What does a regular house cleaning service do each visit?

A regular cleaning visit is upkeep. The cleaner keeps a house that is already reasonably clean from sliding back: dusting, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the high-touch spots, the floors and the trash. It does not catch up on months of build-up; that is a deep clean, priced separately. There is no industry standard list, so the useful thing is to know what is normally included, what is normally extra, and to get your own list in writing.

What a typical visit covers

Kitchen

The kitchen gets dirty fastest. High-touch surfaces such as tables and countertops may need cleaning daily, or even more often,^[1] which is why a regular visit almost always starts or finishes here. Expect the counters, the sink and faucet, the stovetop, the outside of the microwave, fridge and dishwasher, the cabinet fronts near the stove, and the table. FDA's food-safety advice is to clean the refrigerator regularly and wipe up spills right away,^[5] so many cleaners wipe obvious spills inside the fridge even when a full fridge clean-out is an extra.

Bathrooms

Each visit usually covers the sink and faucet, the counter, the mirror, the tub or shower, the toilet inside and out, and the floor. Moisture is what turns a bathroom from a weekly job into a mold problem. EPA's advice for homes with allergy and asthma triggers includes using an exhaust fan or opening a window in the bathroom and kitchen when showering, cooking or washing dishes,^[3] and small spots are routine: mold on a hard surface can be cleaned up with soap and water, then the area left to dry completely.^[3]

Touch points

Virginia Cooperative Extension's list of hard household surfaces that can be cleaned and disinfected includes handles on sinks, the refrigerator, cabinets and drawers, doorknobs, sink basins, tubs and faucets, toilets, light switches, and electronics such as phones and remote controls.^[1] Check with the manufacturer before anyone sprays a screen.

Living areas and bedrooms

Dusting of reachable surfaces, shelves, lamps, picture frames and ceiling fan blades within reach. EPA's guidance is to "dust often with a damp cloth,"^[3] which picks dust up rather than moving it around. Many services also make the beds or change the sheets if clean ones are left out; for allergy-prone homes, EPA suggests you wash sheets and blankets weekly in hot water.^[4]

Floors and trash

Vacuuming carpets, rugs and upholstered furniture, then mopping hard floors, usually last and working toward the door. For allergy-prone households, EPA's advice is to vacuum carpets and furniture every week, using a vacuum with a HEPA filter on carpet and fabric-covered furniture,^[3] and "people with asthma or allergies should leave the area being vacuumed."^[3] Trash cans are emptied and relined.

What a regular visit usually leaves out

These are the jobs most often priced as extras, rotated into one visit a month, or left for a periodic deep clean:

• Inside the oven, inside the fridge and inside cabinets
• Interior windows, window tracks and blinds
• Baseboards, door frames and walls
• Laundry, folding and dishes
• Moving furniture to clean behind and under it
• Anything above head height that needs a tall ladder
• Garages, basements and porches

If your house has not had a thorough clean for a while, expect the business to suggest a first deep clean before the recurring price applies. See when you need a deep clean instead of a regular one.

How a careful cleaner works

Good cleaners tend to work top to bottom and dry to wet: dust first so it falls onto floors that have not been vacuumed yet, kitchens and bathrooms next, floors last. Where something needs disinfecting, the order matters. Dirty surfaces are cleaned first with soap and water and rinsed, and only then is a sanitizer or disinfectant applied.^[1] A disinfectant is left on the surface for the contact time on its label, without rinsing or wiping it dry,^[1] and EPA adds that the surface has to stay wet for the whole contact time for the product to work.^[2] A product sold as a disinfectant carries an EPA registration number,^[2] which is worth checking on whatever the cleaner brings. For more on how often touch points need it, see how often to disinfect high-touch surfaces.

Products and safety

Chemicals such as bleach and ammonia must never be mixed,^[1] and EPA's broader rule is to never mix household cleaners unless the label says to.^[4] Virginia Cooperative Extension also recommends that you work in a well-ventilated room, wear disposable gloves, and wash hands afterwards,^[1] and that you keep cleaning chemicals where children and pets cannot reach them, and to call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 if they get into them.^[1]

Making each visit count

A cleaner paid by the visit spends less time cleaning when they have to pick up first. EPA's advice on keeping pests away points the same way: keeping counters, sinks, tables and floors clean and free of clutter, and cleaning up dishes, crumbs and spills right away.^[3] A few habits help:

• Clear counters and floors before the visit.
• Leave a short list of priorities, such as a guest room or a pet accident.
• Ask for one extra to rotate in each visit, such as baseboards one week and the fridge the next.
• Walk through after the first few visits and say what was missed.

For the questions to settle before the first visit, see what to ask before hiring a house cleaner, and for frequency, weekly or every other week.

Stop and call a pro if

• You find mold that covers more than a small spot, a musty smell, or water damage. That needs the moisture source fixed first.
• Someone was exposed to a cleaning chemical, or two products were mixed and the fumes are irritating. Leave the room, get fresh air and call Poison Control.
• The job needs a tall ladder, such as high windows or a two-storey foyer light.
• The house needs a hoarding cleanout or biohazard cleanup, which are separate services with their own safety rules.

Finding a recurring cleaner on Loclis

You can browse recurring cleaning services, look up cleaning businesses around Blacksburg, or read the other cleaning answers. When you know what you want each visit to cover, describe the job on Loclis once and businesses quote it.