Real checklists. Real timing. Real prices. Everything we've learned cleaning apartments in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan since 2015, put in one place.
Guides written from real jobs in
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Your neighbors
Same buildings, same walk-ups, same narrow kitchens as yours. Unedited reviews from people a few streets away.
Sarah K.
Upper West Side · deep clean
I was overwhelmed getting my home ready for my in-laws' first visit. Green Hands made everything spotless, from the bathroom grout to every corner. My mother-in-law even said how clean the apartment smelled.
David M.
Williamsburg · move-out clean
We needed a deep clean to secure our security deposit. Incredibly thorough, inside the oven and every cabinet wiped. The place looked better than when we moved in. We got the full deposit back.
Jennifer R.
Astoria · one-time clean
After a long business trip I came back to a dusty apartment and no energy. They arrived right on time and did a fantastic job, especially the blinds and baseboards. Such a relief.
Sarah K. called us from the Upper West Side on a Thursday, nine days before her in-laws landed. She had a two bedroom on 84th, a guest room that had quietly become a storage room, and a mother-in-law who, in Sarah's words, "notices grout." She had spent two weekends cleaning already. The apartment still smelled faintly like the radiator, and the shower corner still had that grey line she could not scrub out with a sponge.
We sent one cleaner for a deep clean the following Saturday. Four and a half hours. The grout came back with a stiff brush and time, not a stronger chemical. The radiator got vacuumed between the fins, which is where that smell actually lives in a pre-war building. The guest room got emptied, wiped, and vacuumed twice, hours apart, because dust that has sat for a year does not all come up on the first pass. Sarah emailed us on Monday to say her mother-in-law commented on how clean the apartment smelled. That was the whole review, and honestly it's the one we're proudest of.
We started this blog because we kept giving that same advice on the phone, over and over, to people who did'nt need to hire anyone. If you have a Saturday and a stiff brush, a lot of this is doable yourself. So here it is, written out: the checklists, the timing, the real costs, and the specific things about a house cleaning service New York City apartments actually need, which is not the same as what a cleaning guide written for a house in Ohio will tell you.
Green Hands Cleaning Services Corp has been at 22-16 79th Street in East Elmhurst since 2015. Forty-ish cleaners, three boroughs, one written checklist. Everything below comes from jobs we actually did.
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.
The guides
Every one of these started as a question a client asked us on the phone. No filler, no "10 amazing hacks," just what we do and how long it takes.
Apartments
One room doing five jobs. The order that keeps you from cleaning the same surface twice.
Read guide
Moving
The printable list we hand our own crews, room by room, with the deposit items flagged.
Read guide
Timing
Six months for most. Four if you cook nightly or live over a busy street. Here's why.
Read guide
Pricing
What flat pricing actually covers, and the four things that make a quote go up.
Read guide
Choosing
A side-by-side of both checklists so you can book the right one the first time.
Read guide
Hosting
Checkout 11, check-in 3. What fits in four hours and what has to be prepped ahead.
Read guide
Renovation
Why the dust comes back the next morning, and the two-pass method that stops it.
Read guide
Products
What's in our kit, what we never mix, and why fragrance-free matters in a small bathroom.
Read guide
Organizing
One closet doing the work of four. Where to start when there is genuinely no storage.
Read guideAlso in the archive
How it works
Read the guide, do it yourself, or hand it to us. Either way the order is the same.
Grout that will not come white. Radiator dust. A move-out inspection in six days. That search is usually how people find this blog.
Half our readers do the job themselves with the checklist, and thats genuinely fine. The other half read how long it takes and book us
A screened, trained cleaner arrives with the products and works top to bottom through the list you just read. Nothing improvised, nothing skipped.
Floors done, surfaces done, everything back where it belongs. And if something got missed, you have 24 hours to tell us and we come back free.
Hover a room to see what we cover
Why the blog exists
No guest writers, no rewritten listicles. Each guide gets checked by a lead cleaner before it goes up, because if the timing is wrong we hear about it from our own crew first.
We are …
… roughly forty cleaners working out of East Elmhurst, most of whom have been with us for years. The guides on this page come from their job sheets, and a lead cleaner reads every one before we publish it.
Most cleaning advice online was written for a house with a garage.
This was written for a fifth-floor walk-up in Astoria.
With one closet and a radiator.
House Cleaning Service
Each of these has its own guide in the archive above. Here's the short version, so you know which one you're actually looking for before you read three thousand words about it.
Kitchen, bathrooms, floors, dusting and surfaces on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly rhythm that fits your schedule.
View serviceInside the oven and fridge, grout, baseboards, door frames, 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 deposit inspection.
View serviceOffices, studios and small retail, 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
The four we get asked about most
David M. in Williamsburg is the reason this guide exists. Empty rooms hide the most, because furniture was covering it for three years.
The reset for when normal upkeep stopped being enough. Grout, buildup, behind and underneath, the corners a quick tidy never reaches.
The visit that keeps a deep clean from ever being necessary again. Same written checklist, every time, so nothing quietly slips.
Renovation dust is finer than household dust, so it settles again after you finish. It takes a HEPA vacuum and several passes hours apart.
What clients say
I had a flood in my kitchen. They removed the debris and made sure everything was dry and sanitized. They turned a stressful situation around and brought my kitchen back to life.
Hosting a birthday party and the house was a disaster zone. Carpets shampooed, kitchen counters sanitized. I got to focus on the party instead of the mess.
About to give birth and a nesting clean was impossible. They steam-cleaned the nursery and sanitized every high-touch area. Real peace of mind.
Between work and the kids my apartment hadn't had a deep clean in ages. Years of dust off the radiators, grime out of the kitchen tiles. Felt like a new apartment.
Standard Basic Cleaning
This is the actual checklist our crews work from. We publish it because half the emails we get are people asking what "standard" includes, and the honest answer is: this, in this order, every time. We go top to bottom so nothing we knock loose lands on a surface we already finished. Deep and move-out are this list plus the items below them, not a different list.
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 thats what we bring, at no extra charge.
In detail
approach
An apartment in this city is not a small house. The radiator bakes dust on every winter. The tub has no window over it, so it holds moisture. One closet does the work of four. 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 guarantee
apartment cleaning
In a pre-war building in Astoria or Sunnyside, plaster walls shed a chalky dust that settles on picture frames and sill tops. In a newer LIC tower the problem is the opposite: sealed windows, HVAC vents holding dust, and floor-to-ceiling glass that shows every mark. We clean both, and we do not use the same approach on both.
The studio guide covers the hardest version of this, one room doing five jobs. Or go straight to apartment cleaning in New York City, or your neighborhood: Long Island City or Astoria.
Read the studio guide
maid service & housekeeping service
Dishes, laundry run and folded, bed linens changed, towels swapped, clutter put back where it belongs. A Housekeeping Service booking is the same thing on a fixed day each week, for people who travel most weeks or work hours that make Saturday cleaning impossible.
Michelle D. in Greenwich Village books this because her elderly parents live with her and she cannot keep up. Kevin B. in Sunnyside booked it for six weeks after surgery. See maid service New York City or laundry services.
How to vet a maid service
residential cleaning
Stairs collect more dust than any other surface in a townhouse, so treads, risers and the banister get done every visit, not just when they look bad. Brownstone parlour floors need a damp mop and nothing wetter. Lofts have height, which means light fixtures and the tops of tall units are on the list.
We also cover condos, lofts, townhouses and penthouses, plus rental property cleaning for landlords like Robert L. in Carroll Gardens who turn units between tenants.
Discover now
one time cleaning & same day cleaning service
No plan, no commitment. Before a party, after a party, or just to see whether you like us before going recurring. Laura G. in Murray Hill booked one after a bridal shower. Olivia S. in Dumbo booked one because she works from home and could not focus.
Need it today? Our Same Day Cleaning Service can usually reach you if you call before about 11am, easiest in Queens and north Brooklyn. There's also last-minute and after-party cleaning.
Same day availability
eco & pet-friendly
Households with cats, dogs, birds or small kids get the pet-safe set by default once they tell us. 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 windowless New York bathroom that is genuinely dangerous.
The CDC's cleaning guidance covers the basics in plain language, the EPA's Safer Choice list is where we check a product before it goes in the kit, and the National Capital Poison Center explains exactly why the bleach rule matters. See eco-friendly cleaning and pet-friendly cleaning.
Our product guidethe full range
Same day, week after week, on the same written list. Upkeep rather than rescue, for clients who work long hours or travel most weeks.
Discover all services
Call before about 11am and we can usually reach you the same day. Queens and north Brooklyn are easiest.
Discover all services
Checkout at 11, check-in at 3. Linens reset, restocked, staged to your listing photos, damage flagged before the next guest finds it.
Discover all services
The checklist and nothing more, priced by home size. Studios and one bedrooms run two to three hours with one cleaner.
Discover all services
Condos, lofts, townhouses and brownstones. Stairs collect more dust than any other surface, so treads, risers and banister every visit.
Discover all services
Two rooms only, or everything except the kids' rooms. If the standard list doesn't fit your home, we write one that does.
Discover all services
Shared halls, lobbies, stairwells and trash rooms, on a schedule building managers can hand to a board without editing it.
Discover all services
Offices, studios and small retail, after hours or before opening, on a schedule that fits your week.
Discover all services
Booked by brokers the week before photos, not the morning of the showing. A clean unit photographs better than a staged one.
Discover all servicesgallery
The result
Real New York homes, the evening after we finished. Kitchens reset, bathrooms done, floors clear, nothing left on your list.
Recurring Cleaning
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 home never leaves its best state.
Cancel any time · no fee
Our most popular rhythm
15% off every visit
The sweet spot for most New York 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. Read the full breakdown in apartment cleaning costs New York City.
Questions
No dropdowns. The answers are right there.
01 What is included in a house cleaning service?
Kitchen, bathrooms, all floors, dusting, surfaces, mirrors, sinks, the outside of appliances, inside the microwave, wastebaskets, and beds made. The full list is published further up this page. Deep and move-out cleans are that same list plus extras like inside the oven, inside the fridge and empty cabinets.
02 How long does a cleaning take in a New York apartment?
A studio or one bedroom standard clean runs two to three hours with one cleaner. A two bedroom is three to four. A first deep clean on a two bedroom is usually five to six. Move-out cleans on an empty unit are faster than people expect, because nothing has to be worked around.
03 Do I need to be home during the clean?
No. Most clients give us entry instructions or leave a key with the doorman and go about their day. Tell us how you'd like us to get in when you book, and we note it on your home so you never have to repeat it.
04 Do you bring your own supplies?
Yes, everything essential: sprays, solutions, paper towels and sponges. For hygiene we don't transport vacuums and mops between homes, since that can spread bacteria or even bedbugs, so we ask you have your own vacuum, mop and toilet brush available. We can bring a Swiffer with disposable wet pads instead, just say so when you book.
05 How much does a house cleaning service cost in New York City?
We quote flat by home size and scope, not by the hour, so the number you agree to is the number you pay. Size, number of bathrooms and how long it's been since the last clean are what move it. There's a full breakdown in apartment cleaning costs New York City, and the current rates are on our pricing page.
06 What if something gets missed?
Tell us within 24 hours and we come back and re-clean the area at no charge. That's the whole guarantee, there's no form to fill in and no argument about whether it counts.
07 Can you clean the same day I call?
Often yes, if you call before about 11am. Queens and north Brooklyn are easiest because most of our cleaners live there. See same day cleaning service for what's realistic by neighborhood.
08 How often should I book a deep clean?
Every six months for most apartments here. Every four if you cook a lot, have a radiator under a window, or you're in a ground-floor unit facing the street. The reasoning is in how often should you deep clean your apartment.
09 Will a move-out clean get my deposit back?
It removes the cleaning argument, which is the most common deduction. Ordinary wear and tear isn't deductible under the New York security deposit statute, so a clean unit plus a dated photo set is how tenants win that conversation. Our checklist is in the NYC move out cleaning checklist.
10 Which neighborhoods do you cover?
Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan below 96th Street, including Astoria, Long Island City, Forest Hills, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope and the Upper West Side. The full map is on our locations page. Ask if you're just outside those, we often can.
Where we clean
Most of our cleaners live in Queens, so Queens and north Brooklyn get the widest choice of times. Manhattan below 96th Street we cover every day.
Testimonials
We needed to prepare our rental unit for new tenants and the place needed serious work. They scoured the bathroom tile and eliminated all the old odors. The new tenants were impressed on move-in day.
We were hosting Thanksgiving and our oven was a mess. They did a deep clean of our appliances and floors. The house was so clean it took my stress level down to zero.
I had surgery and was recovering at home, unable to do any chores. They dusted the high shelves and mopped the floors. Comforting to recover in a clean space without lifting a finger.
My elderly parents live with me and I can't keep up with the cleaning anymore. Now the home is safe and spotless for them, which is my biggest priority.
Michelle D.
Greenwich Village, Manhattan
We were setting up a nursery and needed the spare room cleared of dust and debris. They cleaned the whole space, washed the windows and wiped the walls. Finally safe for our new baby.
I hosted a bridal shower and the place was trashed afterward. They cleaned up the mess, washed the dishes and emptied the trash. Saved me hours.
My daughter is a college student here and her apartment was a mess before our visit. They did a deep clean, cleared the clutter and did the bathroom. Relieved to see her in a healthy space.
Ready when you are
Read the guides, or skip them and let us do it. 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
