You’re moving on up, moving on out… Sorry, just had to sing a bit there. But moving house isn’t all fun and games or even song and dance. And I’m not just talking about the hassles of packing, shifting and re-settling. I’m talking about the end of tenancy cleaning London. Because it’s not like your normal cleaning job.
You see, when you do your own home cleaning on an everyday basis, there’s a lot of things that you can get away with not doing. Even a professional cleaner is unlikely to do them unless specifically told to. This is simply because on a day-to-day basis, it’s too much hassle. The dirt is hidden somewhere it’s not worth the effort of getting into. But when you move house, it’s a different story. You have to do all those obscure little cleaning jobs. As my mother always said, always leave it better than you found it, and it’s important to clean the house properly for the next tenant – and so you don’t have to pay extra.
So what do you have to remember?
* Carpets. Yes, I know you vacuum the carpets regularly and they’re pretty clean. You’ve also been pretty sharp at cleaning up stains on the carpet. However, it pays to get the carpets professionally steam cleaned (you can hire a steam-cleaning machine to do this yourself) before you leave. In some cases, it can be a condition of your rent that you get the carpets properly cleaned before you move – that’s the case with this writer, anyway. It’s best to do this job last of all after all the furniture is out of the way so you can get into those obscure corners that have collected dust after being behind a bookshelf for the last three years.
* Tops of things. When was the last time that you dusted along that bit of woodwork at the top of the windowsill? Or the top of the door frame? Time to get out the warm soapy water and a duster and get busy. You may also need to dust around the top of lampshades and light fittings, but for goodness’ sake turn the power off first so you don’t electrocute yourself.
* Cupboards. It’s surprising how many people don’t check in high cupboards before they move house, and leave things for the next occupant. When this writer moved in, we ended up with an extra bonus of a couple of small children’s toys (meaning small toys intended for children) and some wrapping paper. All because someone didn’t clean out the top cupboard. Even if you don’t have things in your top cupboards, check and clean anyway. You never know what’s up there, and there will be dust, and possibly dead beetles.
* Walls. Clean off greasy fingerprints and odd scuff marks. Most modern wallpapers are washable, and most marks are easily treated with a bit of warm soapy water applied gently and sparingly with a sponge. If you have to remove children’s scribbles off the paper, then use a normal eraser for pencil (obviously), and a tiny dab of meths or vodka for permanent marker or ballpoint pen (only use as much as you need).
Cleaning crayon off walls is a bit harder. Some swear by car lubricant ( of the WD40 type )followed by dishwashing detergent (patch test first – it can leave a worse stain), but good old baking soda or even toothpaste can do the trick just as well without any messy, smelly chemicals.
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