How often should you book a house cleaning service? (A practical guide.)
How often house cleaning makes sense depends on more than just square footage — pets, kids, allergies and lifestyle all change the right answer. Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or one-off? The answer depends on four things: household size, pets, lifestyle, and how much of your weekend you want back.
People ask us this question on the very first phone call. It’s a good question. The honest answer is: it depends, but probably less than you think. Most homes we clean for the first time start with the new client assuming they need weekly, and after two months they’ve moved to bi-weekly because the home is staying clean enough between visits that weekly was overkill.
Below is the framework we use when a new client asks “how often should we book you.”
How often house cleaning — House Cleaning Frequency — The four factors that actually matter
1. Household size and ages
A single person or a couple, both working outside the home most days, generates surprisingly little day-to-day mess. Two adults with two kids under 10 generate a lot. Two adults with three teenagers generate even more, but the teenagers can be made to do some of the maintenance work themselves (theoretically). Empty-nesters with the house mostly to themselves generate very little.
2. Pets
One small dog or a couple of indoor cats: mostly invisible from a cleaning perspective. A shedding dog, a long-haired cat, or anything that goes outside and comes back muddy: significant, especially in spring and fall. Multiple pets compound the effect.
3. Lifestyle
If you cook elaborate meals every night, your kitchen needs more attention. If you eat takeout four nights a week, less. If you exercise at home, dust and skin cells compound faster on hard floors. If you host dinner parties twice a month, you need things looking sharp on a more predictable cadence.
4. How clean you actually want it
This is the one most people lie to themselves about. “Reasonably clean” is a wide range. Some people are happy as long as the bathroom looks like a bathroom and the kitchen counters are wiped. Other people would notice a fingerprint on the refrigerator door from across the room. There’s no wrong answer, but knowing which one you are matters a lot for the recommendation.
The frequency cheat-sheet
Weekly cleaning is right for you if…
- You have two or more young kids at home
- You have shedding pets and the hair drives you nuts
- You work from home and the visible surfaces matter for client calls
- You host frequently — weekly dinner parties, regular guests
- Cleanliness is a daily mood-affecting variable for you
Our weekly clients get 20% off the standard rate ($48/hr instead of $60/hr per cleaner). Most weekly visits run 4 hours of total team time.
Bi-weekly cleaning is right for you if…
- You’re a busy dual-income household with or without kids
- You can keep on top of dishes and surface clutter, but you don’t have time for floors and bathrooms
- You have one well-behaved pet or no pets
- You want professional cleaning to be a routine, not a special-occasion thing
This is what most of our recurring clients settle on. 15% discount, $51/hr per cleaner. Bi-weekly is the highest-leverage cadence in terms of cost-to-result.
Monthly cleaning is right for you if…
- You live alone or as a couple, no pets
- You enjoy doing some cleaning yourself, you just don’t enjoy the deep stuff
- You want a professional reset once a month so you don’t have to deep clean yourself
- You’re an empty-nester or retiree
10% discount, $54/hr per cleaner. Monthly visits typically take a little longer than weekly visits because more accumulates between cleans.
One-off cleaning is right for you if…
- You’re hosting a specific event and want the house immaculate
- You’re spring or fall cleaning and don’t want to do it yourself
- You’re testing us out before committing to recurring
- You just need a one-time reset, not an ongoing service
One-off cleans don’t get the recurring discount but they’re a great way to evaluate any cleaning service before signing up for ongoing work. Most of our recurring clients started with a one-time deep clean.
What we recommend for new clients in Edmonton
The pattern we suggest to almost every new client looks like this:
- Start with a deep clean as a one-off. This sets the baseline. The home comes back to a state where maintenance cleaning will be efficient.
- Wait two weeks. Notice what gets dirty fastest in your specific home. (For families it’s usually the bathrooms and kitchen floors. For pet owners it’s hair on the couch and dust on hard floors.)
- Book bi-weekly to start. If after a month you find the house is too dirty between visits, move to weekly. If you find it’s still looking great after 2 weeks, stay bi-weekly. Some homes find their way to monthly after a year of bi-weekly maintenance.
The flexibility is built in. You can change your frequency any time with 24 hours’ notice. No contract.
Ready to start?
Book your first clean through the form. Pick “Deep Clean” as the first visit, then “Bi-Weekly” as the recurring schedule. The system will pre-set your discount for the visits after the first.