---
title: "How to prepare for a deep clean (and what to leave alone)"
description: "Twenty minutes of clearing the night before saves an hour of the crew's time. Here is what to move, what to leave, and what to tell us."
url: "https://homio-astro.pages.dev/blog/prepare-for-a-deep-clean/"
date: "2026-10-06"
author: "Marco D."
---

# How to prepare for a deep clean (and what to leave alone)

> Twenty minutes of clearing the night before saves an hour of the crew's time. Here is what to move, what to leave, and what to tell us.

A deep clean is priced on the rooms, not on the clutter. When the crew arrives to clear counters, the time they spend lifting and stacking comes out of the time they spend on grease, limescale, and the tops of the cabinets. Twenty minutes of preparation the night before is the cheapest upgrade you can give your visit.

This is the list we send to every customer who books a [deep clean](https://homio-astro.pages.dev/services/deep-cleaning/). It is short on purpose.

## The night before: clear the surfaces

We clean every surface we can reach. We do not sort, file, or decide what is rubbish, because only you know what the receipt on the fridge is for. Clear surfaces mean the crew starts cleaning the moment they walk in.

- **Kitchen counters**: small appliances can stay; mail, fruit bowls, and chargers go in a box.
- **Bathroom shelves and the edge of the bath**: bottles into a basket we can lift out in one go.
- **Bedside tables and desks**: anything loose into a drawer.
- **The floor**: shoes, bags, toys, and cables off the floor in every room on the ticket.
- **The sink**: empty, so we can descale the tap and clean the overflow.
- **The fridge**: if it is on your ticket, eat it down or move the food to a cool bag.

If clearing a room is not realistic this week, tell us when you book. We would rather plan for it than run out of time halfway through the kitchen.

## What to leave exactly where it is

Some things look like clutter but should stay put, because moving them causes more trouble than the dust behind them.

- **Heavy furniture**: we clean under and behind anything two people can move safely. Wardrobes, pianos, and full bookcases stay where they are.
- **Electronics with cables**: we dust around TVs and computers but do not unplug them. You know which cable restarts the internet.
- **Plants on window sills**: we clean around them. Moving a plant often leaves soil on a surface we just finished.
- **Valuables and paperwork**: put them away before we arrive. Not because of trust, but so nobody has to ask where they should go.

**Leave a note on anything fragile**

A sticky note saying "do not move" on a vase or a stack of papers takes ten seconds and answers a question the crew would otherwise have to ask you.

## Tell us about the house, not just the rooms

The booking form asks for bedrooms and bathrooms. What it cannot ask is what makes your home different. A two-line note in the booking saves a phone call on the day.

- Pets, and whether they will be home.
- How we get in, and where the alarm panel is.
- Surfaces that need care: natural stone, oiled wood, unsealed grout.
- Any room or cupboard we should skip.
- Where to park, if the street is permit only.

## Access, water, and power

We bring our own products, cloths, vacuums, and ladders. We need running hot water, working sockets, and a place to empty buckets. If the hot water is on a timer, set it to stay on during the visit window. A deep clean uses more hot water than a normal week.

## After the visit

The crew lead walks the home with you, or sends photos if you are out. Open the oven, look along the skirting boards, run a finger over the top of the door frames. If something on the ticket was missed, tell us within 24 hours and we come back to re-clean it free.

Then put the boxes back. Most people find that a few things never make it out again, which is its own small win.