How to Start a House Cleaning Business
You can be legally cleaning your first paid house within a week, for under $500.
The short answer
About $340 in supplies, one city business license, and 20 phone calls
Almost everything else people tell you to buy first — a van, a logo, a website, an LLC, a $59/month app — can wait until you have paying customers. Get the license, get insured, get your first five clients.
What you actually need before the first job
Four things. Supplies, a license, insurance, and a way to get paid. That is the whole list.
1. Supplies
Buy the working set, not the impressive set. You can carry all of this in a sedan.
| Item | What to get | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Vacuum | Corded upright with a hose, 12 lb or lighter | $110–180 |
| Microfiber cloths | 30-pack, 3 colors (bath / kitchen / glass) | $18–28 |
| Mop + bucket | Flat microfiber mop, 3 spare pads | $28–45 |
| Caddy | One tote you can carry room to room | $12–20 |
| Bathroom cleaner | 1 gal concentrate, not spray bottles | $14–22 |
| Degreaser | 1 gal concentrate for kitchens | $14–22 |
| Glass cleaner | 1 gal concentrate | $10–16 |
| Neutral floor cleaner | 1 gal — safe on sealed wood and tile | $16–26 |
| Spray bottles | 6, labeled with a marker | $8–12 |
| Scrub + toilet brushes | 2 scrub, 2 toilet, 1 grout brush | $14–22 |
| Gloves | Box of nitrile, plus 2 pairs of reusables | $14–20 |
| Extendable duster | Reaches fans and high corners | $14–22 |
| Trash bags + shoe covers | Basic supply | $12–18 |
| Step stool | 2-step folding | $22–35 |
| Total | — | $306–488 |
Buy concentrates, not ready-to-use spray bottles. A gallon of concentrate makes 15 to 30 bottles. This alone cuts your per-visit supply cost roughly in half, which matters when you look at what actually comes out of each visit.
Never mix bleach with anything that contains ammonia — including most glass cleaners — and never mix bleach with vinegar. Both combinations make toxic gas in a small bathroom with the door shut. Also: never use a bleach or ammonia product on natural stone. One wrong bottle on a marble counter is a $900 refinishing bill that comes out of your pocket.
2. A business license
Here is the honest version, and it is simpler than most sites make it sound.
Most states do not license house cleaning as a trade. There is no cleaning exam, no apprenticeship, no state cleaning board in most places. That is genuinely one of the reasons this business is easy to start.
But nearly every city or county requires a general business license to do business inside it. That is not a cleaning license — it is a "you are operating a business here" license. Fees are commonly $25 to $150 a year.
Two places to check, and only two:
- Your state's Secretary of State website. Search "[your state] Secretary of State business registration." This is where you register a business name or an LLC, and where you find out if your state requires anything extra.
- Your city's business licensing page. Search "[your city] business license." Most cities let you apply online in about 20 minutes.
One more thing that surprises people: some states charge sales tax on cleaning services. Connecticut, Texas, New York, Hawaii, New Mexico and several others treat residential cleaning as taxable, and the rules vary in the details. Your state Department of Revenue page will say. If it applies, you register, collect it, and pass it along — it is not your money, so do not price it as though it is.
Rules change and vary by city, so confirm on the official state and city sites before you rely on anything here.
3. Insurance
You are usually not required by law to carry it. You will still want it, for one plain reason: you break something eventually. A vacuum cord catches a lamp. A cloth knocks a picture frame off a shelf.
General liability for a solo cleaner typically runs $40 to $75 a month. Many carriers issue a certificate the same day, and you can email a PDF of it to a customer in two minutes.
Ask about adding a "care, custody and control" endorsement. Plain liability covers damage you do to the house. It often does not cover damage to the item you were literally holding. That endorsement fills the gap and usually adds a few dollars a month.
Why it pays for itself
A cleaner in Chattanooga is dusting a bookshelf in month three and clips a ceramic bowl with her elbow. The customer is calm about it. The bowl was a wedding gift and cost $260 to replace.
Without insurance, that is six weeks of premiums gone in one elbow — and she pays it in cash, that week, to keep the client. With a $52/month policy and a $500 deductible she still pays it herself, honestly. The policy is not for the $260 bowl. It is for the day a leaking bucket sits on a hardwood floor for four hours and the floor bill is $4,100.
4. An LLC — or not
You do not need one to start. The day you accept money for cleaning a house, you are a sole proprietor. That is a real, legal business.
An LLC does one useful thing: it puts a wall between your business and your personal savings and car. Filing costs $50 to $500 depending on the state, plus an annual report fee in most states.
A reasonable path: start as a sole proprietor with insurance, and form an LLC once you are consistently earning or once you hire anyone. See what an LLC actually costs in your state for the real filing fees and the upsells you can ignore.
Whichever you pick, get a separate bank account this week. Not for legal reasons — for sanity. Mixed personal and business money makes tax time a nightmare and hides whether you are actually making anything.
Your first-week checklist
Seven days, in order. None of this takes a full day.
- Day 1 — Pick a name and check it. Search it on your state's Secretary of State site and on Google. "Sarah's Cleaning Service" is fine. Do not spend three days on this.
- Day 1 — Apply for your city business license. Usually online, usually $25–150.
- Day 2 — Get insurance quotes. Call two agents, get one online quote. Buy the one that can send you a certificate today.
- Day 2 — Open a separate business checking account. Free accounts exist. Bring your license paperwork.
- Day 3 — Buy supplies. The table above, one trip, about $340.
- Day 3 — Set up a way to take cards. Square or Stripe, no monthly fee, about 2.9% + 30¢ per charge.
- Day 4 — Create a free Google Business Profile. It is free, it puts you on the map, and it is where reviews live. This is the single highest-value free thing you will do.
- Day 4 — Write your price list. Use the ranges in the pricing guide and pick real numbers. Save it as a note on your phone.
- Day 5 — Save an invoice and an estimate you can send from your phone. Use the free invoice template and free estimate template.
- Day 5 — Write your cancellation policy in one paragraph. Send it to every new customer before the first clean.
- Day 6 — Tell 20 people. See below. This is the actual work.
- Day 7 — Clean one house free or cheap for a friend, and time yourself. You need to know how long a 3-bed takes you, not how long it takes the internet.
Your first 5 customers, for $0
Do not run ads in month one. You do not know your prices, your timing, or your pitch yet, and ads will burn $300 teaching you that.
Here is what actually fills a schedule from zero.
Tell 20 people, specifically
Not a Facebook post that says "excited to announce my new venture." A direct message to 20 individual people. The wording matters:
"Hey — I started cleaning houses. I'm taking on five regular clients right now, $150 for a 3-bedroom every other week. If you know anyone who's been meaning to get help, would you pass my number along?"
Three things make that work: a real price, a limited number of slots, and a request to forward it rather than to hire you. People who cannot afford you are happy to forward.
Post in your neighborhood app once, well
Nextdoor, the neighborhood Facebook group, the apartment complex board. Include your price, your city, and one photo of a clean kitchen you actually cleaned. No stock photos — people can tell, and it reads as fake.
Google Business Profile
Free. Takes 20 minutes. When someone in your town searches "house cleaner near me," this is what they see. Ask your first three customers for a review the day you finish, in person, while they are happy. Do not email about it a week later.
Ask every single customer for one referral
At the end of the second clean, not the first: "If you know one other person who'd want me, I have one slot open on Thursdays."
Offering $25 off their next clean for a referral that books works and costs you nothing until it works.
What zero-dollar marketing looks like
A cleaner in Wichita starts in March. She texts 22 people. Four reply, two book. She posts once in a neighborhood group with a photo of her own kitchen after a deep clean — three calls, one books. That is 3 clients in 11 days for $0.
Client #2 refers her sister in week 5. Client #1 refers a coworker in week 7. By mid-May she is at 7 recurring clients, roughly $1,100 every two weeks, and she has not spent a dollar on advertising. The first paid ad she runs is in October, after she already knows exactly what a 3-bed costs her in time.
What NOT to buy in month one
Every one of these feels like starting a business. None of them gets you a customer.
| Thing | What it costs | Buy it when |
|---|---|---|
| A van or truck | $300–700/mo | Your schedule is full and your car will not fit the job |
| Vehicle wrap / magnets | $150–3,000 | You are staying in this business a year+ |
| A logo designer | $200–900 | Never, honestly. Text on a plain background is fine. |
| A website | $500–3,000 | After Google Business Profile is set up and you have 10 reviews |
| Scheduling software | $19–299/mo | Around 50 jobs a month — not before |
| Bonding | $100–300/yr | A customer asks for it in writing (mostly commercial) |
| Commercial-grade backpack vacuum | $350–700 | You are doing 4+ houses a day |
| Uniforms / shirts | $150–400 | You have employees to put in them |
| A cleaning franchise | $15k–60k | You have read the full disclosure document twice |
The pattern: buy things that respond to a problem you are having. Do not buy things that predict a problem you might have.
Be careful with cleaning "business in a box" offers. Programs promising a full client list, a done-for-you website, and "guaranteed leads" for $2,000–8,000 target new cleaners specifically. The leads are usually shared with everyone else who bought in. If someone guarantees you customers before you have ever cleaned a house for pay, that guarantee is the product they are selling — not the customers.
How much you can realistically make
Straight numbers, no hype. A solo cleaner doing two houses a day, five days a week, at $160 a visit, grosses about $83,000 a year. After tax, supplies, insurance, gas, and cancellations, take-home lands closer to $50,000–58,000.
That is a full, hard schedule with no employees. Most people start part-time and build to it over a year. Plenty stay at 12 to 15 recurring clients on purpose because the schedule fits their kids' school hours.
Both are fine. Just do the arithmetic before you decide your price, not after.
Common questions
How much money do you need to start a house cleaning business?
$300 to $700 covers everything real: supplies (about $340), a city business license ($25–150), and your first month of insurance ($40–75).
Anything above that is optional in month one.
Do I need a license to start a house cleaning business?
Most states do not license house cleaning as a trade. Nearly every city or county requires a general business license to operate there.
Check two pages: your state's Secretary of State site and your city's business licensing page. Some states also tax cleaning services, which means registering with your state Department of Revenue. Rules vary, so confirm on the official sites.
Do I need an LLC to clean houses?
No. Accepting money makes you a sole proprietor, which is a real business.
An LLC separates your personal savings from business liability and costs $50 to $500 to file plus annual fees. Many cleaners start sole proprietor with insurance, then form an LLC once income is steady. See what it costs in your state.
Do I need insurance to clean houses?
Rarely required by law, but you want it, and customers ask for proof before handing over a key.
General liability runs about $40 to $75 a month for a solo cleaner. Ask about a care, custody and control endorsement so damage to items you are handling is covered too.
How do I get my first house cleaning customers?
Message 20 people you know with a real price and a request to forward your number. Post once in your neighborhood app with a real photo. Set up a free Google Business Profile.
Then ask every customer for one referral at the end of their second clean. Most first clients come from people who already know you.
What cleaning supplies do I need to start?
Vacuum, mop and bucket, 30 microfiber cloths, scrub and toilet brushes, extendable duster, gloves, spray bottles, trash bags, a caddy, and four concentrates: bathroom, degreaser, glass, neutral floor.
Roughly $306 to $488 total. Buy concentrates, not pre-mixed sprays.
Should I buy a van to start a cleaning business?
No. Your current car fits a caddy, a vacuum, and a mop.
A vehicle payment in month one is a bill arriving before the income does. Wait until your schedule is full and the car is genuinely the limit.
How long does it take to get busy cleaning houses?
Most solo cleaners fill a part-time schedule in one to three months and a full one in six to twelve.
Growth is slow and then fast, because each happy recurring client tends to send one or two more. The first three clients are the hardest ones you will ever get.
Supply prices are typical 2026 retail ranges, not quotes. Licensing and sales-tax statements vary by state and city — confirm on your state's Secretary of State site, your state Department of Revenue, and your city's business licensing page. Nothing here is legal or tax advice.