Every year it happens the same way. Diwali is three weeks away, the house feels fine, and then suddenly it is four days to go and the whole family is pulling things out of cupboards at eleven at night.
The problem is not the cleaning. It is doing all of it in the last week. This guide breaks the work into a three-week plan, room by room, so nothing is left for the final rush.
If you plan to book a cleaning team, do it now. Deep cleaning teams in Dehradun are fully booked in the two weeks before Diwali. Families who call four days before usually cannot get anyone.
Work backwards from Diwali. The order matters — do the dusty, messy jobs first and the finishing touches last, or you will clean the same room twice.
Last two days: only light tidying and sweeping. If you are still scrubbing bathrooms the day before Diwali, the plan went wrong somewhere in week one.
The hardest room, and the one most people underestimate. A year of cooking oil builds up in places you cannot see. Start here, and give it a full day.
Chimney degreasing and cabinet interiors are the two jobs families most often hand to a professional team.
Daily cleaning keeps bathrooms usable, but it does not touch grout, hard water scaling or the underside of fittings.
This is the room guests see, so most families spend their effort here. Just make sure the dusty jobs happen before the finishing ones.
Leave this for the last week, once the dusty work elsewhere is finished — otherwise it collects dust all over again.
The first thing guests see, and usually the last thing anyone cleans.
Your regular maid can handle
Decluttering help, wardrobe organising, washing curtains and bedsheets, daily sweeping and mopping, polishing brass, puja room arrangement, and keeping things tidy through the three weeks.
A deep cleaning team is worth it for
Chimney degreasing, bathroom grout and hard water scaling, sofa and carpet shampooing, high ceilings and fans, window and grill cleaning, and anything that needs machines or chemicals you do not keep at home.
The practical split: book a cleaning team for one intensive day in week two, and let your regular help handle the rest across the three weeks. Our guide on deep cleaning vs regular housekeeping explains where the line sits.
Deep cleaning is priced by the job — house size, number of rooms and what needs doing. Indicative ranges:
1–2 BHK, full deep clean
₹3,500 – ₹6,000
3 BHK, full deep clean
₹6,000 – ₹9,000
Kitchen or bathrooms only
₹1,500 – ₹3,000
Rates rise closer to Diwali as demand peaks. Booking three weeks ahead usually gets you a better price and a date of your choosing.
| ✕ | Cleaning floors before fans and ceilings. Everything falls down. Always work top to bottom. |
| ✕ | Leaving decluttering for the end. You cannot deep clean a cupboard you have not emptied. |
| ✕ | Booking a cleaning team in the last week. They are all taken. Every year. |
| ✕ | Expecting your part-time maid to do all of it. She has two hours a day and four other houses. Deep cleaning is extra work and should be paid extra. |
| ✕ | Painting in the last week. Paint needs days to settle, and the dust from it ruins everything cleaned before. |
On the fourth point: if you are asking your regular maid for extra Diwali work, agree the extra payment upfront. It is the busiest, most tiring month of her year too, and this is when good help quietly starts looking elsewhere.
Three weeks before. Week one for decluttering and repairs, week two for deep cleaning, week three for finishing and decoration. Starting later means doing everything at once.
Roughly ₹3,500–₹6,000 for a 1–2 BHK and ₹6,000–₹9,000 for a 3 BHK full deep clean. Kitchen or bathroom only runs ₹1,500–₹3,000. Rates rise closer to Diwali as demand peaks.
At least two to three weeks. Deep cleaning teams in Dehradun are fully booked in the fortnight before Diwali, and last-minute requests usually cannot be accommodated.
The kitchen. It takes the longest, needs the most effort, and leaves grease and dust that would spoil anything cleaned before it. Leave the puja room for last.
She can handle decluttering, washing, organising and daily upkeep through the three weeks. Chimney degreasing, grout scrubbing and sofa shampooing need equipment and chemicals most households do not have — those are better given to a deep cleaning team. If you do ask her for extra work, agree the extra payment upfront.
A festival bonus is standard practice in most Dehradun households — commonly one month's salary or a part of it, depending on how long she has worked with you. Many families add sweets, a saree or a small gift alongside.
Tell us your house size and which rooms need deep cleaning, and we will give you a price and a date — before the slots fill up. We also place house maids for ongoing help if the festival season shows you need more than you have.
