Moving into a new home is exciting, but can be a stressful experience. One of the best things you can do to get started on the right foot is cleaning your house before moving in, giving you a truly clean slate to work with. Here’s our move-in cleaning checklist!
Collect Your Cleaning Supplies
Before you start to clean your new home, make sure you have all the cleaning supplies you’ll need. Pack a cleaning supplies box, and deliver that to your new home first, so it’s readily available when you begin cleaning. Here’s a checklist of the cleaning supplies you should get:
- Disinfecting surface cleaner
- Disinfecting wipes
- Microfiber cleaning cloths
- Garbage disposal cleaner
- Drain snake
- Drain cleaner
- Oven cleaner
- Vacuum
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Kettle (to boil water)
- Dish soap
- Broom
- Mop
- Floor cleaner
- Toilet bowl cleaner
- Grout cleaner
- Glass cleaner
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Grout brush
- Carpet cleaner
- Carpet deodorizer
Start With a New Home Walkthrough
Before starting on your new home cleaning checklist, take stock of all the rooms in your new home and what state they’re in. Ideally, the former residents will have left the place in great condition when they went through the move-out process, but it’s never guaranteed. Make sure everything that was agreed upon in the sale or lease agreement is accounted for when checking over the rooms, and note which areas might need more of a deep clean. It’s also important to check for any issues that need more immediate attention, like mold, pests, or water damage so you can properly document and address them—this can also help you get your security deposit back later if you’re renting.
How to Clean the Kitchen
The biggest focus of your kitchen cleaning checklist will be on appliances and surfaces. Start by disinfecting and cleaning the refrigerator after you move it in, then clean your other appliances inside and out. For stovetops, you need to know how to clean different types of stovetops—some may just need a simple disinfecting surface cleaner, but gas stove grates may need special gas range cleaner. To clean the dishwasher, simply run a cycle with vinegar followed by a cycle with baking soda.
Here’s a checklist for deep cleaning the kitchen:
- Disinfect and wipe down refrigerator shelves, walls, and exterior
- Vacuum refrigerator coils
- Disinfect and wipe down microwave plate, walls, and exterior
- Disinfect and wipe down inside and outside of all cabinets and drawers
- Disinfect and wipe down all countertops
- Disinfect and wipe down sink basin
- Clean and disinfect the garbage disposal and drains
- Clean the oven with oven cleaner, and wipe down the door
- Clean the dishwasher
- Remove and wash the dishwasher filter
- Wipe down the walls
- Sweep and mop floors
How to Clean the Bathroom
For your bathroom cleaning checklist, start by deep cleaning every part of the toilet—or opt to replace all toilet seats with new ones. Then, disinfect the bathtub and shower, taking special care when cleaning grout and shower tile, as you may need specialty grout cleaner and a grout brush when cleaning grout in the shower. Finally, clean the bathroom floor, as there are likely to be plenty of germs that have settled in over time.
Here’s a checklist for deep cleaning the bathrooms:
- Disinfect and wipe down the toilet bowl, lid, and tank
- Replace toilet seats
- Disinfect and wipe down the bathtub, shower walls, and shower floor
- Unclog the shower drain
- Unclog sink drains
- Disinfect and wipe down countertops, sinks, and faucets
- Clean all mirrors
- Disinfect and wipe down all drawers and cabinets
- Disinfect and wipe down shelves and walls in bathroom closets
- Sweep and mop floors
How to Clean the Laundry Room
Laundry rooms can vary greatly between homes–especially if you have an apartment with a small laundry room or no laundry room at all. Depending on the space you have, your laundry room cleaning checklist may look a bit different. Start with cleaning your washing machine by running a cycle on the highest water setting and hottest temperature setting with white vinegar or special washing machine cleaner. Then you can disinfect your dryer drum with a cloth and rubbing alcohol.
Here’s a checklist for how to deep clean the laundry room:
- Clean the washing machine
- Clean the lint trap
- Vacuum or brush out inside of dryer vent
- Disinfect and wipe down dryer drum interior
- Wipe down washer and dryer exteriors
- Unclog sink drains
- Disinfect and wipe down sink bowl
How to Clean Your Bedroom
As you move on to your bedroom cleaning checklist, your steps may change depending on the number of windows in different rooms, as well as flooring types. All windows should be cleaned with a glass cleaner or other window cleaner, and if you have carpet, you should consider renting a carpet cleaner machine or using carpet deodorizer to get a true deep clean.
Here’s a checklist for how to deep clean the bedrooms:
- Clean all windows
- Dust and wipe down blinds
- Dust and wipe down light fixtures
- Replace dead light bulbs
- Clean ceiling fan blades
- Dust and disinfect all closet shelves
- Wipe down walls
- Clean baseboards and trim
- Vacuum floors
- Mop hardwood floors, or clean and deodorize carpets
How to Clean the Living Spaces
For all other spaces in your home, your room cleaning checklist will be similar to the bedroom cleaning checklist. However, once you’ve finished the remaining living spaces, there are a few general new house cleaning tasks to complete before you’re finished. Changing your air filters and marking the date you installed them on the filter and your calendar helps you keep track of and maintain a regular cleaning checklist. Disinfecting the doorknobs in your new home wipes away the many different hands that may have come into contact with them during the moving process. Finally, topping off your new house cleaning by running an air purifier gets any remaining dust out of the air!
Here’s a checklist of how to clean the living room and other remaining living spaces:
- Clean all windows
- Dust and wipe down blinds
- Dust and wipe down light fixtures
- Replace dead light bulbs
- Clean ceiling fan blades
- Wipe down walls
- Clean baseboards and trim
- Vacuum floors
- Mop hardwood floors, and clean and deodorize carpets
- Change your air filters
- Disinfect and clean all doorknobs
- Replace dead batteries in smoke detectors
- Run an air purifier
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