👻 He's Making $2,000 A Month Cleaning Car Seats

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If you’re new here, we turn $1 into thousands building these weird but simple side hustles. Welcome to Ghost Business 👻 Your (mostly) weekly email

TLDR;

• Charge $100+ to clean car seats and strollers

• $150 start up cost

• Earn ~$500 a week in revenue to start

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Finding side hustles that’t not Uber, dropshipping, or climbing a ladder to clean windows is a tough job. So when I discovered Bucklebath, I had to dig in for you guys.

I like the idea of cleaning car seats and strollers because all you need are towels, cleaning product and a steam cleaner. You can either haul them to your home to clean or clean them in the customers driveway.

All in for ~$120

Getting your first customers

The original idea is stupidly simple:

• Buy a steam cleaner ($100–$200 on Amazon)

• Grab some eco-friendly cleaning spray, gloves, microfiber towels

• Build a $10 website or even just a Google Form

• Offer to pick up and clean local parents’ car seats for $40–$75 each

• Post this in neighborhood Facebook groups, OfferUp and Nextdoor

That’s it. You don’t need a van. You don’t need certifications. You just need to not be afraid of Goldfish crumbs.

Scaling to $1,000 a day

Here’s what BuckleBath charges for their pickup and return service (usually within 24 hours):

Car Seats

• BuckleBath (routine clean, 1 car seat) – $69

• BioBath (deep clean, 1 car seat) – $115

• BuckleBath for 2 car seats – $138

• BioBath for 2 car seats – $230

Strollers

• Single Stroller – BuckleBath – $79

• Single Stroller – BioBath – $110

The "BuckleBath" is their standard routine clean — great for dirt, crumbs, and bacteria. The "BioBath" is for the real disasters: puke, poop, and milk from last month.

At these prices, doing just 5–10 cleanings a day can bring in $500–$1,000+ per day, especially on weekends when parents have time and cars are already out of the garage.

Scaling up

1. Target Convenience — Offer pickup/drop-off during nap time or school hours

2. Bundle It — Add stroller cleaning, car vacuuming, or “sanitation packages”

3. Offer Subscriptions — Clean every 2–3 months = recurring revenue

4. White-Label It — Train a teen. Launch in 3 more suburbs. Multiply.

This works anywhere kids + cars + parents exist. Especially in the burbs.

p.s If you found this insight into the newsletter industry valuable, imagine how helpful it could be to someone else dreaming of starting their own hustle!

Hit the share button below to pass this on to a friend, colleague, or anyone who's ever thought about turning their passion into profit.

Viability:

1 [building spaceships] 🚀 to 5 [easy peasy] 😊 

It’s simple, repeatable, and doesn’t require any licenses, tech skills, or storefront. Once you have your gear and a few local customers, it’s mostly rinse, steam, and repeat. The only reason it’s not a full 5 is because you do need to physically handle pickups, clean the gear, and deal with the occasional mystery stain. But compared to most service businesses? This one’s practically turnkey.

(As usual each business will have it’s own setbacks, and it’s all about the execution and consistency rather than just having the idea)

It’s a great day to be great!

Love, Mike 👋