How to Choose a House Cleaning Service in 2026

Start with what you want done and how often, not with the price. Write down the rooms and tasks that matter, how long you are happy to have someone in your home, and your budget. Then ask every provider the same questions and compare the labour and scope each offer includes. The right choice is the one whose scope, reliability and price fit you, and sometimes that is a trusted independent cleaner rather than a company.

Either can be the right answer. An independent cleaner often offers continuity, a personal relationship and lower overhead, which can mean a lower rate. A company with a team can usually finish faster, bring more equipment and cover some absences, but none of that is guaranteed by the word “company”. Decide what matters most to you, then ask how each provider handles it. The three service models above set out the trade-offs.

Who will come, and will it be the same person or team each time? What exactly is included, in writing? How many labour hours is the visit planned for? What do they bring, and what do you provide? What happens if they are sick or late, or if something is missed or damaged? How do you pay, and do you get an invoice? Our checklist of questions puts them in one place.

Real red flags are about clarity and accountability, not size: no clear answer about what is included; pressure to pay most of the price up front for a one-off visit; a total that changes after the work with no conversation; reluctance to say who will come into your home; no way to reach anyone if something goes wrong; and refusal to talk about insurance or damage. Being small or new is not a red flag on its own.

Yes, from any provider, independent or company, including us. Liability insurance is what responds if something is damaged or someone is hurt in your home. Ask what coverage they carry and whether it covers work in clients’ homes; a certificate is the clearest answer. Some independent cleaners carry their own coverage and some companies do not, so ask rather than assume.

They help most when they are specific. Ask to speak to a client with a home like yours who has used the provider for a while, and ask what the provider is like when something goes wrong. Everyone is good when everything goes right.

They are a useful signal, not proof. Reviews tell you how people felt about past visits; they do not tell you what scope was bought, how many labour hours it was, or whether the home was like yours. Read the detailed and the critical ones, notice how the business replies, and then ask your own questions.

Look for a business name you can look up, a way to reach a person, written terms and a clear invoice. If the provider charges HST, it has a GST/HST number, which the Canada Revenue Agency lets you confirm through its online registry. We know of no provincial licence for house cleaners in Ontario, so these everyday checks matter more than any certificate on a website.

Ask directly. With an independent cleaner it is usually the person you hired. With a company it may be one team or several people over time, sometimes including newer staff working alongside experienced ones. Ask whether you will see the same people regularly, how they are screened, and who is in charge on site. You are entitled to a clear answer.

The scope, meaning the rooms and tasks and what is not included; the planned labour hours, or a price with its assumptions; the arrival window; what you provide; how payment works; and the cancellation and make-it-right terms. It does not need to be long. It needs to exist, so that “it wasn’t included” and “I thought it was” do not meet for the first time on the day.

Mostly because they are for different products. Two offers for “a house clean” can buy different amounts of labour, different scopes, different equipment and supplies, and different business models: one person, or a company with staff, insurance, vehicles and an office. Some add HST and some do not. Normalize first, dividing each price before tax by its labour hours, then compare what each includes. The two-offer example shows how.

Neither, in itself. A flat price gives you certainty about the total but has to assume a scope and a condition, so ask what happens if the home needs more or less. Labour-hour pricing follows the work actually done, so ask for a range and a cap. We bill labour hours within an agreed plan and ask before going past it; our article on how house cleaning cost is worked out explains the method.

One person working for one hour. Two cleaners for three hours is six labour hours, and so is three cleaners for two hours. Labour hours measure the work; hours on site measure how long people are in your home. Our Terms define labour hours as the combined active work time inside your home, not travel.

Not for the same work. Three cleaners for two hours and one cleaner for six hours are both six labour hours, so at the same rate they cost the same. A team only looks more expensive per clock hour because it delivers several labour hours in each one.

Because the total is the rate times the labour hours. A lower rate with more hours can cost more; a higher rate with fewer hours can cost less. In this guide’s two-offer example, the cheaper total has the higher hourly rate: it costs less only because it buys half the labour. Compare both numbers, then the scope.

It is the least a provider will book, in hours or dollars. Every visit carries costs before any cleaning starts, such as travel, setup and scheduling, and a minimum keeps a short visit worth making. Ours is 4 labour hours, set in our Terms, which also means some small jobs are better done by someone else.

Because it is the first time the home meets that provider’s standard. Buildup that regular visits would have prevented has to come off once, and the cleaner is learning the home: what goes where, which surfaces need care, what you notice most. Later visits maintain that baseline. If the home has not been professionally cleaned for a while, a deep clean first is often the honest plan.

It matters, but less than people expect. Bathrooms, the kitchen, condition, clutter, stairs and the scope you choose usually move the labour more than floor area does. A large, sparsely furnished, well-kept home can take less time than a smaller one with three busy bathrooms.

A bathroom packs many surfaces into a small room: mirror, vanity, sink, toilet, shower or tub, glass, chrome and grout, each needing its own product, cloth and drying. A bedroom in a maintained home is mostly dusting and the floor. That is why the 180-Minute Test plans a bathroom at 40 minutes and a bedroom at 25.

More than almost anything else. The same bathroom can take twice as long with soap scum, limescale or a week of hair and dust as it does when it is cleaned every week. Clutter matters too: surfaces covered with belongings take longer, or cannot be cleaned at all. Describe the condition honestly; a provider who prices the home you actually have is doing you a favour.

Only what the provider has written down, and only for the condition they assumed. Ask for the list of rooms and tasks, what is excluded, and what happens if the home takes longer than expected. A flat price that does not say what is in it is not a fixed price. It is a guess.

No. A registered business adds HST (13% in Ontario) to the price, collects it from you and passes it to the government. The business runs on the price before tax. That is why this guide compares prices before tax, and why the labour-hour explorer shows HST on its own line.

Because they do not have to. Under the Canada Revenue Agency’s rules, a business whose taxable sales are no more than $30,000 in a calendar quarter, and over the last four calendar quarters together, is generally a “small supplier” that does not have to register for or charge HST. A lower all-in price from a small independent cleaner can be entirely legitimate, so compare prices before tax.

A known amount, credited against your final bill, with clear terms for what happens if either side cancels. It is reasonable for a first booking or a large job, because the provider is reserving people and time for you. A deposit that is most of the price of a one-off visit, with nothing in writing, is a reason to ask more questions.

That is your choice. It is not part of the price, and nobody should make you feel that it is. Many people tip at the holidays or for exceptional work. If you tip a team, make sure it reaches the people who did the work.

There is no single number, which is why labour hours matter more than the clock. Our deliberately lean example of a maintained 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home comes to about 5.6 labour hours, and many real homes need more. Divide the labour hours by the number of cleaners for the time on site.

Yes, when the scope fits three hours. For an apartment or a small, maintained home it often does. For a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom home, even our lean example needs about 5.6 labour hours, so three hours means some rooms get less time or none. That is fine when it is agreed in advance. It is only a problem when nobody says what was left out. Try it in the 180-Minute Test.

We plan around 40 minutes for one cleaner in a maintained full bathroom, as an example rather than a standard. A powder room can take a fraction of that; a large ensuite with a glass shower, a double vanity and some buildup can take far longer. If a provider plans much less, ask which steps are covered.

In our maintained-home example, about 50 minutes for one cleaner: counters and backsplash, sink, stovetop, appliance fronts, spot-wiped cabinet fronts and the floor. The inside of the oven, fridge or cabinets is extra time on top, and heavy grease can double the rest.

Neither, on its own. A skilled cleaner with a good sequence and the right tools can be fast and thorough; a slow cleaner may simply be working in a poor order. What matters is what was done, and to what standard. If a visit is much shorter than you expected, ask what was included; if it is much longer, ask why.

Enough to finish the labour within a time that suits you. One cleaner suits a smaller home, or someone who values the same person every time; a team suits larger jobs or a tight window. The number of cleaners changes how long they are in your home, not how much work the job is. Our Terms say we typically send 2 to 5 people.

Because the work is divided. Three cleaners working at once deliver three labour hours in each clock hour, so a six-labour-hour clean takes about two hours on site instead of six. Real teams never divide work perfectly, since people sometimes wait on each other, but the elapsed time still drops sharply.

Maintenance for a home that is already in good shape, repeated on a schedule. It keeps kitchens, bathrooms, floors and reachable surfaces at a baseline; it is not designed to remove months of buildup, which is what a first deep clean is for. Our regular cleaning page lists what each level includes.

A one-time reset of the buildup and detail areas that regular upkeep does not reach, such as baseboards, door frames, fixtures and grout lines, and behind and under things where they can be reached. It takes more labour than a maintenance visit to the same home. Our deep cleaning page lists what is included and what is by request.

Typically: the inside of appliances and cabinets, windows beyond reachable interior glass, walls beyond spot marks, moving heavy furniture or appliances, laundry and dishes, and anything hazardous. Every provider draws the line in a different place, so ask for their list. Ours, including what we do not do at all, is in our Terms & Conditions.

Usually only reachable interior glass and sills, and not on every visit. Tracks, screens and full window cleaning take real time per window and are often add-ons. Outside panes, especially above the ground floor, are a separate job with ladders and safety to consider; our Terms exclude exterior windows unless they are agreed in the scope.

A quick dust, sometimes; a slat-by-slat clean, usually not, because it takes time per window. If blinds matter to you, say so and ask how much time they add.

Usually not in a standard visit. It is a separate task: our price calculator lists it as an add-on, with one planning allowance for an oven in normal condition. The actual time depends on the oven. In our experience, a lightly used one may take around 30 to 40 minutes, while heavy, burnt-on grease can take 90 to 120 minutes or more. Ask for it by name.

Usually by request, and the fridge has to be emptied first. Time depends on its size and condition. Plan it for a day when it is nearly empty anyway, such as before a grocery shop or a move.

Usually by request, and they need to be empty, which makes a move-in or move-out the ideal time. The labour depends on how many cabinets there are and their condition.

A quick dust of reachable baseboards is common in a maintenance visit. Washing every baseboard by hand is detail work for a deep clean or a rotation. Ask which one a provider means by “baseboards included”.

Spot marks on reachable walls, sometimes. Whole walls, rarely, unless it is booked: it takes a lot of time, and some paints do not tolerate it. Point out the marks you care about.

Wiping a reachable vent cover or fan grille is quick and often part of a detailed clean. Taking covers off is more time, and cleaning the ducts behind them is a different trade altogether. Ask what “vents” means in the scope.

Grout is surface-cleaned along with the floor or shower. Restoring stained grout line by line is slow detail work, usually a deep-clean or add-on task, and some staining never comes out, because it is in the grout rather than on it.

Vacuuming, yes; extraction, usually not. Extraction needs a machine, time and drying, so plan it in advance. We bring our carpet extractor and bill the time at the service’s hourly rate, with no separate equipment fee.

It varies, so ask. Many providers will make a bed if clean linens are left out and wipe the outside of the washer and dryer, but washing clothes or a sink of dishes is usually not part of a cleaning visit, because it spends cleaning time on other work. Empty the sink and dishwasher before the visit, and the time goes to cleaning.

Light items, yes. Heavy furniture and appliances, generally not: moving them risks your floors and the cleaner’s back, and appliances may need disconnecting. Our Terms exclude moving heavy furniture and appliances unless it is agreed in advance. If you want behind or under something cleaned, move it first or ask what is possible.

Yes, in almost every case. Vacuuming is for what is loose on the floor; mopping is for what is stuck to it. Mop over loose hair and grit and you push it around, leave it in corners and turn dust into streaks. Hair around a toilet base or along a baseboard comes up best dry, with a vacuum or a dry cloth.

Cleaning high surfaces before low ones in each room: shelves and fixtures before counters, counters before floors. Dust and drips fall, so working downward means nothing lands on a surface that is already done. It is a principle, not an absolute rule; a particular surface can call for a different order. See the bathroom, step by step.

Because water and loose dust make paste. Taking loose dust, hair and grit off dry, then cleaning with liquid, gives a better result faster. It matters most after a renovation, when fine dust wiped wet too early smears into haze; our post-construction cleaning page explains why that dust needs more than one pass.

Good microfiber picks up and holds fine dust and grime instead of pushing it around, and it dries surfaces with fewer streaks and less lint than cotton rags. Quantity matters as much: enough clean cloths that each area gets its own, laundered after every visit rather than carried from home to home.

It means carrying soil from one place to another on a cloth, mop or glove: from the toilet to the sink, or from one home to the next. And yes, cloths should be separate. A common professional practice is colour-coding, so toilet, bathroom, kitchen and general-surface cloths never mix; it is how our teams work. Ask any provider how they keep them apart.

It changes what is possible in an hour: stronger suction, better filtration, extraction for carpets, steam or machines for some hard floors. It does not replace sequence, care and attention, and a careful cleaner with ordinary tools can beat a careless one with expensive ones. More in what equipment changes.

Damage. Etched glass or stone, scratched finishes, permanently stained grout, worn carpet, bleached surfaces and mineral deposits that have eaten into a finish can look better after cleaning, but they will not look new. A good provider tells you before starting what will and will not change.

Because many surfaces look clean wet and streaky dry. Water left on chrome, glass, mirrors and stainless steel dries into spots and streaks from the minerals in it. A final dry buff removes the film, and it is often the difference between cleaned and finished.

Not usually. Many people arrange access with a key, lockbox, smart lock or concierge. Agree in advance how the cleaners get in, how to reach you during the visit, and who secures the home when they leave. Our Terms make arranging access the client’s part, so it is worth setting up before the day.

Agree it in writing: who holds a key and where it is kept, the lockbox or building codes, and what happens if access fails. Send access details at least a day before the visit. If a crew arrives in its window and cannot get in, many providers charge for the reserved time; our Terms treat it as a lock-out.

Tell the provider about them before the visit: friendly or anxious, rooms to keep closed, feeding areas to avoid. Secure any pet that is nervous with strangers or likely to chase the vacuum. We are pet-friendly, and we ask that anxious or protective pets be secured, for their safety and the team’s.

Send parking instructions and building access codes ahead of time, and book a service elevator if your building requires one. In a condo, getting equipment up and down takes real time, so mention any rules and the arrival window can allow for them. Ask whether paid parking is added to your bill.

Tidy, yes; reorganize, no. Clear the counters, floors and surfaces you want cleaned, put away valuables and anything fragile, and leave the rest. Every minute spent moving belongings is a minute not spent cleaning. Our ten preparation tips make a visit go further.

Ask before booking: is there an arrival window, and how will you hear about a delay? Traffic and an earlier job running long happen to everyone; silence should not. And a late start should not cost you labour you did not get: when a visit is billed by labour hours, you pay for the work actually done.

Read the provider’s notice rules before you book. Reserved crew time is hard to refill at short notice, so fees usually rise the later you change. Ours run from one free reschedule with 7 or more days’ notice to the full minimum service fee with under 24 hours’ notice, illness included; the steps in between are in our Terms.

Ask before you need to know. An independent cleaner may have to reschedule. A company with several cleaners may be able to send someone else, but that is not automatic just because it is a company. Ask whether there is backup, whether you will be told who is coming instead, and whether you can choose to wait for your usual cleaner.

Tell the provider quickly, with photos, and keep it in writing; their terms and insurance then decide what happens. Our Terms ask for notice within 24 hours, with photos, and set out what we are and are not liable for. Read that part of any provider’s terms before booking, and put away anything precious or fragile before any visit.

Tell the provider soon, and be specific. A fair provider fixes what was in the agreed scope. Ours is a fix policy: tell us within 24 hours and we return, within one business day where scheduling allows, to correct the specific in-scope item at no charge. It is not a refund policy, and it does not cover work outside the agreed scope, which is one more reason to agree the scope in writing.

Ask who you contact, and how soon you will hear back. With an independent cleaner, it is them. With a company, it should be someone who can actually decide, not only the person who cleaned. At Maria Team you deal with the owners directly.

You should be able to, from any provider, and you may need one for a landlord, an employer, a rental property or your own records. If a provider charges HST, its GST/HST number should be available to you, and it usually appears on the invoice. Our invoices come with the booking communication.

Weekly suits busy homes, with children, pets or several people working from home, where dust and wear build up fast. Biweekly suits most maintained homes and is the most common choice. A weekly visit is usually a little shorter, because there is less to remove each time, and our own planning reflects that.

Monthly works for a lightly used home: one or two people, no pets, little cooking. In a busy home, four weeks of buildup means each visit spends its time catching up rather than maintaining, so the visits are longer and the home spends more of the month in between.

Because buildup does not grow evenly. Soap scum, kitchen grease and dust that wipe off after a week set harder after four. Our price calculator plans a little more labour per visit for a four-weekly schedule than for a biweekly one, for exactly that reason.

Usually, if the home has not been professionally cleaned for a few months. A deep clean resets the baseline once, so regular visits can maintain it instead of chasing it. If the home is already well kept, a regular first visit is often enough, and it doubles as the visit where you tell the cleaner what you notice most.

Yes, and it is one of the best ways to get detail work done without longer visits: baseboards one week, the inside of the microwave the next, bathroom grout after that. Agree the rotation in advance. Our Regular Premium level manages a rotation like this for you.

Yes. A cap is a good way to control cost: you set the maximum labour hours, and the cleaner works through your priorities in order until the time is used. Agree the order first, so the cap removes the least important work rather than whatever happens to be last. We do not extend a visit past the agreed plan without asking you.

Cleaning an empty or nearly empty home before your things arrive, the one time cabinet interiors, closets and floors are fully reachable. It usually covers kitchens and bathrooms in detail, with interiors where agreed. If the home has just been renovated, it needs an after-renovation clean instead. Our move-in cleaning page has the detail.

Leaving an empty home ready for a landlord, a buyer or the next occupant: kitchens and bathrooms in detail, cabinet and appliance interiors where agreed, floors and visible marks. Nobody can honestly guarantee the return of a deposit, which is the landlord’s decision, but a clear written scope is the best protection. See our move-out cleaning page.

Removing the fine dust a renovation leaves on every surface, inside cabinets, on fixtures, in tracks and on vents, usually in more than one pass, dry before wet. It is done after the trades have finished; hauling away construction debris is a separate job. Our after-renovation cleaning page explains how we plan it.

Because it is fine enough to float, settle again and get into everything. Wiped wet too early, it smears into haze; removed once, more settles from the air and from surfaces above. That is why after-renovation cleaning plans for several passes and more labour than people expect. Our after-renovation case study shows what that looks like in a real home.

When vacuuming no longer brings a carpet back: traffic lanes, dullness and spills, after a renovation, before a move, or as periodic care. Most carpets do not need it every visit. Silk, antique or dry-clean-only rugs need a specialist rug cleaner, and drying time varies with the carpet and the airflow.

Room for room, often yes: nothing to move or work around. But empty homes are usually cleaned in more detail, inside cabinets and closets, every baseboard, every floor edge, because it is the one time everything can be reached. So an empty home is not automatically a smaller job.

The scope may be different, the condition may be different, or the six labour hours may be three people for two hours, which is less time in your home than three hours. Ask both providers what was included and how many people for how long. If three hours genuinely covered what you want, say so; a good provider will either match that scope or tell you what they would be adding.

Three things: labour hours, scope and tax. Divide each price before tax by its labour hours to get the real hourly rate, then compare the written scope for those hours. In the two-offer example, the lower total had the higher hourly rate and simply bought half the labour.

Yes, from providers whose minimum allows it; ours is 4 labour hours. Then decide what those hours cover, in priority order, so the visit drops the least important work rather than whatever happens to come last. The 180-Minute Test shows both ways to fit a short visit.

Reduce the labour honestly: drop rooms or tasks, rotate details between visits, tidy before the visit, and supply products and equipment if the provider gives a credit for it (our discounts page lists ours). What does not work is cutting the hours and expecting the same scope: the work that does not fit gets skipped or rushed.

The rooms you use least and the tasks you notice least: guest rooms, an unused bathroom, a formal dining room, and detail work that can rotate. Keep the kitchen and the bathrooms you use every day; that is where buildup grows fastest and where a skipped visit shows first.

No. A company can offer things one person cannot, such as a team, backup, more equipment and an office, but whether a particular company delivers them is something to check, not assume. Many independent cleaners are excellent, careful and reliable. Judge the provider, not the category.

No. A higher price can mean more labour, a broader scope, more equipment, insurance and support, or it can just mean a higher price. Normalize it: the rate per labour hour, the scope, what is included. If the cheaper offer covers what you want, it is the better value for you.