Every cleaning company uses the words 'standard' and 'deep,' and almost nobody explains the difference until you get the quote. So here it is plainly, the way we do it at A Real Maids: a standard clean maintains a house that's already in good shape, and a deep clean brings a house up to that shape. They cover the same rooms; the difference is how far into each room the cleaning goes.
A standard clean — what we call residential or recurring cleaning — covers every room on the checklist. In the kitchen that's counters, sink, stovetop, the outside of the appliances and cabinet fronts, and the floor. In the bathrooms it's the tub, shower, toilet, sink, mirror and floor. Bedrooms and living areas are dusted, surfaces wiped, beds made, floors vacuumed and mopped, trash taken out. It's a thorough job, and done every week or two it keeps a house genuinely clean. What it doesn't do is spend an hour on the grout or take the oven apart.
A deep clean does everything above and then keeps going. Baseboards, door frames, switch plates and trim wiped by hand in every room. Ceiling fans, light fixtures, vents and the tops of doors and cabinets dusted. Tile and grout scrubbed with a brush; shower doors de-scaled; the toilet cleaned behind and around the base. Cabinet fronts and appliance exteriors degreased, not just wiped. Window sills and tracks cleaned out. Furniture moved where it can be and the floor cleaned underneath. Add the inside of the oven and the refrigerator and you have the full job. It takes two or three times as long as a standard clean, and it's priced accordingly.
So which one do you need? Book a deep clean if the house hasn't been professionally cleaned in the last few months, if you're about to start a recurring schedule, if you're getting ready for a holiday or a house full of guests, if you've just finished a remodel, or if you're moving in or out. Book a standard clean if the house is already in good shape and you want to keep it there — that's what a weekly, biweekly or monthly schedule is for.
The most common mistake is booking a standard clean for a house that needs a deep one. The crew spends the whole visit trying to catch up, the details still don't get done, and nobody's happy with the result. The second most common is paying for a deep clean every month when a recurring schedule would keep the house at that standard for less. That's why we ask about the house before we quote: when it was last cleaned, whether there are pets, what's bothering you most.
Our usual recommendation for a new customer is a deep clean first, then recurring visits to maintain it. Because our recurring visits rotate through the deep-clean details — baseboards one visit, fans and fixtures the next, sills and tracks after that — a house on a biweekly schedule stays at deep-clean standard without paying deep-clean prices again. Most of our customers in Libertyville, Vernon Hills and Lake Zurich are on exactly that arrangement.
If you're not sure which one your house needs, call A Real Maids at (224) 656-3531 and describe it. We'll tell you honestly — and we'll put the price in writing before we bring a vacuum through the door.