What Should Your Cleaning Fee Be?
Set the fee from what the clean actually costs, not from what the listing down the street charges. Enter your property and this gives you a cost range from published Charleston market data, and a fee to set against it.
By Lazaro Moreira, owner of Fluffy · Charleston, SC · Updated September 2026
Per turnover, based on published Charleston market ranges for a property this size.
One flat fee, set from the middle of your cost range.
An estimate from published market data, not a quote. Every property is different, and the only number that means anything is one someone gives you in writing after seeing it. Fluffy quotes within one business day.
Where these numbers come from
Nothing here is invented. The starting range is the published Charleston market figure: independent cost guides put turnover cleaning in this market at roughly $95 to $220 per turnover depending on bedrooms, a hot tub or pool, and the laundry load. Nationally most hosts pay $75 to $250, with an average near $150, and homes of four or more bedrooms run $250 to $400 and up.
The calculator moves your property inside those ranges. Bedrooms set the base, because bed count drives both the making and the laundry. Bathrooms are the next largest factor and the room guests grade hardest. A hot tub is a drain, scrub and refill on its own schedule rather than a wipe-down, which is why it moves the number more than a pool does. Pet-friendly adds hair removal and a heavier vacuum pass throughout.
If you pick supplied linens, the linen line uses Fluffy’s published Linen Subscription pricing: $35 per guest turn for 1–2 bedrooms, $70 for 3–4, $105 for 5–6 and $140 for 7–8. If you own your linens, that cost sits inside the clean instead, and you carry replacement yourself.
The suggested fee comes from the middle of your cost range, because a fee set at the bottom loses money on any turn that runs long, and a fee set at the top is the one guests complain about. Average stay only changes how that fee feels to a guest: the same $135 is punishing on a one-night booking and invisible on a week.
Then set it in this order
A calculator gives you a starting point. Turning it into a fee you can leave alone for a season takes five steps, and they only work in this order.
- Get a flat per-turn quote for the clean, in writing
- Decide whether linens are inside that number or priced per guest turn
- Add the restock cost you actually incur, at par levels you have written down
- Pick pass-through, blended or split based on your average length of stay
- Set the same fee across your portfolio, and revisit it once a season, not after every stay
The full fee guide works through each of those, including which of the three charging methods suits which kind of listing.
How much should I charge for an Airbnb cleaning fee?
Start from what the turnover costs you, then set one flat fee at the middle of that range. A fee set at the bottom loses money on any turn that runs long; a fee at the top is the one guests complain about. Set the same fee across your portfolio and revisit it once a season.
What does turnover cleaning cost in Charleston?
Independent cost guides put Charleston turnover cleaning at roughly $95 to $220 per turnover, depending on bedrooms, a hot tub or pool, and the laundry load. Nationally most hosts pay $75 to $250 with an average near $150, and homes of four or more bedrooms run $250 to $400 and up.
Should the cleaning fee equal the cleaning cost?
Roughly, yes. The fee exists to recover the cost, not to make margin. Hosts who mark it up find it becomes the thing guests mention in reviews, and hosts who set it below cost end up funding turnovers out of nightly rate without noticing.
Is a high cleaning fee bad for bookings?
What guests react to is the fee relative to the stay, not the fee itself. The same amount is punishing on a one-night booking and close to invisible across a week. If your average stay is short, consider blending part of it into the nightly rate.
Is this a quote from Fluffy?
No. It is an estimate built from published market ranges, and no calculator can see your property. Fluffy prices turnover cleaning from $150 per turnover, with the exact rate set after a walkthrough, quoted within one business day.
Do these numbers include linens?
Only if you choose supplied linens, in which case the linen line uses published Linen Subscription pricing: $35 per guest turn for 1-2 bedrooms, $70 for 3-4, $105 for 5-6 and $140 for 7-8. If you own your linens that cost sits inside the clean, and replacement is yours.
Get the Real Number.
A calculator cannot see your property. We will quote it properly, from $150 per turnover, within one business day.