How to deep clean a living room, top to bottom
To deep clean a living room, clear every surface, then work from the top of the room down: light fixtures and high corners, walls and switches, shelves and furniture, the radiator, upholstery, baseboards, and the floor last. Plan on 3 to 4 hours for one person, and move the lighter furniture so you clean what's under it.
What do you need to deep clean a living room?
- A vacuum with the crevice tool, upholstery tool and dusting brush
- An extendable duster for high corners and light fixtures
- A long, thin radiator brush if your house has cast-iron radiators
- Five or six microfiber cloths, some dry and some damp
- A bucket of warm water with a few drops of dish soap
- Glass cleaner, or water with a splash of white vinegar
- A cleaner made for your floor type
- An old towel and an old toothbrush
Skip furniture polish with silicone in it if you use it often. It builds up into a cloudy film that holds onto dust.
Step 1: Clear the room before you clean it
Pick up everything that isn't furniture or decor: mail, remotes, cups, chargers, blankets. Put it all in a basket and carry it out of the room. You can't clean a surface you can't see, and moving things one at a time while you dust doubles the job.
Pull the throws and any removable cushion covers and start them in the wash now, so they're dry when you finish.
Step 2: Start high
Run the extendable duster along the ceiling corners, the tops of the window and door frames, and over the light fixture. Cobwebs gather where the wall meets the ceiling and they're easy to miss from eye level. Glass shades can come off and go in a sink of warm soapy water; dry them fully before they go back on.
Step 3: Walls, doors and switches
You don't need to wash the walls. Spot-clean the marks around light switches, along the path people walk, and behind the couch where heads rest. A damp cloth with a little dish soap handles a lot of it. Test a hidden spot first on flat paint, because rubbing can leave a shiny patch.
Wipe the doors, door frames, knobs and every switch plate. Hands touch them all day and it shows.
Step 4: Shelves, furniture and electronics
Take everything off one shelf at a time, dust the items, wipe the shelf, put them back, then move to the next shelf. Doing the whole bookcase at once means a floor covered in books.
- Wood furniture: a barely damp cloth, then a dry one. Wet wood leaves rings.
- Frames and decor: dry dust, then a damp cloth on any glass.
- TV and screens: power them off and use a dry microfiber cloth. If you need moisture, spray the cloth, not the screen.
- Remotes: a cloth with a little rubbing alcohol, and the toothbrush between the buttons.
- Lamps: the vacuum's brush tool on low for the shades.
How do you clean a radiator?
A lot of older Philadelphia rowhomes and twins have a cast-iron radiator under the front window. Dust packed between the sections is what you smell the first cold morning the heat comes on.
- Wait until it's cold. Turn the valve down or wait for a warm day.
- Lay a towel underneath to catch what falls.
- Work the radiator brush down between each section, top to bottom. A hair dryer on cool, blowing from behind, pushes the stubborn dust forward onto the towel.
- Vacuum the towel, the floor under the radiator and the wall behind it with the crevice tool.
- Wipe the top and the sides with a damp cloth, then dry it.
If there's a radiator cover, lift it off and vacuum inside. That box collects more than the radiator does.
Step 5: Upholstery and fabrics
Take every cushion off the couch and chairs. Vacuum the deck underneath, the crevices and the sides, then both sides of each cushion with the upholstery tool. This is where the crumbs, pet hair and lost change live.
Check the care tag before you spot-clean. A "W" means water-based cleaner is fine, "S" means solvent only, and "X" means vacuum only. For water-safe fabric, blot stains with a cloth dampened in warm water and a drop of dish soap, then blot with plain water. Blot, don't rub. For anything set in, see our guide to getting stubborn stains out of carpet; the same blotting rules apply to fabric.
Flip and rotate the cushions when they go back so they wear evenly.
Step 6: Windows, sills and blinds
Wipe the sills first. In a rowhome front room facing the street, they collect a gritty black film from traffic, and a toothbrush plus the crevice tool gets it out of the corners. Then do the inside of the glass with glass cleaner and a dry microfiber cloth. Dust blinds slat by slat with a cloth, or give them a damp wipe if they've gone greasy.
Step 7: Baseboards
Vacuum them with the brush tool, then wipe by hand with a damp cloth. Kneeling is slower than a mop on a stick, but you get the top edge and the corners.
Step 8: Under and behind the furniture
Slide out what moves easily: side tables, the ottoman, lighter chairs. Vacuum behind and under them. Use the crevice tool under the couch if it's too heavy to move safely. On old hardwood, lift furniture or use sliders; dragging it is how those long scratches happen.
How do you clean old hardwood floors?
Floors go last. Vacuum the rug slowly in two directions, then vacuum the bare floor, edges and corners first.
Plenty of Philly rowhomes still have their original hardwood, and older finishes don't like water. Mop with a well wrung-out microfiber mop and a cleaner made for finished wood, work with the grain, and dry any wet patch you leave behind. Skip steam mops on old floors. Steam and standing water work into the seams and can cloud the finish, and that's a refinishing job to fix.
Put the clean throws and cushion covers back once they're dry, open a window for ten minutes, and you're done.
Want it done for you?
A full living room deep clean is a long afternoon. If you'd rather hand it off, book Deep Cleaning with background-checked, insured cleaning professionals. If there's a spot you want extra attention on, like the radiator or the baseboards, put it in your booking notes.
Not sure whether you need a deep clean or a regular one? Compare the cleaning services side by side.
FAQ
How long does it take to deep clean a living room? For one person, plan on 3 to 4 hours for a typical living room if you include the radiator, upholstery, baseboards and moving the lighter furniture. A room that hasn't had a deep clean in a long time can take longer.
What order should you deep clean a living room in? Clear the surfaces first, then work from the top down: light fixtures and high corners, walls and switches, shelves and furniture, upholstery, baseboards, and the floor last. Dust falls as you go, so the floor is always the final step.
How do you clean behind a cast-iron radiator? Wait until the radiator is cold, lay an old towel on the floor underneath, and work a long, thin radiator brush down between the sections. Vacuum the loosened dust off the towel and floor, then wipe the top and sides with a damp cloth.
Can you steam mop old hardwood floors? It's risky. Steam and standing water can work into the seams of older floors and cloud the finish. Vacuum first, then use a well wrung-out microfiber mop and a cleaner made for finished wood.
Book a deep clean
Our service area: every Philadelphia neighborhood, plus the Pennsylvania suburbs within about 30 miles of Center City, in Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester counties. Book online at phillyscleanteam.com/book-now, or call or text (215) 798-7576, 9 AM to 9 PM, every day.
