What a deep clean actually covers in Paris, and what it costs
Ménage Parfait is a Paris cleaning company with 35 salaried agents — no subcontractors, no marketplace matching. We carry out one-off deep cleaning interventions for English-speaking households and international offices across all 20 arrondissements and the inner suburbs. Every agent is employed and insured by us, coordination is handled in English, and because we hold French SAP accreditation n°2023-433, private households recover 50% of what they pay through the service-à-la-personne tax credit.
What is deep cleaning and how is it different from regular cleaning?
Deep cleaning is a one-off intensive intervention that resets a property to a hygienic baseline. Regular cleaning maintains visible surfaces; deep cleaning treats what builds up underneath — limescale in showers, grease behind appliances, tile grout, skirting boards, extractor filters, and the inside of ovens and fridges. In Paris it typically takes four to twelve hours depending on surface area and how long the property has gone untreated.
Why deep cleaning in Paris is harder than it looks
Most disappointing deep cleans in Paris fail for the same four reasons. They are worth knowing before you book anyone — including us.
- Hard water does the damage, not neglect. Paris tap water runs at roughly 25 to 30 °f, around 250 to 300 mg of calcium carbonate per litre. Limescale bonds to glass, chrome and enamel within weeks. A cleaner without a descaling protocol will wipe a shower screen for an hour and leave it exactly as cloudy as it started.
- Haussmannian materials punish generic products. Vitrified oak parquet, limestone or marble, a stone fireplace, brass hardware and painted mouldings can all appear inside the same 70 m² apartment. An acid descaler that works perfectly on bathroom tiles will permanently etch limestone. One wrong bottle costs more than the entire clean.
- "Deep cleaning" has no legal definition in France. Two companies can quote the same job at double the price of each other and both be honest — one includes inside the oven, behind the fridge and inside the kitchen cupboards, the other does not. Without a written task list, you are not comparing anything.
- An hourly rate hides the real cost. An hourly price tells you nothing if the provider sends one agent for a job that needs two, or stops when the hours run out rather than when the work is finished. We quote a fixed scope for a fixed price, agreed in writing before anyone arrives.
What we do differently in a Paris building
These are the protocols our agents apply that a generic deep cleaning checklist does not cover. They come out of 150+ commercial contracts and several years of residential work in the 8th, 16th and 17th arrondissements.
Descaling works by dwell time, not by scrubbing
Limescale dissolves chemically, not mechanically. Our agents apply an acid descaler to shower glass, taps and screens, leave it to dwell for the time the manufacturer specifies, then rinse and squeegee. The result is glass that stays clear for months, and no micro-scratching from abrasive pads — which is what makes a screen look permanently frosted.
Parquet is damp-mopped, never wet-mopped
Vitrified oak in a Haussmannian apartment tolerates a barely damp microfibre and a pH-neutral cleaner, nothing more. Standing water seeps into the board joints and lifts the varnish, and that damage cannot be reversed without sanding and re-vitrifying the whole floor. We identify waxed or unvitrified parquet at the quote stage and treat it with a dedicated protocol.
Natural stone gets a pH-neutral protocol
Marble sinks, limestone floors and stone fireplaces are made of calcium carbonate — chemically the same thing as the limescale we remove elsewhere in the property. Vinegar, lemon and acid descalers dull them permanently. We use pH-neutral stone cleaners and, where the stone is porous and untreated, recommend a penetrating sealer rather than pretending the marks will come out.
Offices are deep cleaned outside working hours
For international headquarters, subsidiaries and coworking spaces, we work evenings, weekends or across a bank holiday bridge. Carpet is treated by injection-extraction with a Kärcher Puzzi unit rather than shampooed, which lifts embedded soil instead of redistributing it and leaves the fibre dry enough for staff to return the following morning.
Regular cleaning vs deep cleaning vs end-of-tenancy cleaning
The three services overlap but are not interchangeable, and booking the wrong one is the most common mistake we see. This table shows what each actually includes.
| Task | Regular clean | Deep clean | End of tenancy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floors, surfaces, bathrooms, kitchen worktops | Included | Included | Included |
| Inside the oven, hob and extractor filter | No | Included | Included |
| Descaling shower screen, taps, toilet | Surface wipe only | Full chemical descale | Full chemical descale |
| Tile grout and silicone joints | No | Treated and whitened | Treated; re-siliconed if quoted |
| Inside fridge, freezer and cupboards | No | Included if emptied | Included |
| Behind and under appliances and furniture | No | Where moveable | Included |
| Skirting boards, doors, frames, radiators, switches | No | Included | Included |
| Windows, interior and reachable exterior | On request | Interior included | Interior and exterior |
| Written handover report for the état des lieux | No | No | Included |
Why English-speaking clients in Paris choose Ménage Parfait
Salaried agents, not a marketplace
35 agents on permanent French employment contracts — we never subcontract.
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Full URSSAF declaration and liability insurance on every single intervention.
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The same team returns if you book again, so nothing has to be explained twice.
Scheduling that fits how Paris works
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Evenings, weekends and bank holiday bridges for occupied offices.
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Same-week slots for households, and 48-hour turnaround for urgent requests where availability allows.
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Access by keybox, concierge or gardien — we can collect and return keys ourselves.
Everything handled in English
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Quotes, room-by-room task lists and reports issued in English.
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Your point of contact answers in English, by phone and by email.
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We handle the French paperwork: SAP attestation, invoices, insurance certificates.
Fixed price, written scope
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A room-by-room task list is agreed before the intervention, so there is nothing to dispute afterwards.
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Consumables and any specialist treatment are quoted separately and visibly, never buried in an hourly rate.
Certifications that actually mean something
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SAP accreditation n°2023-433 (SIREN 953 292 877) — 50% tax credit for private households.
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European Ecolabel products, safe around children, pets and shared office air.
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CSR-certified operations, with reporting available for corporate procurement files.
Deep cleaning packages and indicative pricing
Deep cleaning is quoted as a fixed package, not by the hour. The figures below are indicative starting points for a property in average condition; a free site visit — or simply a few photos of the kitchen and bathroom — gives you a firm price. Minimum intervention is three hours.
Studio and one-bedroom — up to 45 m²
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Kitchen fully degreased, including oven, hob and extractor filter
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Bathroom chemically descaled, grout and silicone treated
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Skirting boards, doors, frames, radiators and light switches
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Interior windows and window frames
From €149 · around 4 hours · €74.50 net for households after the 50% tax credit
Family apartment or small office — 45 to 110 m²
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Everything in the previous package, applied room by room
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Inside fridge, freezer and emptied cupboards
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Behind and underneath moveable appliances and furniture
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Two agents working in parallel to shorten the intervention
From €320 · around 8 agent-hours · €160 net for households after the tax credit
Large property, headquarters or post-works reset — 110 m² and above
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Full deep clean against a written room-by-room task list
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Carpet and upholstery injection-extraction (Kärcher Puzzi)
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Post-renovation dust removal, including fine plaster dust on vertical surfaces
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Out-of-hours or weekend execution for occupied offices
On quotation · free site visit within 48 hours anywhere in Paris
What clients say about our deep cleaning work
Sarah K. — Marketing Director, Paris 8ème
We took over an office that had been empty for eight months. The team came in on a Saturday, extracted every square metre of carpet, and it was dry by Monday morning. The written task list meant I knew exactly what I was paying for.
James M. — Paris 16ème, relocated from London
Our shower screen had been cloudy for two years and I had assumed the glass was damaged. It was not — it was limescale. Nobody had told me either that I could claim half the cost back on French tax. That alone made the call worth it.
Aurélie D. — Office Manager, international HQ, Paris 17ème
What sold me was that the same agents come back. With our previous provider we had a different person every week and had to re-explain the server room rules every single time.
When to book a deep clean rather than wait
- Before you move in, not after. A deep clean in an empty apartment takes roughly a third less time than the same job worked around furniture, and costs proportionally less.
- Before an inspection or an état des lieux. Deposits in Paris are routinely reduced over limescale, oven grease and stained grout. Those are precisely the items a deep clean removes and a regular clean does not.
- Before September, and before the December holidays. Late August and mid-December are our two busiest windows. Slots in those periods are usually gone two to three weeks ahead.
Deep cleaning in Paris: frequently asked questions
- How long does a deep clean take in a Paris apartment?
Roughly one hour per 10 to 12 m² for a property in average condition, with a three-hour minimum. A 70 m² apartment usually takes six to seven agent-hours, which is about three and a half hours on site with two agents. Properties that have gone several years without professional cleaning can take half as long again — we tell you that at the quote stage, not halfway through the intervention. - Can I really claim 50% of the cost back on French tax?
Yes, for private households. Ménage Parfait holds SAP accreditation n°2023-433, which places residential cleaning inside the French service-à-la-personne tax credit. You recover 50% of what you pay, up to the annual ceiling. If you pay French income tax it reduces your bill; if you pay none, the credit is refunded to you. We issue the annual attestation you need for your declaration. Commercial premises are not eligible — that is a business expense instead. - Do you deep clean for companies as well as households?
Both. Our core business is B2B, with 150+ commercial contracts across Paris, and offices are deep cleaned outside working hours so nothing disrupts your teams. Corporate quotes are issued as a fixed forfait with an itemised scope, and we supply insurance certificates and URSSAF vigilance attestations for your procurement file. - What is not included in a deep clean?
We do not carry out structural repair, mould remediation behind walls, exterior window work needing rope access or scaffolding, or clearance of personal belongings. Silicone joints that are permanently stained rather than dirty need replacing, not cleaning, and that is quoted separately. Anything outside scope is flagged before we start, never afterwards. - Do you bring your own products and equipment?
Yes, including European Ecolabel products and professional equipment. If you would rather we used your own products — common for natural stone, waxed parquet or specific allergies — tell us at the quote stage and we will follow your instructions.
How to book, step by step
From first contact to a firm written price usually takes under 24 hours.
- Tell us the surface area and the condition. By phone, email or the online form. Photos of the kitchen and bathroom are enough for us to price most residential jobs without a visit.
- We send a written task list and a fixed price. Room by room, in English, with anything excluded stated explicitly rather than left vague.
- You confirm the date and the access method. Keybox code, concierge, gardien or someone on site — whatever suits. For offices we agree the out-of-hours window and any security procedures in advance.
- The intervention takes place. One or several salaried agents, our own equipment and products, working through the agreed list.
- You check the work, then we invoice. A walkthrough at the end wherever possible. Households receive the SAP attestation for their tax return; companies receive an itemised invoice.
⚠️ One thing worth checking before you book anyone in Paris
Ask whether the agents are employed by the company or matched through a platform. Marketplaces are perfectly legal, but you are then contracting with an independent worker, and if something is damaged the liability chain is yours to untangle. Ask for the URSSAF vigilance attestation and the liability insurance certificate — any legitimate provider sends both without hesitation. Ours are available on request.
Who we deep clean for in Paris
Deep cleaning is a growing share of our work for the international community in Paris and the inner suburbs.
- Expatriate households moving into or out of Paris apartments
- International headquarters and French subsidiaries of foreign companies
- Coworking spaces and serviced offices between tenants
- Furnished and short-term rental apartments between occupants
- Law, finance and consulting firms with client-facing premises
- Embassies, consulates, international schools and institutions
Talk to us in English
Ménage Parfait, 12 avenue de Charlebourg, 92250 La Garenne-Colombes. We cover all 20 arrondissements and the inner suburbs (92, 93, 94, 78, 95).
- Phone: 01 89 19 68 69
- Email: [email protected]
- Online: Request a free deep cleaning quote
01 89 19 68 69
