Move-Out Cleaning Checklist

Whether you’re leaving a house or an apartment, you’ll want to do a final move-out cleaning. If you’re renting your current residence, cleaning it before you move out will help you meet your rental agreement and get your security deposit back. If you’re moving out of your house before you sell it, leaving it clean will attract more potential buyers.

This move-out house cleaning guide will walk you through what to clean when moving out of an apartment or home. We make it easy for you with our standard move-out cleaning checklist and move-out cleaning tips to help you leave your home or apartment in like-new condition.

Cleaning Checklist for Moving Out of Your House or Apartment

Here’s a home or apartment move-out cleaning checklist for the various rooms in your home.

What to Clean in the Kitchen

• Sinks and fixtures
• Countertops and backsplash
• Inside, outside and behind appliances
• Inside and outside of cabinets and drawers

What to Clean in the Bathroom

• Sinks and fixtures
• Countertops
• Toilet
• Shower and bathtub
• All mirrors
• Inside and outside of cabinets and drawers

What to Clean in Every Room

• Ceiling, fans, lights, vents and corners
• Baseboards
• Trim and molding
• Windows, windowsills and blinds
• Floors
• Rugs and carpet
• Dirty walls
• Light switch and outlet covers
• Closets

9-Step Guide for Your Home or Rental Cleaning Checklist

This homeowner and tenant move-out cleaning checklist will ensure your house is spotless from top to bottom, helping you impress potential buyers or get back your security deposit. We will detail all the steps so you won’t leave anything overlooked.

1. Make Small Repairs

Minor imperfections can add up, so take the time to walk through and make any minor repairs you can:

• Patch and repaint holes: When you move out, you’ll take any pictures and wall decor you’ve used to decorate your space. Once you remove them from the walls, be sure you also remove the pushpins, nails or whatever else you used to hang them. Once you’ve removed any hanging material, use putty to patch the holes and repaint.
• Remove extra fixtures: If you’re renting, you should remove any extra fixtures, like towel hooks and shower caddies. Be sure to patch and repaint the holes these leave as well.
• Replace dead batteries, burned-out light bulbs and burners: Check the batteries in the smoke detectors. If your stove has anything stuck on the burners, it’s easier to replace them than to clean them.
• Touch up chips and stains: You can use white paint or a bleach pen to touch up any stains or chips on the bathroom sinks, bathtubs or showers.

2. Clean the Walls and Repaint

Start by dusting the walls, ceilings, vents, fans, corners and light fixtures. Once you’ve dusted, use a mop or a sponge with warm, soapy water to wipe down any dirty spots on the walls, baseboards and trim. If the paint has chips, you’ll want to repaint.

Most rentals require you to leave the walls of rentals in their original colors when you move out, so you’ll need to repaint if you’ve changed the wall color to suit your style. You may want to repaint even if you own your home — remember that most potential homebuyers prefer neutral colors.

3. Clean the Windows and Mirrors

Dust any blinds, then clean the windowsills with warm, soapy water. Use a glass cleaner and microfiber cloth, paper towels or newspaper to clean the windows and mirrors, leaving them shiny and streak-free.

4. Remove All Personal Property

When you leave personal property in a rental, the fee to remove it comes out of your security deposit. If you’re selling your home, it’s worth remembering that potential buyers will probably prefer to move their things into an empty house. That’s why it’s essential to make sure you remove all of your personal property.

Remove any shelving, wall art and furniture. You’ll also want to empty all the closets, cabinets and drawers. Once you remove your personal property, wipe the areas down.

5. Deep Clean the Bathrooms

You’ll want to clean the bathrooms until they shine. Start with any areas you didn’t clean when you did the rest of the house — dust the ceiling, vents and light fixtures, clean any mirrors or windows and use an all-purpose cleaner to wipe the window ledge and the inside and outside of cabinets and drawers. Then move on to the other areas:

• Toilet: Scrub the toilet bowl with a brush and cleaner and wipe down the outside using an all-purpose cleaner.
• Shower and bathtub: If they’re separate, you can clean the bathtub and shower using the same method. Sprinkle baking soda on the inside of the tub and let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing it with warm, soapy water. Rinse the tub and use a dry cloth to polish the fixtures after you finish scrubbing.
• Sink: Use an all-purpose cleaner to wipe the sink and countertop. Use an old toothbrush to clean the seams and cracks, and make sure you clean the backsplash.

6. Clean the Appliances

Empty the appliances and wipe them down inside. You can soak the refrigerator drawers and oven racks in warm, soapy water and use a sponge to clean them. Once you’ve cleaned the inside of the appliances, wipe down the outside. Pull the appliances out of the way and clean behind them if you can.

Take the time to deep clean your oven and use a stovetop cleaner to make a flattop stove shine. You can also look for other appliance-specific cleaners, such as a dishwasher cleaner, to make cleaning the appliances easier.

7. Clean the Countertops

Use an all-purpose cleaner or warm, soapy water to clean the countertops and backsplash. You can use a putty knife to clean in the cracks.

8. Clean the Floors

Save cleaning the floors for the end, so they don’t get dirty again from use. Sweep and mop hard flooring materials and vacuum carpets and rugs.

9. Take Out the Trash

Once you’ve cleaned everything, take out the trash. You’ll take any trash cans you bought with you, but if a trash can comes with your rental, you’ll want to ensure it’s empty.

Schedule Your Move-Out Cleaning With Rent Maids

Packing and moving all of your possessions can be tiring. With everything else on your plate, you may not feel like performing such a thorough move-out cleaning — and that’s okay! When you hire Rent Maids for your move-out cleaning, we will ensure we do the job to the highest standards.

Rent Maids offers professional cleaning services in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Get a free online quote today and schedule your move-out cleaning!