The short answer
- A regular clean maintains; a deep clean resets. Different jobs, not different sizes.
- The dividing line is reach: inside, behind, underneath and above versus on top.
- Book a deep clean if it has been a while, you are moving, or you are starting a plan.
- The efficient pattern is one deep clean, then regular visits — that is what keeps the visits short.
- A deep clean is prepaid hours — how many depends on the home, so nobody can quote a flat total sight-unseen.
What’s in this guide
"Deep clean" and "regular clean" get used as though they were two sizes of the same service. They are not. They are different jobs, with different scopes, different equipment and different purposes — and booking the wrong one is the most common reason people feel a clean did not deliver. The distinction is simple once you see it: a regular clean maintains a standard, and a deep clean establishes one. Here is exactly what falls into each, and how to combine them so you are not paying for a reset you do not need.
The actual difference is reach, not effort
People assume the difference is intensity — that a deep clean is a regular clean done harder or for longer. It is not. The difference is reach.
A regular clean works on the surfaces you touch and see every day: worktops, floors, sanitary ware, mirrors, bins. A deep clean works on everything around those surfaces — inside appliances, behind furniture, underneath it, above eye level, and into the corners a weekly round never has time for. That is why the two cannot substitute for each other. Doubling the length of a maintenance clean does not turn it into a deep clean, because the tasks are simply not on its list.
A regular clean holds the line. A deep clean moves the line. If the line is in the wrong place, no amount of holding it will help.
What a regular clean covers
A regular — maintenance — clean keeps an already-clean home fresh. It is efficient precisely because it happens often: nothing has had time to build up, so nothing needs to be dissolved, soaked or scraped.
- Kitchen surfaces, hob, sink and the outsides of appliances wiped and sanitised.
- Bathrooms cleaned and sanitised: toilet, basin, shower or bath, mirrors, taps.
- All floors vacuumed and mopped.
- Surfaces dusted, including furniture and reachable shelves.
- Bins emptied and beds made or changed on request.
- Visible smudges on glass, doors and switches removed.
That is roughly two to three hours for an average home, and it holds a standard indefinitely as long as the visits keep coming. See regular home cleaning for how the plans work.
What a deep clean covers
A deep clean includes everything above, and then adds the work that routine cleaning structurally cannot reach.
- Inside appliances — oven, microwave, fridge and freezer, extractor filters.
- Limescale on tiles, taps, shower screens and shower heads, treated properly rather than wiped.
- Skirting boards, door frames, doors and the tops of doors.
- Behind and underneath furniture — moved, cleaned, replaced.
- Above eye level — light fittings, lampshades, the tops of wardrobes and cupboards.
- Cupboard and wardrobe interiors, emptied and wiped.
- Window interiors, frames, sills and rebates.
- Radiators, including behind and underneath them.
That is a different order of work — typically a full day rather than a couple of hours. Details on the deep cleaning page.
Side by side
| Regular clean | Deep clean | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Maintain a standard | Establish a standard |
| Typical duration | 2–3 hours | A full working day |
| How often | Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly | Once, or once or twice a year |
| Inside the oven | No | Yes |
| Behind and under furniture | No | Yes |
| Limescale treatment | Surface only | Treated properly |
| Skirting boards & door frames | Spot-checked | All, throughout |
| Cupboard interiors | No | Yes |
| Priced as | Plan rate per hour | Prepaid hours, 4-hour minimum |
Which one do you need?
✓ Book a deep clean if…
- It has been six months or more since the house had a thorough going-over.
- You are moving in or moving out.
- You are preparing for — or recovering from — an event.
- You have just finished building work or a renovation.
- You are about to start a regular cleaning plan.
ℹ Book a regular clean if…
- The home is already in good shape and you want to keep it that way.
- You want your weekends back rather than a one-off transformation.
- You have had a deep clean recently and want to hold the result.
If you genuinely cannot tell, describe the state of the house to us and we will tell you which one to start with — including when the honest answer is that you only need the regular visits.
Why they work together
The efficient pattern for most homes is not one or the other. It is one deep clean to set the baseline, then regular visits to hold it.
This is not an upsell; it is arithmetic. A maintenance clean stays quick because nothing has built up. Start regular visits in a home that has not been reset, and the cleaner spends the first several visits fighting accumulated grease and limescale instead of maintaining — you pay maintenance rates for remedial work, and the home never quite arrives at clean. Reset once, and every visit afterwards is doing the job it is priced for.
Run it the other way and the same logic applies in reverse: a deep clean with no maintenance behind it drifts back within months, and you end up buying the reset again next year.
What each one costs
The two are priced differently because they are structurally different jobs.
€ Deep clean — prepaid hours
€65 per hour incl. VAT, with a four-hour minimum, plus a one-time €76.30 onboarding fee on your first booking only. You buy a block of hours up front. We cannot tell you in advance how many hours your home needs — that is set by its condition, not its size, and anyone quoting a flat total without seeing it is guessing. The manager confirms the real hours on site before starting; if the job needs more, you approve and prepay the extra.
€ Regular clean
Priced by plan, with member rates from €39 per hour incl. VAT depending on frequency — weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. See the full price list.
Either way you know the rate and the minimum before you commit, and nothing is added afterwards without you approving it first. Every visit is confirmed on site with an NFC check-in, and every finished area is photographed and reviewed before the job is called done — so "clean" is something you can check rather than something we assert.
Not sure which to book? Send us photos and tell us the state of the house — you will get the hours to budget for and the rate they are charged at. If a regular clean is all you need, that is what we will say.
Frequently asked questions
Is a deep clean just a longer regular clean?
No. A regular clean covers the surfaces you use daily; a deep clean covers what is inside, behind, underneath and above them — appliance interiors, limescale, skirting boards, cupboard interiors, window rebates. Extending a maintenance clean does not add those tasks, because they are not on its list. It is a different scope, not a bigger dose.
How often do I need a deep clean?
Once at the start, then once or twice a year depending on the household. If you have regular cleaning in place, once a year is usually plenty — the maintenance visits are what stop things building back up. Without regular cleaning, expect to want one every six months or so.
Should my first ever clean be a deep clean?
Usually yes, and for a practical reason: if you start regular visits in a home that has not been reset, the first several visits go on removing built-up grease and limescale rather than maintaining. You end up paying maintenance rates for remedial work. Reset once, and every visit afterwards does the job it is priced for.
How long does a deep clean take?
Typically a full working day for an average home, against two to three hours for a regular clean — but that is an average, not a promise. How long your home takes is set by its condition rather than its floor area, and we genuinely cannot know it in advance. That is why a deep clean is sold as prepaid hours with a four-hour minimum: the manager confirms the real hours on site before starting, and if more are needed you approve and prepay them.
Can I book a deep clean without signing up to a plan?
Yes. A deep clean is a standalone one-time job: €65 per hour incl. VAT with a four-hour minimum, prepaid, plus a one-time €76.30 onboarding fee on your first booking only. You know the rate and the minimum before you commit; the number of hours is confirmed on site, because that is the part that depends on the home. Plans are entirely optional — if you want to keep the result afterwards, member rates start from €39 per hour incl. VAT.
