In the open
The 23 things we do in every house.
This is the actual list, in the order she works it. It is laminated and it goes in the door with her. Most cleaning companies advertise a numbered checklist and never publish the numbers — the two largest in the country both do exactly that. Here is ours, so you can check it.
The standard visit
Every room, every time, whether you are home or not. Each one is photographed before and after.
Kitchen
- Counters and backsplash
- Cabinet fronts and handles
- Sink scrubbed, faucet polished
- Stovetop degreased
- Microwave inside and out
- Floors mopped to the edges
Bathrooms
- Toilet, base and behind
- Shower and tub, scum removed
- Hard water on glass and tile
- Mirror left streak-free
- Chrome polished dry
- Floor washed by hand at edges
Bedrooms and living
- Dusted top down — fans, sills
- Surfaces cleared, wiped, replaced
- Beds made, linens if left out
- Mirrors and glass
- Vacuumed under reachable furniture
- Hard floors mopped
Every room, every time
- Switches and door handles
- Baseboards spot-cleaned
- Cobwebs and ceiling lines
- Final walk from the front door in
- Before and after photos
What a deep clean adds
The first visit with a new client is always a deep clean. It is how we set an honest upkeep price instead of guessing at one, and it is the only visit that touches these.
On top of the 23
- Inside the oven, racks out
- Inside and under the fridge
- Baseboards washed rather than spot-cleaned
- Grout scrubbed
- Vents and returns
- Window sills and tracks
- Light fixtures and ceiling fans
- Cabinet interiors if emptied
Why the first one is different
A house that has not been deep cleaned recently carries work that a regular visit cannot absorb without either running long or skipping something. Doing it once, properly, at the start means every visit after it is the same job at the same price. More on deep cleans.
Only if you ask
These are not on the standard list. Say so at booking and they go into the time rather than being discovered halfway through.
Inside cabinets and drawers
Only if they're emptied first — we don't unpack a kitchen without being asked.
Laundry
We'll move a load along if you ask. We don't sort or fold as standard.
Dishes
Loaded and run, yes. A full sink of baked-on pans is a time conversation first.
Exterior windows
Not on a standard visit. Interiors and sills are always included.
Litter trays and pet mess
Yes, on request. Say so at booking so it's in the time.
What we do not do
Worth putting in writing. A list that only says yes is not a list.
Anything above safe ladder height
One person, no spotter. We won't take a risk in someone else's house.
Mould remediation
Surface mildew in a shower, yes. Structural mould is a different trade.
Hoarding or biohazard clean-up
Not equipped for it, and saying so is more useful than finding out on the day.
Moving heavy furniture
We vacuum under what moves easily. Nothing that takes two people.
Our promise
If a clean is wrong, tell us by the end of the next day.
We come back and do the room again — the whole room, not the one spot you pointed at — and it costs you nothing. You don't have to argue for it or prove anything. One text is enough, and you have until the end of the day after your visit to send it.
The window is there so it means something. An open-ended promise is what everyone else writes, and it's worth about as much as it costs to write. A day and a half is long enough for you to actually walk the house, and short enough that we can still remember the room.
Two questions before we start
"What's the one thing that, if it isn't done right, makes the whole clean feel like it didn't happen?" and "Is there anywhere you'd rather we didn't go?" The first tells us how you will actually judge the job. The second gets respected without you ever having to raise it again.