Moving? Read Our Ultimate Cleaning & Moving House Checklist
Moving home can be stressful, especially when vacating a rented property. Without thoroughly cleaning a property before you leave, a landlord might withhold your deposit. As local home removals experts in Brisbane, we’ve, therefore, compiled a moving house checklist, designed to make preparing for your next move altogether easy.
Deep Cleaning a Home Before a Vital Move
Preparation is key to a stress-free home move. With this in mind, it is crucial to identify your primary goals.
- As well as cleaning and packing removal boxes, you need to declutter
- Packing and labeling possessions as you clean will make moving less stressful come your moving day
- A deep clean should focus on leaving your old home looking just as pristine as the day you moved in
Secure Essential Documents & Keepsakes
When moving, it is easy to misplace things like important documents and personal keepsakes. For this reason, every moving house checklist should start with homeowners first packing a box dedicated to important papers and sentimental possessions.
You will be surprised how chaotic things get as you start to declutter. Securing essential items will, therefore, prevent these from being mislaid.
Invest in High-Quality Removal Boxes and Start Decluttering
Before you can clean your home, you need to declutter and start packing. Local home removals experts like Optimove can help by providing free packing boxes. An easy way to organise packing can then be to clear a space in the centre or a corner of each room for removal boxes. Items can then be packed as you empty draws and dressers, in a way that makes belongings easy to unpack later.
- Remember to only pack possessions which have real practical or sentimental value
- Consider recycling or donating old electronics, clothing, and children’s toys to charity
- Empty all cupboards, dressers, wardrobes, and shelves, until all that remains is your packed removal boxes and furniture
- Seal each packing box. Then label each with the name of the room where they should be placed in your new home
Inventory Your Furniture and Start Cleaning
Packing possessions in the centre or a corner of a room makes it easy to later move and clean behind furniture. However, before cleaning, home movers should also label any furniture destined for temporary storage.
If downsizing, some furniture items may need to be placed in storage. Home removals companies like Optimove can arrange secure storage for you. However, any items destined for storage will need to be clearly labelled.
General Move Out Cleaning Tips
Ideally, cleaning a home ready for moving out should take place after furniture and removal boxes have been loaded onto removal vehicles. However, tight moving schedules might mean that this isn’t possible. Thankfully, there are ways to deep clean a home quickly, even if you have to do so around your belongings.
Start Dusting
To start deep cleaning your home, start dusting down from ceilings to remove all dust and cobwebs. Make sure to pay special attention to corners, as well as door frames and skirting boards.
Spruce Up Lampshades & Switches
During and after dusting, take a damp cloth and detergent, and gently clean all lampshades and wall switches. (Making sure to turn off power at the mains beforehand.)
Consider Hiring a Steam Cleaner
Years of ingrained dust and grime can build up in even the most well cared for properties. Thankfully, steam cleaning represents a fast and effective way to lift even ingrained dirt from any hard or upholstered surface.
Spruce Up Bathroom & Kitchen Backsplash Tiles
Grout between bathroom and kitchen backsplash tiles is notorious for accumulating dirt and mildew. Thankfully, bleach can be used safely on tiled surfaces to restore brilliant whiteness to grouting, even in hard to reach tiled corners.
Remember to Clean all Vents
Kitchen ventilation and air-conditioning vents are magnets for dirt and debris. Thankfully, most air-conditioning vents can be easily dusted. Grease in kitchen vents can also be easily cleaned using decreasing detergents and oven cleaner.
Leave Faucets, Vanities & Windows Sparkling
A clean home is a happy home. Faucets, vanities, and windows are also the first features which catch the eye when entering a property. Steam cleaning is an excellent way to lift even stubborn stains from hard surfaces. However, scrunched newspaper and white vinegar can also be used to keep windows and chrome metalwork looking sparking inside and out.
Tidy Property Exteriors and Clean Floors
After cleaning a property, home movers should double check cabinets, vanities, and loft space for anything which they might have left behind. It is then worthwhile tidying around gardens and home exteriors, before finishing with property floors.
Final Finishing Touches
Home removals are much less stressful when there are two of you or more. This way, after packing boxes and furniture are loaded onto moving trucks, one person can stay behind to vacuum and clean remaining floor areas.
Struggling for Time or Manpower?
Every moving house checklist will be slightly different. This is especially true when people might not have friends or family on hand to help with a move.
Thankfully, Brisbane moving specialists like Optimove can help. On request, we can provide added packing and unpacking support. This way, you can still get your home in tip top condition, even if you are on a tight schedule. To find out more, click here.
