If you've never hired a professional cleaner before, the first thing you'll notice is that companies quote two very different prices for what sounds like the same thing. Regular cleaning. Deep cleaning. Both are just "cleaning," right?
They're actually different services with different scope, different pricing, and different reasons to book them. Which one you need depends on the state of your home right now — not the sales pitch of whoever's quoting.
This is the honest breakdown.
What a regular clean actually is
A regular clean is the maintenance service most clients book on an ongoing schedule — weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. It's designed to keep a home that's already in reasonable shape consistently clean, not to reset a home from a difficult starting point.
At Svit, a regular clean includes:
- Dusting all surfaces, shelves, and fixtures
- Vacuuming and mopping floors throughout
- Kitchen surfaces, sink, and appliance exteriors
- Full bathroom cleaning and sanitization
- Emptying bins and general tidying
It's fast, focused, and repeatable. A regular clean of a 2-bed 1-bath Edmonton home takes about 3 hours and costs roughly $214 – $271 at our current rates (see full pricing).
The reason it's fast: a regular clean assumes the tough stuff has been done recently. It doesn't tackle inside the oven, grout scrubbing, or the light fixtures on every visit. Those areas don't need it every week.
What a deep clean actually is
A deep clean is the reset. It covers everything a regular clean does, plus every area routine cleaning skips:
- Inside the oven, fridge, and microwave
- Grout scrubbing in bathrooms
- Baseboards throughout the home
- Light fixtures and window sills
- Cabinet exteriors and interiors
- Behind and under furniture where accessible
- Full sanitization of hard-to-reach areas
Because it goes further, it takes longer — typically 1.75x as long as a regular clean of the same home. A 2-bed 1-bath deep clean runs about $356 – $455 at Svit.
Deep cleans are usually one-off bookings (a first visit, a seasonal reset, before hosting) — not something you'd want every week. Doing them too often would be paying premium prices for cleaning that's already done.
When you need a deep clean
Book a deep clean if any of these are true:
- You've never hired a cleaner here before. No matter how tidy you keep things, first-time cleans almost always reveal areas that need the deep treatment.
- It's been 3+ months since your last professional clean — even if you clean yourself in between, grease, grime, and buildup accumulate in places you don't get to.
- You're moving in or out. Landlords inspect the areas a regular clean doesn't touch. So do buyers. This is what a move-in or move-out clean covers.
- You're hosting a big event — extended family visits, a party, house guests staying a week. Deep-clean before, regular-clean after.
- You noticed something regular cleaning didn't fix — a persistent smell, hard-water stains, grease buildup on the range hood.
When a regular clean is enough
Book a regular clean if:
- You already have a professional cleaning history (recent deep clean within 3 months)
- You're on an ongoing bi-weekly or monthly schedule
- Your home is small (studio or 1-bed) and has low buildup
- You do meaningful cleaning yourself between visits
The wrong reason to book only a regular clean when you actually need a deep one: to save money. It'll feel like you saved on the first visit — but the areas that needed a deep clean are still dirty, and now you're paying every couple of weeks for a service that isn't reaching them.
The pattern most clients follow
This is the flow that works best over a year:
1. Deep clean first to reset the home to a baseline 2. Move to a regular schedule (bi-weekly for most Edmonton households) to maintain that baseline 3. Book another deep clean every 3–6 months — especially before or after seasonal changes, hosting, or when the schedule allows
Over 12 months, this typically costs less total than trying to "get by" with only regular cleans. Because regular cleans aren't designed to catch up on months of accumulated buildup, homes that never get a deep clean slowly drift out of the "maintained" state — and the regular cleans start feeling less effective.
The deep-then-regular pattern is exactly what our services page recommends, and it's what most of our recurring Edmonton clients actually do.
The cost difference in real numbers
Here's what the price gap looks like across common home sizes at our current $60/hr rate:
| Home size | Regular clean | Deep clean | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bed · 1 bath | $188 – $237 | $310 – $396 | ~$120 more |
| 2 bed · 1 bath | $214 – $271 | $356 – $455 | ~$150 more |
| 3 bed · 2 bath | $279 – $355 | $470 – $604 | ~$200 more |
| 4 bed · 2 bath | $305 – $389 | $515 – $662 | ~$220 more |
The deep clean is roughly 1.75x the regular price — that's not markup, it's the actual extra hours the work requires.
For the full cost breakdown by home size, including add-ons like inside-oven and grout scrubbing, we published the exact formula we use.
Common questions
Can I just book a deep clean once and skip recurring? Yes — some clients book a deep clean once or twice a year and clean between themselves. That works. The tradeoff: your home reverts closer to needing another deep clean sooner, versus if you'd maintained with regular cleans in between.
What if I already clean weekly myself — do I still need a deep clean? Probably not as often. If you're on top of the visible areas — floors, surfaces, bathrooms — you may only need a deep clean once or twice a year rather than every few months. The areas most home cleaners miss are inside appliances, grout lines, and behind furniture.
Is same-day cleaning a regular clean or a deep clean? Same-day cleaning is priced the same as our regular cleaning — same scope, same rate, just booked at short notice. It's not a deep clean at short notice.
How do I know which one to book? Easiest way: get an estimate and it shows you both prices for your specific home. Then decide based on where you are on the "when you need a deep clean" list above.
The honest recommendation
If you've never worked with a professional cleaner, or it's been more than a season since your last one: start with a deep clean. Then decide whether to go on a regular schedule.
If you already know your home is in maintained shape and you're just looking to keep it that way: regular clean is what you want.
If you're not sure: build your service at our estimate calculator — it shows both prices side-by-side so you can decide with actual numbers in front of you. Or call (587) 778-4567 and we'll walk you through it.
— Svitlana
