Deep Clean or Regular Clean? How to Choose

If you're booking a cleaning for the first time, the menu can look like two versions of the same thing. They aren't. A regular clean maintains a home that's already in decent shape; a deep clean brings one back to that point. Choosing between them comes down to what has built up since the last proper clean.

What a regular clean is for

A regular clean, which we call a standard house cleaning, covers the work a home needs every week or two: counters, sinks and the stovetop, bathrooms and mirrors, dusting, beds, trash and floors. It assumes the slow-building grime is already under control, so the time goes into the rooms you use most.

What a deep clean adds

A deep clean includes all of that, then moves on to the places that only show their age over months: baseboards, doors and door frames, window sills and frames, the outside of every cabinet and drawer, the range-hood vent and the grout in the shower. None of these look dirty after a week. All of them look dirty after a year.

Signs you need the deep clean first

It has been several months, or longer, since anyone cleaned the home professionally.

There's a gray line along the baseboards, or a film on the cabinet fronts near the stove.

The shower grout is darker than it was when the tile went in.

If any of those sounds familiar, a regular visit would spend its time catching up instead of maintaining. Start with a deep clean, and the regular visits that follow can do the job they're meant for.

How often to repeat it

Once a home is on a regular schedule, a deep clean once or twice a year is usually enough to keep the detail surfaces from drifting. Homes with pets, small children or a lot of cooking may want one more often.

Still not sure? Read the checklist

Our Checklist page sets out, task by task, what a routine clean, a deep clean and a move-in/out clean each include. Reading the three columns side by side is the quickest way to see which one your home needs right now.