This question is so common. I hear it all the time. The truth is that, yes, a regular house cleaning is absolutely different from a deep cleaning. While there are many commonalities between them, there are also some major differences.

 The primary one? The level of detail. A regular weekly or biweekly cleaning is typically engaged for maintaining cleanliness, while a deep cleaning, typically completed every 6 - 12 months, is more extensive. A deep clean gets into the darkest of corners, on top of all cabinets, and ensures we scrub like there’s no tomorrow!

 Let’s break it down even further and get into the nitty-gritty differences between a regular house clean versus a deep, deep, deeeeeep clean.

 What is a Regular House Cleaning?

A regular house cleaning involves those items you would consider “weekly cleaning tasks.” These are the chores many kids (myself included) grow up having to complete before being allowed to go out and play. The main purpose of a regular clean is to maintain a certain level of cleanliness, one that meets your personal standards on a day-to-day basis. Most home cleaning companies offer this type of service on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.

When the Clean Club Calgary team goes in to complete a regular cleaning the following items are often included.

• Bathrooms - everything here is cleaned and disinfected as this is often the room that holds onto the most germs. I mean…have you ever really looked in your toilet? 

• Kitchen - cleaning the outside of appliances, while scrubbing the sinks

• Floors are swept, vacuumed, and mopped

• Carpets and rugs are properly vacuumed

• Mirrors and windows are wiped down and made to shine again

• Surfaces, such as light fixtures, are thoroughly dusted

• Disinfecting/Sanitizing the most-touched surfaces, such as doorknobs and other handles

• Collecting and removing the garbage

• And special request items, such as removing the dog’s nose art from the front windows.

While each customer has their own requirements and special requests, the above are common regular cleaning options completed during a regular clean.

What’s Involved in a Deep Cleaning Package?

As mentioned above, the biggest difference between the regular maintenance cleaning and a deep cleaning is the level of detail in the cleaning (but never the quality. This always remains consistent). The easiest way to explain it is to think of a deep clean much like Spring Cleaning. This involves going from top to bottom, left to right in every room, in every nook and cranny. It is extremely extensive and pays attention to those often neglected and hard-to-reach spots, such as the tops of your kitchen cabinets or behind your oven. While a regular cleaning supports the overall health of your living environment, a deep clean takes it to a whole other level, often including vacuuming the air vents.

 We’ll dive into when you should have a deep clean in just a moment. Right now, below are the additional items often involved in a deep clean.

•  Appliances (e.g. fridges, ovens, etc.)

  • Both the inside and outside of appliances are washed

  • Appliances are pulled out from the wall so we can clean underneath and around. This is especially important if you have animals as their fur tends to get sucked under and can impact how the appliance functions.

• Furniture

  • All furniture is pulled away from the wall, where we then wash the wall, removing any stains and streaks the furniture may have left

  • We dust and wash the sides of the furniture

  • Upholstered furniture is vacuumed

• Window and Blinds

  • While a regular cleaning may have a wipe down of the windows, a deep clean involves washing them with soap and water, squeegee and a sparkling cloth.

  • Blinds are dusted, which takes time as we go in between each vane to ensure an intense and proper clean

• Tops of Items

  • We get on step ladders to wash the tops of kitchen cabinets and dust/wash ceiling fans

• Additional Items

  • We wash, scrub, and remove all marks from doors, walls, and baseboards.

Deep cleaning is much more labour intensive and can take anywhere from two-three times as much time as a regular cleaning because it is a highly detailed and intense approach.

When Do You Need a Deep Clean?

When starting with a new customer, most cleaning companies have a standard rule to always start with a deep clean. This ensures the quality of clean starts us off on the right foot. From there, we’re able to schedule a regular cleaning, knowing that the weekly/bi-weekly cleaning is doing an excellent job maintaining the quality of the deep clean we started with. After this, we recommend that you have a deep clean completed every 6 - 12 months.

There are a few other situations that we recommend a deep clean for, including:

• When your house needs spring or fall cleaning.

• If you’re hosting an event where you want your home to simply glisten.

• When moving out of an apartment, condo or rental, and you want to get most, if not all of your security deposit back.

• When you’re selling your home and you want to make it attractive to potential buyers.

What’s the Cost for a Regular Clean versus a Deep Clean?

Unsurprisingly, with the additional time involved in a deep clean, the deep clean is more expensive and can range anywhere from $440 to $1300. To give you a better idea of where your cleaning cost may fall, the following breaks it down by sq ft.

A deep clean is typically an all-day event, whereas a regular clean is usually between two-three hours (house size dependent). While you should always receive quality cleaning regardless of the type of clean, it really falls to the reason you need a clean that will determine which type of cleaning makes sense for your needs.

If you are curious as to which type of cleaning makes sense for your next clean, feel free to reach out, book a quote and we’ll be happy to start bringing back some sparkle to your home!