If you are moving out of your rented house or apartment, you will want to ensure that the landlord doesn't keep part or all of your security deposit. One of the essential things that guarantee they are satisfied with the state of the home when you leave is to do a thorough, top to bottom, inside and outside house cleaning.
There are a few ways to approach this. What most people do is resort to end-of-tenancy cleaning services, even if the tenancy agreement doesn't include that. It is the best way to ensure deposit protection since professionals can likely do a better move-out clean than any DIY approach. In other cases, tenants opt to clean the property without hiring professionals.
It is always recommended to establish a system and follow an end of tenancy cleaning checklist. This is what cleaning companies do, as it ensures all living spaces as well as outside areas receive adequate attention. The property needs to be cleaned to a professional standard. If you don't mind a little elbow grease, making a cleaning checklist is a useful way to ensure you get the cleaning job done and get your deposit back.
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Following is a cleaning checklist for tenants that you can use to optimise your cleaning process.
Every cleaning task is best done top to bottom, meaning you start from the highest part of the room and move lower. Cleaning a bedroom is very straightforward in most cases. Move the bulky items out of the way and deal with clutter. Then, it is time to do some cleaning. Below you will find a few pointers, but if you really want to do a thorough cleaning, we suggest reading our bedroom cleaning checklist.
Hiring a professional cleaning company is a good idea because they can help with carpet cleaning and upholstery cleaning. They will use the right cleaning products for the task and do a steam clean of the area for the best results.
The bathroom is trickier to clean than the bedroom. Gather your supplies and products in a caddy and keep them within easy reach. Here are the items you should not leave out of your cleaning session of the bathroom:
Check out our tips for cleaning the bathroom.
These are areas that will mostly require vacuuming and dusting.
No ultimate end of tenancy cleaning checklist is complete without details on how to clean the kitchen. In fact, this is the room you should concentrate a great deal of time and effort on if you want your full deposit back.
Now that you have a better idea of what cleaning tasks you will do during the end of a tenancy, let's focus on some of the specifics. Lot of people use oven cleaner when they clean their coutnertops, but before you do - make sure to know the effect of oven cleaner on countertops.
You have to be careful to wipe, vacuum and clean all furnishings in the house, or the landlord will pick it up on their inspections. That is why you need to wipe down and polish all worktop surfaces and tables around the house. Make sure there are no finger marks and oil stains. Take out all of the cushions and give them a good shake. One common mistake tenants who clean the rental property by themselves make is to not vacuum underneath furniture items.
Carpets are another thing that inspectors and landlords put under scrutiny. If you are cleaning without professional aid, you have to consider at least renting a steam cleaner. It may not be enough to simply run the vacuum cleaner. If there has been a lot of traffic, the carpet must be cleaned with steam. Begin by first vacuuming the area thoroughly. Move furniture around and vacuum underneath.
You must not forget to clean the windows, blinds and shades before you leave. Inspect for oily stains, fingerprint marks and other stains. Wipe down with a microfibre cloth to avoid streaks. Don't forget to also clean the windowsills and window frames, as well as curtains, blinds and shades that may have accumulated dust over time.
Some moving out checklists fail to include cleaning drawers and cupboards. This is especially the case when you haven't used them all that often. But you should inspect each and every drawer, shelf and cupboard and clean it. First, remove the contents to clear some space. Then wipe down the interior and the exterior of the area before returning the contents back in.
If you're a landlord or an estate agency, you may be interested in our article "What is tenancy deposit scheme?".
Other articles you may be interested in: How long does end of tenancy clean take, Do Landlords Have To Clean Between Tenants in the UK or How to Clean Your Room or our apartment cleaning checklist.