For most people, moving house is a logistical nightmare. Hauling boxes, changing your address, packing up your entire life, and then there’s still the cleaning to do. No wonder it tends to be the very last thing you have any energy left for. But there’s no getting around it. The old place has to be handed over spotless, and you’ll want a fresh start in your new home.
To stop yourself running around like a headless chicken with a cloth in one hand, you need a bit of structure. With this house cleaning checklist you’ll stay on top of the moving chaos and won’t miss a single corner. Work through it from top to bottom and you can be sure everything gets covered, from the kitchen to the very last windowsill. Print it out and stick it on the wall if you like, so everyone lending a hand can see exactly what still needs doing.
The golden rule: work in the right order
Before you start, here’s one tip from the professionals that will save you a lot of double work. Always work from top to bottom, and dry before wet. So dust and vacuum first, and only mop afterwards. Do it the other way round and your freshly mopped floor will be covered in settling dust within five minutes, and you’ll be back to square one.
The same logic applies to the whole house. Start high, with ceilings and cupboards, and finish at the floor. That way all the dirt falls down to the spot you clean last anyway, and you never do the same job twice. In the end it saves you a great deal of time and frustration.
One more handy tip. Don’t pack your cleaning supplies first. It sounds obvious, but it goes wrong all the time. Keep your descaler, all-purpose cleaner, microfibre cloths, a bucket and a mop to one side, so you’re not tearing open three moving boxes halfway through in search of a single spray bottle.
The ultimate deep cleaning checklist
This is the most important part. Go through the checklist room by room and tick off what you’ve done. That way you keep an overview and can see at a glance what’s still outstanding.
The kitchen
- Clean the inside and outside of all kitchen cupboards and drawers, and get rid of every last crumb.
- Degrease the oven and microwave thoroughly, including the baking trays and shelves.
- Defrost the fridge and freezer, clean them out and dry them properly.
- Clean the extractor hood and degrease the filters, or simply pop them in the dishwasher if they’ll fit.
- Descale the worktop, the sink and the taps.
The bathroom and toilet
In the wet rooms it’s all about limescale and hygiene, so set aside a little extra time here.
- Descale and scrub the shower enclosure, the tiles and the grout.
- Polish the basin and the mirror until they’re streak-free.
- Clean the toilet bowl inside, including under the rim, and don’t forget the outside and the seat.
- Clear the plug holes of hair and grime so everything drains freely again.
Living room, bedrooms and hallway
In the living spaces, the dirt tends to gather in places you’d normally walk straight past. At handover, though, that’s exactly where people look.
- Check the ceilings and corners for cobwebs.
- Wipe down the tops of doors, the door handles and the light switches.
- Dust the sockets and the skirting boards.
- Clean the windows on the inside and wipe down the windowsills.
- Vacuum the floors thoroughly and mop them as the very last step.
Work through this checklist room by room. That way you’ll hand over a home no one can fault, whether that’s the letting agent, the inspector or the new occupant.
Heart sinking already? Hand it over
Let’s be honest, it’s a long list. Plenty of people start full of good intentions, but once they’ve spent a day shifting boxes there’s no energy left and they barely get past the first few points. That’s completely understandable, because a move asks more than enough of you as it is.
Do you look at this cleaning checklist and think, I really haven’t got time for this? That’s not laziness, it’s common sense. You can simply hand the whole moving clean over to EasyClean. We’ll take this entire list off your hands and work through it in no time with a professional team. You hand back the keys with complete peace of mind, while we make sure the place is left spotless.
That way you keep your energy for what really matters, settling into your new home. And the old place gets handed over to a standard no one can fault, without leaving you exhausted in the process.
