Most people hire a cleaner on trust. You say "a general clean", they nod, and you hope the skirting boards and the top of the door frames are in there somewhere. Nobody wants to be the person asking whether the cobwebs are included.
So here's the whole thing. This is our house cleaning checklist: 100 points across eight areas of the home, the same list every cleaner of ours works through on every visit. We call it the Sparkling Home checklist, and it's the reason a clean on Tuesday looks the same as a clean three weeks later, even when it's a different day and a different mood.
Why We Work From a House Cleaning Checklist
A checklist sounds boring, and it is. That's the point. Without one, a clean depends on who's holding the cloth and how their morning's going. With one, the dull jobs get done as reliably as the satisfying ones.
Nobody forgets the kitchen benchtop. It's the door frames, the window sills and the top of the fridge that quietly drop off the list. A written list means they don't. It's also how we train new cleaners: they learn the list, then they learn the order to work it in.
Bedrooms (15 Points)
The bedroom list is mostly dust, and dust is mostly in places you don't look. Furniture, lamps, bedside tables, window sills and wall hangings all get dusted. Ceiling fans too, which is the one most people only notice when the light hits them just right.
Mirrors are cleaned, door handles and other key touch points are disinfected, and doors and walls are spot cleaned for scuffs and fingerprints. Skirting boards, door frames and cobwebs are on the list, and the floors are vacuumed or mopped last, once everything above has stopped dropping dust onto them.
Bathrooms (17 Points)
Bathrooms get the longest list per square metre, and for good reason. The toilet is cleaned inside and out, the shower and bathtub are cleaned, and the sink, vanity and mirror are done. Soap dispensers and toothbrush holders get cleaned as well, which is the bit people tend to skip at home because it's fiddly.
Cupboard faces, towel racks, window sills, skirtings, doors and frames are all there, along with the rubbish being taken out and the floors finished. Mould in wet areas is dealt with too, though not inside the silicone. If silicone has gone black through the middle, it needs replacing, not scrubbing.
Kitchen (20 Points)
The kitchen is the biggest list for a reason: it's where grease, food and fingerprints all meet. Benchtops, sink, splashback, cooktop, range hood and cupboard faces are cleaned and polished. The microwave is cleaned inside and out, and the fridge, oven and dishwasher exteriors are spot cleaned or wiped down.
Then the less obvious ones: light fixtures dusted, the sink window cleaned on the inside, skirtings, walls, doors and frames, cobwebs, rubbish, and the floor to finish. One thing to know: the oven list covers the exterior. Cleaning inside the oven is a different job, and if yours needs it, our oven cleaning guide shows how to tackle it without harsh chemicals.
Living Areas and Dining Room (26 Points)
The living area has 16 points and the dining room has 10, and they overlap a lot. Furniture, light fixtures, wall hangings and window sills are dusted. Coffee tables and the dining table are cleaned. Mirrors are done, and the couch is vacuumed, which is where the crumbs and the odd lost coin live.
Add the usual run of skirtings, doors, frames, ceiling fans, cobwebs and floors, plus a general straighten-up so the room looks finished rather than just wiped.
Office or Study, Laundry and Everything Else (22 Points)
The study gets eight points: desks cleaned, furniture dusted, wall hangings, skirtings, touch points, fans, cobwebs and the floor.
The laundry gets 11: appliance exteriors, the bench, cupboard faces, the sink, walls, doors and frames, and the floor. The last three points cover the whole home: light dusting throughout, all floors vacuumed or mopped, and mould removal in wet areas.
That's the 100. For the full interactive version, tap through the rooms on our house cleaning page.
What the Checklist Doesn't Cover
A checklist is only useful if you know where its edges are. Look back over the list and you'll notice the oven and fridge are exterior only. The list is the standard clean, and anything beyond it is a bigger job that's worth asking about when you get a quote, rather than finding out on the day.
If you want to know how often the bigger jobs matter, our post on how often to clean everything in your home breaks it down room by room.
How It Works in Practice
Every cleaner is trained on the list, and each visit follows the same top-to-bottom order: dust high, wipe surfaces, then floors last. Which is why, once you've settled into a rhythm, it stops mattering whether you're booked weekly or fortnightly. Each visit has the same finish. If you're still deciding on frequency, weekly vs fortnightly cleaning will help you pick.
And if something on the list isn't up to scratch, our satisfaction guarantee means we come back and put it right.
Want the Checklist Done at Your Place?
If reading 100 points makes you tired, that's fair. It's a lot of cleaning, and it's exactly what we do all day. Get a free quote and we'll bring the cloths, the products and the whole list to your door.
