Moving to a new home can be exciting, as it exposes you to new opportunities and adventures. It’s your chance to live in a brand-new environment and start fresh. But before you worry about how you can begin your new life in your home, you still need to tidy up your previous home for its new occupants.
After moving out, the first thing you need to prioritize is to clean your old home. This helps you avoid possible complaints and prepares the property for the next family. Hiring a professional maid would always be a great option, as you wouldn’t have to worry about anything. However, if you’re planning to do some things independently, below is the ultimate cleaning checklist you must follow:
Dust Your Ceiling Fan
A ceiling fan can easily accumulate dust even when not in use. Since it’s attached to the ceiling, you won’t see how much dust is sitting on each blade and spreading through the entire room. Before you leave, you must wipe and dust your ceiling fan to restore it to its original appearance. You can use a ladder to reach your ceiling fan and wipe down every surface and edge, including the pole that holds it together.
Wipe Light Fixtures
Another thing on your ceiling that you don’t entirely notice and gets dusty is your light fixtures. Even if they’re effective in brightening up your home, they can easily accumulate dust, week after week. As you live inside your home, there might be a chance you don’t get to clean them often, as you only focus on your home’s other interior elements. Before leaving your home, don’t forget to wipe every light fixture.
Vacuum Your Ceiling
If you look closely at your ceilings, you might notice plenty of dust and cobwebs sitting on every corner. This is something you won’t see as you enter the room but only discover when you inspect it thoroughly. To keep your home neat, clean your ceiling by using a long-nose vacuum to reach high areas. This is a safer option because you no longer have to use a ladder, which can cause accidents, especially since you’ll need to constantly move to clean every part of your ceiling. When you buy a vacuum, it usually has an extension that allows you to reach your ceiling.
Remove Unused Nails Or Screws From The Walls
Decorations or shelves that were added to your walls must be removed before you move out. But apart from taking them down, you should also remove any attached nails or screws from the walls. Ideally, you should leave your unit with smooth and even walls, free from any nails and screws. Depending on your contract, you can cover the holes using spackling paste or just let the owner take care of it.
Wipe Walls And Moldings
Similar to your ceilings, your walls and moldings can also get dusty over time. Even if your walls are dark-colored, you should never skip this part so that you leave your property in its best state. You can use a dry microfiber mop to clean your walls and moldings efficiently. If you have any stains or marks on your wall, get rid of them by using specific ingredients that can help remove the source of the stain.
Clean Doors And Windows
Along with your walls, you should also wash your doors and windows to keep them sparkly and clean. For your doors, giving them a good wipe with a damp microfiber cloth should do. For your windows, washing them with mild soap and water should help keep them free from dust and dirt. Just ensure that you wipe them with a squeegee to prevent the formation of watermarks from all the cleaning.
Scrub The Shower, Toilet, And Sinks
One of the nastiest places inside your home must be your bathroom. Well, it’s the place where you get yourself clean. While it might be a bit more exhausting, you should never skip cleaning your bathroom, as not doing this can disgust the new owners—understandably so. To begin, you should scrub your shower room, including every tiled wall and floor with a cleaning tool. You can proceed with scrubbing your toilet and sink to remove any stains and keep them white and sparkly.
Empty And Clean The Fridge And Cabinets
If you still haven’t yet, now is the perfect time to empty and clean your fridge and cabinets. It’s not only embarrassing to leave anything in those areas, but it can also cause health concerns if you do so. Over time, they might develop molds or attract insects, which can damage the property and bring possible diseases. To avoid such inconveniences, you should thoroughly clean your fridge and cabinets and leave no crumbs behind.
Clean The Oven And Stovetop
If you’re leaving your oven and stovetop behind, then you need to ensure that you leave them spotless. You’d be surprised to see how dirty your oven can get, even if no accidental spills are happening on the inside. Due to heat, your stovetop and oven can get greasy, which can be quite difficult to clean. To remove any oil, you should use a non-abrasive sponge and dish soap to clean the entire surface. For a tougher solution, you can mix baking soda and vinegar and let them lift the grease off any surface.
Wipe Your Countertops And Backsplash
Before you leave your home, it’s nice to give your countertops and backsplash one last wipe. These areas can get easily dirty and greasy, as they’re in a high-moisture environment. Even if they look neat, once you get to wipe your finger on them, you’d be surprised by how sticky they can get. Similar to how you clean your oven and stovetop, you should use water and dish soap to perform a quick cleanup.
Sweep And Mop Floors
The last thing you need to do before leaving your home is to sweep and mop the floors. As you clean your ceiling, walls, and other surfaces, dust and dirt fall on the floor. With that, you need to vacuum and mop your floors to keep them spotless. It’ll be the last thing you do before you finally close the doors behind you.
Takeaway
A cleaning checklist helps ensure you don’t miss any area you need to clean before moving out. While it might be a hassle to get some cleaning done before moving out, it shows decency and responsibility in how you treat a property that was once the roof over your head.
