The cleaning industry is a real money-spinner in South Africa. This is boosted by the fact that this is a clean country populated by people who would rather spend a few Rands to keep their environment clean now than spend a lot of money treating illnesses that arise from living or working in unsanitary conditions.
But how much is the ideal price to pay for a cleaning job? That depends on a lot of factors like your location, the size of the place you want to be cleaned, the extent of the cleaning, and how much the cleaner thinks you are worth!
This post is just a guide to help you determine what a fair price for a cleaning service in South Africa should be. The prices listed here are not fixed, and so there is plenty of room for negotiation. You can get a client to pay more, and you can get a cleaner to take less.
How Much Do Cleaning Companies Charge in South Africa
All prices quoted include VAT
Regular Domestic or Office cleaning: This involves the cleaning of the floors, furniture, toilets, and other places within the home or office. This is a service in which you retain the services of the cleaner.
| Cleaning with your materials | Cleaning with Cleaners materials |
| R50.50 P/Hr | R65.75 P/Hr |
Oneoff Domestic or Office cleaning: A one-off cleaning service is just a one-day contract to thoroughly clean up your work or living area, including toilets and windows.
| Cleaning with your materials | Cleaning with Cleaners materials |
| R360.00 P/Hr | R480 P/Hr |
After Builders clean: this service is for brand new buildings that have not been inhabited yet. Of course, builders can leave quite a mess behind, and some of the building materials could contain chemicals that do not agree with certain people.
| Cleaning with your materials | Cleaning with Cleaners materials |
| R75.50 P/Hr | R80.50 P/Hr |
How much do cleaning services cost in South Africa?
The following are prices that are reasonable for cleaning jobs depending on the size of the place in South Africa. Of course, there has to be some difference between a house that is carpeted, and another that has no carpet.
Studio flat Carpet Steam Clean: R400.00 No Carpet (Normal) R360.00
1 Bedroom Carpet Steam Clean: R450.00 No Carpet (Normal) R400.00
2 Bedroom Carpet Steam Clean: R550.00 No Carpet (Normal) R475.00
3 Bedroom Carpet Steam Clean: R650.00 No Carpet (Normal) R600.00
4 Bedroom Carpet Steam Clean: R800.00 No Carpet (Normal) R750.00
5 Bedroom Carpet Steam Clean: R1000.00 No Carpet (Normal) R850.00
6 Bedrooms Carpet Steam Clean: R1150.00 No Carpet (Normal) R1100.00
Upholstery Cleaning: this is the specialized cleaning for your furniture. It will remove dust, and revive the colour; giving it a shiny look as it was the day you bought it. Of course, the prices depend on the size of the furniture in question.
Cleaning a Two seated sofa costs around R300.00.
Cleaning a Three-seater sofa costs around R400.00.
Cleaning Armchair costs around R200.00.
Cleaning a Dining chair costs around R70.00.
Leather Cleaning: This of course is more than just wiping the leather upholstery, or shaking off the dust; this involves polishing the leather, to restore shine!
Cleaning a Two Seater Sofa costs around R450.00.
Cleaning a Three Seated Sofa costs around R550.00.
Cleaning a leather Armchair costs around R300.00.
Cleaning a Dining Chair costs around R150.00.
Rug Cleaning
Rug cleaning is a delicate and time-consuming business that constitutes an essential part of a comprehensive cleaning service. The thing is that some apartments have more carpets than others and so they should naturally incur some extra costs compared to others. The following prices are the going rates for cleaning the carpets of your home, depending on the size of the apartment.
Single bedroom costs about R320.00
Double bedroom costs R400.00
Lounge from costs about R400.00
Dining room costs about R350.00
Hallway costs about R220.00
Landing costs about R70.00
Staircase per step costs about R20.00
Bathroom costs about R170.00
Regular Domestic Cleaning Services
From R475.00 – R625.00 Per day
Regular Domestic Cleaning Services is having the same cleaner at your house every week, for as many days as you require. Sometimes one person is enough, and other times your house is too big for a single person to clean, and so you need to hire an entire crew.
This option also provides for safety because you know the people cleaning your house; if anything gets broken or missing, it should be easier rectified. Also, retaining a cleaner or a cleaning company saves you the trouble of constantly worrying about letting strangers into your home.
Spring Cleaning
From R1680.00
Spring Cleaning is a top to bottom thorough cleaning of your home; including all the nooks and crannies. This service is specialist and involves moving things around when necessary, so as to give you a complete and thorough clean. When done by a trusted company with whom you have worked for a long time, you don’t even have to be present while this is done. The cleaners will do their job, and by the time you get back, your home will be shining like new.
End of Tenancy Cleaning
From R1955.00
Sometimes a tenancy agreement includes cleaning up the place after the expiry of your tenancy. Other times you may need to do a thorough cleaning of a place before moving in. Whether it is a Pre or post-Move-in or move-out cleaning, it has to be thorough and deep, and so the cleaning costs are reflective of the price.
Related:
- Business Opportunities In South Africa Under R10,000
- How Much Does It Cost To Build A House In South Africa
Conclusion:
The South African cleaning industry is based on free-market economics and so on How much do cleaning services cost in South Africa, while the prices we have provided in this post are good as guidelines, they can help you have an idea of how much other people are paying for similar cleaning jobs.
Furthermore, if you are a new business person who has just started a cleaning business, and want to know how much to charge clients for your services, then you should bear in mind that there is room for negotiation. Allow customers to review the prices down a little, as long as you are still able to make a profit. Keep in mind that the big cleaning companies who display these prices most likely started from lower charges, and then gradually reviewed the prices upwards.