Cleaning Business Supplies: Start-Up Kit and Costs in SA

What this guide covers

1. What the startup kit actually has to cover
2. The full startup shopping list
3. What to buy cheap, and what never to
1. Buy cheap without worrying
2. Do not buy cheap
4. Chemicals and the dilution economics
1. The starter chemical set
5. Safety and compliance
6. Pricing a cleaning job
1. How to build the quote
2. Worked example: a three-bedroom house, standard clean
7. Where to buy cleaning supplies
8. Frequently asked questions
9. Buy the kit once, buy the chemicals cleverly
10. Related guides

A cleaning business is one of the cheapest real businesses to start in South Africa. There is no stock to sit on, no shopfront and no complicated equipment. What you need is a kit that does the job properly, chemicals bought the sensible way, and a pricing method that does not have you working for nothing.

Equipping a one or two person domestic or office cleaning operation typically costs somewhere between R3,000 and R8,000, depending on how much you spend on the vacuum and whether you buy a second set of everything. The single biggest ongoing saving is buying concentrates instead of ready-mixed chemicals, which we work through below.

This guide covers the full startup list with typical rand ranges, what is worth buying cheap and what is not, chemical safety and your obligations once you employ people, and how to quote a job so the numbers actually work.

What the startup kit actually has to cover

Think in five groups. Every job you quote will draw on all five, and if one is missing you will either lose time or lose the client.

• Surfaces. Floors, walls, glass, counters, tiles. Mops, buckets, microfibre, squeegees, scrapers.
• Detail. Grout, taps, skirtings, corners, tracks. Brushes of several stiffnesses and sizes.
• Dust and debris. Vacuum, brooms, dustpans, bin bags, bins.
• Access. Ladders, extension poles, kneeling pads.
• Presentation and protection. Uniforms, gloves, masks, shoe covers, caddies to carry it all.

The full startup shopping list

Everything below is a typical range at the time of writing, given as a planning aid. Prices move and every supplier prices independently, so confirm on the day.

All figures are typical ranges at the time of writing, not quotes or official prices. Our hardware, tools and DIY guide covers what to check on brushes, ladders and hand tools before you buy them.

What to buy cheap, and what never to

Buy cheap without worrying

• Buckets, basins and spray bottles. Plastic is plastic. Colour-code them and replace them when they crack.
• Brooms, dustpans and toilet brushes. Consumables. Replace rather than nurse.
• Bin bags and general cloths. Buy by the roll or the bale, not the retail packet.
• Caddies and totes. They only have to carry things and survive being put down hard.
• Aprons and shoe covers. Cheap and disposable by design.

Do not buy cheap

• The vacuum. This is your only real machine and it runs every day. A cheap one loses suction, overheats and dies inside a season, and it fails on a client’s floor rather than in your garage.
• The ladder. A falling cleaner is a business-ending event. Buy a properly rated, stable ladder.
• Gloves. Thin gloves tear on chemicals. Chemical burns and skin reactions cost you working days.
• Mop heads and microfibre. Cheap microfibre stops absorbing after a few washes and starts smearing. Buy decent ones and wash them without fabric softener.
• Extension cords and plugs. Cable gauge matters when you are running a vacuum all day.

Chemicals and the dilution economics

This is where most new cleaning businesses quietly lose money. Ready-mixed chemicals in trigger bottles are convenient and expensive, because you are paying to transport water. Concentrates are sold in 5L or 25L containers and diluted on site.

A concentrate at, say, a 1 to 20 dilution turns one litre into twenty litres of working solution. Even where the concentrate costs several times more per litre than the ready-mixed product, the cost per litre of usable solution ends up far lower. Work it out as cost per litre of working solution, never as cost per bottle.

Typical ranges at the time of writing, for illustration of the principle rather than as prices. Dilution rates differ by product, so always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

The catch is discipline. Concentrates only save money if they are diluted correctly. Over-dilute and the product does not work, so staff use more of it and complain that it is useless. Under-dilute and you burn through it, leave residue and risk damaging surfaces. Buy a cheap measuring jug, mark your bottles with the dilution, and check now and then that people are actually using it.

The starter chemical set

1. All-purpose cleaner concentrate for most surfaces.
2. Degreaser for kitchens, extractors and braai areas.
3. Bathroom and lime-scale cleaner, usually acidic.
4. Glass cleaner, or a squeegee and a very dilute solution.
5. Disinfectant for bathrooms, bins and high-touch points.
6. Floor cleaner matched to the floor type, especially on sealed wood and natural stone.
7. Bleach, used carefully and never mixed with anything.

Add specialist products only when a job demands them: oven cleaner, upholstery shampoo, drain products, stainless polish. Do not buy a shelf of specialist chemicals before you have the clients who need them.

Safety and compliance

Cleaning chemicals are chemicals. Treat them that way and you will avoid the incidents that put small operators out of business.

• Never decant into unlabelled bottles. A clear bottle of amber liquid on a client’s kitchen counter is how people get hurt. Every bottle must carry the product name and the dilution.
• Never use food or drink containers. Not cooldrink bottles, not ice cream tubs, ever.
• Never mix bleach with acids or ammonia. Bleach with an acidic bathroom or lime-scale cleaner releases chlorine gas. Bleach with ammonia-based products releases chloramine. Both are genuinely dangerous in a small closed bathroom. Rinse thoroughly between products and do not “double up” to work faster.
• Keep safety data sheets. Ask your supplier for the SDS for every product you buy, keep them in a file, and keep a copy where staff can reach it.
• Provide PPE and insist on it. Gloves, eye protection where spraying, and ventilation. Provide it, replace it and check it is being worn.
• Store properly. Locked, ventilated, off the ground, away from food, out of reach of children, acids apart from bleach.
• Train before the first job. Dilution, which product goes on which surface, what to do on a spill or a splash to the eyes.

Once you employ people, South African occupational health and safety obligations apply to you as an employer. In general terms that means providing a safe working environment, providing and maintaining protective equipment, informing workers about the hazards of the substances they handle, and keeping the relevant records. There are also employer registration obligations connected to employing staff, including compensation for occupational injuries.

This is general information only and not legal or professional advice, and the requirements and any amounts involved change over time. Confirm what applies to your business with the Department of Employment and Labour before you take on your first employee, and speak to your accountant about the registrations that come with becoming an employer. If you have not formalised the business yet, our guide to registering a business in South Africa is the place to start.

Pricing a cleaning job

There are two ways to charge, and they suit different work.

Per hour suits ongoing domestic work, first-time cleans and anything where the scope is uncertain. It protects you when a job turns out to be worse than described. It caps your income at your speed, though, and it punishes you for getting faster.

Per job suits repeat contracts, offices and anything you can see before quoting. The client knows the number, you know the number, and every efficiency you gain is yours. The risk is underquoting a job you have not inspected.

The practical answer for most operators: quote per job wherever you have seen the property, quote per hour where you have not, and always view a deep clean or a move-out clean before putting a number on it.

How to build the quote

1. Estimate the hours honestly, including travel and setup. Then add 20 percent, because first-time estimates are almost always optimistic.
2. Cost your labour at what you actually pay, including your own time if you are cleaning.
3. Add consumables, which for most domestic jobs is a small figure per job.
4. Add travel, calculated on the real distance and current fuel price.
5. Add overheads, being your share of equipment replacement, phone, marketing and admin.
6. Add your margin on top of all of it. Margin is not what is left over. It is a line in the quote.

Worked example: a three-bedroom house, standard clean

Illustrative figures only. Your labour rate, fuel cost and travel distance will differ, and you must use your own numbers.

Two lessons from that table. First, travel is a real cost and clustering clients by suburb is worth more than raising your price. Second, if you skip the overhead line you are slowly consuming your own equipment for free, and you will discover it the day the vacuum dies. The same margin thinking applies to any small business, and our guide on how to price products for resale works through the mechanics in more detail.

Where to buy cleaning supplies

Hardware and general wholesale centres cover mops, buckets, brushes, microfibre, gloves, bins, ladders and caddies at the best per-unit prices, especially if you buy several of each. Dedicated chemical and hygiene suppliers are the right place for concentrates in 5L and 25L, safety data sheets and technical advice. Uniform and workwear suppliers handle branded shirts once you have staff.

Ask the same questions everywhere: what is the price if I take a carton, what is the dilution rate, and can you send me the safety data sheet. Our guide to Durban’s wholesale trade districts covers where the different suppliers cluster, and the wholesale buying guide explains minimums and carton pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to start a cleaning business in South Africa?

Equipping one or two cleaners for domestic or office work typically costs roughly R3,000 to R8,000, covering mops, buckets, microfibre, brushes, a vacuum, ladder, caddies, gloves, uniforms and starter chemicals. The vacuum and the chemicals are the biggest line items. These are typical ranges at the time of writing.

Should I buy concentrated or ready-mixed cleaning chemicals?

Concentrates, almost always. A 5L concentrate at a 1 to 20 dilution makes up to 100 litres of working solution, which brings the cost per usable litre far below ready-mixed products. The saving only holds if staff dilute correctly, so mark your bottles, supply a measuring jug and check occasionally.

What equipment should I not buy cheap for a cleaning business?

The vacuum, the ladder, gloves and microfibre. The vacuum runs every day and a cheap one fails at a client’s house, not in your garage. A cheap ladder is a safety risk. Thin gloves tear on chemicals, and cheap microfibre stops absorbing and starts smearing after a few washes.

Is it dangerous to mix cleaning products?

Yes. Bleach mixed with an acidic cleaner, such as many bathroom and lime-scale products, releases chlorine gas, and bleach mixed with ammonia-based products releases chloramine. Both are dangerous in a small unventilated bathroom. Use one product at a time, rinse thoroughly, then use the next. Never combine products to save time.

Do I need to register a cleaning business in South Africa?

Formalising the business helps you win commercial contracts, since many clients require registration details before they will appoint a supplier. Once you employ people, occupational health and safety obligations and employer registrations also apply. This is general information only, so confirm your position with the Department of Employment and Labour and CIPC.

Should I charge per hour or per job for cleaning?

Charge per job where you have inspected the property, because the client gets certainty and every efficiency you gain is yours. Charge per hour where the scope is unclear, for first-time cleans and for open-ended work. Always view a deep clean or move-out clean before quoting a fixed price.

How do I work out what to charge for a cleaning job?

Estimate the hours honestly and add about 20 percent, cost your labour at what you actually pay, add consumables, add travel at real distance and fuel cost, add an overhead allocation for equipment and admin, then add your margin on top. Margin is a line in the quote, not whatever happens to be left over.

Buy the kit once, buy the chemicals cleverly

The equipment side of a cleaning business is a once-off spend you can control. The chemical side is a monthly cost you either manage or bleed from. Buy solid tools where failure hurts, cheap plastic where it does not, concentrates rather than water, and quote with a margin line every time.

Come with your list written out and buy the whole kit in one trip if you can, because the second trip costs you a morning. If you are still weighing up which business to start, our list of small business ideas built on wholesale stock is worth a read first.

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269 Inanda Road, Springfield Park, Durban, 4001
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
+27 31 577 1615
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