According to the United States Census bureau, the average American moves 11.7 times in their lifetime. This might be an unpleasant truth for those that don’t like the whole packing up and cleaning process. To help, we’ve compiled a guide for you that will help you through the whole process – be it your first move or tenth.
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You’ll ideally want to clean your house before you leave it up for sale or rent. It would also be a good idea to clean your new house, especially if a long time has elapsed since the sale and your move. So, where should you start? Read on to find out.
Okay, Where Should I Even Start?
First and foremost, make sure you have all the necessary cleaning supplies, and you know how to use them (and that you’re aware of all the safety risks involved). The last thing you want to do whilst moving is to have to take a trip to the doctors after using the wrong concentration of bleach or make a succession of trips to the supermarket to buy chemicals.
Make sure that you’ve packed all your boxes safely into your moving van before you’ve started cleaning. Whilst packing, things will pop out, dust will coat the floor, and the stale can of pringles you’d shoved behind the bookshelf five months ago might make a surprise appearance. Needless to say, this will negate all your hard work if you’ve started cleaning beforehand, so save the cleaning for later!
Once you’re ready, it might help to complete the “dry” tasks first, such as dusting, vacuuming, and sweeping. If you mop the floor before you vacuum, the dust particles will stick to the floor with the water, making it difficult to do a deep clean.
This last step is optional, but it would really help to have some close friends/family (or even a company) that can help you. Cleaning can be an arduous, boring process, and having someone to talk to can help. Otherwise, just put your favorite playlist on your speaker and bite the bullet.
Should I hire a cleaning company?
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Cleaning companies are the easy way out if you have little time to spare or if you lack the supplies necessary to do a full-house scrub down. Spekless, a DC-cleaning company for instance offers a comprehensive move in/move out cleaning service that will make your musty house truly speckless in a matter of hours.
Cleaning companies would be a perfect match for you if you’re more of a couch potato and you don’t like menial work, and if you have some cash to spare.
All you’ll need to do is the schedule, online or phone from 8 am-5 pm, leave the cleaners a key, and kickback. If you aren’t happy with the way things were done, that’s fine too – we’ll come back to make sure all your needs are met.
Your Cleaning Checklist
It’s easy to overlook cleaning some parts of your house at the moment. Make sure you’ve done everything here before you move out!
#1 – Garage Cleaning
- The garage is often an overlooked (but essential) part of the pre-move cleaning process. Make sure to repair any broken lights, use cleaning agents to wipe the windows, and vacuum the area so that no dust remains.
#2 – Closet/pantry/wardrobe cleaning
- Depending on the size of your house, you might just have one closet or ten. Most houses only have one pantry, but if you have a secondary pantry (in your backyard/garage), you’ll want to double-check that there’s nothing left before you move.
#3 – Barbeque / fireplace cleaning
- Clean up all the stray ashes from your old barbeque before you go home, and wipe down the window of your fireplace with an appropriate solution.
#4 – Cover up any blemishes in the wall/repair any holes
- Try using a magic eraser or paint over any marks that you’ve made on the wall (of course, with the appropriate color).
#5 – Check up on any light sources
- Insects love light, and some of the overenthusiastic bugs can get trapped inside lights. You’ll know if you have any dead insects in your lights if there are lots of black spots inside your lights. To clean these dead bugs out, simply disassemble your patio lights and shake them out – preferably not on your friends or family!
#6 – Wipe down the windows, vacuum, and clean the floors.
- These steps are the basics, no matter what your house shape is. Invest in a good quality window cleaner, vacuum-like there’s no tomorrow – going over both carpets, wood floors, and tiles, and wipe the floors down with a mop.
Hopefully, this article helped steer you in the right direction for your upcoming house clean.
For professional assistance, you may also contact Spekless Cleaning, one of the most highly rated DC Cleaning Service if you feel overwhelmed and you think you need some help!
