Moving out is one of the most stressful endeavours you will take upon in your life. After all, not many things can compare to the crushing weight of having to pack up your entire life and move it to a new location.
However, moving out has much more to do with how you will leave your apartment after you move out, whether you will get your deposit back and how much time you will lose cleaning your apartment so you can satisfy your contractual obligations.
So, to make it easier on you, we created a plan to help you handle your entire move-out like a pro and guarantee you get your deposit back.
Create a moving-out guide
Before you begin your move-out cleaning, it’s essential to make a game plan. This way, you won’t miss any tasks, as you will have about a gazillion small tasks to take over.
Your first step is to create a checklist where you can put all your tasks. You can make it a traditional checklist on a piece of paper, but in general, as we prefer to keep things digital, such a list will be far better inside your phone or even in the cloud.
Next, add every single task you have to do there. It doesn’t matter if the task is small, quick or logical. Add it there, and cross it out once you finish it. If you want to be punctual, you can even add the creation of the checklist as well.
To make it easier, make your list in a logical progression. For example, add everything you need to do in the kitchen one after the other. Don’t put “Clean the oven” and “Clean under the living room sofa” right after that.
Once your checklist is ready, you can move forward.
Start with packing everything
To avoid mistakes when moving to a new house, “pack your stuff” should be on top when you finish your checklist. That’s the first step toward cleaning the apartment, and it definitely will take the longest.
Make sure to have enough time to spare, as you will have to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.
Moreover, depending on how long you’ve lived in the current rental unit, you will go down memory lane more than once as you sort through your old valuables, photos and other precious items.
Always diligently label all boxes and sort your items according to their place or another feature.
For example, keeping all living room decorations in one package is a no-brainer, as you’d want to have it ready to unbox in the new apartment rather than have it scattered across boxes.
Remember that unpacking is an even bigger nightmare, so when sorting, consider how you will arrange your new home, not how convenient it is right now.
Take care of dust and cobwebs in hard-to-reach areas
Thankfully, since 2019 landlords can’t add a mandatory professional end-of-tenancy cleaning into your contract.
Still, you might want to consider hiring an end of tenancy cleaning crew, as they will guarantee your deposit back, and you won’t waste several days cleaning it yourself.
And, if you are keen on keeping your entire deposit and not investing about 10% of it for a quick and effective solution to your problem, you need to be prepared to get cleaned.
Firstly, open your windows wide and start dusting off. It’s easy to focus on the most visible places, but you should also focus on the hard-to-reach areas.
For example, it’s extremely easy to forget about light fixtures and air vents, as you don’t notice those places too often. So, add them to your list as a priority and don’t overlook even the tiniest detail.
Landlords will love to have a piece of your deposit if you forget about the air vents, for example.
Take care of your walls, doors and windows
The next on your list should be all the walls, doors and windows. Those are pretty noticeable once you empty up the apartment, so the chance of forgetting about them is minimal.
Still, don’t forget to put them on your checklist. This is the most tedious task when preparing your apartment for moving out.
You can use a gentle cleaner and a soft sponge or cloth to remove any wall marks or scuffs. For doors and windows, make sure to clean both the interior and exterior surfaces.
You can use a glass cleaner and a microfiber cloth to clean windows and mirrors and a wood cleaner to clean any wooden surfaces.
Deep clean your kitchen and bathroom as part of the end-of-tenancy cleaning
When you finish all that, move on to the kitchen and bathrooms. Now that’s a real challenge, and you should give yourself at least a few days to tackle the kitchen cleaning alone if you want to do it properly.
After all, those are the two areas where most dirt is gathered, and they need some extra attention.
Start by cleaning up the floors, windows and behind appliances. Next, clean the sinks, toilet, shower, bathtub and all the fixtures so they look sparkling clean. Give special attention to rarely used areas, like behind the fridge and oven, as there is usually a lot of gathered dirt.
Finally, make sure to disinfect all kitchen counters and the sink. After you’re done, you can move on to the appliances themselves.
Clean from the inside all appliances
Deep cleaning your oven is an excellent idea once every six months. If you haven’t done it for a while, it will take time. The grease in the oven is tough to remove, and if there is some burned residue, it will surely ruin your day.
Still, using some strong grease dissolvers will make your work much easier. Just make sure you don’t damage the oven’s polish. Even better, use non-toxic, eco-friendly cleaning products and achieve the same effect as commercial cleaners without compromising your health.
Deferring freezers and refrigerators should also be a top priority, and don’t forget the microwave and dishwasher. Clean the washing machine and dishwasher’s filters and ensure they are as new. Not the most pleasant job, but it will guarantee your deposit back.
Do not forget the small details
Finally, if you want to handle your move-out cleaning like a pro, remember that the devil is in the small details. Don’t forget to clean light switches, outlets, inside drawers and cabinets, and dust the top of the furniture just as you did beneath it.
Moreover, don’t forget to wash the curtains, dust the blinds, and clean all air conditioner filters. Make sure to write down all small details, as they are the easiest to forget.
Check everything before you move out
Once you’ve marked everything on your checklist, it’s time to have your final walkthrough.
Again, make sure not to do it at the very last moment, as if you find something that needs fixing, it’s better to have more time and less pressure to do it.
Check each room thoroughly, and it would definitely help if you have a friend with you to check as well, for they may notice something you missed.
Move-out cleaning ain’t easy
End-of-tenancy cleaning like a pro is definitely not an easy task. You need time and dedication to clean everything in time, even more so if you want it to look like a professional cleaning crew was inside.
So, if you are determined to keep your cash, all you need to do is have a systematic approach, have everything on a checklist and give yourself enough time to gather your belongings and clean without time pressure.
