What is a cleaning service, and what are the other words for it?
A cleaning service is a business paid to clean someone else’s space on a schedule or for a one-off job: homes, offices, rentals, stores, clinics, job sites. The other words for a cleaning service describe who it cleans for: a maid service or housekeeping service cleans homes, a janitorial or custodial service cleans commercial buildings, environmental services (EVS) cleans hospitals, and building services or facility services companies bundle cleaning with other maintenance.
| Term | Usual market | What it signals to a buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Maid service, house cleaning service, housekeeping | Homes and apartments | Recurring visits, per-visit pricing, the same cleaner each time |
| Janitorial service, custodial service | Offices, schools, retail, warehouses | Nightly or weekly contract, monthly invoice, scope by square foot |
| Commercial cleaning | Any business premises | Broader than janitorial: can include floors, windows, post-construction |
| Environmental services (EVS) | Hospitals, clinics, long-term care | Infection-control procedures, documented disinfection |
| Building services, facility services | Large commercial properties | Cleaning plus maintenance, landscaping or security under one contract |
| Sanitation services | Food plants, restaurants | Cleaning and sanitizing to a food-safety plan |
| Turnover or turnaround cleaning | Short-term rentals, apartments | Clean between occupants, often same-day, restocking included |
The labor statistics follow the same split. O*NET lists 1,332,100 maids and housekeeping cleaners employed in the US in 2025, with a median wage of $17.07 an hour and accommodation and food services as the top industry, against 2,432,600 janitors and building cleaners at a $17.71 median, mostly in administrative and support services and education. The janitorial workforce is almost twice the size of the maid and housekeeping workforce, which itself is mostly hotel staff, and that is why so many residential companies eventually add an office account or two.
Residential cleaning services: the list
Residential cleaning services are priced per visit, bought by homeowners, renters, landlords and short-term rental hosts, and almost all of them can be delivered with the same kit. The list below is what a home cleaning company can sell, in the order most companies add them.
| Service | What it includes | Pricing model | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (recurring) cleaning | Kitchen, bathrooms, dusting, floors, beds, trash; weekly, biweekly or monthly | Flat per visit by beds and baths, or hourly | Working households, seniors, families with young children |
| Deep cleaning | Standard plus baseboards, inside cabinets and appliances, grout, blinds, behind furniture | Flat, usually 1.5 to 2.5 times the standard price | New recurring clients (first visit), spring and holiday cleans |
| Move-in and move-out cleaning | Empty-home deep clean: inside every cabinet and appliance, walls spot-cleaned, floors | Flat by size, often with a deposit-return deadline | Tenants, landlords, property managers, realtors |
| Short-term rental turnover | Clean, linen change, restock, staging, damage report, same-day between guests | Flat per turnover, laundry extra | Airbnb and vacation rental hosts, co-hosts, managers |
| Post-event or party cleanup | Trash, dishes, floors, bathrooms, outdoor area | Hourly with a minimum | Households after parties, small venues |
| Senior and in-home support cleaning | Light recurring cleaning, laundry, bed changes, sometimes with a care agency | Hourly, weekly | Older adults and their families |
| Add-ons | Inside oven, inside fridge, interior windows, laundry and folding, dishes, organizing, pet-area cleaning | Per item (HomeGuide lists $12 to $50 for fridge, oven and inside-cabinet cleaning) | Any residential client |
The task lists behind each row are already written: see the deep cleaning checklist, the move out cleaning checklist and the Airbnb cleaning checklist. Per-visit price ranges by home size are in our guide to house cleaning prices.
Commercial cleaning services: the list
Commercial cleaning services are sold as contracts: a scope of work by frequency, a monthly price, work done after hours, and payment on invoice terms. The buyer is an office manager, facility manager, property manager or franchise owner rather than the person whose space it is.
| Service | What it includes | Pricing model | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office janitorial | Trash, restrooms, kitchens, dusting, vacuuming, mopping; nightly to weekly | Monthly contract priced from square feet, frequency and restroom count | Office managers, landlords of multi-tenant buildings |
| Medical and dental office cleaning | Janitorial plus disinfection of exam rooms and high-touch points, documented | Monthly contract at a higher rate per square foot | Practice managers; requires training and often vaccination records |
| Retail and restaurant cleaning | Floors, restrooms, front-of-house; kitchens follow the operator’s sanitation plan | Monthly contract, or per visit for overnight floor work | Store and restaurant managers, franchisees |
| School, daycare and church cleaning | Classrooms, restrooms, cafeterias, gyms; daily during term | Annual contract, often via public bid | District facilities departments, directors, church boards |
| Gym and fitness cleaning | Equipment wipe-down, locker rooms, showers, floors; daily | Monthly contract | Gym owners and managers |
| Industrial and warehouse cleaning | Floor scrubbing, high dusting, restrooms, break rooms; sometimes machinery exteriors | Monthly contract or per project | Plant and warehouse managers |
| Post-construction cleaning | Rough clean, final clean and touch-up: dust, stickers, windows, fixtures, floors | Per square foot, in phases | General contractors, builders, developers |
| Common-area and apartment turnover cleaning | Lobbies, hallways, laundry rooms, plus vacant-unit cleans | Monthly for common areas, flat per unit for turnovers | Property management companies, HOAs |
Commercial bids are built from production rates: ISSA’s guide to calculating cleaning times shows the method, such as a restroom at 3 minutes per fixture or mopping at 5,355 square feet per hour, which you multiply by the building’s numbers and your hourly cost. Our office cleaning prices guide gives the per-square-foot ranges, and the commercial cleaning calculator runs the math. Winning the accounts is a separate subject: see commercial cleaning contracts.
Specialty cleaning services: equipment-based and regulated work
Specialty cleaning services are priced per unit, need their own equipment or certification, and are bought both by households and by businesses. They are the services a general cleaning company either adds as a second line or refers out for a fee.
| Service | Pricing unit | Equipment or credential | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpet and upholstery cleaning | Per room or per square foot; per piece for upholstery | Hot-water extraction machine; IICRC certification is the recognized credential | Homeowners, landlords between tenants, offices |
| Window cleaning | Per pane or per window, inside and out priced separately | Squeegees, poles, water-fed pole for height; ladder safety | Homeowners, storefronts, low-rise commercial |
| Pressure washing and soft washing | Per square foot of driveway, siding or deck | Pressure washer, surface cleaner, soft-wash pump | Homeowners, HOAs, property managers |
| Air duct and dryer vent cleaning | Per system or per vent; dryer vents flat | Negative-air machine, agitation tools; NADCA membership is the industry mark | Homeowners with pets or allergies, after renovation; landlords for dryer vents |
| Kitchen exhaust hood cleaning | Per hood system, on a fire-code schedule | Pressure washing, degreasers, access to roofs; follows NFPA 96 | Restaurants, commercial kitchens, insurers demand it |
| Floor care (strip and wax, buffing, tile and grout) | Per square foot | Floor machine, auto-scrubber, burnisher | Offices, schools, retail, healthcare |
| Disinfection services | Per square foot or per visit | EPA-registered products, electrostatic or fogging equipment used per label | Offices, gyms, schools, clinics, after illness outbreaks |
| Biohazard, trauma and hoarding cleanup | Per job, estimated on site | PPE, regulated waste disposal, OSHA bloodborne pathogens training, state permits in some states | Property owners, insurers, public agencies |
| Trash can and bin cleaning | Per bin per visit, on a route | Truck-mounted bin washer with water reclaim | Households by subscription, HOAs |
Two of these carry claims you must be able to back. Duct cleaning: NADCA, the industry association, says its rule of thumb is that if ducts look dirty they probably are, and lists pets, allergies, smoke, water damage and renovation as reasons homeowners clean more often; sell it on those conditions, not on vague health promises. Disinfection: EPA defines disinfectants and sanitizers as registered antimicrobial pesticides, so a “disinfection service” means a registered product used by its label, with its contact time, not a mist of all-purpose cleaner.
Each specialty line has its own start-up guide on this site, including carpet cleaning, window cleaning, pressure washing and dryer vent cleaning.
What does a cleaning service do, and what does it not do?
A standard cleaning service cleans the kitchen, bathrooms, living areas and bedrooms: surfaces wiped, fixtures scrubbed, floors vacuumed and mopped, beds made, trash out. It does not organize, do heavy lifting, clean exteriors, handle biohazards or mold, or work at height, unless those are sold as separate services with their own price and equipment.
Included in a standard visit
- Kitchen: counters, backsplash, stovetop, sink, appliance exteriors, cabinet fronts, floor.
- Bathrooms: toilet, tub or shower, sink, mirror, fixtures, floor, restock if supplied.
- All rooms: dusting of reachable surfaces, switches and handles, vacuuming, mopping, trash and liners, beds made.
Sold as add-ons
- Inside the oven, inside the fridge, inside cabinets, interior windows and sills, blinds, baseboards (on a recurring clean), laundry, dishes, changing linens.
Usually excluded, or a different trade
- Moving heavy furniture or appliances, anything above a two-step stool, exterior windows above the first floor.
- Mold remediation, pest droppings in quantity, bodily fluids, needles, hoarding conditions.
- Pet waste beyond a litter box or a small accident; animal handling.
- Childcare, personal care, errands. Companies that do these are care agencies with different insurance.
Put the three lists in writing: on the website, in the quote and in the client’s agreement. Most disputes about “what the cleaner was supposed to do” are really disputes about a list that was never shown. The free cleaning contract template has a scope section for exactly this.
How is each type of cleaning service priced?
Residential is priced per visit, commercial per month, specialty per unit. Inside each, the model you choose changes how you quote, how you pay cleaners and how fast you can scale.
| Model | Best for | Upside | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | First cleans, unknown conditions, post-event | Never lose money on a dirty home | Clients watch the clock; fast cleaners earn you less |
| Flat per visit | Recurring residential, turnovers | Instant online quotes, easy to book | Underpriced homes bleed until re-quoted |
| Per square foot | Commercial, post-construction, floor care, pressure washing | Scales to any building from one rate | Ignores condition and layout unless you add factors |
| Per unit (window, vent, bin, room) | Specialty services | Simple menus, upsell on the spot | Minimum charge needed for small jobs |
| Monthly contract | Office, medical, school, common areas | Predictable revenue, invoiced | 30 to 60 day payment terms, scope creep |
| Subscription route | Bin cleaning, pool, some window routes | Dense routes, very low cost per stop | Needs volume before the truck pays |
The same home can carry two models: hourly for the first visit, flat for the recurring one. Our house cleaning pricing guide works through hourly versus flat for residential, and the house cleaning price list template lays out services and add-ons as clients expect to see them.
Which cleaning services should you offer first?
Offer one recurring core service and two add-ons, then add the next service only when clients ask for it or your calendar has gaps you can fill. A menu of fifteen services from day one makes quoting slow and your website vague.
A sequence that works for most residential companies
- Months 1 to 3: standard recurring cleaning, with deep cleaning as the first visit and inside oven and fridge as add-ons. One checklist, one kit, one price table.
- Months 3 to 6: move-out cleaning (same kit, higher price, realtors and landlords as referrers) and short-term rental turnovers if there are hosts in your area.
- Months 6 to 12: one or two small commercial accounts (a dental office, a small office suite) cleaned in the evening by your most reliable cleaner, priced from square feet.
- Year 2: a specialty line with real equipment (carpet, windows, pressure washing) or a referral deal with a company that already has it, at 10 to 15% of the job (a starting point we suggest).
How to decide on the next one
- Clients already ask for it. Three requests a month for inside-window cleaning is a service; one request a quarter is a referral.
- It uses the kit and the people you have. Move-outs and turnovers do; carpet extraction does not.
- You can price it per unit and defend the number. If you cannot say what a window or a vent costs, you are not ready to sell it.
- Insurance and licensing cover it. Pressure washing, heights, hood cleaning and biohazard each change your policy or your permits; check your state and your insurer first.
If you are still deciding what kind of company to start rather than what to add, our guide to cleaning business ideas compares 14 business types on equipment, seasonality and profit.
How should you list your services on your website and booking page?
List services the way clients search for them, with a starting price and what is included under each, and make the recurring service the default choice. A buyer who has to call to find out whether you do move-outs usually calls someone else instead.
- Name them plainly. “Recurring house cleaning,” “Deep cleaning,” “Move-in / move-out cleaning,” “Airbnb turnover.” Skip invented package names clients cannot compare.
- Show a from-price and the unit. “From $145 per visit for a 2-bed, 2-bath,” “From $0.12 per square foot.” It filters out mismatched leads before they cost you a call.
- Put the included and add-on lists under each service. The same lists as the section above, so the quote, the website and the checklist agree.
- Make add-ons tick boxes, not a paragraph. Inside oven, inside fridge, interior windows, laundry: each with its price.
- One service page each for the services you want to be found for, with the city name; our cleaning company website guide covers the structure.
Broombook, booking and scheduling software for recurring service businesses, is built around this menu: you define each service with its price by beds and baths or square feet, add the tick-box add-ons, and the client picks a service and a time on your booking page and gets an instant price. The visit then carries the right checklist to the cleaner’s phone and the client gets reminders before each recurring visit; the cleaning booking software page shows the booking page with services and add-ons.