Rough guide, assuming normal soiling and clear floors: 20 to 30 minutes per room of actual cleaning, plus around 20 minutes to set up and pack down, plus 30 to 40 minutes for stairs and a landing. Add pre spray dwell time on heavy traffic lanes.
Drying is the part people underestimate. With hot water extraction and decent ventilation, expect walkable in one to two hours and fully dry in four to eight. Cold, still, unventilated rooms can double that.
Typical on site times
These are working estimates for a clear property. Furniture, clutter and heavy soiling all push them up.
- Single room: around 45 minutes to an hour including set up.
- One bed flat: roughly one to one and a half hours.
- Two bed with hallway: around two hours.
- Three bed with stairs and landing: two and a half to three and a half hours.
- Four to five bed house: half a day is realistic, sometimes longer with stain work.
What makes a visit run long
None of these are surprises if you mention them when you book, which is why an accurate description gets you an accurate time slot.
- Heavy traffic lanes needing pre spray and dwell time.
- Pet accidents, which need treating at the backing rather than the surface.
- Stairs, which are slow work per square metre.
- Restricted parking, long carries and stairs to the flat itself.
- Rooms still full of furniture and small items.
How to speed up drying
You have more control over drying than over cleaning time, and it costs nothing.
- Open windows on opposite sides of the property to get air moving.
- Run the heating on a low steady setting rather than a short blast.
- Use ceiling or pedestal fans pointed across the floor, not down at it.
- Keep foot traffic off until walkable, and keep pets off entirely.
- Leave furniture protectors in place until the carpet is fully dry.