The Deep Cleaning Checklist We Actually Work From

A deep clean is not a longer regular clean. It is the same rooms done in a different order, with the surfaces a weekly wipe never reaches stripped before anything gets wiped twice. This is the checklist we work from, in the order we actually do it.

What makes a clean a deep clean

A regular clean maintains a home that is already roughly clean. A deep clean resets it. The difference is scope and sequence: the things that sit above and behind everything else come off first, and every surface gets rinsed so no detergent film is left to attract the next layer of dust.

In practice, a deep clean adds the jobs that never make a weekly list: the top of the fridge, the inside of the range hood, the window tracks, the grout, the baseboards, the tops of doors, the bathroom exhaust grille, and the space under the bed. On a first visit to a home we have not cleaned before, that is often the difference between a two-hour visit and a four-hour one.

Regular clean	Deep clean
Counters, floors, bathrooms, kitchen wipe-down	All of that, plus edges, tracks, grout, and interiors
Dust the visible surfaces	Dust high first, then vacuum, then wet-wipe
Spot-clean appliance fronts	Oven, fridge, hood filter, dishwasher filter
Mop the floors	Vacuum the edges, then mop, then dry
About two hours	About four hours

The order of operations

Top to bottom, dry to wet, back to front, and out of the room. Every step exists because doing it the other way costs you a second pass. Dust falls. Water carries dirt into corners. A wet cloth on a dusty shelf makes mud you then have to wipe off, and the shelf is no cleaner for the extra work.

1. Clear the surfaces into one box per room. Do not sort anything yet, just clear.
2. Dust everything above shoulder height while it is still dry: cornices, ceiling corners, fan blades, light fittings, the tops of upper cabinets, picture rails, door tops.
3. Vacuum dry: floors, edges, under the bed, upholstery, mattresses, window tracks, inside drawers.
4. Degrease the kitchen next, because it needs dwell time. Hood filter, backsplash, cabinet fronts, the top of the fridge, then the oven.
5. Spray the bathroom and leave it. Clean the toilet and the vanity while the shower soaks.
6. Wet-wipe from the top down: cabinet faces, doors, switches, baseboards.
7. Glass last in each room, after the dust has settled.
8. Floors last of all, working toward the door.

The checklist, room by room

Kitchen

Range hood filter out and soaking in hot water and degreaser. Stovetop, including the drip trays and the ring around each burner. Backsplash down to the counter join, and the grout behind the cooktop. Cabinet fronts, with attention to the edges around the handles where hand grease collects. The top of the fridge, which is usually a felt-like layer of grease and dust. Inside the fridge, shelves out and washed in the sink. Oven interior, door glass inside and out, and the drawer underneath. Sink, including the rim where the tap meets the counter, and the drain. Dishwasher filter, and the rubber seal around the door.

Bathroom

Exhaust fan grille, usually clogged with lint and dust and the reason the mirror fogs. Shower head soaked to clear the holes. Grout scrubbed and then rinsed, not just wiped. Glass shower panels, both sides if the door swings. Toilet, including the base, the bolts, and behind the bowl. Vanity inside and underneath. The caulk line where the floor meets the tub, which is where black spotting starts. Mirror and chrome last, with a dry cloth.

Bedrooms and living space

Mattress vacuumed on both sides, not steamed. Bed frame, headboard, and the skirting behind the bed. Under the bed, all the way to the wall. Curtains vacuumed with a brush attachment, or washed if the label allows it. Light switches, door handles, door tops, and the tops of the frames. Baseboards, including the corners a vacuum head cannot reach.

The spots most people miss

These come up on nearly every first deep clean we do.

• The top edge of the upper cabinet doors, and the gap between cabinet and ceiling, where cooking vapour rises and condenses.
• The track of a sliding balcony or closet door, where grit grinds the rollers.
• The wall behind the coat rack and the boot tray, which takes the splash from wet jackets.
• The underside of the toilet seat hinges and the bolts at the base.
• The vacuum itself. An overfull bag or a clogged filter blows fine dust back into the air you just cleaned.

Two technique notes that save real time. Vacuum carpet in two directions at right angles, so the pile stands up instead of lying in lanes. And fold microfibre cloths into quarters, turning to a fresh face every few square feet, because a loaded cloth does not clean, it redistributes. Bathroom cloths never travel to the kitchen, which is why ours are colour-coded.

What a Vancouver home adds to the list

Metro Vancouver water is soft, which sounds like a small thing and changes the job. Soap lathers easily and rinses clean, so you need less product than the bottle suggests, and too much leaves a film that grabs dust within days. The upside is that mineral scale is mild here, and a shower head usually clears with a short soak rather than a chisel.

The wet season adds window tracks, door mats, and a gritty splash zone at every entry, and it makes the bathroom exhaust fan a priority rather than a detail. Winter salt comes in on boots and dries white on hardwood and tile. In late summer, wildfire smoke leaves a fine grey film on horizontal surfaces, especially the tops of cabinets and window sills, and it returns until the air clears. In older character homes, go easy on original fir floors: a damp mop, never a flooded one. Water lifts old finish and leaves a dull patch that no polish fixes.

When it is worth booking rather than doing

Do it yourself if the home is small and you have a full day. A deep clean is mostly time, and the order above is not a secret. Book it if any of these is true: you are moving in or out and the date is fixed, the last real clean was more than a year ago, there is renovation dust, there is pet hair worked into the carpet, or the grout and caulk need actual work rather than a wipe.

Book it as well if you have tried and the result still looks tired. The gap is almost always the two steps people skip: the high dusting and the rinse. You can see what the difference looks like in our before-and-after gallery, and the printable version of this list lives on the deep cleaning checklist page.

What it costs in Vancouver

A deep clean runs $349 to $549 depending on size and condition, and takes about four hours. That is a flat rate quoted before the visit, not an hourly estimate that grows while you watch. Recurring cleaning afterwards is from $119 for a one-bedroom, one-bath home to $179 for four or more bedrooms, at roughly two hours a visit, and it keeps the deep clean from being necessary again for a while. A move-out or possession-day clean is $329 to $549. Payment is after the clean, and if something on the agreed list was missed, we come back within 48 hours.

The pattern that works for most homes is one deep clean, then recurring visits. The deep clean resets the edges. The recurring visits stop them from building up again.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a deep clean take?

About four hours for a typical Vancouver apartment or townhome, longer for a large house, a home with pets, or a place that has not been cleaned in a year. The order above is what keeps it near four hours: nothing gets cleaned twice.

Do I need to be home?

No. If you are at work, we work around it. We need a way in, and in a strata building that usually means a buzzer code, a key left with the building manager, or a booked elevator if we are carrying equipment. If you are home, stay out of the rooms being cleaned so the floors can dry.

Can a deep clean be split over two visits?

Yes, and for a large house it is often better: kitchen and bathrooms first, the rest of the home second. Splitting only works if the high dusting happens on the first visit, so the second one is not cleaning dust that fell after you finished.

Want the deep clean done in one visit? Framework Property Care cleans homes across 32 Vancouver neighbourhoods, flat-rate from $119. Book a clean or call 604-966-3882.