Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning

Carpet and upholstery cleaning businesses deep clean carpets, rugs, furniture, and upholstered surfaces using hot water extraction (steam cleaning), dry cleaning, or encapsulation methods.

You remove stains, odors, and embedded dirt restoring appearance.

Per-room rates range from $30-$80 or whole-house cleaning $150-$500.

Completing 60-150 cleaning jobs monthly generates $90,000-$350,000 annually with 50-70% margins after equipment and supplies.

Target clients include homeowners with carpeted homes, property managers and landlords, commercial offices and buildings, real estate agents for move-outs, auto detailers for vehicle interiors, and pet owners with stains and odors.

Services include carpet steam cleaning, upholstery and furniture cleaning, area rug cleaning, stain and odor removal, pet odor treatment, and protective treatments (Scotchgard).

Success requires truck-mounted or quality portable extraction equipment, understanding of different carpet and fabric types, stain removal and chemistry knowledge, customer service during home visits, marketing to generate consistent jobs, and potentially offering tile/grout cleaning add-ons.

Many carpet cleaning services invest in truck-mounted systems for commercial work, offer packages combining carpets and upholstery, partner with real estate agents for rental turnovers, potentially franchise with national brands like Stanley Steemer or Chem-Dry, focus on residential or commercial niches, and build recurring maintenance customers cleaning carpets annually.