Moving Out? You Cannot Avoid The Cleaning
There might be many reasons why you would consider changing homes – job transition to a different area, moving with a partner, need to save cash and downsize, growing a family and the need to move to a bigger property, choosing a different area with better schools, or a divorce. Whatever the reason before you decide to sell your house and arrange a surveyor to come to the property for valuation, you need to deep-clean the property.
Now, a word of warning. If the list of tips we offer seems a bit too much for your busy schedule or you just don’t want to spend so much time deep-cleaning your house, you should strongly consider hiring a professional end of tenancy cleaning contractor. Anyclean, for example, offers a complete customer satisfaction guarantee – if your landlord has complains about any part of our performance, we will re-do the required chores FREE OF CHARGE until we fully satisfy the estate manager or property owner.
Pre-cleaning Preparations
To make sure you do everything correctly, prepare a task list and try to follow it. Task lists help not to forget to clean a certain area or fix something which wasn’t the same way when you moved in. You should start as early as possible to make sure you will be ready before the deadline. Sometimes the moving out might take longer than you expect, and you will reduce the stress if you start preparing well in advance.
Before you go ahead and start cleaning the property internally, it is always good to tidy the front and back gardens, paint the window sills, the doors, and the fences. You will probably move out your belongings and furniture, but if you have items that you don’t need, make sure you don’t leave them in front of the house but rather de-clutter as much as you can.
Deep cleaning uses more brushes and supplies than the regular cleaning, although you may use the same chemicals or cleaning products that you have around the house. You may want to purchase extra bleach and some foaming outside cleaner, the new oxygen released based cleaners have a good reputation for cleaning areas that you typically don’t get to, such as the siding on your house or rust stains on the patio and outdoor furniture.
Do not make the mistake to put unnecessary items in the closets or cupboards as landlords like to open them to see how much storage they will have. If they see that the property is well organised, tidy and clean, you will have no problem to get your deposit back.
Pack your belongings and, if possible, take them to the property you are moving into to make more space for the cleaning.Don’t bother wrapping chinaware in lots of newspapers – you will only have to get rid of the newspaper at the other end, which can be a pain. Instead, protect your chinaware and crockery with soft items you already own and would otherwise have to pack separately. Use tea towels, towels, pillowcases, face cloths and the like to wrap.
Collect cardboard boxes from the local supermarket – if you can’t see any, just ask one of the store managers or supervisors. Sometimes, they have to return any packing boxes for reuse, but often they have some spare boxes that would otherwise be dumped.
Packing your stuff is also the best time to declutter. Select which things you want to keep and throw everything else away or give it away for charity. Do not get beholden to items – unless they have sentimental value, you can easily replace most domestic belongings and start fresh at your new place.
Cheat when it comes to clothing – don’t bother folding and sorting. Just treat it like a king-sized (make that emperor and grand dictator of the world-sized) washing load – toss it all in the trailer together, then sort it out at the other end. It’s going to get creased whether it’s lobbed in a heap or whether it’s neatly in a box, and you’re going to have to sort it out and put it into drawers or cupboards at the other end, so you may as well save yourself a bit of time and effort – you’re going to need it for other things.
You must finish all these tasks BEFORE you start the proper cleaning or call in your tenancy cleaning contractor!
End Of Tenancy Cleaning Tips
Let’s start with the most basic of cleaning tips – you start from the top and move downwards. Otherwise, the dust you have removed from the floor will be replaced by the dirt coming from above – and you will do the same tasks at least twice.
Move-out or end of tenancy cleaning is also referred to as deep cleaning – and for a good reason. Deep cleaning means getting into the crevices and digging deeper than the typical once-over that each room gets while doing the regular chores. Dusting the drawers from the outside is not enough – you have flip the wet towel inside, too; you have to clean under the sink, and in the medicine cabinet. Rub, scrub, and polish the kitchen and bathroom sink and the toilet until they start shining like a mirror. It is time-consuming and energy-sapping, I know – but do you want your deposit back or not?
Wash the windows internally and externally. It is among the top requirements any landlord will demand (consider hiring a professional if you do not think that you can do a good enough job).
Clean the cobwebs, wash the skirting boards, picture rails, and the curtain rails.
Clean the bathroom thoroughly, including the bath and the shower, the tiles, the toilet, and the basin. Make sure you remove any mould and limescale as they don’t look nice, and also produce a bad smell.
Polish all mirrors, chrome, and stainless steel around the house.
Your carpet and rugs will always look better if you wash them professionally. Hire a carpet cleaning company and ask them to give your carpets the best possible look.
Clean all kitchen cupboards inside and out, clean the fridge and oven internally, and get them ready for the new owners.
After you have finished with the cleaning in all rooms, polish all surfaces with a dry cloth and a suitable polisher. It will make your property sparkle, impress your landlord, and increase the chances of getting your full deposit back.
Interaction With The Tenancy Cleaners
All the tips we have presented above obviously serve you only if you choose to deep-clean your former residence alone. But what if you have decided to trust a professional after-tenancy cleaning team instead? A wise choice, we must say – but it doesn’t mean that you should completely forget about the process. Here are a few things you should keep in mind when booking a professional contractor.
Choose the date and hour of appointment wisely. It will be a good idea to be present at least for the final stages of the cleaning process so that you can take part in the quality assessment.
Yes, you are dealing with cleaning professionals who have superior skills in home maintenance and housekeeping. But you know your home much better and can point specific problematic areas that will require additional attention.
We do not see any point in being present throughout the whole cleaning process. It may take three, four, or even more hours – we are sure you can find something better to do. Besides, you do not want to stay in the cleaners’ way.
Do not buy additional detergents or other cleaning materials – most tenancy cleaning contractors bring their own specialised equipment.
Discuss the full list of services included in the portfolio – you don’t want to be surprised when you find out that window or carpet cleaning is not included in your package!
