No hourly meter. No surprise line items. Just a clean apartment. Booked in about sixty seconds, priced before anyone rings your buzzer.
Blocks we are in every week
Caroline M. called us from a 12th floor unit on Center Boulevard, four days before her in-laws landed. She had been telling herself she would handle it on the weekend. Then the weekend went to work email, and the guest bathroom still had a ring in the tub, and the kitchen had that film you only notice when you imagine someone else's mother looking at it. She said one sentence on the phone that we hear in this neighborhood constantly: "I don't even know where I would start."
We started where we always start in a Long Island City tower, which is the top. Cabinet tops, the vent above the range, the sill track on the floor-to-ceiling glass. That glass is the reason apartments here photograph so well and clean so badly. It shows every finger mark and every streak, and the windows do not open, so the dust never leaves on it's own. It sits in the HVAC and comes back down on the counter two hours after you wipe it. Caroline had been fighting that cycle with a paper towel and a spray bottle for three weeks.
The visit took a little over four hours with two cleaners. Guest bathroom scrubbed rather than wiped, kitchen counters cleared and reset, floors done last so nothing landed back on them. Her mother-in-law complimented the guest bathroom, which Caroline told us was the first time that had ever happened in eleven years of marriage. We put it in the notes on her home, because that is the kind of detail that tells us what she actually cares about.
We are Green Hands Cleaning Services Corp, based at 22-16 79th Street in East Elmhurst, about a ten minute drive from Queens Plaza. We have been cleaning apartments in this part of Queens since 2015. This page is our honest answer to the question people type into their phone at eleven at night: who does the best cleaning services in Long Island City, what does it cost, and what actually happens when someone shows up. If you only read one section, read the checklist. That is the part most companies will not put in writing.
Recognised for our work in New York
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Limited-time
Tap a code to copy it, then mention it when you book. One code per household, and they do not stack.
New clients
10 % off
Code FIRST10
Ten percent off the first visit, whichever service you start with. The easiest way to see how we work before you commit to a schedule.
Most flexible
5 % off
Code FLEX5
Give us a four-hour window instead of a fixed hour and we can route more efficiently. That saving comes back to you on every visit.
Biggest saving
$30 off
Code RESET30
Thirty dollars off a first deep clean or a move-in / move-out clean, the two jobs where the difference is most visible when you walk back in.
Your neighbors
Every review on this page was written by someone who lives in Long Island City. Nothing bought, nothing borrowed from another borough.
Caroline M.
Long Island City · guest-ready clean
I was completely overwhelmed preparing for my in-laws' first visit and the apartment was a disaster zone. Green Hands cleaning services came in and transformed every room, and my mother-in-law even complimented how clean the guest bathroom was!
James T.
Long Island City · post-renovation
After our renovation we had a thick layer of construction dust over literally everything. The team wiped down every surface and vacuumed the floors, and we were finally able to move our furniture back in.
Olivia R.
Long Island City · deep clean
My partner is moving in next week and our place hadn't had a deep clean in months. They did an incredible job on the kitchen and bathrooms, getting rid of all the stubborn soap scum and grease.
How it works
From the pile you have been avoiding to an apartment you are glad to walk back into after the 7 train.
You got home at nine again. The dishes are stacked, the bathroom needs more than a wipe, and the the weekend already has plans in it.
Size, how many bathrooms, and how long it has been. Sixty seconds online or one phone call, and a flat quote appears before anything is booked.
A screened, trained cleaner arrives with the products and works top to bottom through the written list, so nothing gets skipped or improvised on the day.
Floors done, glass done, surfaces reset, everything back where it belongs. Nothing left on your list except deciding where to eat.
Hover a room to see what we cover
Why people stay with us
Your apartment is kept on one route with notes attached to it, so whoever arrives already knows about the sticky closet door and the shelf you do not want touched. That is why the standard does not drift from one visit to the next.
We are …
… roughly forty cleaners working out of East Elmhurst, most of whom have been with us for years and half of whom take the same 7 train you do. Whoever arrives at your door is one of them, trained on the same checklist and working from notes kept on your home.
You come home to a place you have been avoiding.
We turn it back into somewhere you want to be.
No judgment. Just clean.
The result
Real Long Island City apartments, the evening after we finished. Kitchens reset, bathrooms done, glass clear, nothing left on your list.
What we do
Kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting and glass on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly rhythm that fits around your commute.
View serviceInside the oven and fridge, grout, baseboards, window tracks, vents and behind furniture. The reset before or after a season.
View serviceLight tidying, laundry, bed linens and dishes alongside the standard clean, for homes that need more than surfaces.
View serviceEmpty-unit clean top to bottom, cabinets and closets included, timed around your lease dates and the deposit inspection.
View serviceStudios, showrooms and small offices around Jackson Avenue, after hours or before opening, on a schedule that fits your week.
View serviceFine dust removal after a renovation, including fixtures, window tracks and every horizontal surface twice over.
View serviceIncluded with every booking
In detail
Empty rooms hide the most. We clean the places the furniture was covering, so you hand over keys, or take them, without a single deduction argument at the walkthrough.
The reset for when normal upkeep stopped being enough. Grout, buildup, behind and underneath, and the corners a quick tidy never reaches in a small apartment.
The recurring visit that keeps a deep clean from ever being necessary again. Same written checklist, every time, so nothing quietly slips for six months.
Renovation dust is finer than household dust, so it settles again after you finish. It takes a HEPA vacuum and several passes hours apart to actually clear it.
What clients say
Eight months pregnant and exhausted, I couldn't handle the nesting clean myself. They scrubbed the nursery and the rest of the apartment until it was hospital-grade clean.
The dust and pet dander were triggering my allergies. They tackled every corner, and the air in my home feels so much lighter now.
My father came home from the hospital and I needed the place sanitized. It was a relief to see it so neat and safe for him to heal in.
A giant birthday party left food stains and confetti everywhere. They came the next morning and it looked better than before the party.
My work schedule made chores impossible. They gave the place the most thorough clean it's had in months, especially the baseboards and blinds.
The checklist
Every visit works through the same checklist, in the same order. We go top to bottom so nothing we knock loose lands on a surface we already finished. Deep and move-out cleans are the standard list plus the items below them, not a different list. Most companies in this neighborhood will quote you a price but will not hand you the list, and that is where alot of the disappointment comes from.
01
The recurring visit. Every item, every time.
02
Everything in the standard clean, plus:
03
Everything in the standard and deep clean, plus:
Cleaning products, sprays and cloths all come with us. For hygiene reasons we do not carry vacuums and mops between homes, so we ask that yours are available on the day. If you want fragrance-free or pet-safe products, say so when you book and that is what we bring, at no extra charge. Poor indoor air is a real issue in sealed towers, and the American Lung Association has a plain-language guide to what household chemicals actually do to it.
In detail
approach
A Long Island City apartment is not a small house. Half the buildings here went up after 2010, which means sealed glass, forced-air HVAC and open-plan kitchens where cooking grease travels straight onto the living room shelves. The other half are converted lofts off Vernon Boulevard with original concrete, radiators and windows that were never meant to be washed from the inside. We built our checklist around those specifics rather than a generic room list, and we keep notes on your home so nothing has to be re-explained.
Our standard
gbp category
In a new build on Center Boulevard the problems are all vertical: floor-to-ceiling glass that shows every mark, HVAC vents that hold dust and drop it back after you leave, and a galley kitchen with no window over the range so grease lands on the ceiling. We do the glass last, with a dry buff after the wet pass, because doing it first guarantees you see streaks by evening.
In the older loft conversions the dust is different. Concrete and plaster shed a chalky grit that settles on picture rails and radiator tops, and the radiator bakes it on every winter. Those need a damp cloth and patience, not a spray. Book apartment cleaning in Long Island City, or read our guide to cleaning a studio apartment first.
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A standard clean handles surfaces. A maid service handles the apartment. Dishes done and put away, a load of laundry run and folded, bed linens stripped and changed, towels swapped, and the clutter that lives on the dining table put back where it belongs. It is the right choice if you travel for work, if there is a newborn in the house, or if you simply do not want to spend Sunday sorting a laundry pile.
Most of our maid service clients here run bi-weekly with a linen change every visit. See maid service in Long Island City, or the top rated maid service page for what is included city-wide.
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gbp category
This is the visit most people mean when they say "just a cleaning". A studio or one bedroom in a LIC tower runs about two to three hours with one cleaner. Two bedrooms with two bathrooms usually needs two cleaners for two hours. We price by size and scope rather than by the hour, so a slow day for us is not an expensive day for you, and the quote does not move when someone finds the oven.
If you want a sense of numbers before you call, our breakdown of apartment cleaning costs in New York City walks through what drives the price. Or start with affordable cleaning service.
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Long Island City has a wider spread of home types than almost anywhere else in Queens. There are 40th floor condos with a doorman, three-story townhouses on 45th Avenue, and live-work lofts with a mezzanine and one very tall staircase. Stairs collect more dust than any other surface in a home, so treads, risers and the banister get done every visit, not just on deep cleans.
Buildings with a service elevator need a certificate of insurance filed before we can come up, and we handle that paperwork with management as a seperate step so it never delays your booking. See loft cleaning and insured and bonded cleaning.
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The standard checklist, then the rest: inside the oven, inside the fridge, grout scrubbed by hand, baseboards and door frames wiped, light fixtures and vents, window sills and tracks, blinds, and behind or under the furniture we can safely move. It takes longer and it should. A first deep clean on a one bedroom that has not had one usually runs four to five hours.
Most apartments here definately need one every six months. If you cook most nights, have a radiator under a window, or you are on a low floor facing Jackson Avenue traffic, make it every four. Book deep cleaning in Long Island City, or read deep cleaning vs standard cleaning.
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Which is not what you look at. Empty cabinets and drawers wiped inside. Closet shelves and rods. Inside the oven and fridge. The gap beside the stove where things fall. Window tracks. Scuffs on the wall where the sofa sat. Move-in is the same list for a different reason: the last tenant's cleaner had twenty minutes and a broker watching the clock.
Worth knowing your rights before the walkthrough. The New York security deposit statute sets out what a landlord may and may not deduct, and ordinary wear and tear is not deductible. A clean apartment plus a dated photo set is how you win that argument. Book seven or more days ahead and RESET30 takes $30 off. See move in move out cleaning in Long Island City.
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gbp category
Weekly takes 25% off every visit, bi-weekly 15%, monthly 10%, for as long as you stay on the plan. Bi-weekly is the right answer for most one and two bedroom apartments in this neighborhood. Weekly makes sense with kids, pets, or a household where someone cooks every night in an open kitchen. Monthly works for a quiet studio, with a deep clean twice a year on top of it.
Reschedule or skip free up to 24 hours ahead, because everyone has a week that falls apart. See custom cleaning plans or the recurring cleaning overview.
See the discounts
gbp category
Before a party, after a party, before your parents visit, or just to see whether you like how we work before you commit to a schedule. A one time clean is priced the same way as everything else, flat and by size, and you get the same written checklist and the same 24-hour re-clean window as a client who has been with us for four years.
Plenty of people book one, take the FIRST10 discount, and never go recurring. That is genuinely fine. See one time cleaning or spring cleaning in Queens.
Book a one-offthe full range
Same day, week after week, on the same written list. Upkeep rather than rescue, for people who work long hours or travel most weeks of the month.
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Call before about 11am and we can usually reach you the same day. Long Island City is one of the easiest zip codes for us to fill at short notice.
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Checkout at 11, check-in at 3. Linens reset, restocked, staged back to your listing photos, and damage flagged before the next guest finds it.
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Plant-based, fragrance-free products at no extra charge. It matters most in a windowless bathroom, which is roughly half the bathrooms in this neighborhood.
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Doorknobs, switch plates, handles, remotes and every hard surface someone touches. The visit people book when the whole household has the flu.
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HEPA vacuum, several passes hours apart, and the places dust hides: door frame tops, window tracks, cabinet tops and radiator fins.
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Studios, showrooms and small offices around Jackson Avenue and Queens Plaza, cleaned after hours or before opening so nobody works around us.
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A load run, dried and folded during the visit, or linens stripped and remade. Useful in buildings where the machines are eleven floors down.
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A leak, a burst supply line, a party that got out of hand. We clear the mess, sanitize the area and get ahead of anything that could start growing.
Discover all servicesgallery
Recurring plans
Set a rhythm and the discount applies to every visit, automatically. No contract, no cancellation fee, and you can change or pause it whenever you like.
For busy households and full schedules
25% off every visit
Your apartment never leaves its best state.
Cancel any time · no fee
Our most popular rhythm
15% off every visit
The sweet spot for most Long Island City apartments.
Cancel any time · no fee
A steady reset on the calendar
10% off every visit
Keeps things from ever getting away from you.
Cancel any time · no fee
Discounts apply automatically to every visit for as long as you stay on the plan and are quoted flat by home size before anyone arrives.
Where we clean
Most of our cleaners live in Queens which means Long Island City gets the widest choice of arrival times, including early mornings before the 7 train fills up and late afternoons after a checkout.
Long Island City & next door
All of QueensRest of Queens
See all locationsBrooklyn & Manhattan
All of ManhattanQuestions & answers
No dropdowns, no hunting. Every answer is right here on the page.
We are obviously biased, so here is a fair way to judge any company on this list, including us. Ask three things: will you send me the checklist before I book, is the quote flat or hourly, and what happens if something gets missed. A company that answers all three in writing is worth trying. We publish the checklist above, we quote flat by home size, and we re-clean free within 24 hours. Green Hands has been working this neighborhood since 2015 and you can call us at (212) 812-9418.
Price follows size and scope, not the clock. A studio or one bedroom standard clean is the entry point, two bedrooms with two bathrooms costs more, and a first deep clean costs more again because it takes roughly twice as long. You get the number before anyone is booked, and it does not move on the day. New clients take 10% off with FIRST10, and RESET30 takes $30 off a first deep or move-out clean booked a week ahead.
No, and most people are not. Leave entry instructions with your doorman, or leave a key, or let us in and go to work. Tell us how you would like us to get in when you book. If your building requires a certificate of insurance before a vendor can use the service elevator, send us the management contact and we file it directly.
Yes, everything is included: sprays, solutions, paper towels and sponges all come with us.
For hygiene reasons we do not transport vacuums and mops between homes, because that is a genuinely good way to move bacteria and bedbugs around a building. So we ask that you provide your own vacuum, mop and toilet bowl brush if the job needs them.
Need an alternative? We are happy to bring a Swiffer mop with disposable wet pads instead. Just give us a heads-up when you book.
A studio or one bedroom standard clean is about two to three hours with one cleaner. A two bedroom with two bathrooms is usually two cleaners for around two hours. A first deep clean on a one bedroom that has never had one runs four to five hours. Floor-to-ceiling glass adds time, and we would rather tell you that up front than rush it and leave streaks you notice at sunset.
Often, yes. Call before roughly 11am and there is a good chance we can reach you that afternoon, especially in Long Island City, Astoria and Sunnyside where most of our routes already run. If your on a tight deadline for an Airbnb turnover or a walkthrough, say so on the call and we will tell you honestly whether we can make it rather than booking you and hoping.
Tell us within 24 hours and we come back and re-clean that area at no charge. No form, no argument, no asking you to prove it. It happens occasionally on a first visit before we have notes on your home, and it should almost never happen after that.
Households with cats, dogs, birds or small children get the pet-safe set by default once they tell us, at no extra charge. One rule we never break, and neither should you: never mix bleach with ammonia or with any acidic cleaner. It produces a toxic gas, and in a sealed apartment with a windowless bathroom that is genuinely dangerous. The EPA's indoor air quality pages are a good plain-English starting point if you want to read more.
Weekly takes 25% off every visit, bi-weekly 15% and monthly 10%, applied automatically for as long as you stay on the plan. There is no contract and no cancellation fee, and you can pause it while you travel. See the recurring plans above for what is included in each.
Card on file, charged after the visit is finished. No deposit is taken to hold a slot, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before your booking. Tips are never expected and always go to the cleaner who did the work.
Testimonials
I was hosting Thanksgiving for the first time and needed the apartment to look perfect. They polished the floors and scrubbed the oven until it sparkled, and I could focus entirely on cooking.
We needed an end-of-lease clean to guarantee our deposit back. They left the apartment completely spotless, even the tough grime in the shower grout. We got the full deposit back.
Back from a long business trip to a dusty, stale apartment. I called for a same-day clean and they washed my bedding and dusted everything. It felt like coming home to a hotel room.
I'm going through a difficult divorce and have been struggling to manage the household alone, and having the deep cleaning taken care of lifted such a weight off my shoulders.
Christopher M.
Long Island City, Queens
I had a flood in my kitchen and needed the residual mess cleared before mold started. They removed the debris and did an incredible job sanitizing and deodorizing the area.
Everyone in the house came down with the flu and we needed a deep sanitization. They used hospital-grade products on all the doorknobs and surfaces and made our environment safe again.
I was in a panic to get my apartment ready for my bridal shower. Green Hands arrived on time and transformed the space, and I could finally enjoy my party without being embarrassed by the dust.
Ready when you are
Tell us your home size and pick a day. You get a flat quote before anyone arrives, and first-time clients save 10% with FIRST10.
22-16 79th Street
East Elmhurst, NY 11370
Green Hands
Cleaning Services
Insured, background-checked cleaners serving Queens, Brooklyn & Manhattan since 2015.
📅 Book a cleaning →22-16 79th Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370, United States
