Often times potential homeowners are overwhelmed when an agent walks in the door and starts spouting off a laundry list of things to do to get a home ready for sale. I like to provide a practical list, but even this can cause a seller distress. What’s essential is to advise the client with a strategy that will work best for them when getting a home ready for market. Not every seller will be able to make everything picture-perfect. So the number one thing I always recommend is a deep clean. A deep clean will make a massive difference in any home, regardless of your neat freak level. Below is an excellent list of what to expect in a deep clean versus a regular clean. Check out my Trusted Professional List for a fantastic cleaning service,
Ivonne Castillo Housekeeping Services
Keep reading to understand what you get in deep cleaning and why you should consider it for your home.
Regular Cleaning Basics
Regular cleaning from a cleaning service usually happens weekly. The goal is to keep up with basic cleaning tasks.
Typical tasks that happen during this service include:
- Tidying up your spaces
- Cleaning floors
- Wiping surfaces in kitchens and bathrooms
- Taking out the trash
- General dusting
The frequency of regular cleaning is usually at least once per week. A regular cleaning service typically takes less than a deep clean, so it generally costs less.
Deep Cleaning Basics
Deep cleaning goes further to eliminate dirt, grime, soap scum, and other gunk around your home. It’s a more thorough service than the standard cleaning.
You’re not just picking up the clutter and wiping down surfaces. You’re often sanitizing areas throughout the home. Sanitizing and disinfecting surfaces can help eliminate germs that can make your family sick.
Deep cleaning can make your home healthier by removing dirt, dust, and other junk. It also makes it look and smell fresh and clean.
Deep cleaning typically takes longer than a general cleaning service, especially if you schedule a deep cleaning for your entire home. It involves lots of detailed work, which takes more effort.
Bathroom
During a regular cleaning service, your cleaner will clean and dust all surfaces. That includes things such as your shower, vanity, mirror, and toilet.
When you get a deep cleaning, your service goes deeper. This might include:
- Scrubbing grout
- Disinfecting wastebaskets
- Removing soap scum and limescale from fixtures
- Deep cleaning baseboards and door frames
- Cleaning inside vanities and medicine cabinets
- Disinfecting knobs
- Cleaning around the toilet base
- Deep cleaning shower doors, curtains, and crevices
The cleaning leaves your bathroom sparkling and sanitized. That’s a good thing since bathroom germs often include things such as staph bacteria, athlete’s foot, gastrointestinal viruses, and viruses spread by contaminated food, such as E. coli and salmonella.
Kitchen
The kitchen is another place that can get quite dirty. Food splatters and grease can leave your appliances and cabinets filthy.
Your regular weekly cleaning likely includes tidying up your countertops, wiping down all visible surfaces, and cleaning the floor.
For deep cleaning, the following things might be included:
- Cleaning behind and under appliances
- Cleaning inside appliances, including your oven, refrigerator, and microwave
- Interior range hood and filter cleaning
- Cabinet cleaning
- Cleaning grout lines on countertops or backsplashes
- Cleaning refrigerator coils
- Cleaning and disinfecting small kitchen appliances
- Cleaning and organizing inside cabinets and drawers
- Disinfecting knobs and switches
The deep cleaning ensures all grease and food remnants get removed. When those things build up, they can be difficult to remove, so having a professional cleaning service handle it makes it easier on you.
General Spaces
Your cleaner also tidies up general spaces during regular cleaning. This includes putting things where they belong, cleaning floors, and wiping down surfaces.
Deep cleaning services might include:
- Cleaning under furniture
- Wiping down ceiling fans and light fixtures
- Vacuuming and cleaning upholstery
- Cleaning blinds
- Dusting individual decorations
- Sanitizing trash cans and other surfaces
- Dusting lamp shades
- Cleaning baseboards, window frames, and door frames
- Wiping vent covers
- Cleaning inside window sills and window tracks
- Scrubbing walls
- Vacuuming along wall edges and other crevices
- Polishing furniture
Once you get your general spaces cleaned, it’s easy to maintain them with regular weekly cleaning. Since those spaces don’t have water or food sources like the kitchen and bathroom, they don’t tend to get as gunky as quickly.
When to Get a Deep Cleaning
You don’t always need a deep cleaning. It’s typically an occasional service you get for a specific purpose.
You might schedule a deep clean when you move into a new home. This gives you a fresh start in your new home without worrying about the dirt and grime from the previous owners.
You can also do it in your old home when you move out. That gives the new owners a clean start.
Some people start with a deep clean when they start using a service. You start out with your home being clean throughout. Then, when you start with regular cleanings, the cleaning service can maintain that level of cleanliness they create during the deep cleaning.
You might schedule a deep cleaning before a big party or event you plan to host at your home. If anyone looks closely at your baseboards or appliances, they won’t find any grease or gunk.
This service is also a good idea in the spring when you’re already spring cleaning your home. It gives your space an extra-clean feeling as you also declutter and simplify.
Benefits of a Cleaning Service
When you’re ready for a deep clean, using a cleaning service can make the job easier.
A professional cleaning service has the deep cleaning routine down. The cleaners know what needs to be cleaned and where the dirt and gunk typically hide. They have the cleaning supplies and tools needed to do the job correctly.
They also know how to clean different parts of your home safely. They know what works on baseboards or tiles, for example.
The cleaners handle the heavy lifting, such as moving appliances to clean behind them. This can prevent you from getting injured during cleaning.
Hiring a service saves you time. It goes beyond the regular clean, so it naturally takes much longer. A service can get in quickly to do the job, leaving you with more free time.
It means you don’t have to do all the tedious cleaning tasks that no one likes, such as scrubbing grout lines for hours or wiping down the individual slats on blinds.