“Deep cleaning” is one of the least defined words in the Dubai cleaning market. One company means a long regular clean, another means a full reset with steam and extraction, a third means whatever fits into the booked hours. Almost none of them say what is not included, which is exactly where arguments on the day begin. This guide sets out, room by room, what a home deep clean covers, how the variants differ, and where cleaning ends and another trade begins.
What does a home deep clean include?
A home deep clean covers every surface inside the home that dust, grease or limescale settle on, including the ones behind doors, inside appliances and above eye level. That is the line between a deep clean and regular cleaning: regular cleaning keeps visible, daily surfaces in order, a deep clean reaches the rest.
In practice that means the team works top down and from the inside out. High surfaces and AC grilles come first, then kitchen and bathrooms surface by surface, then cupboards, doors, windows and tracks, and floors and skirting boards last. The tables below show what that includes in each room, and the notes show where the limits are.
What is included in the kitchen?
Everything that opens, everything that gets hot and everything grease reaches. The kitchen usually takes the largest share of the day.
| Item | Included | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cupboards and drawers, inside and out | Yes | Inside shelves, doors, handles, runners. For furnished homes see the variants below |
| Oven inside, racks, trays, door glass | Yes | Racks and trays soaked. Some door glass can be taken apart, some cannot without tools |
| Hob and pan supports | Yes | Burner caps and supports removed and cleaned on gas hobs |
| Extractor hood and filter | Yes | Metal filter degreased, underside and light cover cleaned |
| Fridge and freezer inside | Yes | Please empty beforehand and defrost the freezer in time |
| Dishwasher filter and door edges | Yes | Filter rinsed, seals wiped |
| Microwave inside | Yes | |
| Splashback, worktops, sink, tap | Yes | Limescale removed where the surface allows. Natural stone needs suitable products |
| Behind and under movable appliances | Yes, where safe | Freestanding fridges and cookers are pulled out if they can be moved without risk. Built-in units stay in place |
| Wall tiles and grout | Yes | |
| Inside the oven’s technical parts, gas lines, wiring | No | That is repair or servicing work |
What is included in bathrooms?
Every surface, every joint and every fitting. Bathrooms are where steam makes the biggest difference.
| Item | Included | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shower glass and screens | Yes | Built-up limescale removed as far as the glass allows. Etched glass does not come back |
| Tiles and grout | Yes | Grout cleaned joint by joint with steam and brushes |
| Silicone joints | Yes, surface | Stains deep inside old silicone usually need resealing, which is a repair |
| Taps, shower heads, fittings | Yes | Descaled and polished |
| Toilet, base and behind it | Yes | |
| Bath and bath panel | Yes | |
| Washbasin, vanity, cabinet inside | Yes | |
| Mirrors | Yes | |
| Extractor fan grille | Yes | Grille cleaned, the motor is not opened |
| Drains | Yes, accessible part | Hair and residue removed from the trap you can reach. Blocked pipes are plumbing |
What is included in bedrooms, living areas and the rest of the home?
Everything that collects dust, especially above and below eye level. These rooms are rarely dirty in the open.
| Item | Included | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wardrobes and built-in cupboards inside | Yes | Shelves, rails, drawers, runners |
| Tops of wardrobes, doors and frames | Yes | Ladder work |
| Light fittings and switches | Yes | Wiped with power off where needed |
| Skirting boards | Yes | Wiped by hand, not mopped past |
| Doors, frames and handles | Yes | Both sides and the top edge |
| Walls | Marks and splashes | Cleaned where the paint allows, tested first on matt paint. Washing whole walls is agreed separately |
| Curtain tracks and blinds | Yes | Curtains themselves are an add-on |
| Ventilation and AC grilles | Yes | See the AC section |
| Floors | Yes | Vacuumed and mopped last. Rugs vacuumed, extraction is an add-on |
What about windows, balconies and the AC?
Windows and balconies are included within safe reach. The AC is split in two: grilles in the deep clean, the system behind them by a technician.
| Item | Included | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows inside | Yes | Glass, frames, sills |
| Windows outside | Yes, within safe reach | From inside, a balcony, terrace or ladder. No rope access |
| Sliding door tracks and drainage holes | Yes | Sand vacuumed out first, then wiped |
| Mosquito screens | Yes | Vacuumed, or removed and rinsed where they come out easily |
| Balcony floor, railing, glass | Yes | |
| AC supply and return grilles | Yes | Removed where designed to come off, washed and refitted |
| AC filter | Yes | Washable filters cleaned and dried |
| AC coil, drain pan, ducts | Add-on | Done by our own AC technician |
| AC repair, gas refill | No | Licensed AC maintenance work |
The parts behind the grille are maintenance in the strict sense. Dubai Municipality’s indoor air quality guideline recommends cleaning drain trays at least every month and coils and condensate pipes at least every six months.1 The US Environmental Protection Agency gives similar advice to homeowners: if you have work done on the system, ask the provider to clean the cooling coils and drain pans.2 That is why we book the AC as its own job with our own technician; see AC cleaning in Dubai.
How does a deep clean differ for an empty or a furnished home?
The list of surfaces is the same. What changes is how much has to be moved, protected and handled. There are three common variants, and it is worth agreeing which one you are booking.
| Variant | Typical situation | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Empty home | Move in, move out, after renovation | Every cupboard and appliance is open and empty, nothing to protect. The fastest variant |
| Furnished, standard | Lived-in home, belongings stay | Surfaces, appliances and open areas cleaned, furniture moved where safe and put back. Cupboards cleaned inside where you have cleared them |
| Full deep clean, furnished | A complete reset of a lived-in home | Every item is handled: cupboards emptied shelf by shelf, each item wiped and put back in its place, ornaments and decorative pieces cleaned individually |
The full furnished variant takes the longest, because every item passes through the team’s hands. It is the right choice after a long absence, before an important occasion or when a home has not been reset for a long time. For a move, the empty variant is enough; our move out cleaning in Dubai is built around it. The difference in time is one of the reasons quotes vary, as our guide to the factors behind a deep cleaning price explains.
Which services are usually added on?
Some work needs different equipment and different time, so it is agreed as part of the scope rather than assumed.
- Sofas and armchairs, cleaned with extraction or steam depending on the fabric. See sofa cleaning in Dubai.
- Mattresses, steamed and vacuumed with a water-filter vacuum.
- Carpets and rugs, extraction rather than a surface vacuum.
- Curtains, steamed while hanging.
- AC coil, drain pan and ducts, by our own technician.
- Outdoor areas such as terraces, BBQ areas and pool surrounds.
Upholstery needs drying time afterwards, which is longer in the humid months. We tell you on the day what to stay off and for how long.
What is not part of a home deep clean?
Anything that repairs, treats, removes or reaches the outside of a tall building. These are separate trades, often with their own licences, and a cleaning company that promises them should be asked how.
- Pest control. In Dubai this is a separately licensed activity, and Dubai Municipality publishes a list of the companies authorised to carry it out.3 We can clean before or after a treatment. We do not treat.
- Repairs. Leaking taps, broken hinges, loose tiles, resealing silicone, AC faults and gas refills belong to a handyman, plumber or licensed AC contractor.
- Painting and filling. If a mark comes off with cleaning, it comes off. If it needs paint, it needs a painter.
- Junk removal and decluttering. We clean around belongings or after they have gone. We do not dispose of furniture or sort through possessions.
- High-rise facades. Windows that need rope access or a lift platform are for specialist facade cleaners.
- Water tank cleaning. In Dubai it falls under a food-related permit, not a cleaning licence.
- Technical pool maintenance. We clean the pool surround, not the water chemistry or the pump.
- The cause of recurring mould. We remove visible growth from surfaces we clean. A leak, a dripping chilled water pipe or a blocked AC drain behind it is the landlord’s or building’s job to fix.
- Guaranteed results on every stain. Ink, dye transfer, burns and chemical etching can be permanent. We test first and tell you before we start.
How do you make sure you get the deep clean you expect?
Ask for the scope in writing, room by room, and use the tables above as your checklist. Agree the variant: empty, furnished, or full furnished. Name the add-ons you want. Ask what happens if something on the scope is missed.
That is how we quote a home deep clean in Dubai: you tell us about the home on WhatsApp, send a few photos, and receive one fixed price before we start, with no extra charges on the day. If something on the agreed scope was missed, the same team comes back. If you are still deciding whether you need a deep clean at all, our honest comparison of a regular cleaner and a professional deep clean is a good place to start.
