Deep cleaning in London: when it's worth it and what it shifts

A regular clean keeps up with the week. A deep clean deals with the layers that a weekly or fortnightly visit doesn't get to, like the film of grease on top of the kitchen cupboards or the crust around the base of the taps. It's a bigger job, so it helps to know when it's worth booking.

When a deep clean is worth it over a regular one

Before a regular service starts. If you're about to book weekly or fortnightly cleaning, a deep clean first brings the home up to a level those visits can hold. Otherwise the early visits are spent catching up on months of build-up instead of keeping a clean home clean.

After illness. When someone in the house has had a stomach bug, the bathroom and the things everyone touches need more than a wipe. NHS advice for norovirus is to clean toilet seats, flush handles, taps and bathroom door handles, and a deep clean sanitises all of those as part of the job. Say on the quote form that the clean follows an illness, so the team knows which rooms to start in.

Before or after an event. A deep clean the week before a party or a family stay gets the kitchen and bathroom ready for guests. One the day after deals with sticky floors and a kitchen that's been used hard. The team works from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, and short-notice bookings are taken when a team is free.

A spring clean. Once a year the whole home gets the attention the regular routine skips, from the tops of doors to the space behind the sofa.

Moving out is a different job with a different standard. See the guide to end of tenancy cleaning and what gets deducted.

What "built-up" means on each surface

Kitchen grease. Cooking puts fat into the air, and it settles on the extractor hood, the splashback, the cupboard doors nearest the hob and the tops of the wall units. At first it's a thin film you can barely see. Dust lands on it and sticks, and over months it turns tacky and brownish. It needs a degreaser and a few minutes to soften before it will wipe off, and on wooden cupboard fronts it needs a gentler product, because a harsh degreaser can strip the finish.

Limescale. Thames Water says most of the water in the South-East of England is hard, and that all the water in its own region is hard because it passes through chalky limestone. Hard water leaves limescale wherever it dries: round tap bases, on shower heads, across shower screens and along the waterline of the toilet. It starts as white spots and hardens into a crust that a cloth won't move. On glass it shows as a cloudy haze.

Soap scum. Soap reacts with the minerals in hard water and leaves a dull grey film on baths, tiles and screens. Together with limescale, it's why a shower screen can look clean when wet and smeared once it dries.

Dust at height and at floor level. Tops of doors, door frames, picture rails, light fittings and skirting boards all collect dust. In a kitchen it binds with grease, and in a bathroom the damp makes it cling.

Grime on touch points. Light switches, door handles, remote controls and keyboards are handled every day and wiped rarely. The oil from hands builds up into a dull layer, easiest to see on white switches and dark handles.

Sanitising as part of the deep clean

Sanitising comes after cleaning, once grease and grime are off, because dirt left on a surface gets between the surface and the product. On a deep clean it covers the kitchen worktops, sink, taps and fridge handle, the whole bathroom including the toilet and flush handle, and the touch points throughout the home. Each product goes on at the dilution its label gives and is left for the contact time the label states before it's wiped.

This is everyday household and workplace sanitising. Specialist decontamination, such as a biohazard or trauma clean, is a different trade. If anyone in the home has allergies or sensitivities, you can ask for particular products or ask for some to be left out.

How surfaces are approached

Different materials react differently to cleaning products, and the wrong product can cause lasting damage, so the product is chosen for the surface. As general guidance, natural stone such as marble or limestone gets a pH-neutral cleaner, because acidic or bleach-based products can etch it. This matters on a deep clean, since limescale removers are usually acidic and scale often forms right where a tap meets a stone worktop. Wood and wooden floors get a wood-safe cleaner on a lightly damp cloth, as excess water or a harsh degreaser can strip the finish. Glass and mirrors get an alcohol-based or streak-free cleaner, and no abrasive pads, which can dull and scratch glass over time.

Finishes vary a great deal, though. A sealed worktop, an oiled floor and a lacquered door each have their own needs, and a fitter or manufacturer may have given you care instructions. If so, those take priority, so mention them when you ask for a quote. If you're not sure what a surface is made of, say that too. The yoga studio cleaning guide shows what one floor maker says about water on hardwood.

Carpets and rugs

A deep clean includes vacuuming carpets and rugs. Carpet and rug cleaning itself is a separate service, the newest one Crystal Clear Cleans offers, with equipment bought for it. If your carpets or rugs need more than a vacuum, ask about adding it when you request a quote and it will be priced alongside the deep clean.

Asking for a quote

Send the number of rooms, the fact that it's a one-off deep clean, and your postcode through the form on the contact page. It helps to add when the property last had a thorough clean, any surfaces that need care, whether the clean follows an illness, and whether you'd like carpets or rugs looked at. You'll get a written price back.

Every property has its own checklist, built from what you tell us. The cleaners are trained, experienced, DBS checked and insured, and the team brings its own professional-grade products and equipment.