How to sell janitorial supplies: cleaning companies, facilities and the buyers who reorder

To sell janitorial supplies, list every janitorial and commercial cleaning company inside your delivery area, add the facilities that clean in-house (schools, churches, offices, medical sites), and contact the owner or operations manager with a trial order and a clear cost per use. Supply is a reorder business, so the first sale matters less than the second: deliver on time, never run them out, and make reordering easy. Cleaning companies are easy to find on Google Maps, and most list a website, phone and hours.

Who buys janitorial supplies?#

Two groups buy: cleaning contractors, who clean other people's buildings, and facilities that clean their own. The contractor's owner or operations manager decides; at a facility, the facilities or environmental services manager does.

Contractors are the core market. The Census Bureau counted 67,799 janitorial service establishments with paid employees in 2023. The code also covers maid services, so expect both commercial and residential cleaners in any list. BLS counts about 2.4 million janitor and building cleaner jobs across all industries, many of them in-house at schools, hospitals and offices, which is why facilities are the second market.

What do cleaning companies buy, and what angle works?#

They buy consumables every month and equipment a few times a year. Consumables are where the reorders are.

Cost per use beats price per gallon. A concentrate that costs more per gallon can cost less per mop bucket, and a cleaning company owner who runs on thin margins will do that math with you.

EPA's Safer Choice program labels products, including cleaning products, that perform and contain ingredients safer for human health and the environment. Some building owners ask their cleaners for safer products, so carrying labeled options gives your customers something to offer their clients.

How do I build a list of janitorial and cleaning companies?#

Search Google Maps for every cleaning term across your delivery area, merge the results and split commercial from residential cleaners.

1. Draw your delivery area. A radius around your warehouse, or the counties your trucks reach. Delivery cost is your margin.
2. Search several terms. "Janitorial service", "commercial cleaning service", "office cleaning service", "janitorial company", "floor care service", "carpet cleaning service", "window cleaning service", "pressure washing service". For residential: "house cleaning service", "maid service".
3. Check categories. The core Google Maps categories are Janitorial service and Commercial cleaning service, plus Carpet cleaning service, Window cleaning service and Pressure washing service. Many maid services also pick Commercial cleaning service, so read the second category and the website.
4. Search in pieces. One Google Maps search shows about 120 results; split large areas by ZIP code or neighborhood. See why Google Maps stops at 120 results.
5. Mark franchises. Sort by name and website domain. Repeated names usually mean franchise units that may have an approved-supplier list.
6. Add facilities. Schools, churches, property managers and medical sites that clean in-house buy too.

See the janitorial company lead list page, the cleaning services lead list page and house cleaning service leads for the full search terms and columns.

How do I segment cleaning companies with the list's columns?#

Sort by distance from your warehouse and start with the closest. They're cheapest to deliver to and easiest to visit.

When is the best time to reach a cleaning company owner?#

Late morning to early afternoon on weekdays. Commercial cleaning happens at night, so owners often supervise crews in the evening and start late. Mornings after a night shift and evenings are the worst times.

These are common practice, not measured results. Use the hours column where a company lists office hours.

The best moment is a change. A company that just won a new contract, opened a new location or started up needs supplies now. Watching for new cleaning companies in your area each month catches the startups. See how to find new businesses in your area.

Gatekeepers are rare at small companies: the owner answers. At larger ones, ask for the operations or purchasing manager by role.

What should the email say? A short script#

Under 100 words, one concrete offer, one small ask. These templates use Leadraft export columns as merge fields: {{business}}, {{city}}, {{category}}, {{reviews}}.

Email 1: to a cleaning company owner#

Subject: supplies for {{business}}

Hi there,

We deliver janitorial supplies to cleaning companies around
{{city}}: liners, paper, chemicals and equipment, next-day
inside [area].

Send me your five most-used products and I'll send back a
price per case and a cost-per-use comparison at your dilution.
If we're not cheaper or more reliable, I'll tell you.

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address]
Not interested? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Email 1: to a facility that cleans in-house#

Subject: cleaning supplies for {{business}}

Hello,

We supply {{category}} sites around {{city}} with paper, liners,
chemicals and floor care, delivered on a schedule so your team
never runs out.

Could I send a short price list and set up a small trial order?

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address] · Reply "no" to opt out.

How many times should I follow up?#

Three or four times over three weeks, then a monthly check-in. Supply buyers switch when their current supplier lets them down, so staying in touch matters more than a hard push.

What rules apply to selling cleaning chemicals and to cold outreach?#

For products, OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requires chemical manufacturers and importers to provide labels and safety data sheets to downstream customers, and employers to keep safety data sheets for the hazardous chemicals their workers use and train workers on them. As a distributor, make the SDS for every product easy to get; your customers need it for their crews. For crews cleaning medical sites, OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens standard may apply to your customers, which affects the PPE and disinfectants they buy.

For outreach, US commercial email falls under CAN-SPAM: accurate sender information and subject lines, a physical postal address and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days. Calls to business lines are mostly outside the National Do Not Call Registry, but the TCPA's consent rules cover autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones, and many small cleaning company owners list a cell. Google's Maps Platform terms restrict scraping and building lists from Maps content, a contract issue separate from these laws. See cold email laws and get legal advice for your situation.

Worked example: a supply distributor in Georgia#

The Census Bureau counted 2,013 janitorial service establishments with paid employees in Georgia in 2023 (NAICS 561720). Many one-person cleaning businesses have no employees and aren't in that count, so a Google Maps list will be larger.

Assumptions, for illustration only: you deliver within 50 miles of Atlanta, a search across cleaning terms returns about 2,500 cleaning companies after deduplication, plus 1,500 schools, churches and property managers that clean in-house, and you take out one checked email for 1,000 of them in the first month.

If you cover the whole state or want two contacts per company, Growth at $49 a month gives 100,000 businesses and 5,000 checked emails. Accept-all and invalid grades don't use checked-email credits, and businesses outside your delivery area are never charged. See pricing.

If you'd rather not build the list by hand, Leadraft finds every janitorial and cleaning company inside the delivery area you draw, with distance, hours and checked emails. Try it on the free plan, or see the columns on the janitorial company lead list page.

FAQ#

How do I sell janitorial supplies?#

List every janitorial and commercial cleaning company inside your delivery area, plus the facilities that clean in-house (schools, churches, offices, medical sites), and contact the owner or operations manager. Lead with cost per use, delivery reliability and a trial order, then earn the reorder with on-time delivery and a simple way to buy again.

Who buys janitorial supplies at a cleaning company?#

At a small cleaning company, the owner buys. At larger ones, an operations manager or purchasing manager sets the product list and supplier, and site supervisors place orders against it. Franchise cleaning businesses may have to buy from approved suppliers, so check before you pitch.

How many janitorial companies are there in the US?#

The Census Bureau counted 67,799 janitorial service establishments with paid employees in 2023 (NAICS 561720, which also covers maid services). The largest states are California (6,956), Florida (6,675), Texas (3,858) and New York (3,762). BLS counts about 2.4 million janitor and building cleaner jobs across all industries.

What is the best way to win a cleaning company as a supply customer?#

Offer a small trial order on the products they use most (can liners, paper, a disinfectant, a floor cleaner), show the cost per use at their dilution, and deliver on time. Most switch suppliers over price per use, stockouts or late deliveries, so make those your pitch.

Do I need to provide safety data sheets with cleaning chemicals?#

Under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, chemical manufacturers and importers must prepare labels and safety data sheets for downstream customers, and employers must keep safety data sheets for the hazardous chemicals their workers use. As a supplier, make the SDS for every product easy for customers to get. This isn't legal advice.

Sources#

1. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 561720, janitorial services, by state).
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Janitors and Building Cleaners.
3. OSHA, Hazard Communication.
4. OSHA, Bloodborne Pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030.
5. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Safer Choice.
6. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business.
7. Federal Communications Commission, Stop unwanted robocalls and texts.
8. Google, Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.