A professional cleaning service is a paid cleaning service carried out by trained cleaners or a cleaning team. They use their own equipment and cleaning products and follow a specific checklist or cleaning process. For London homeowners, the term covers everything from a standard weekly home clean to a one-off deep clean before moving out, so the right approach depends on the property, what needs doing, and how often it needs repeating.
If you’ve searched for cleaning services near me and found dozens of similar options, you’re not alone. Cleaning prices can vary from one company to another, and there is a lot of competition. Even the term “deep clean” can mean different things depending on the company offering the service. Some cleaners only work on a checklist and keep a record of what has been done, while others will send one cleaner to do a job with a general brief and leave the rest up to him.
What’s Included in a Professional Cleaning Service
The basic cleaning services visit includes cleaning the main living spaces in a home, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, hallways, living rooms and kitchens. The cleaner cleans each room in a specific sequence from top to bottom, from surfaces to shelves, from light fitting to skirting boards, from floors to surfaces etc. This is more important than it sounds and dust is not spread around onto surfaces that have already been cleaned.
A typical home cleaning services call should involve the following tasks:
- Kitchen: Clean and wipe down workstops, external appliance surfaces, hob, sink and cupboard fronts; vacuum and mop floor
- Bathrooms: Clean and descale toilet, bath or shower, sink and tile and mirrors.
- Living areas/bedrooms: dusting of surfaces, skirting board and reachable light fittings; vacuuming of hard floor and carpet (if requested); making of beds.
- General: Bins emptied, mirrors and glass cleaned, high-touch surfaces cleaned (door handles and light switches for example)
- Cleaning services that are offered as add-on items: window cleaning (inward), Ironing, cleaning the inside of the oven, cleaning the inside of the fridge etc.
Usually, carpet shampooing, upholstery cleaning, and exterior window cleaning are services that are provided separately from a standard clean, which we’ll discuss later. This is a condition that a good company would make clear in your quote, so ask for a written checklist before the first visit.
The sequence in which the work is done can influence the length of the visit and the uniformity of the outcome. Cleaners following a defined system work through one room at a time and not cut back and forth and do not miss rooms; hence the risk of missing out on one room is reduced and also easier to provide accurate estimates of visit time for future bookings.If you have regular cleaning, it may be better to have the same cleaner or team each time. This can help maintain a consistent standard because they become familiar with your home, where things are kept, and which areas need extra attention.
Types of Cleaning Services in London
Not all cleaning jobs are created equal. The type of service one chooses should be appropriate to the circumstances. A weekly tidy up is not the same as a deep clean before a tenant moves in and is a completely different set of tasks, materials, and skill.
House Cleaning Services
This is the weekly, fortnightly or monthly domestic cleaning that most people would regularly think of when they consider the maintenance of a lived-in home. It’s priced by the visit or there’s a contract for repeat work, and the same cleaner may be assigned at each visit, so they know the layout and your tastes for the property.
Deep Cleaning Services
Deep cleaning is much more than a clean-up. This is a top to bottom clean of areas which are not touched in the normal visit behind and under appliances, inside cupboards, grout lines, skirting boards and built up limescale. The deep cleaning services London providers usually suggest to do it before moving into a new home, after a renovation, at the end of a lease or once or twice a year after regular maintenance cleaning.
Commercial and Office Cleaning Services
Commercial cleaning services and office cleaning services are used to clean workplaces, not homes, such as shops, offices, clinics, gyms, business premises, etc. These contracts will typically set out different terms to domestic cleaning contracts, including for example, cleans being outside working hours of staff and vehicles, evidence of insurance and health and safety documentation (COSHH sheets for chemicals used), etc. Frequency can vary from daily for a busy office to weekly for smaller offices; typically the cost is based on the square foot or hourly rather than per room.
School Cleaning Services
School cleaning services are in the commercial category, and have their own requirements. Increased DBS checks for staff, heightened awareness of school safeguarding procedures and cleaning timetables around term time and after hours access for cleaning companies. Cleaning is also often focused around half-term and holiday periods, when cleaning is more intensive, such as stripping the work surface and deep cleaning communal areas, which cannot be carried out as easily during the school term when the classes are in. Cleaning products used are also selected for child safety.
Specialist Cleaning:
Carpet, Window & Sofa
Window cleaning services, carpet cleaning services, and sofa cleaning services are typically hired alone from a general clean, needing entirely different equipment. Cleaning carpet is generally done by hot water extraction or dry-foam extraction to make dirt and stains come up from the fibres instead of just vacuuming the surface of the carpet. Similarly, sofa cleaning services apply the same extracting techniques that are used for fabric, and a proficient cleaning service will verify the cleaning code on a sofa’s manufacturer’s label before treating the fabric, some fabrics cannot be cleaned with water.
How Much Does a Cleaning Service Cost in London?
The average price for cleaning services London is generally higher than the UK average, particularly due to the higher wages paid in the region and the increased time spent travelling between jobs as well as parking costs in the central boroughs. These are indicative prices as a general guide only as each property and provider is unique. The average price of a standard domestic cleaning service for a one or two bedroom flat ranges from £15 to £25 per hour and most domestic cleaners take around two to four hours to perform the relevant services. A deep clean will also be more expensive and time consuming as it will include a lot more cleaning per room.
There are a number of reasons that affect the price going up or down:
- The size and layout of properties. The more it takes to get around the more time it will require, and who wants to spend time working around awkward layouts or clutter?
- Frequency. Typically, weekly and fortnightly cleans will cost less per visit than one-off cleans, since the provider will be able to schedule the cleaner and not have to re-quote each time.
- Type of clean. The cost of a deep clean, end of tenancy clean or post renovation clean will be more expensive than a normal maintenance clean charge due to the length of time it takes to complete, and because it may require more products or equipment.
- Add-ons. An inside-oven cleaning, a carpet cleaning or window cleaning are typically charged as an add-on rather than part of the base price.
- Location within London. If you’re looking to park, have to pay congestion charges or the cleaning team has to make a long journey, then you’ll find that the central and prime areas of Chelsea are on the higher end of the price range compared to outer boroughs.
With so many different pricing options, the only way to truly understand how much your property will cost is to get a proper quote that is based on your home and treat any number you see online, including the ranges above, as a starting point for a price discussion, not a set price.
How to Choose a Cleaning Company You Can Trust
The decision to admit someone into your home without supervision is a worthwhile few minutes of due diligence. The first thing to check is insurance. A professional cleaning company ought to have public liability insurance that will be able to protect you from damage to your property that happens during the cleaning. Don’t assume anything if it’s a legitimate provider, they will be happy to provide proof.
Vetting staff is as important. Question the company about how they recruit, conduct DBS checks, check references and if they use subcontractors versus direct contractors, etc. it will impact accountability if there is a problem. If the company is not specific about this, or if they don’t have anybody to tell you who will be in your home, then you should be aware of them.
Service Area We Cover:
Cleaning services are available throughout Chelsea and southwest and south central London areas such as Kensington, Knights Bridge, Belgravia, South Kensington, Fulham, Pimlico, Earl’s Court, Chiswick, Notting Hill, Battersea and Wandsworth. If you work regularly in this area, our teams know all the different types of buildings to be found in these boroughs – Victorian conversions with period fittings through to the newer riverside developments – and the access considerations that accompany them, including residents’ parking permits, communal building rules, and loading time restrictions.
A single visit to clean the space before they move in or out of the house or apartment is often included with the removals or furniture assembly service when people are moving into one of these areas.
Booking Process What to Expect
The process of booking a professional cleaning should be a few clicks, not a tedious back-and-forth. Though, if you’re looking to hire one-off deep cleaning or a regular cleaning service, most providers will do roughly the same thing.
The first step is to describe the property, which consists, through a form on the internet, over the telephone or in a brief message, of the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, whether it is a house or a flat and an estimate of the condition. Based on that they should be able to provide you with an estimate of the time and price ahead of time, and if there are any specifics (heavy stains, unusual access, carpet cleaning, etc) they are able to finalize that.
A typical booking will require 24 to 48 hours notice, although some companies might offer same-day or next-day options based on their availability. If you’ve got a fixed date for your clean, for instance on a moving day or at the end of a lease, then a week or more is a good amount of time for deep cleans, end-of-tenancy cleans and larger commercial jobs.
It’s better to book both services from the same company. if you’re hiring a cleaner before you’re moving in or after you’ve moved out, as it will save you time either before the boxes are put away or after you’ve unpacked them and make the process smoother.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the price of a cleaners in London?
The average price for standard domestic cleaning is approximately £15- £25 per hour, though this can be a lot higher in central areas such as Kensington and Chelsea. Deep cleaning and specialist services (carpet and sofa cleaning) are extra and will cost more as it takes time and equipment to do.
What is required of me in terms of notice for hiring a cleaning company?
Most cleaners require a minimum of 24–48 hours’ notice, with some performing same-day or next-day services. When it comes to deep clean, end-of-tenancy clean, or commercial contracts, you’ll need a week or more lead time – particularly when it comes to a predetermined moving or handover date.
What is the difference between standard clean and deep clean?
Basic clean includes a reasonably tidy home, surfaces, floors, kitchens, bathrooms. A deep clean is more comprehensive and time-intensive, and can include areas such as behind appliances, inside cupboards and built-up dirt that would not otherwise be addressed during a regular service.
Are cleaning companies equipped with their own cleaning supplies and equipment?
Yes, most professional cleaning firms will have their own supplies of equipment, cloths and products although it is possible to make special requests for fragrance-free or environmentally friendly products in advance if you are sensitive to or prefer such options. You don’t want to assume so it’s important to confirm this at booking.
What areas of London do you clean in?
Chelsea and the surrounding area such as Knightsbridge, Belgravia, South Kensington, Fulham, Pimlico, Earl’s Court, Chiswick, Notting Hill, Battersea and Wandsworth. If you’re not included in the above list, you can inquire directly since coverage may be slightly extended depending on the job.
