Imagine it’s 12 months from now.

Your Oreck Orbiter is humming, and you’re smiling. You just checked your business account balance, and it’s up over $70,000.

Your carpet cleaning business is up and rolling.

You can beat a path to that sudsy-clean future. Start with the concentrated advice from a survey of 53 pros who’ve done it. It’s all in this guide on how to start a carpet cleaning business.

Their biggest tip? High prices mean less work and happier clients.

★★★★★

“In just a few days of the free trial, I knew this was the future of my business.”

-Nathan S, Business Owner

Step 1: Decide on financing for your carpet cleaning business

First things first.

There are two paths to starting a successful carpet cleaning company:

Method A: High budget

More than half the pros in our survey (60%) started with a big budget around $60,000. Most of the money goes into a van with a truck mounted carpet cleaning system.

TCS, SteamAction, Sapphire Scientific, and Hydramaster make the best truck mounts. You can get a new one for $15,000 (up to $50,000) or a used one as low as $3,000.

Truck mounts work by pressure washing carpets from a unit in your truck, then sucking out the dirty water through long hoses. They’re the bigger cousins of the carpet cleaners you can rent at Walmart, but a lot more powerful. If you don’t have starting money, you’ll need plenty of financing to buy one.

Method B: Work your way up

A large and very vocal minority (40%) of the pros in our survey say to get started with a much lower budget. They recommend very-low moisture (VLM) or hot-water extraction (HWE) carpet cleaning, such as with an Oreck Orbiter, Mytee, or Sandia. Orbiters aren’t as powerful as truck mounts and they take more time, but they cost hundreds, not thousands.

Then, invest in a truck mount once you’ve got a good client list and you’re making money. You may still need financing with this bootstrapped method, but not nearly as much. Many pros say (loudly) not to start your business this way, but the ones who’ve done it swear by it.

Pro Tip: If you choose the budget method, consider buying an extractor instead of an orbiter. Orbiters do a great job, but many pros find their customers don’t like the look of them.

Step 2: Learn to clean carpets

You don’t have to be a master to start a carpet cleaning business, but— 

You need at least a little education.

Method A: Learn on the job

By far the best way to learn carpet cleaning is to work for a successful business. You don’t have to do it forever. Six months will work. One year is ideal. You’ll make a lot less money at first, but you’ll get a handle on whether starting a carpet cleaning business is right for you.

Method B: YouTube university

For a crash course, you can watch online videos that fit your chosen cleaning method. If you’ll use a truck mount, do a YouTube search for “how to clean carpets with a truck mount.” If you’ll use VLM, look for “how to clean carpets with an Oreck Orbiter” or “Mytee Extractor.” At first, offer free or (heavily) discounted cleans to family and friends to gain experience.

Pro Tip: To get the inside scoop on cleaning carpets, start reading Facebook Forums like Truck Mount Forums, Cleaners Connect, or Pad Life – For All Things VLM.

Step 3: Make your carpet cleaning business legal

“Yes, we’re licensed and insured.”

Some homeowners and business owners will hire an unlicensed carpet cleaning business, but—

They’re not the customers who pay good money.

The good news? You can make your business legal in an hour or two. Here’s how:

Register your carpet cleaning business

You don’t need to pay good money to an LLC formation service. Instead:

1. Choose a business structure. An LLC protects your assets (like your house) if someone sues you. A corporation does the same thing, but with different tax rules. There are other business types, but these are the most common for a carpet cleaning company.
2. Get an EIN number from the IRS.
3. Register your business with your state’s secretary of state. (Most states have an online business registration portal you can find on Google.)
4. Call your town or city’s business office and ask them for a business license. Most local municipalities require a license for tax tracking.
5. Check online to see if your state requires a carpet cleaning license. A few states (like California) may require a contractor’s license for carpet cleaning companies.

Open a business bank account

If you start an LLC or corporation, you’ll need a dedicated bank account to separate your business money from your personal money. Online banks like Relay or BlueVine offer inexpensive business checking with online payments to employees. 

Get business insurance

It’s cheap and easy to get business insurance for your carpet cleaning business. Million-dollar Thimble policies start at $17 a month.

Step 4: Set your prices

This part isn’t complicated.

1. Do an online search for “carpet cleaning prices” + your state and town name.
2. Look at a few local businesses to find the average price. (For instance, the average carpet cleaner in Youngstown, Ohio charges around $60 per room.)
3. If you’re starting with a truck mount, set your initial prices slightly lower than average.
4. If you’re starting with a VLM or other portable unit, set your prices significantly lower than average.
5. Once you have your first few clients, raise your prices to the local average or above.

As a rough guide, one of the pros in our survey charged a minimum of $110 for a cleaning, plus $40 for each additional room.

Pro Tip: It’s hard to start with high prices and no experience. But in the long run, higher prices lead to easier jobs and better customers. The lower your prices, the harder you’ll work and the less satisfied your customers will be.

Step 5: Write a carpet cleaning business plan

Do you really need a carpet cleaning business plan?

Yes.

A business plan will help you get financing. Even if you don’t need startup money, a plan will help you dodge the pitfalls.

Here’s how to write a business plan for a carpet cleaning company:

1. Write a company description: Describe what your company will do.
2. List your carpet cleaning offerings: Explain whether you’ll serve residential or commercial clients with VLM, HWE, or truck-mounted carpet cleaning.
3. Analyze the market: How many carpet cleaning companies are in your area? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Read some online reviews and write up a comparison.
4. Describe your strategy: Share how your business will stand out, and how it will operate.
5. List your company leadership: Describe your management team, even if it’s only you.
6. Write a financial plan and projections: List your estimated costs (with links to where you’ll buy equipment) and a good guess at your revenue. Create three-year projections of your P&L statement, balance sheet, and cash flow. (You may need to have an accountant do this for you.)
7. Cap it off with a summary: Write a summary of the entire document and put it at the top.

Pro Tip: A small-business plan should be 15 to 20 pages and about 4,000 to 8,000 words. If you have writer’s block, you can tell ChatGPT your details from the list above, then have it write your plan.

Step 6: Buy carpet cleaning equipment and supplies

“Prepared” looks good on you.

Not including the van, expect to pay $900 for a used, inexpensive setup or as much as $60,000 for a brand new truck-mount, plus the tools to go with it.

Carpet cleaning equipment

• Van/vehicle
• Dry vacuum: $150 to $450 new or $50 used. (See our cleaning supplies list article for more dry vac options.)
• Carpet cleaning machine (Choose one):
• VLM (very low moisture) orbiter: $450 new or $100 used 
• HWE (hot water) extractor: How $1,000 new or $700 used
• Truck mount: $20,000 to $40,000 new or $6,000 used
• Counter rotating brush (CRB): $2,500 new or $700 used. You only need this if you’re using a truck mount.
• Manual carpet brush: $70. This makes carpets look fluffy after you clean them. You won’t need one if you have a CRB.
• Hoses and brushes: These may come with your orbiter, extractor, or CRB.
• Carpet wand: $400 to $2000 or $150 used
• Stair tool: $130
• Upholstery tool: $60
• Fans: $25 each, buy 2

Personal protective equipment

• Safety glasses: $5 each
• Nitrile gloves: $10
• Overshoes: $20

Carpet cleaning chemicals

• Pre spray: $45
• Low-moisture detergent: Use this for VLM. $55
• Carpet detergent: Use this for HWE and truck mounts. $40
• Spot remover: 10
• Acid rinse: $25
• Pet odor remover: $35
• Defoamer: $35

Pro Tip: A portable carpet cleaner can clean carpets just as well as any truck mount. It takes more time and elbow grease, which is why many pros use truck mounts.

Step 7: Get customers

Let’s get your phone ringing.

The carpet cleaning business advertising tips below can help you get your first few customers. Most of them are free, easy, and take little time.

• Google Business Profile (GBP): Make a GBP before you do anything else. If customers search for carpet cleaning in your area, they won’t find you unless you have a GBP. You can make one at the GBP creation page at Google.
• Free Nextdoor account: You may have a hard time getting your website to rank, but Nextdoor doesn’t, and you can make a free page on their site.
• Free Facebook business page: Potential customers search Facebook for local services, so make a free Facebook business page. Then, make a free ad with Canva’s Facebook ad generator, and put it in the Facebook Marketplace.
• Door hangers: Put your services and prices on door hangers, and hang 10 to 20 a day at homes and businesses. You can get them cheap at VistaPrint or Zazzle.
• Cold calls: Ugh, right? But it works because nobody else likes doing it either. Call local homes and offices or show up in person. If nobody’s home, leave your door hanger.
• Shirts, signs, and other advertising: Once you get rolling, wear a shirt with your logo as a conversation starter. You can also put a sign on your vehicle, give out fridge magnets, and have customers place yard signs in exchange for a discount. Save the van wrap for later because it’s expensive.
• Referrals: After the first few months in business, most pros get new customers from referrals. To get them, do excellent work, then ask a few days later if they’re satisfied. If they say yes, offer a discount to refer their friends or share your Facebook ad with someone who then hires you.

Pro Tip: Before you can make door hangers or signs, you’ll need a company name. Put “carpet cleaning” in your business name. That makes it easy for customers to understand your offering, and easy for Google to rank your website and Google Business Profile for terms like “carpet cleaner near me.” Need inspiration? Ask ChatGPT to think up 10-20 names.

Step 8: Grow your carpet cleaning business

How much do you want to make?

You’ll make more if you’re more efficient, because a company that spends less time chasing down late payments, invoicing, creating quotes and estimates, and driving from job to job can clean more pile.

Use a carpet cleaning business CRM like GorillaDesk to handle all your busy work. GorillaDesk is a full-featured carpet cleaning software tool to trim your workload, tame your schedule, and track invoicing.

GorillaDesk is the highest-rated cleaning company software on top review sites like Capterra for a good reason. Our exemplary customer service chats with you in three minutes on average, and our interface is legendary for its ease of use and full-featured power. Call for a free demo today.