House Cleaning in Ardmore, PA: A Local Guide for Twins, Victorians, and Apartments

Many of the older homes close to the Ardmore station and along the streets off Ardmore Avenue are twins and singles built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They tend to have tall ceilings, deep window sills, detailed wood trim, original hardwood floors, and radiators. All of that is beautiful, and all of it collects dust in places a quick wipe will miss.

Start high and work down. Dust crown molding, door tops, picture rails, and ceiling fan blades first, then window sills and trim, then furniture, and finish with floors. Radiators deserve their own step: a narrow brush or a vacuum crevice tool between the fins removes the dust that otherwise gets blown around once the heat comes on. For original hardwood, use a damp, not wet, microfiber mop and a cleaner made for wood, since too much water can raise the grain and dull the finish over time.

Farther from Lancaster Avenue you will find more stone colonials and larger singles. These homes usually add a finished basement, a mudroom or back entry, and two or more full bathrooms. The basement and the back entry are where most of the dirt ends up, because that is how kids, pets, and yard work come into the house.

Give the back entry the same attention as the kitchen. Shake out or vacuum the mat, wipe the door and the lower part of the walls where bags and shoes hit, and mop the floor all the way to the corners. In the basement, keep an eye on humidity in summer. Lower level bathrooms and laundry areas in stone houses can grow mildew quickly in July and August, so wipe the shower and the area around the washer often, and run a dehumidifier if the space feels damp.

A lot of Ardmore residents live in apartments above storefronts or in the newer buildings near the train station. These spaces are smaller, but the kitchen and bathroom get heavy daily use, and street dust from Lancaster Avenue finds its way onto window sills quickly.

In a smaller apartment, the routine that matters most is the kitchen and bathroom. Degrease the cooktop and backsplash, wipe the fronts and handles of the refrigerator and microwave, clean the sink and faucet, and mop the floor. In the bathroom, scrub the shower or tub, the toilet, and the sink, and wipe the mirror and glass. Ten focused minutes on those two rooms a few times a week makes a real difference between deeper cleanings.

Ardmore's mature street trees are a big part of the town's character. In spring, pollen settles on porch furniture, window sills, and anything near an open window. In the fall, leaves and grit come in on shoes and paws. Winter brings road salt from Lancaster Avenue and the side streets, which leaves a white film on entry floors and the bottom stairs. Summer brings humidity, which is hard on bathrooms and basements in older homes.

A good plan is to keep up with entry floors and window sills every week, and to schedule a deeper cleaning twice a year, once in spring and once in fall. A deep cleaning reaches baseboards, cabinet fronts, inside the microwave, light fixtures, and the spots a quick weekly routine skips.

Ardmore sees a lot of moves, from students and young professionals in apartments to families buying a twin or a colonial. A move-in or move-out cleaning is different from a regular visit because the home is empty, which means you can clean inside every cabinet, drawer, closet, and appliance.

If you are moving out of a rental, a thorough clean helps when it is time to hand back the keys. If you are moving in, cleaning before your furniture arrives is the easiest time to get inside kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and closets, and to start fresh in a home that may have sat empty for a while.

Most Ardmore households that hire a cleaner do it for the same reason: there is not enough time in the week to keep a whole house clean and still enjoy living in it. A recurring visit every week or every two weeks keeps the kitchen, bathrooms, and floors under control, and a deep cleaning a couple of times a year catches everything else.

Cris & Cleber Home Cleaning is a family-run company based in Northeast Philadelphia that serves Ardmore. Owners Cris and Cleber Santos are on every job themselves, and on bigger first-time cleanings they bring one extra helper. Every visit follows a room-by-room checklist. Call or text (835) 280-7875 to tell us about your home and get an estimate.