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Deep cleaning checklist by room
A deep clean of a lived-in home goes high to low in every room: fans, vents and light fixtures first, then doors, frames, baseboards, sills and blinds, then the build-up in the kitchen and bathrooms, and floors last, including under anything that moves. The one rule: agree at the walkthrough which rooms come first and what you may move, because a deep clean of an occupied home runs out of time before it runs out of dirt.
Edit the deep clean list
High to low in a lived-in home. Mark the customer’s priority rooms and take off any add-on they did not buy.
Deep cleaning checklist
- Walk through with the customer: priority rooms, what can be moved
- Fragile pieces and existing damage photographed and set aside
- Spray shower glass, grout and baked-on grease first so it soaks
- High dusting first: fan blades, vents, light fixtures, corner cobwebs
- Every room: tops of doors and frames, door handles, switch plates
- Every room: baseboards wiped by hand, not just dusted
- Windows: blinds slat by slat, tracks brushed out, inside glass
- Walls: fingerprints and splashes by switches, doors and stairs
- Kitchen: cabinet fronts and handles degreased, top of the fridge
- Kitchen: grease off the hood, filter soaked, backsplash and stovetop
- Kitchen: small appliances moved, counter under them; microwave inside
- Kitchen: inside the oven or fridge only if it is on the quote
- Bathrooms: shower glass and tile descaled, grout lines scrubbed
- Bathrooms: toilet base, bolt caps and the floor behind it; fan cover
- Bathrooms: vanity front, drawer pulls, mirror, fixtures polished
- Bedrooms and living areas: under and behind furniture that moves
- Upholstery vacuumed under cushions; lampshades and picture frames
- Vacuum edges and corners, then the floors; mop hard floors last
- Walk the customer through; note anything that needs a second visit
How much more does a deep clean cost than a regular clean?
Kleen-It Maids in Dallas lists a one-time regular clean of a three-bedroom, two-bath home at $160–$240 and a deep clean of the same home at $260–$370 (checked October 2026). That is $100 more at the bottom of the range and $130 at the top. The extra buys hand work on every edge: baseboards, door frames, fan blades, grout lines and the grease on cabinet fronts that a wipe-down skips.
Most cleaners sell the deep clean as the first visit before recurring service, then price the regular visits on a home that is already caught up. Quoting a neglected home at the regular price and promising to catch up over a few visits sounds kinder, but it usually means several underpaid visits and a customer who never sees the house look finished.
What does a deep clean include that a regular clean skips?
Everything you can reach but normally pass over: the tops of door frames and cabinets, fan blades, vent covers, light fixtures, switch plates, baseboards wiped by hand, blinds slat by slat, window tracks, grout scrubbed rather than wiped, the toilet base and the floor behind it, and under the furniture you can move. In a lived-in home the cabinets and closets are full, so their insides usually belong to the move-out clean, not this one.
Which room do you start a deep clean in?
The kitchen or the main bathroom, whichever is worse, because that is where the hours go. Spray the shower glass, the grout and any baked-on grease with the right product when you arrive and let it work while you dust high in the bedrooms. Scrubbing soap scum the moment you spray it is the slow way. Then work the house top to bottom and back to front, so the floors finish at the door you leave by.
Frequently asked questions
How often does a home need a deep clean?
Once before recurring service starts, then whenever the regular visits stop keeping up. The signs are easy to spot: dark grout, a film on the shower glass that will not wipe off, dust on the fan blades and a sticky feel on the cabinet fronts near the stove. Homes with pets or a serious cook get there sooner.
Is the inside of the oven and fridge part of a deep clean?
Not usually in an occupied home. The fridge is full of food the customer has to clear first, and an oven needs the product to sit before baked-on grease will lift. Offer both as add-ons with their own price, and write on the quote that they are extra. In a move-out clean they are standard, because the home is empty.
Do house cleaners move furniture for a deep clean?
Light pieces, yes: dining chairs, side tables, nightstands and small rugs. Beds, dressers, sofas and anything with cables behind it usually stay put, and you vacuum under them with a wand where it reaches. Say this on the quote. It protects the floors and your back, and it saves an awkward conversation in front of a heavy armoire.