So you’re thinking about hiring a house cleaning company and deciding between a regular clean and deep clean. And you want to know what a deep cleaning includes.
In this article, we will dive into the details of what a deep cleaning should include. But in general, during a deep clean, extra attention is paid to surfaces that don’t usually get cleaned during a regular cleaning, such as baseboards, windowsills, and light fixtures. A more thorough cleaning is also done for areas of the house that often get the dirtiest—such as bathrooms and kitchen. Below, we go into more detail of what a deep cleaning looks like for each area of your house, and how much more it should cost you. We also supply a general checklist of what is included in a deep clean below.
Extra attention is also paid to areas that tend to collect dirt and dust, such as mud rooms, carpets, areas behind electronics, and upholstery. Deep cleans are typically done once every few months, but can be done more or less often depending on your needs and how quickly your house gets dirty.
In this article, we dive deeper into deep cleanings, and what is included in a deep clean when you get it from a house cleaning company or maid services, like ours.
Deep Cleaning Vs. Standard (Regular) Cleanings
A deep cleaning is a supercharged version of a standard cleaning. While you can think of a standard (regular) cleaning as a surface-level cleaning, you can think of a deep clean as an inside-out wipe-down and vacuum of your house.
A deep clean of your house includes cleaning areas that are not typically cleaned during a standard cleaning. This may include baseboards, windowsills, and vent covers. A deep clean also includes taking care of any built-up dirt and grime.
If you want to keep your house always fresh and clean but also mindful of your budget, it is best to do deep cleanings 1 to 3 times a year, in addition to monthly standard cleanings. If you can swing it, many companies are willing to give discounts if you do weekly or bi-weekly standard cleanings.
Deep Cleaning of Bathrooms
A deep clean of a bathroom includes scrubbing the toilets, sinks, and showers. The tub and tile are also scrubbed. The grout is cleaned and the floors are mopped. The baseboards and door frames are dusted. All surfaces are wiped down, including inside cabinets and drawers. Cobwebs are removed from the ceilings and light fixtures. The bathroom mirror is cleaned and any fingerprints are removed from all surfaces. The bathroom smells fresh and looks clean after a deep cleaning.
Deep Cleaning of Kitchen
A cleaning company will deep clean a kitchen by doing several things. They will first empty out all of the cabinets and drawers. They will then clean inside of them, making sure to get rid of any buildup of grease or dirt. Next, they will move on to cleaning the appliances. This includes scrubbing the stove, oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher.
Some companies will also include cleaning the insides of the oven and fridge in their deep cleanings while other companies do charge an extra fee for cleaning the inside of the oven and fridge. Cleaning those can take a long time especially if it hasn’t been cleaned in a while —so the extra charge to clean the insides is not out of the ordinary and is fair compensation for the amount of extra time it takes to do so.
They will also clean the outside of the cabinets and the backsplash. Finally, they will mop the floor and wipe down all of the surfaces. Deep cleaning of a kitchen usually takes a few hours to complete for a fairly moderate-sized kitchen. This is because the kitchen is often the most-used place in a house.
Deep Cleaning of Bedrooms
A professional house cleaning company will clean your bedrooms thoroughly, including all the nooks and crannies that you may not even think of. The cleaners will start by dusting all surfaces, including every piece of furniture, picture frame, knick-knack, and air vent. They will then move on to vacuuming the floors, carpets, and upholstered furniture. After that, they will clean the windows, typically only the inside. There may be an extra charge for outside window cleaning.
Finally, they will wash all the floors and make the beds. In addition to all of this, they will also empty all the wastebaskets and replace the linens if necessary. This deep cleaning of your bedrooms will leave them feeling fresh and looking anew.
Deep Cleaning Other Areas of the House
A professional cleaning company will not only clean the bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen, but they will also deep clean the living areas of the house. This includes vacuuming under the furniture, washing all of the windows, and dusting all of the surfaces. They will also clean the loft, the laundry room, and any other areas that may need it. A professional cleaning company has the tools and experience to properly deep clean your home from top to bottom. This will leave your home looking and feeling fresh and new.
What Is Not Included In a Deep Clean
While a deep cleaning is more thorough than a regular cleaning, there are still some things that it does not include. For example, you will need to pay extra for services like window washing, rug/carpet steaming, laundry washing, and dishwashing.
In our case, we do one complimentary load of dishes with our cleans but the loads after would be an extra service. If it is simply loading the laundry, that is included. However, sorting and washing is not typically included. Carpet cleaning, and window washing (with squeegee and soap) are not included in our deep cleans.
While a deep cleaning would get your house a nice wipe down, it will not get rid of all stains and grime. Stains and oil deposits that have been there for years will be very tough to get out. Deep cleaning services will wipe down the tiles and grout but there may be some spots that won’t come out. Cleaners will try to remove old oil from your kitchen as possible but you shouldn’t expect your appliances to look completely new.
Additionally, if you are moving in or out of your home, you will need to book a move-in/move-out cleaning instead of a deep clean. This is because a move-in/move-out cleaning is even more thorough and is designed to clean the house so well that it would pretty much destroy any evidence of anyone living there previously.
And if you just had your house remodeled, a deep cleaning is definitely not sufficient to clean your house. In such cases, you would need to get post-construction cleaning services, which is usually the most expensive service for cleaning companies because it requires so much work and labor.
How Much Does a Deep Cleaning Cost?
As a deep cleaning is more involved than a standard cleaning, you can expect to pay more. How much more? Some companies charge by the square footage of the house (like us) while other companies charge by the hour. But overall, you can expect to pay about 20 to 30 percent more than a regular clean.
Using us as an example, for a typical small studio apartment, we charge around $200 for a regular clean. However, for a deep cleaning of the same studio apartment, we would charge about $250. That is about 25 percent more.
The reason for the increased cost is because of the work hours involved. For the same amount of cleaners, you can expect a deep cleaning to take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours longer, depending on the size of the house, how messy it is, and when the last time it was deep-cleaned.
How Long Does a Deep Cleaning Take?
A fairly dirty 2,000 to 3,000 square foot house would take about 3 to 4 hours to deep clean with a crew of two experienced cleaners. Of course, a living space smaller than that would take less and a living space bigger than that would take more time.
Deep Cleaning Checklist
So as you can see, what a deep cleaning includes varies a bit by each company but overall should reflect a general trend of paying extra attention to areas that get really dirty, and areas that aren’t cleaned during regular cleanings.
Each company that does a deep cleaning will have a checklist for their cleaners to go through and for you to see what’s included. Our deep cleaning checklist can be found on our services page. Below is what is included in our deep cleans:
| Cleaning of the bathrooms, including vanity, tub, mirrors, toilet, bathroom drain |
| Hand wipe bathroom baseboards and the outside of the bathroom cabinets |
| Cleaning of the kitchen counters, sink, table, stove top, interior and exterior of microwave, exterior of fridge and oven. We would also do one load of dishes if asked. We also wipe down all the kitchen cabinets. |
| Washing of interior windows and sliding glass door (within arm’s reach) |
| Dusting of blinds, window sills, and light fixtures (within arm’s reach) |
| Mopping and vacuuming all rooms |
| Interior trash cans emptied and brought to outside trash can |
Before hiring a local cleaning company to do a deep clean, ask them for a checklist to see what is included. If they do not provide a checklist, it is probably best to go with another company.
