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Guides & advice · Manhattan · Brooklyn · Queens
Everything here comes out of actual jobs in actual NYC apartments. Radiator dust in February. Ovens nobody has opened since the last tenant. Bathrooms with no window and no exhaust fan. These are the checklists and the room-by-room guides our own teams work from, written plainly so you can use them whether you hire us or not.
Where these guides come from
Lisa T. in Greenwich Village called after a bad flu had gone through her apartment. She didn't want a general tidy. She wanted to know, specifically, which surfaces were the ones worth scrubbing, because she had limited energy and a small place with one bathroom. Fair question, and the honest answer surprised her: it wasn't the floors.
It was door handles, light switches, faucet levers, the fridge handle, remotes, and the bathroom fixtures. High-touch, low-glamour. Her team focused there, and she wrote afterward that the apartment finally felt healthy again. That conversation is basically why this page exists. People keep asking us good, specific questions, and the answers were living in our heads and in our cleaning checklist instead of anywhere someone could read them.
So we started writing them down. Some of it is dull practical stuff, like what a deep clean actually adds over a standard visit. Some of it is seasonal, like why NYC apartments get dustier in winter. All of it comes from work our teams have really done across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.
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Start here
Six live guides, all free to read. These are the working documents behind every visit our teams run, which means nothing in them is theoretical.
Room by room, every task a standard visit covers. Print it, argue with it, use it to hold any cleaner accountable, including us.
Read the checklist →
The most common booking, explained honestly. What gets done, what does not, and why a standard visit skips inside the oven.
See the scope →
Inside appliances, behind furniture, baseboards, cabinet interiors, and the winter radiator dust. Where the extra hours go.
See what's added →
What NYC landlords check at a final walkthrough, in the order they check it. Worth reading a week before your lease ends, not the night before.
Read before you move →
For hosts and landlords working against a same-day changeover. Linens, restocking, and the details guests photograph when they're unhappy.
Read the turnover guide →
Ten minutes of prep gets you a noticeably better clean. Doorman handoffs, elevator rules, pets, and what to leave out on the counter.
Get ready in 10 minutes →Browse by topic
Most people land here with one specific problem. Pick the closest match and it'll take you to the page that answers it.
From the field
Pre-war kitchens, empty turnovers, walk-up bathrooms. Every guide on this page was written after jobs like these.
Client reviews · Part 2 of 3
New babies, renovations, work trips, open houses. Nine real reviews from clients across the three boroughs. Read all reviews >
"I was completely overwhelmed moving into my new loft and didn't know where to start. The team came in and handled the post-construction dust and debris, leaving the place spotless. I will definitely be buying a gift card for my sister who is moving next month."
"With my in-laws arriving for the holidays, I was panicking about the state of my kitchen and bathrooms. The cleaners were absolute lifesavers, scrubbing every surface until it sparkled, and they even left a little note with a gift card for a discount on my next booking."
"We needed a nesting clean before our due date, and I was too exhausted to even think about scrubbing the tub. The crew was so thorough and used safe products, making our nursery and apartment perfect for our newborn."
"Returning from a three-week work trip to a stale apartment was depressing, and I didn't have the energy to tackle it. The service was swift and effective, handling the pet dander and dust buildup that had accumulated."
"My elderly parents are in a new assisted living facility, and I needed a deep clean of their old apartment before the family arrived. The team treated their home with such care and respect, removing years of grime."
"Hosting my son's birthday party at our apartment was stressful enough without worrying about the mess. The house cleaners arrived on time and transformed our home, wiping down the cabinets and floors until they gleamed."
"Falling behind on cleaning due to a demanding work schedule left my apartment feeling chaotic. The team was incredibly efficient, organizing the clutter and sanitizing the kitchen and bathrooms. I've already recommended them to my co-worker."
"I was preparing my apartment for a real estate showing and the dust from a small renovation was everywhere. The cleaning crew worked so fast and made the hardwood floors and windows look brand new."
"I have a college student son who is a bit messy, and I wanted to surprise him with a clean space before my visit. The team worked wonders on his bathroom and kitchen, eliminating all the clutter."
Publishing soon
Straight answer: these six aren't live yet. They're drafted from real jobs and we're finishing them over the next couple of months. Nothing to sign up for, just check back. In the meantime the FAQ page covers a lot of the same ground.
Steam radiators, sealed windows, and dry air. What actually causes the February dust layer, and the two surfaces worth wiping weekly.
In a 400 square foot apartment, sequence matters more than product. Top to bottom, dry before wet, and why the floor is always last.
From dozens of move-outs: the oven, the fridge seals, the bathroom grout, and the inside of every cabinet. In roughly that order.
Once or twice a year for most homes, more with pets, radiators, or a street-facing window. How to tell which one you are.
How building rules quietly change what a cleaning visit costs and how long it takes. Written for anyone booking their first service.
Soft surfaces hold more than hard ones. What to wash, what to vacuum, and which rooms matter most when pollen counts spike.
The short version
Here's the standard visit checklist in full, so you don't have to click through. Products matter less than most people think, though the EPA Safer Choice list is a good place to start if you're picking your own, and the American Cleaning Institute has solid plain-English guidance on frequency.
Questions and answers
Seven questions we field constantly, answered in full and open by default. Nothing hidden behind a click. More on the FAQ page.
Once or twice a year suits most apartments. Bump it up if you have pets, steam radiators, a street-facing window you open in summer, or anyone in the household with allergies. A deep clean is also the sensible first visit before starting a recurring plan, because it resets the baseline and every visit after that stays on top of it instead of catching up.
A standard visit handles surfaces you see and touch daily: counters, sinks, tubs, toilets, mirrors, dusting, floors, beds. A deep clean goes after what builds up behind and inside things, including the oven, the fridge, baseboards, door frames, cabinet interiors, and behind furniture. Compare the two directly on standard cleaning and deep cleaning.
High-touch ones, not floors. Door handles, light switches, faucet levers, the fridge handle, remotes, and bathroom fixtures. That's in line with everyday CDC hygiene guidance, and its what we prioritized for Lisa T. in Greenwich Village after the flu went through her place. Add a note when you book and we'll focus there.
Top to bottom, dry before wet, floors last. Dust high surfaces first so anything that falls gets picked up later. Do the bathroom and kitchen before the living areas, since those need dwell time for products to work. Then vacuum, then mop. Working out of order is the single most common reason people spend two hours and the place still looks unfinished.
A bit, yes, and it pays off. Clear counters and floors of personal items so the team cleans surfaces instead of moving your things around. You don't need to pre-clean anything. Our preparing for your cleaning guide covers the ten-minute version, plus access notes for doormen and lockboxes.
For general cleaning, yes, in our experience. Certified products handle everyday grease, soap scum, and dust perfectly well. The gap shows up with heavy mineral buildup and some disinfecting jobs, where a stronger product does the work faster. We bring green products on request either way, so tell us in your booking notes if you have kids, pets, or a sensitivity.
Please do. There's no gate on any of it and no email required. We wrote these because the same questions kept coming up and pointing people at a page beats repeating ourselves on the phone. If you get partway through a deep clean and decide you'd rather not finish it, booking is here and the phone is (646) 825-3550.
Client reviews · Part 3 of 3
A selection from the 400+ five-star reviews clients across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens have left us. Read all reviews >
"Handling a home alone during a divorce is tough, and I just let the cleaning go for months. The service was a lifesaver, providing a thorough detail of the carpets and a deep clean of the oven that I'd been dreading. I was so impressed I bought a gift card for a colleague who's working crazy hours."
Deep Cleaning · Battery Park City, Manhattan"My wife is recovering from surgery, and I knew I couldn't keep up with the cleaning and care. The team was a godsend, focusing on sanitizing the high-touch areas and thoroughly vacuuming. I'm going to stock up on gift cards for them as a way to say thank you."
Sanitizing Cleaning · Upper West Side, Manhattan"Getting the house ready for my parents to move in was a stressful endeavor. The cleaners handled the deep clean of the refrigerator and all the cabinets, making the space feel safe and sterile. They gave me a gift card to use for their next visit, which is already planned."
Move-In Cleaning · Greenpoint, BrooklynNo reviews match that search.
Find us in NYC
Based at 101 Wall Street in the Financial District, serving neighborhoods across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Got a cleaning question we haven't covered? Contact us and we'll answer it, and probably write it up.
Or skip the guides
Reading about deep cleaning an oven is one thing. Pick a service, pick a time, and hand the whole list to someone else.
101 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005
support@lilymaidhousecleaningservices.com
Serving Manhattan · Brooklyn · Queens
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