An Apartment Cleaning Checklist for Smaller Homes

Where the time goes in a smaller place

In a house, cleaning time spreads across floor area. In an apartment it piles up in two rooms, because the kitchen and the bathroom are the same amount of work at any square footage and they are a much bigger share of the total.

The other difference is that the place is lived in while it is cleaned, or at least lived in an hour before and an hour after. That makes the priority order different from an empty unit:

• Bathroom first, because it is the room that turns fastest and the one guests see
• Kitchen counters and the sink next, since a small kitchen has nowhere for anything to hide
• Floors through the whole unit, which in a compact layout is one continuous path rather than several rooms
• Surfaces and dusting last, working around whatever is out

Most apartments and condos take one and a half to three hours. That is the honest range for a lived-in place, not for an empty one.

The room list

Kitchen

• Counters, backsplash, and sink
• Stovetop degreased, microwave cleaned inside
• Appliance exteriors wiped
• Cabinet fronts spot-cleaned
• Floor vacuumed and mopped

Bathroom

• Tub and shower scrubbed, door tracks included
• Toilet cleaned inside, outside, and behind
• Sink, counter, and fixtures polished
• Mirror left streak-free
• Floor vacuumed and mopped

Living and sleeping areas

• Surfaces dusted, sills and baseboards included
• Switches, handles, and remotes wiped
• Bed made, sheets changed if you leave fresh ones out
• Floors vacuumed, hard floors mopped
• Trash emptied and liners replaced

The optional bits

Some of what people expect in an apartment is not part of the base visit, and it is easier to say so up front:

• Inside the fridge is an add-on at $35, and inside the oven is $35
• Interior windows are $6 each, which in a one-bedroom is usually a small number
• Laundry beyond changing sheets is $25 per load
• Balcony or patio cleaning happens if you ask for it and not by default
• Shared hallways and common areas are the building’s, not ours
• Exterior glass is out either way, and in most buildings there is no way to reach it regardless

Short-term rental turnovers work on this service too. Give us the checkout and check-in times when you book and we will work inside the window, and linens get changed if fresh sets are out.

Getting in, and the building’s rules

Every building runs itself differently, and we would rather ask than assume. When you book, tell us whatever applies to yours:

• If your building has a front desk or a concierge, say whether a key can be left there and whose name to give
• If it requires visitors or vendors to be on a list, tell us what name to put down and how far ahead
• If parking means a garage code, a visitor spot, a loading zone with a time limit, or street parking two blocks out, say which, because it changes when your cleaner has to arrive
• If there is a freight elevator, a service entrance, or a window when neither is available, tell us
• If your building asks vendors for paperwork before they come, ask us before you book and we will tell you honestly whether we can meet the requirement on your timeline

Each of those is faster to sort out at booking than at nine in the morning on the day.

Access itself is usually a door code or a key. Whatever your building allows, we will work with it. Nobody needs to be home.

What it costs

Apartments and condos under roughly 1,200 square feet are priced on their own line rather than on the house rates. A one-bedroom starts at $109 and a two-bedroom at $139. Anything larger than that is priced as a house, and the full rate card shows both.

Booking on a schedule takes 20% off weekly, 15% every two weeks, and 10% monthly. If you are unsure which gap suits a smaller place, weekly, every two weeks, or monthly works through the trade-off.

The details of the service are on the apartment and condo cleaning page, and you can price your own unit on the quote form. If you are moving out of a rental rather than living in one, that is a different job with a different list: the move-out cleaning checklist.