When you rent an apartment or house it really can become a special place, but then you need to move on and the last thing you will do in your home is a move in move out cleaning. Getting the last of your things and then the last of your dirt and grime out of your old place is a way to turn a page and start a fresh, new life.
Not only does a thorough move out cleaning help you to make closure, it could also be a requirement of your rental agreement so that you can get your full security deposit back. Leaving a clean house when you leave could also leave a better impression on your landlord if you were ever needing to put references down on an application for a new home. Ask your landlord what they expect from your move out cleaning, and you will have a better idea of how much of an effort to make.
Some people do not realize how important is move in and move out cleaning is, but everyone needs to understand that moving is not complete without cleaning on both ends.
If you are in the middle of a move in move out and you feel you don’t have time to make a good effort with your move out cleaning, you might consider hiring move out cleaning services to make sure your old home is left in a clean state that will impress your landlord and the new tenants who move in. The cost of hiring move out cleaners is probably a lot less than the amount that would be deducted from your security deposit, and you will get the added benefit of impressing your landlord.
For those who will attempt a move out cleaning on their own, we have put together this guide with the five most important areas of a home to clean before handing over the keys. You can use this guide as a sort of move out cleaning checklist, going through your apartment you want to make sure that every item on this list has been cleaned before you leave for good.
Ceilings and High Places
Whenever you are doing a deep cleaning, it is always best to start from the top of the rooms. That way as you kick up the dust that lies there, it will fall down to where you are yet to clean and you can get it all when you clean the lower down areas later.
When moving out, you want to be sure to get the cobwebs out of the ceiling corners. You may want to dust the crown molding if there is any. You can also clean any ceiling fans and light fixtures. The tops of cabinets or any tall furniture that will stay in the house like wardrobes will need to be dusted as well.
In case you have a tight schedule where you need to be able to move out and clean on the same day, you can clean the high places before moving stuff out, because the process of moving your things out will surely kick up some dust and then you would be dirtying the places you just cleaned. So you can save time by only cleaning the high areas before moving your things, then when everything is out of the house, clean the rest.
Behind Appliances
During your stay in your apartment you probably didn’t get around to cleaning behind the stove, the refrigerator or the laundry machines, but when you move out you may need to get those areas as clean as they were when you moved in. To accomplish this task, you will need to do some heavy lifting to move those bulky items out to where you can clean them and under them.
Lots of dust will be trapped underneath them, use a vacuum or a broom to get it all up. Then you want to use a disinfecting wipe to clean all of the sides and the wall that is normally hidden behind them.
Bathroom
You are going to need to do a really deep cleaning of your bathroom when moving out, because that is one of the most disgusting areas for a new tenant to have to clean. If your landlord thinks you have not cleaned the bathroom well enough, it could make them really angry and they will want to take money out of your deposit.
Be sure to use gloves and disinfecting wipes on the bathroom. First you want to sweep or vacuum all the hairs and gross dust that get trapped in the bathroom. Then go over every surface with disinfecting wipes. Pay special attention to the area behind the toilet, it is often overlooked and gets extra gross over time.
For the bathtub or shower stall, be sure to use a strong cleaner to get any water marks or soap scum off of the surfaces. Get in there really deep and scrub really hard to make it shine.
Kitchen
The kitchen can get a lot of build up of food grime over the time that you live there. Areas to look out for especially include the stove top, the oven and inside the refrigerator.
Clean every burner on the stove top, taking it apart and giving each part a good bath in the sink. Try lifting up the stove top, like you would do with the hood of a car, to clean underneath where crumbs can fall and burn. Use the self cleaning setting on your oven to burn food particles away, or you can just scrub inside with some dish soap and water.
To clean the fridge, take all the shelves out and wash them in the sink, while they are drying, use disinfecting wipes to totally wash the inside of the refrigerator. If there is a lot of build up of ice in the freezer, you may need to defrost it and then clean the inside. This could take some time, so make sure to plan ahead so that you can get the fridge really clean.
You may want to dust the inside of the cabinets as well if you think that there has been a lot of buildup. You may also need to clean the doors of the cabinets.
Floors
The last area you want to clean is the floors. Start by wiping all of the baseboards to get rid of the dust that has been sitting there.
If you have carpet in your apartment, you will only need to vacuum if there have not been any major stains. If you notice some stains on the carpet do your best to get them out on your own, but you may need to hire a carpet cleaner if the stain is really bad.
Carpet cleaners are not so expensive, and will probably be less than the damage that the landlord would take out of your deposit if you left a bad stain.
For hard floors, you will need to sweep, then do a good mopping. Make sure that whatever cleaning product you use on the floor is safe for the flooring type. Never use bleach on a hardwood floor, it could ruin it and then you would certainly be out almost your entire deposit.
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