I fired my cleaning service last month. Not because they were terrible, but because I finally realized I’d been paying for the wrong thing for two years. Every two weeks, they’d come in, run the vacuum, wipe the counters, and leave. Meanwhile, the baseboards looked like they were growing fur, and I won’t even talk about what was happening behind the toilet.
What Regular Cleaning Actually Means
Regular cleaning is basically what you’d do yourself if you had the time and energy. When Maria and her crew show up for a standard clean at my sister’s place, they hit the obvious stuff—vacuum the carpets, mop the kitchen floor, clean the bathrooms, dust the surfaces you can see. Takes them about two hours for her three-bedroom house.
Professional Cleaning Worker Wiping Dust.
“It keeps things from getting gross,” my sister says. “But it’s maintenance, not magic.”
She’s right. Regular cleaning maintains whatever level of clean you’ve already achieved. If your house is already pretty clean, it keeps it that way. If you’re starting from chaos? Well, that’s like putting a fresh coat of paint on a rusty car.
Deep Cleaning: The Reality Check
The first time I got a deep clean, the crew was here for six hours. Six. Hours. Four people crawling around my house like forensic investigators. They moved furniture, cleaned inside appliances, scrubbed grout I’d forgotten existed. The woman cleaning my kitchen pulled out the stove and actually gasped.
“When did you move in?” she asked. “Five years ago,” I admitted. “Yeah, that checks out.”
Deep cleaning is the stuff you conveniently forget needs doing. Light fixtures, windowsills, that gap between the stove and counter where pasta goes to die. They cleaned my ceiling fans and I discovered they were white, not beige. Who knew?
The Money Part
Let’s talk numbers, because that’s what made me reconsider everything. Regular cleaning for my house runs about $120 every two weeks. Deep cleaning? $450. I nearly choked on my coffee when I got the quote.
But here’s the math that changed my mind: I was paying $240 a month for surface cleaning while my house got progressively grosser underneath. One deep clean every three months plus monthly maintenance would cost the same but actually keep my house clean. Revolutionary concept, right?
My friend Tom learned this the expensive way. Skipped deep cleaning for three years, then needed one before his in-laws visited. The quote? $800. “Apparently there’s a surcharge for excavation,” he joked. Not really joking.
How to Know What You Need
Stand in your kitchen. Can you see dust on top of the cabinets? Grime on the backsplash? Mystery splatters on the ceiling? You need a deep clean. If everything looks decent but you know the floor needs mopping and the counters need wiping, you need regular maintenance.
My rule now: if you’re embarrassed to look closely at something, you need deep cleaning. If you’re just too tired to deal with normal weekly stuff, regular cleaning’s your friend.
Lifestyle matters too. My brother has three kids under ten and two dogs. His house needs deep cleaning quarterly just to stay habitable. “It’s not dirt, it’s archaeology,” his wife says. Meanwhile, my aunt lives alone and keeps things tidy. Annual deep clean, monthly regular service, done.
The Timing Game
When I lived in apartments, I’d get a deep clean every time I moved. Start fresh, you know? But in my own house, I let it slide. Big mistake. The longer you wait, the more expensive it gets. Mold in the shower doesn’t care that you’re busy.
Best schedule I’ve found: deep clean when you move in, then every 3-4 months depending on your life. Regular cleaning in between if you can afford it, or just try to keep up yourself. Spring and fall deep cleans make sense—you’re already in that mindset.
Pro tip from my neighbor: schedule deep cleaning right before the holidays. “Nothing says ‘I have my life together’ like clean baseboards when the relatives visit,” she says.
The Service Selection Drama
Finding the right service is its own adventure. Some companies won’t do deep cleaning at all. Others only do deep cleaning. Many claim they do both but show up with the same three people and a mop either way.
Ask specific questions. What exactly comes with deep cleaning? Do they move furniture? Clean inside the oven? Are window interiors included? Get it in writing. I learned that “deep clean” means very different things to different companies.
References matter here. My coworker recommended her service, swearing they were thorough. They were—for regular cleaning. Their “deep clean” was everyone else’s standard service. Sixty dollars extra to basically dust the ceiling fans.
Living With Your Decision
Here’s what I’ve learned after trying every possible combination: you need both, but maybe not from a service. I pay for quarterly deep cleaning now and do regular maintenance myself. Saves money and keeps me honest about how messy I actually am.
Some people do the opposite—regular service every two weeks, then tackle deep cleaning themselves annually. My friend Sarah blocks off a weekend, blasts music, and goes to town. “It’s therapeutic,” she claims. I’ve seen her afterwards. “Therapeutic” isn’t the word I’d use.
The sweet spot seems to be admitting what you’ll realistically do yourself versus what needs professional help. I’ll never clean my own oven properly. Just won’t happen. But I can vacuum and wipe counters between professional visits.
The Bottom Line
Two months after fixing my cleaning service situation, my house actually stays clean. Not “sorry about the mess” clean when people come over. Actually clean. The baseboards are white, the grout is the color it’s supposed to be, and I’m not afraid to look under the bed.
Did I need those two years of surface cleaning that ignored the real problems? No. Did I learn an expensive lesson? Yes. But at least now when Maria comes for regular cleaning, she’s maintaining actual cleanliness, not just rearranging dirt.
My advice? Start with a deep clean, even if it hurts your wallet. Then figure out what you need to maintain it. Maybe that’s professional help, maybe it’s you with a playlist and determination. But stop pretending that quick wipe-downs are solving the problem. They’re not.
Your house (and your baseboards) will thank you.