Moving to a new home can be a stressful event. However, it can also be an extraordinary experience. There are countless reasons why you should be excited for this next chapter of your life.
But before you can get settled in your new home, there’s something you need to take care of – the cleaning. Whether you’re moving in or moving out, it’s essential to follow a thorough house cleaning checklist.
If you’re moving out of a home, you owe it to the next owners to pick up after yourself and leave the place immaculately cleaned. This is especially important if you’re leaving an apartment and want your deposit back.
If you’re moving into a new home, it’s never a bad idea to give it a deep cleaning to ensure there’s nothing left over from the previous owners or renters. We can help. Keep reading for an in-depth guide on deep cleaning a house.
1. Remove Clutter, Trash, and Debris
Hopefully, when you move into a new home, there won’t be anything left inside it. However, this won’t always be the case.
You might have to spend time disposing of the previous owner’s left-behind junk, garbage, or possessions. If you’re deep cleaning a house you’re leaving, wait until you’ve completely moved out to make your life easier.
The fewer items you have to work around while cleaning, the faster and easier the job will be. This is one of the most basic house cleaning tips.
2. Wipe Down All Verticle and Horizontal Surfaces
Next, go room by room with your house cleaning supplies, wiping down every surface of the home. This includes walls, ceilings, shelves, doorknobs, dressers, ceiling fans, window sills, doorframes, and more. Skip the kitchen and bathrooms for now, as these rooms require special attention.
We recommend using a liquid dust remover or all-purpose cleaner to ensure maximum cleanliness. Dry dusting is effective for touch-ups, but will also push dust around, rather than remove it.
3. Clean and Sanitize the Bathrooms
Now it’s time to focus our house cleaning checklist on the bathrooms. Remember, these rooms are high-traffic areas that are vulnerable to more bacteria and germs. As such, sanitizing the surfaces in these rooms is essential.
In the bathroom, use powerful house cleaning supplies (like disinfectants) to clean the sink, shower, tub, and toilet (in that order). If you’re using the same rag for the entire bathroom, don’t clean the toilet first, for obvious reasons. Put in the necessary elbow grease to get rid of all watermarks, soap scum, stains, and odors.
Lastly, make sure there is no mold forming on the walls or ceiling. This is quite common for frequently used bathrooms and bathrooms with poor ventilation.
4. Clean and Sanitize the Kitchen
The kitchen might be the most difficult and time-consuming room to adequately clean. However, this also depends on how much upkeep you’ve done (if you’re leaving the home). If you’re moving into a new home, you won’t have any control over how clean the previous owners left the kitchen.
However, because this is where you will be preparing food, eating, and drinking, you must take extra precautions to ensure its cleanliness and sanitation. Start by using a disinfectant to wipe down all of the counters and other surface areas.
Then, deep clean each appliance one by one. This includes the stove, oven, microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerator.
You might need a powerful degreaser for the stove, oven, and microwave. However, you can also use vinegar and baking soda. Grease and other foods that are baked onto surfaces are particularly difficult to remove.
5. Deep Clean the Floors
Now that most of the “heavy-lifting” is done, it’s time to focus on the floors. However, this part of our house cleaning checklist is no less important.
Carpets
Carpeted floors are especially vulnerable to excess dirt, dust, hair, pet dander, allergens, dust mites, stains, and odors. We recommend vacuuming the carpet, making multiple passes over each area.
For maximum effectiveness, vacuum in a different direction each time you go over an area again. For example, start with horizontal lines and go over the carpet again with verticle lines.
Then, use a shampooer to thoroughly clean the carpet, remove stains, and get rid of odors. For tough carpets, it might be a good idea to hire a professional house cleaning service who specializes in carpet cleaning.
Hard-Surface Floors
For hard-surface floors, start by sweeping up dirt, debris, etc. If you have a vacuum suitable for hard floors, it might make your job a little easier.
Then, steam mop the floors to remove stains while simultaneously disinfecting the area. Flooring like linoleum, laminate, and tile shouldn’t need any more work. However, if the home has traditional hardwood flooring, you might consider putting on a coat of polish or wax for quick revitalization.
Furniture, Curtains, and Other Hard-to-Reach Areas
Last on our house cleaning checklist is all of the tough-to-reach and inconvenient chores. First, if there are still furniture and curtains in the home, you’ll need to make sure those are cleaned.
We recommend taking the wand of the vacuum to curtains to remove dust, hair, pet dander, cobwebs, etc. This is also a good time to clean the window blinds and take a glass cleaner to the windows.
Next, use your vacuum extensions to clean the couches, being sure to get underneath the cushions. We also recommend using an upholstery cleaner for maximum cleanliness.
Finally, walk through the house to verify everything is cleaned to perfection. Is there anything you missed? Is there anything you could have cleaned better?
Need Help With Your House Cleaning Checklist?
Few people actually enjoy cleaning. However, before moving into a new home or moving out of your old home, it’s essential to do the job right. If you don’t have the house cleaning supplies, time, ability, or desire to clean your house, you’ve got options.
We can clean your house for you. Contact us today to get a free quote for deep cleaning if you need help with your house cleaning checklist. You can also find out more about our recurring house cleaning services.
We look forward to working with you!
