What a deep clean reaches that a regular one does not
Our cleaners run a deep clean floor-up and corner-in, with nothing climbed and nothing heavier than a nightstand lifted.
Before anything is opened, we go room by room with your list from the call. Is the oven interior on this visit? Is the fridge? Are the baseboards on the whole ground floor or only the ones in the hallway? A deep clean reaches further than the regular pass, so the scope is settled before any bottle comes out. Then high dusting comes down from the floor: ceiling fans, vents, light shades and the tops of cabinets and door frames. Cleaners work from the floor; anything out of reach is left and named back to you.
1. The kitchen, in depth
Cabinet fronts take the first attention, especially around the pulls, where oil from fingers lays down a film. The wall behind the stovetop is next; cooking spray collects on it layer by layer, and the deep clean takes those layers off. The range hood face is wiped. Microwave inside and outside. The oven door, the glass panel inside it and the handle. Inside the oven and inside the fridge are on offer here, where you ask for them: shelves and racks come out first, drawers next, and the gaskets around each door are wiped front to back.
2. Bathrooms, in depth
Grout lines around the shower, the tub and the floor are cleaned. Shower glass, tile and chrome come up for the hard water film and soap scum sitting on them. Around the base of the toilet, behind it, and the bolts at the floor. The exhaust fan cover is dusted from the floor.
3. The parts a regular visit skips
A deep clean also catches what the hand and the vacuum have passed by. Each baseboard is wiped along its whole length, with light furniture slid out of the way. Door frames come top to bottom. Switch plates and the handles on both faces of each door are addressed. Inside sills on every window.
4. Floors, last
Hard surfaces are vacuumed first, with the edges along the baseboards and into the corners taken, and then washed down. Rugs come up for a vacuum on both sides where the backing lets them turn.
| Area | Regular visit | Deep clean |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen counters and sink | Wiped and dried | Wiped, with caulk edges around the sink too |
| Stovetop and range hood | Stovetop wiped, grates lifted | Hood face wiped, surrounding cabinet fronts wiped |
| Oven and fridge | Fronts and handles wiped | Inside each one when asked, shelves out, gaskets wiped |
| Shower and tub | Walls and fixtures wiped | Grout cleaned, hard water film off glass and chrome |
| Toilet | Inside and outside, base | Bolts, floor around the base, caulk at the floor |
| Dusting | Within reach, from the floor | Fans, vents, cabinet tops, door frame tops |
| Baseboards and door frames | Spot-wiped at marks | Every wall, every door, top to bottom |
Where several rows of this table sound like your place, a deep clean is the first visit to book. A deep clean and a regular visit cover different lists, and the layer between them is where the buildup sits.
What a regular visit covers, and what a deep clean adds
A deep clean takes the regular rooms further, into the corners and fixtures a routine pass leaves for later.
A regular visit
- Counters, sink and stovetop
- Shower, toilet, vanity and mirror
- Dusting within reach, from the floor
- Floors vacuumed and mopped
A deep clean adds
- Fans, vents and the tops of cabinets
- Soap scum and water film on glass and tile
- Baseboards, door frames and switch plates
- Cabinet fronts, the backsplash and oven glass
When a deep clean fits, and when another service fits
When a deep clean fits
The usual reasons: a long gap since the last catch-up pass, people on the way for the weekend, a season change, or a routine you want to launch from a baseline rather than from a mess. A season spent with a shedding pet or a run of heavier cooking lands on this list too.
When another service fits
Rooms that are already empty belong to a move-out clean for an empty unit: cabinets, racks and corners are all open because nothing is in front of them. If drywall or tile work just wrapped, construction dust is its own job and a cleaning for dust after a remodel runs first. If the place is already carried along and you simply want it kept there, a regular maid service pass is the right ticket.
A deep clean is often the right opening act for a schedule.
Mold, and where cleaning stops
Small surface spots on hard, non-porous surfaces (tile and grout) are cleaned on a deep visit. Mold on drywall or wood, or growth that keeps coming back after cleaning, needs a mold professional. We do not treat or test for mold.
What the visit covers
A deep clean is a thorough pass through an occupied home, with your belongings in place. Only light furniture (anything one cleaner can slide on their own) is moved for the work and then set back. Inside the oven and inside the fridge are included where you ask, with both emptied before the visit so shelves and drawers can come out. Products are gone over on the call, including anything to leave off a particular surface, such as a stone counter, a wood floor or a specialty cooktop.
What the quote comes to depends on the rooms, the bathrooms, the gap since the last catch-up pass and anything extra you add. How a deep clean is priced carries the detail, and deep or regular sorts the choice between the two.
From your call to the finished rooms
- You call and tell us about the home: rooms, bathrooms, how we get in, parking, pets, and how long since the last catch-up pass.
- We plan the deep clean with you, including the oven, the fridge, the baseboards, and anything to leave alone.
- You get a price and decide.
- The cleaning happens, with a walk-through at the end if you are home.
Hard water in San Diego and what it means for a deep clean
San Diego water runs hard everywhere in the city. In 2025, City tap water averaged 237 parts per million of total hardness from the Alvarado plant, 242 from Miramar and 243 from Otay, and USGS puts anything above 180 at the very hard end of its scale. All three City plants delivered very hard water in 2025, and the three figures sit close enough that the hardness picture is citywide rather than block by block. The service areas of those plants also overlap, and a home can draw from either. USGS says hard water leaves spots or film on glassware and makes soap scum. On a deep clean in a San Diego bathroom, that is the layer the work goes at: film across shower glass, chalky rings around chrome taps, soap scum sitting in the grout line where the tub meets the tile.