Cleaning Time Calculator
Work out how many cleaner-hours a job takes and how long a crew needs on site.
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The cleaning time calculator tells you how many cleaner-hours a clean should take and how long that is on site for a crew of one to twelve. Choose Home or Commercial space. For a home, enter the size, bedrooms and bathrooms, the type of clean (standard, deep or move-out) and the condition. For a commercial space, enter the area and the type of building, and optionally your own production rate in square feet per hour.
The result is the time on site, the total cleaner-hours, a crew-size table and a comparison table. It is free, runs in your browser and needs no account. The times are CleanPricer’s own planning model, not a published standard. Replace them with your own timings as you collect them.
How to use the Cleaning Time Calculator
- Choose Home or Commercial space.
- For a home, enter the size in square feet, the bedrooms and the full bathrooms. Pick the cleaning type and the condition of the home (light, average or heavy).
- For a commercial space, enter the area to clean, pick the type of building and, if you know how fast your crew works, enter your own production rate in square feet per hour.
- Enter the number of cleaners who will be on site together.
- Read the big box for the time on site. The receipt shows the total cleaner-hours behind it.
- Compare with the crew table to see what one more cleaner saves, and with the table below it to see typical homes or other building types.
The page keeps your settings in the address, so Copy link saves the exact estimate, and the print button prints the result and both tables.
If the time looks wrong for a particular home, change the condition first. Heavy adds 25% and light takes off 10%, which moves the answer more than another bedroom does. For a commercial space, check the type of building first, because the production rate behind it sets the hours. Print the result to attach it to a quote.
How long does it take to clean a house?
In this model a standard clean of an average-condition home takes 1.5 hours plus 0.0008 hours per square foot, 0.25 hours per bedroom and 0.6 hours per full bathroom. A 1,600 sq ft home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms comes to 4.73 cleaner-hours, which is a bit over 2 hours 22 minutes on site for a crew of two. A deep clean multiplies the time by 1.31 and a move-out clean by 1.40, which are the ratios between the national average prices Thumbtack lists for those services (house cleaning prices page, updated 2026-10-20). Heavy soil adds 25% and light soil takes off 10%.
Typical homes by bedroom count, standard clean: 1 bedroom (750 sq ft) 2.95 hours, 2 bedrooms (1,000 sq ft) 3.4 hours, 3 bedrooms (1,600 sq ft) 4.73 hours, 4 bedrooms (2,400 sq ft) 5.92 hours, 5 bedrooms (3,200 sq ft) 7.11 hours and 6 bedrooms (4,000 sq ft) 8.6 hours.
How many square feet can a cleaner clean in an hour?
For routine commercial cleaning the model uses these production rates, in square feet per cleaner-hour: office 2,000, medical or dental 1,200, retail 2,500, school or daycare 2,000, warehouse 4,000, restaurant 1,200, gym 1,800 and church or event hall 2,500. At 10,000 sq ft that is 5 hours for an office, 8.3 hours for a medical office and 2.5 hours for a warehouse. A space under 2,000 sq ft is still counted as at least one hour, because travel and set-up do not shrink with the floor area.
These rates are our assumptions, set out on how our estimates work. Your crew, floors and equipment may be faster or slower. Time yourself on three or four real jobs and enter your result as the own production rate.
How does crew size change the time on site?
Total cleaner-hours stay the same, and time on site is the total divided by the number of cleaners. Two cleaners on a 4.73-hour home are on site for about 2 hours 22 minutes, and three for 1 hour 35 minutes. The model divides the hours evenly, which is the best case. In practice, cleaners wait for each other in kitchens and bathrooms and one has to stop to finish, so allow a little extra for large crews.
How do I estimate cleaning time for a quote?
Start from the cleaner-hours here, adjust them with your own timings, then multiply by your hourly rate. Add travel between jobs, which this calculator does not include, and a minimum charge for small jobs. The house cleaning estimate calculator and the commercial cleaning cost calculator turn the same hours into prices. To see what your cleaners cost per hour, use the cleaning labor cost calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Are these times a published industry standard?
No. They are CleanPricer’s own planning model. The cleaning-type ratios come from public Thumbtack price tables, and the time per room and the production rates are our stated assumptions. Treat them as a starting point and replace them with your own timings.
Does the time include travel?
No. It is the time spent cleaning on site. Travel between jobs, loading the car and set-up are separate costs.
Why does a small space still show one hour?
A routine visit has fixed set-up time, so the model counts at least one hour for commercial spaces. Many companies set a higher minimum per visit.
Can I use my own production rate?
Yes, for commercial spaces. Enter square feet per cleaner-hour in the own production rate field. Leave it empty to use the default for the building type.
Does a deep clean really take 31% longer?
That is the ratio of the national average prices Thumbtack lists for deep and standard cleans, used as a time ratio. It is a rough guide. A neglected kitchen or bathroom can take much longer, so choose Heavy for those homes.
Is the calculator free?
Yes. It is free, runs in your browser and needs no account. Nothing you type is uploaded.
Related tools
- House cleaning estimate calculator: Turn the hours into a price.
- Commercial cleaning cost calculator: Price a routine commercial cleaning contract.
- Cleaning labor cost calculator: See what each paid hour really costs.
- Cleaning work order template: Put the estimated minutes on a printable job sheet.
- Janitorial bid calculator: Bid a building area by area.
- How our estimates work: The assumptions and sources behind the numbers.