Soap film on the shower glass that a quick wipe no longer shifts. Grease baked onto the oven walls. Grime on the baseboards that a duster does not lift. These are the jobs a routine clean does not reach, and they are what a deep clean is for.
This page sets out our deep cleaning in Ocala, Florida: what it adds to a standard clean in each room, how long it takes, when a home needs one, how the price is worked out and how to get the house ready. The lists and rules below are the ones we publish for our own service. The facts about Ocala’s weather and water come from public sources, named where they are used.
We are Palma Cleaning, and we clean homes in Ocala and the parts of Marion County around it. Our Google profile, listed under the category House cleaning service, showed a rating of 4.9 from 52 reviews when it was read on October 3, 2026. There is more about who we are on the about page.
Deep cleaning at a glance
A deep clean is our full standard list plus the oven interior, a scrub of every shower and bathtub, baseboards washed by hand in the bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen and living areas, furniture wiped down or vacuumed, and interior windows and blinds. It typically takes 4 to 6 hours. We bring the products and equipment, and you have 48 hours afterward to ask for a re-clean at no extra charge.
Call us with your bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage, and we will quote your deep clean.
What a deep clean adds to a standard clean, room by room
A deep clean starts from our standard list, the one a recurring visit follows, and adds the slower jobs on top. We publish both lists, and the table below sets them side by side. The standard clean itself is covered on our house cleaning Ocala page.
| Room | On the standard list | Added in a deep clean |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Appliance exteriors, tables and chairs, countertops and backsplash, cabinet fronts, sink, floor | Oven interior degreased and cleaned. Baseboards washed by hand. |
| Bathrooms | Sinks, toilets inside and out, tub and shower tiles wiped, chrome fixtures, countertops, cabinet fronts, mirrors, floor | Shower and bathtub scrubbed. Baseboards washed by hand. |
| Bedrooms | Beds made, furniture dusted on top, in front and underneath, lamps and picture frames dusted, mirrors, door handles and light switches, floor | Baseboards washed by hand. |
| Living areas | Cushions and pillows straightened, ceiling fans dusted where they can be reached, lamps, picture frames and furniture dusted, hallways and stairs, floor | Furniture wiped down or vacuumed. Interior windows and blinds cleaned. Baseboards washed by hand. |
Across the house, the standard list also dusts window sills and baseboards and empties the trash. What a deep clean changes for a baseboard is the method: it is washed by hand, where a standard visit dusts it. Our description of the deep clean also names light fixtures and door frames, which are not on the standard list.
The kitchen
The oven is the main difference in the kitchen. Degreasing and cleaning the oven interior is part of every deep clean, while on a standard visit it is an add-on. The microwave is wiped inside and out as part of every deep clean too.
The rest of the kitchen is the standard list done in full: appliance exteriors, countertops and backsplash, cabinet fronts, the sink, tables and chairs, and the floor. The baseboards are then washed by hand.
Bathrooms
On a standard visit the tub and shower tiles are wiped and cleaned. In a deep clean the shower and the bathtub are scrubbed, which is the step for soap film that a wipe no longer shifts. Sinks, toilets inside and out, chrome fixtures, countertops, mirrors and the floor are on both lists.
Bedrooms and living areas
Bedrooms get the full standard dusting and floor care, and their baseboards are washed by hand. The living areas get the same, plus two more jobs from the deep list: furniture is wiped down or vacuumed, and interior windows and blinds are cleaned. Our list puts those two jobs under the living areas, so if you want the bedroom windows and blinds done as well, ask when you call. Ceiling fans are dusted where they can be reached, as they are on a standard visit.
Name these when you call
Inside the refrigerator, inside cabinets and drawers, the pantry and closets, vacuuming the air vents and return, and wall washing are not in the table above. If you want any of them done, say so on the call, so that each one is named in your quote before the visit.
What a deep clean does not include
A deep clean is a cleaning visit, and a few things sit outside it. We would sooner you read them here than find out on the day.
- Sorting and decluttering. Under our terms we do not sort or relocate belongings, and heavy clutter can stop a clean. The preparation section below explains the rule.
- Pet accidents and litter boxes. We do not clean up pet accidents, litter boxes or other animal waste.
- Biohazards. We do not clean up blood or bodily fluids.
How long a deep clean takes
A deep clean typically takes 4 to 6 hours, depending on the size of the home and the state it is in. A larger home, or one that has not been professionally cleaned recently, can take longer. For comparison, our standard clean takes 1.5 to 3 hours in most Ocala homes.
So plan on half a day or more. We give you a time estimate for your home up front, so you can arrange the day around it. You do not have to stay in for the visit, as the section on how the day runs explains.
When a home needs a deep clean
The test is whether the dirt is on the surface or built up. A standard clean keeps a maintained home maintained. A deep clean is for build-up, and these are the situations where it is the right booking.
- Before recurring visits start. Many of our clients book a deep clean as their first service, then keep the home up with standard cleans every week or every two weeks.
- After a long gap. If a home has not been professionally cleaned in a long time, we recommend a deep clean first to bring it to a baseline, then regular visits to hold it there.
- When the build-up is in the deep-clean spots. Baked-on grease in the oven, film on the shower and tub, and grime stuck to baseboards and blinds are all jobs from the deep list.
- Around a move. We take deep-clean bookings ahead of a move in. When the home is empty, the service built for it is on our move out cleaning Ocala page, because an empty home lets us reach inside cabinets and drawers.
Describe the home as it really is when you ask for a quote. Its condition is one of the things the price and the time are based on, so an accurate description gets you an accurate quote.
If your home already has regular visits and nothing on the deep list is bothering you, a standard clean is likely enough. Our maid service Ocala page explains the weekly, two-week and monthly schedules.
What Ocala’s humidity and water leave behind
Ocala has a humid subtropical climate. The Florida Climate Center puts the city’s 1991 to 2020 normal precipitation at 51.64 inches a year, and June, July and August each bring about 7 inches. The average high in July is 92.0 F. For a house, that means months when the weather outside is both hot and wet.
Moisture is what mold needs. The Environmental Protection Agency’s guide to mold and moisture says to keep indoor relative humidity below 60 percent, ideally between 30 and 50 percent, and calls moisture control the key to mold control. For bathrooms, it says more ventilation, meaning a fan or an open window, and more frequent cleaning will usually stop mold from coming back.
That is the argument for scrubbing the shower and tub properly, and for running the bathroom fan in between. It also marks the limit of a cleaning visit. The EPA says mold can be scrubbed off hard surfaces with detergent and water and then dried, but that absorbent materials such as ceiling tiles and carpet may have to be thrown away once they are moldy. If you are seeing mold on anything other than tile, tub or glass, tell us when you call.
Water is the other local factor. City of Ocala utility water is groundwater, and a tapwaterdata.com report, updated September 11, 2025 from utility-reported figures, lists its hardness at 115.0 mg/L, or 6.7 grains per gallon. On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) scale, 61 to 120 mg/L is moderately hard and 121 to 180 is hard, which puts Ocala’s figure near the top of the moderately hard band.
The USGS explains what that means indoors: soap reacts with the calcium in hard water to form soap scum, and more soap or detergent is needed to get things clean. Film on shower glass and tile is that same reaction at work. The figure is for city water, so a home on a private well may differ.
Clean, sanitize and disinfect are different words
Our checklist uses the word disinfect for sinks, toilets, countertops and the kitchen backsplash, so it is fair to say what that does and does not mean. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cleaning with water, soap and scrubbing removes most germs and dirt, and that cleaning alone removes most harmful viruses or bacteria from surfaces. In its definitions, sanitizing reduces germs to levels that public health codes or regulations consider safe, and disinfecting kills most germs on surfaces and objects. It advises disinfecting as well as cleaning when someone in the home is sick or at higher risk because of a weakened immune system.
A deep clean is mostly the first of those: scrubbing built-up soil off surfaces. We do not sell it as a health treatment. If someone in your home is ill or at higher risk, tell us when you book so we can talk through what you need.
How the day runs
- Before we arrive. You clear the surfaces, secure pets and make sure we can get in. The preparation list is in the next section.
- Arrival. We message you when we arrive. We bring the products and the equipment: microfiber cloths, vacuums and mops.
- The clean. We work through the deep checklist room by room, which typically takes 4 to 6 hours.
- The finish. We message you when we are done. If you are home, we walk through the house with you, and anything missed can be put right while we are still there.
- The 48 hours after. If something is not right, tell us within 48 hours and we come back to deal with it at no extra charge.
You do not need to be home. Many clients give us a key, a garage code or a lockbox, and the messages at the start and the end tell you where things stand.
You do not need to supply anything either. If you would like us to use your own products because of an allergy or a sensitivity, tell us when you book and leave them out for us. You can also ask for green cleaning products at booking.
Call us to book a deep clean. Tell us the size of the home and how long it has been since its last full clean.
How to prepare for a deep clean
The more surface we can reach, the more of the visit goes on cleaning. We are happy to straighten as we go, but piles of clothes, toys or belongings take time away from the deeper work. A few minutes of clearing before we arrive is the best preparation there is.
- Clear beds, floors and countertops.
- Put away loose clothing, toys and personal items.
- Clear dining tables and nightstands.
- Secure valuables, cash and anything fragile.
- Tell us about any room you want skipped.
- Secure pets in a safe area for the visit, and tell us ahead of time if a pet is anxious or reactive.
- Make sure the water and the electricity are on.
- Arrange the way in: a key, a code, a lockbox or someone at home.
The clutter and utilities rule
Under our terms, if we arrive and cannot clean effectively because of excessive clutter, or because the water or electricity is off, 50 percent of the scheduled booking is charged. If you can see either problem coming, tell us as early as you can, ideally at least 48 hours before the appointment, and we will reschedule with no penalty.
Cancelling or rescheduling
A deep clean holds a long slot, so the notice rule matters. We ask for at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule. With less notice, including a same-day cancellation, 50 percent of the scheduled booking is charged.
How the price of a deep clean is worked out
We quote a deep clean before anything is booked, and the quote is free. This page does not print one figure, because the price is built from the home. These are the inputs our published price list uses.
- Bedrooms. The base price steps up with the number of bedrooms.
- Bathrooms. Full bathrooms and half baths are each counted, at different rates.
- Square footage. There is no size surcharge under 1,500 square feet. Above that it rises in steps, and homes of 4,000 square feet and up are priced after a free in-person walkthrough.
- The deep-clean charge. A deep clean is the standard price for the home plus a set deep-clean charge, which is lower for homes under 1,000 square feet.
- Condition. The list grades a home by how long it has been since its last clean. A home cleaned within about the last three months carries no condition surcharge, and the surcharge steps up for homes that have gone longer.
- Pets. A home with pets carries an added charge, which covers extra pet-hair vacuuming.
- Add-ons. Anything you ask for beyond the deep list is priced per item.
Our price list says the price on your quote is always the one that counts. Ask for the figure, and for what it covers, before you agree a date.
One line you should not see on the quote is sales tax. The Florida Department of Revenue’s brochure on cleaning services says charges for cleaning residential facilities are not taxable, and its examples include single-family dwellings, apartments, duplexes and residential condominiums. Travel is also included for the majority of visits within the part of Marion County we cover.
Deep clean, standard clean or move-out clean
This site covers three kinds of home cleaning in Ocala, and they are easy to mix up. The table shows where each one stops.
| Point of comparison | Standard clean | Deep clean | Move-in or move-out clean |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Keeping a maintained home clean on a weekly, two-week or monthly schedule | Resetting a lived-in home where grime has built up | An empty home, on either side of a move |
| Published time on site | 1.5 to 3 hours | 4 to 6 hours | Not published |
| Oven interior | Add-on | Included | Included |
| Shower and bathtub scrub | Add-on | Included | Included |
| Baseboards washed by hand | Add-on | Included | Included |
| Inside cabinets, drawers and the refrigerator | Add-on | Name it when you call | Included |
The standard clean and its schedules are covered on our cleaning service Ocala home page. The empty-home clean has its own checklist and its own page, move out cleaning Ocala.
What to ask any cleaner before a deep clean
A deep clean is whatever a company’s own list says it is, so compare lists before you compare prices. These questions get you a like-for-like answer, and ours is given beside each one.
- What exactly is on the list? Ask for it room by room, in writing. Ours is the table near the top of this page.
- Is the oven interior included? In ours it is, in every deep clean. Ask us about the refrigerator and the insides of cabinets by name.
- How long will the visit take? We publish 4 to 6 hours and give you an estimate for your home up front.
- What do I have to do first, and what if I do not? We ask for clear beds, floors and countertops, and our terms charge 50 percent of the booking if clutter stops the clean.
- What if something is missed? You have 48 hours to tell us, and we return at no extra charge.
- What does cancelling cost? We ask for 48 hours’ notice. With less, 50 percent of the scheduled booking is charged.
- Is there sales tax on the quote? There should not be for a home in Florida.
- What do you mean by disinfect? Ask which surfaces and which product. Our list uses the word for sinks, toilets, countertops and the kitchen backsplash.
- Who brings the products and equipment? We do, and you can ask us to use yours.
After the clean: re-cleans and damage reports
Our terms, last updated April 17, 2026, give you 48 hours from the end of the service to tell us about anything that is not right. We come back and deal with those areas at no additional charge. The terms attach two conditions: the issue has to relate to what was booked, and the home has to be in much the same state as when we finished.
Damage works on a shorter clock. If something was damaged during the clean, report it within 24 hours of the service so that we can assess it. If you are home when we finish, the walkthrough is the quickest way to catch either kind of problem.
Where we deep clean in Ocala and Marion County
We list six Ocala ZIP codes for deep cleaning: 34470, 34471, 34474, 34476, 34480 and 34481. The neighborhoods we name in the city include Downtown Ocala, SE Ocala, Fore Ranch and Heath Brook.
Around the city we name Stone Creek, Oak Run, On Top of the World, Golden Hills, Marion Oaks, Belleview and Dunnellon. If your address is elsewhere in Marion County, call and ask.
Call us for a deep cleaning quote in Ocala. Have the bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and the date you want ready.
Questions people ask
What does a deep cleaning include that a standard cleaning does not?
Everything on our standard list, plus the slower jobs. The oven interior is degreased and cleaned, showers and bathtubs are scrubbed, baseboards are washed by hand in the bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen and living areas, furniture is wiped down or vacuumed, and interior windows and blinds are cleaned. Our description of the deep clean also names light fixtures and door frames. The full room-by-room table is near the top of this page.
How long does a deep cleaning take?
A deep clean typically takes 4 to 6 hours, depending on the size of the home and its condition. Larger homes, and homes that have not been professionally cleaned recently, can take longer. A standard clean of most Ocala homes takes 1.5 to 3 hours, so plan on roughly double. We give you a time estimate for your home up front.
How much does a deep cleaning cost in Ocala?
We quote each home, free of charge, before anything is booked. The price is built from the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the square footage, the condition of the home and any add-ons, and a deep clean costs more than a standard clean of the same home. Homes of 4,000 square feet and up are priced after a walkthrough. Florida charges no sales tax on cleaning a residence, so the quote should carry no tax line.
Do you clean inside the oven and the refrigerator?
The oven interior is part of every deep clean: it is degreased and cleaned. The microwave is wiped inside and out as part of the deep list too. If you want the inside of the refrigerator done, ask for it by name when you call, along with the insides of cabinets and drawers, so that each one is written into your quote.
How often should a house be deep cleaned?
It depends on what happens in between. Many of our clients book a deep clean as their first service and then keep the home up with standard cleans every week or every two weeks, which holds back the build-up a deep clean is there to remove. A home with no regular cleaning gets there sooner. When the shower, the oven and the baseboards need more than a wipe, it is time.
Do I need to be home during a deep clean?
No. Many clients give us a key, a garage code or a lockbox. We message you when we arrive and again when we are done. If you are home when we finish, we walk through the house with you, which is the quickest way to point out anything you want looked at again. Either way, you have 48 hours afterward to ask for a re-clean.
How should I prepare the house, and what if it is cluttered?
Clear beds, floors and countertops, put away loose clothing, toys and personal items, and secure valuables and anything fragile. We straighten as we go, but we do not sort or relocate belongings. Under our terms, if excessive clutter stops us cleaning effectively, 50 percent of the scheduled booking is charged. If you need more time, tell us at least 48 hours ahead and we will reschedule with no penalty.
Do you bring your own supplies and equipment?
Yes. We arrive with cleaning products, microfiber cloths, vacuums and mops, and you do not need to provide anything. If you prefer your own products because of an allergy or a sensitivity, tell us when you book and we will use them. You can also ask for green cleaning products at booking.
What if something is missed or I am not happy with the clean?
Tell us within 48 hours of the clean and we will come back and deal with it at no extra charge. Under our terms the issue has to relate to what was booked, and the home has to be in much the same condition as when we left. If anything was damaged during the visit, report it within 24 hours so that we can assess it.
What happens if I need to cancel or reschedule a deep clean?
We ask for at least 48 hours’ notice to cancel or move a booking. With less notice, including a same-day cancellation, 50 percent of the scheduled booking is charged. The reason is the slot: a deep clean typically holds 4 to 6 hours, we reserve that time for you alone, and a late cancellation leaves a gap we cannot fill.
Is a deep clean the same as a move-out clean?
No. A deep clean is for a lived-in, furnished home. A move-in or move-out clean is for an empty one, and because the home is empty it includes the insides of cabinets, drawers and appliances. If you are leaving a rental or getting a home ready for its next occupant, the move-out clean is the one to book. It has its own page on this site.
Does a deep clean disinfect the house or get rid of mold?
A deep clean is mainly cleaning: scrubbing built-up soil off surfaces. Our checklist uses the word disinfect for sinks, toilets and countertops. The CDC says cleaning alone removes most harmful viruses or bacteria from surfaces and advises disinfecting as well when someone at home is sick or at higher risk. On mold, the EPA says it can be scrubbed off hard surfaces, but absorbent materials such as carpet may have to be thrown away.