Regular Cleaning Service in Philadelphia

What regular cleaning service covers

• Surfaces wiped from the top down in every room you use
• Toilets, sinks and showers kept up, not scrubbed down to the tile and grout
• Floors vacuumed and mopped around the furniture where it stands
• Dusting on flat reachable surfaces: tables, shelves, sills, TV stands
• Kitchen counters cleared, the sink emptied and the stovetop wiped
• Beds made and the trash out, so the rooms look done when you walk in

What is usually not included

• Anything on the inside: oven, fridge, cabinets, drawers
• Anything that has to be moved first, like the couch or the fridge
• Scrubbing grout, hard-water rings or grease that has already built up

When to book regular cleaning service

This is what most people mean by "cleaning the house". Choose a deep clean instead when there is built-up grease, hard-water buildup or dust that a regular clean will not shift.

How long it takes

This is the shortest of the regular cleans, because nothing gets opened and nothing gets pulled out. What stretches it is what is sitting on the surfaces: everything has to be lifted, cleaned under and put back.

What makes the price go up

• A sink full of dishes, since it gets emptied before it gets cleaned
• Booking it now and then instead of on a set schedule
• Adding rooms that normally stay closed, like a guest room
• Asking for one deep item on top, usually the oven or the fridge

What to ask before you book

• What exactly is on your list, and what counts as an extra?
• If I want the oven done this time, how much more is that?
• Should I pick up first, or do you work around what is out?

What regular cleaning service looks like in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is a rowhouse city: narrow, deep homes sharing walls, two or three floors up a tight staircase, a front door opening straight onto the sidewalk and a basement below. Winters are cold, the radiators run, and salt from the sidewalks comes in on shoes. Summers are humid, and the middle of the house gets little daylight.

The front door opens on the sidewalk, so street grit lands in the first room and stair treads take the worst of winter. A vacuum gets carried up narrow stairs instead of rolling room to room. Radiators collect dust down between the columns, and the dim middle rooms need a light brought in.