A Deep Clean

Lakeland do a humane spider catcher, absolutely brilliant. Sucks them in and keeps them at arm’s length so you can release them outside (then I suppose they come back in again..,). I keep one upstairs and one downstairs.

Germanshepherdsmum

Do you mean those spiders with almost no body but long thin legs MayBee? Yes I have the blighters everywhere and don’t find the webs unless I run into them or have a visitor and happen to look up ...
When you’ve done your spring clean can you come round to mine please?!

They’re so annoying. I try not to kill anything if possible and spiders get moved to the garage or shed but daddy long legs are impossible to catch so they just scurry off somewhere to continue weaving their almost invisible webs. Apart from my new GTech which has been bought mainly so that I can attack those webs with the hand held vacuum my main form of attack is a vileda supermop used exclusively for getting to hard to reach places.

Theoddbird

What is this obsession with getting rid of fleck of dust and polishing things to within an inch of their lives. I sanitize things that need sanitizing and take a damp cloth round where needed. You can't get that time back spent cleaning. Live the time you have enjoying your life x

Well said!

Do you mean those spiders with almost no body but long thin legs MayBee? Yes I have the blighters everywhere and don’t find the webs unless I run into them or have a visitor and happen to look up ...
When you’ve done your spring clean can you come round to mine please?!

Does anyone else have an ongoing problem with daddy long legs weaving webs on any surface that isn’t touched for 5 minutes? I’m sure I never used to have so many in the house. Because my sight isn’t as good as it used to be I don’t actually see the webs till I walk into one. Cupboards seem to be full of them too. I’m currently doing a spring clean type clean with the intention of keeping on top of things with my new G Tech. And the hand held one will be used to zap those spiders webs.

I’d add that I definitely wouldn’t do all those jobs in one go, Chestnut, but consider that they are the ones that come under a deeper than normal clean, and tackled a room at a time, and only when I think it needs doing ?.

Clambering up ladders to reach high cupboard tops is definitely an occasional chore (very occasional ?) and there will come a day when clambering up ladders won’t be an option, so they’ll either not get done or I’ll pay someone to do it when the time comes. At the moment, though, I’ll tackle most jobs but do draw the line at decorating the hall and landing - much too high - that’s a job for a professional decorator these days!

Recently saw a vacuum ad for a cleaner which even finds the 'micro invisible' dust unseen by the human eye. Reckon that's the kind I've had all along so - no worries. My Mum always said that anyone who fell in my house would have a soft landing.

‘At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived’ - Rose Macauley.

Loved your story!!! ?

Fennel, I love the story, wish I had been there.

I long ago decided I was too lazy to move furniture so all my furniture has legs high enough to get the vacuum cleaner underneath, that, or like wardrobes, have no feet at all and the base sits flat on the floor, so no cleaning underneath is required.

I live in a very old house with wobbly walls everywhere, so no furniture is up flat against the wall and the undulations of the wall make it possible to waft a feather duster behind most furniture now and again. to get rid of any spider's webs.

I do hope, when I go to my grave, I will not be remembered for the quality of my cleaning. I have done many more interesting and challenging deeds in my life that I hope people will remember so that the quality of my cleaning will be the last thing on anyone's mind when they rememeber me.

Always regarded a deep clean as cleaning to reduce any infections and all surfaces sprayed or room steam cleaned. Covid deep cleaning showed biochem suited folk spraying in buildings eg schools.

I think those of us who keep on top of cleaning chores would do a deep clean quite frequently without even realising we are doing it.
I think you'd notice if you were doing all the jobs Mapleleaf mentioned! I used to keep on top of them when younger but now find it too much, especially as I can't get on a step ladder. I won't be able to wash down the kitchen and bathroom walls which need a clean, so I'm considering calling in the professionals. I'm also wondering about the carpets.?

Nanny27 yes you’ve hit the nail on the head. In a previous job “ Deep Cleaning “ chores were done once or twice a week, certain things had to have a proper good scrub and sanitising, not just a quick wipe over. In my current job we have to sanitise my work place many times a day with antibacterial spray but a cleaner comes in to do the deep cleaning( usually consists of steaming ALL floors and bathroom) as well as thorough clean of therapy rooms. I think those of us who keep on top of cleaning chores would do a deep clean quite frequently without even realising we are doing it. I used to work with youngsters who would sweep and mop only where they could see, they never attempted to move anything. I’d go in the next day and find all sorts underneath armchairs and behind furniture?

Oh, and shampooing the carpets at home, too, only as needed!

To me, a deep clean at home; (as opposed to schools, hospitals, etc), entails moving furniture that isn't moved weekly, to get behind and give a good dust and vacuum- surprising how much dust accumulates there! Also, wiping down skirting boards, wiping doors and walls, paintwork, vacuuming curtains and rails, climbing up to reach the tops of kitchen cupboards, washing said cupboard doors, cleaning the cooker, fridge, microwave, thoroughly as opposed to general wipes and so on - so a more thorough clean than the usual weekly/bi-weekly clean around, dust and tidy. I imagine the deep clean for hospitals & schools, etc involves thorough disinfecting of equipment, floors and surfaces, followed by washing down as needed and change of curtains etc, and so on.

exactly Aepgirl.
I want to let out part of my house and when I told my girl friends, someone immediately said I should have it professionally cleaned.

I don't want to as it's small and not dirty by my standards.
The walls and windows have just been painted. The hall carpet has a couple of stains but apart from being rather "dated" now, it's not bad.

So a 'deep clean' is a proper job then as opposed to the weekly once over. ?

What is this obsession with getting rid of fleck of dust and polishing things to within an inch of their lives. I sanitize things that need sanitizing and take a damp cloth round where needed. You can't get that time back spent cleaning. Live the time you have enjoying your life x

I thought ‘deep cleaning’ was disinfecting and steam cleaning where there had been some infection.

I feel truly blessed. Before the lock-down our cleaner came every week and always worked hard. she has her own system and certain extra jobs were done every week. We never interfered as she was much better than us at it anyway. The lock-down put a stop to that. about three or four months ago my husband decided that if we could persuade her to come back once a month a do a deep clean we would pay her a higher rate and we would manage during the intervening time. Thankfully she agreed, it fitted in with her changed caring responsibilities in her own family and suited us all. She comes every month and as before, she decides what needs doing and is very thorough. We go out for the day to keep from under her feet.
She is wonderful. I would say regarding a deep clean, you know it when you see it.

I imagine a deep clean is the modern term for what we called spring cleaning, or "turning the house out of doors".

I am willing to believe it costs more than having an ordinary cleaner in, but I shall be greatly surprised if it come up to my standards for spring cleaning!

I doubt you can get a cleaner to move all the heavy furniture to clean behind it, or to stand on a step-ladder these days!

If you get professional cleaners in make sure you have in writing what you want done, IE pull the appliances and furniture out and clean behind/under it, tops of cabinets/wardrobes and doorframes/picture rails. You may need them to bring ladders, specialist chemicals for ovens, sliders as previous poster says. You may need to empty storage in order to do all this, so decide what you want done well in advance. They should send a full list of what they do, make sure insides of windows are covered or get a window cleaner who will do inside as well as outside, plus sills. We do all this at home now we're retired but used to pay someone else between tenancies when we were landlords. The key thing is that many of these jobs require two people, not just one.

Just to throw in - when I was in hospital several years ago, the lady in the next bed was moved into a single room to be isolated as it was decided that she had shingles .
The next thing was that a "high clean" was requested from housekeeping.
Basically, one of the cleaners came along with a small stepladder and took down the curtains around the bed , put them in plastic bags and put new ones up, after wiping down the curtain rails. She then mopped around the bed then left!
I fully expected something a bit more than that , considering that one of the other patients in the bay was a cancer sufferer, the woman opposite was waiting to be transferred for major surgery and I had only just been disconnected from a blood transfusion!

I have a friend who has a weekly cleaner - once a month they deep clean just one room together. Interesting the different systems people have.