Hiring a professional house cleaning service is a helpful way to have a healthy home even when your work and personal schedule is packed. House cleaning prices vary based on how many square feet your home is, how dirty your house gets, and how often the cleaning service comes. Some companies charge a set amount — such as 5 cents — per square foot, with a minimum amount, such as $100. The national average cost for house cleaning ranges between $110 and $150. Prices can be lower in areas with a lower cost of living, higher in big cities or affluent regions. You may save money by increasing the frequency of your house cleaning visits. Often a company will charge you less per cleaning when you schedule more cleanings per month. The cost advantage rewards your loyalty, and also reflects the fact that more frequent cleanings make it easier to maintain a high level of cleanliness in your home. A housecleaning service may charge more for the first visit or for one-time services than for recurring cleanings.

Dirty carpets can be unhealthy for the people living in the home, particularly those who have allergies, so it’s important to have them cleaned regularly; simply vacuuming once or twice a week isn’t enough. Carpet cleaning should be done by a professional carpet cleaning service at least once a year to remove grime and help extend the life of your carpet. Most carpet manufacturers recommend professional steam cleaning, which penetrates deep into the carpet fibers and lifts out both dirt and the pollutants that get tracked inside. Steam cleaning also removes most of the moisture, so carpets dry quickly enough for homeowners to resume using them the same day. Between professional carpet cleanings, your carpet may need an emergency spot cleaning. Pet accidents, food or drink spills, and more can often be effectively cleaned with some water and a drop of white vinegar, although many cleaners will also make house calls for smaller spills and hard-to-clean spots like wine or grease stains.

From your carpets to your drapes to your furniture, all fabrics need to be cleaned. Cleaning upholstery, or the fabric on your furniture, removes the dirt and oils that are transferred to couches and chairs through regular use. Because furniture upholstery can be delicate and colors can fade easily, it’s often a good idea to let professional sofa cleaners handle the job. They’ll determine the type of fabric — usually cotton, linen, wool, suede or microfiber — and the appropriate method for cleaning it, either steam-cleaning or applying a dry-cleaning solvent. In general, cleaning an entire piece of furniture includes a pretreatment, cleaning, and neutralizing rinse to the body, plus removing and cleaning all cushions and cleaning all crevices.

An upholstery cleaner may clean the entire piece of furniture, on a regular schedule or by request, or do spot treatments to remove pet, food, drink, or oil and grease stains. Furniture can also be deodorized to remove the smell of pets or tobacco smoke. Furniture that’s used often, like that in your family room, should be cleaned once a year to keep it fresh and extend its life. Sofa cleaners often also offer repair services to mend tears in fabric or patch holes in leather.

Whether your pet had an accident, the party got too wild, or your kids can’t control their juice boxes — we all need rug cleaning from time to time. In fact, even if you don’t have a spill or spot, it’s wise to have your area rug cleaned approximately once a year to keep the rug fibers in good health. In general, rug cleaning prices depend on the square footage of the rug, what the rug is made of, whether any repairs are needed, and whether you require the pro to travel to your location or provide pickup and drop-off services. Nationally, average area rug cleaning prices range from $80 to $120.

Wool and silk area rugs typically cost more to clean than rugs made from synthetic fibers because the more delicate materials take more care and may require specialized cleaning fluids. For example, a synthetic rug may cost $1.50 per square foot to clean; a wool, cotton, or chiffon rug could be $2 per square foot; and a silk or Navajo wool rug could cost $3 per square foot. The two most common rug cleaning methods are steam and chemical cleaning. The costs for the two methods are often the same, although a steam-cleaned rug will take longer to dry due to the moisture. If your area rug needs odor removal, moth deterrent, or hand washing, there will be additional charges.

Moving is hard enough work even before you have to clean the empty home to perfection. Instead of scrubbing your tile grout with a toothbrush, hire a professional cleaning company to provide move-out cleaning services for you. For moving out of an apartment, cleaning prices can range from $110 to $150. When scheduling a move-out cleaning, talk with the pro and confirm all the key points they will clean to ensure you receive your deposit back.

Important areas to have cleaned include the fridge interior, the oven interior, bathroom tile, the shower and tub, all blinds, and sometimes the walls. Some cleaning companies do not quote a flat rate for a move-out cleaning, as the number of hours it may take to clean structurally identical apartments could vary greatly depending on how clean or dirty the inhabitants were. For example, move-out house cleaning prices may range from $150 to $180 for one- or two-bedroom apartments.