when an office doesn’t have air-conditioning in certain areas)
I will also note that for safety purposes, In-Tec usually has 2 cleaners on site every time. So, for example, in terms of travel time, both cleaners would receive this allowance.
Think of the additional costs like when you get a handyman to come in and fix your washing machine. They generally charge you travelling time, the total time they’re on-site for, plus parts. Commercial carpet cleaning is very similar.
How much you can expect to pay for carpet cleaning per sqm
Cost is something many of us fixate over.
So I do not doubt that you’re probably eager to find out how much your carpet cleaning will cost.
Let’s just get straight into it.
- For a big premises (1000sqm or over), you can expect to pay $1.50 per sqm.
- The average cost for carpet cleaning is between $2.25 to $2.50 per sqm.
- For a small premises (50sqm or less), you can expect to pay $15 per sqm.
All prices above include general carpet spotting, labour, and machinery. Essentially, all the basic things to get the job done properly. However, it does not include the additional costs mentioned above.
However, if you need heavy grease stains or blood stains cleaned, this does come at an extra cost as it requires special attention and takes a specialised chemical to get rid of them successfully.
🔍 I recommend reading our article How to Properly Steam Clean a Carpet. In here, you’ll find more detail about spraying and treating stains, and the full 6-step process our cleaners undertake when they conduct carpet cleaning at your site.
If you ever require your carpets to be disinfected, deodorised, or sprayed with anti-bacterial treatment, this also comes at an extra. The prices are as follows:
- 0.62c per sqm for disinfecting carpet (killing germs and bacteria before we clean the carpet)
- 0.55c per sqm for deodorising carpet
- 0.48c per sqm for antibacterial treatment (stops any further mould or fungus from growing)
And there you go! You now have all the information and pricing you need to work out a rough estimate for your commercial carpet cleaning cost.
Before we end here, I do want to let you know In-Tec’s minimum call out - $280. And this is generally for 50sqm or less of carpet cleaning. Anything above 50sqm we start working off of the per sqm rate which varies from $1.50 all the way to $15.
Your guide to professional carpet cleaning costs
Carpet is one of the most expensive investments in a business. It deserves proper maintenance and care. Because over time, an uncleaned carpet can harbour so many types of germs, bacteria, viruses, dirt, and dust, that you can’t even imagine!
One thing to remember is quality services aren’t always cheap – you don’t want to choose a business solely on price.
We understand that you’ll probably go out there and receive a couple of different quotes for carpet cleaning, and that’s okay. We may not always be the right fit for everyone. However, we do hope that by being transparent with our carpet cleaning pricing, you have a clearer idea of how much you’ll have to pay.
If you want to have a chat with the team at In-Tec about carpet cleaning costs or any other periodicals, just schedule a call with us. We’re always here to help answer any questions you may have!