What does a standard house cleaning include?

By the Honourable Cleaning team, Abbotsford BC · Updated November 13, 2026 · 3 min read

Why it matters

Most disappointment with a cleaner comes from two people picturing different lists. The customer imagines the oven. The cleaner was booked for a standard clean and ran out of time at the mop.

Picture a family in Langley who books a standard clean on a Thursday because relatives arrive Saturday. The house looks great when they get home: floors done, bathrooms shining, beds made. Then someone opens the oven to roast a chicken. Nothing was missed. The oven interior was never part of what they booked, but nobody had said so out loud.

Knowing the list ahead of time lets you do one of two things. You can book the right service, or you can keep the standard clean and tell the crew which one or two extras matter most to you this visit.

Here is what a standard clean covers in our homes, room by room:

Kitchen. Counters and sinks wiped and polished, appliance exteriors wiped down, stovetop cleaned and the front of the range hood degreased.

Bathrooms. Tub, shower, sink and counters scrubbed and disinfected. Toilets cleaned inside and out, including the base. Mirrors and glass left streak-free.

Bedrooms and living areas. Surfaces, shelves and window sills dusted, beds made, living areas tidied.

Throughout. All floors vacuumed and mopped, bins emptied and liners replaced, and light switches, handles and other high-touch spots wiped.

And here is what it leaves out: the inside of the oven and fridge, the inside of cabinets, hand-detailing of baseboards and door frames, grout work, window tracks, and moving furniture to clean behind it. Those are the items that separate a deep clean from a standard one. They are slow, and they do not need doing every two weeks.

How Honourable Cleaning helps

We publish the list above on the website so there is no guessing, and the price is flat. A standard clean of a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home in Abbotsford starts at $125 plus GST, with supplies and equipment included. A crew of two cleans most homes in one and a half to three hours.

When you book, there is a "focus on" step where you can tap the areas you care about most, such as kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting or pet hair, and a notes box for anything specific. If you write "please give the shower glass extra attention and skip the spare room", that is what the crew does. Trading a room you do not use for extra time somewhere else is free.

If your home has not been professionally cleaned in a long while, start with a deep clean and then move to standard visits. A standard clean keeps a clean home clean. It is not built to catch up on a year of buildup, and booking it for that job is the most common way people end up disappointed.

Key takeaways

A standard clean is surfaces, bathrooms, floors, dusting and bins. Insides of appliances and cupboards are a deep clean.
Read the cleaner's list before booking. If there is no written list, ask for one.
Use the booking notes to trade rooms or name a priority. Good cleaners welcome it.
For a home that has not been cleaned in months, book one deep clean first, then switch to standard.

See your exact price

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