When you move into a new home, you might not be thinking too much about the people who lived there before you. After all, moving is an exciting time that keeps you so busy that your mind is often on other things.
Although you might have done a thorough job of cleaning your home before you moved out, you can’t be 100% certain that the ex-residents of your new home weren’t as careful.
In fact, there are a lot of areas that people miss or simply choose not to clean before they leave. Here, we look at the ten most common spots people forget to clean when they move.
1. Dusting everything
Dust accumulates quickly. The former residents might have dusted, but the move had open doors for a few hours that let in dust and debris that has now settled throughout your home.
Start at the ceiling and work your way down, using a damp cloth, so you don’t send most of the dust up into the air. A static microfiber cloth also works well to contain the dust as you clean. Once you’re finished, you can sweep or vacuum the floors which are next on our list.
2. Sweeping and cleaning the floors
You’d think this is a given. When you consider all the foot traffic that takes place on moving day, though, even if the former resident cleaned the floors before moving, they tracked in a lot of dirt loading the truck.
To make sure your floors are spic and span clean, you want to first sweep hard-floor surfaces like wood and tile and then use an appropriate cleaner to disinfect the floor. If you have carpeting, you want to do a good vacuuming.
Also, unless the landlord or previous owner provides proof they had the carpets professionally cleaned, you might want to consider hiring a steam cleaner to come to remove stains, pet dander, and odours.
3. Dusting and cleaning the walls
Walls are often not noticeably dirty until all the art is off the walls and the room is empty. If the former residents did wash the walls, they probably did it before moving day, which means there can be missed spots, dust, and cobwebs hanging around once the room was cleared out.
You might even find that they left hooks, nails, and tacks in the walls. Remove these first, and then fill any holes with putty.
Keep in mind that you’ll have to paint to hide the puttied spots. Wipe down the walls first with a duster or dry clean cloth, and then tackle any marks or dirt with an all-purpose cleaner.
4. Wiping and disinfecting kitchen and vanity cabinets
Kitchen and vanity cabinets have a bit of an ick factor. You should clean the doors and handles with a good disinfectant spray to get them nice and clean. The insides will probably require cleaning as well.
You can vacuum out crumbs on shelves and in drawers, and if you like, lay down some shelf paper to give them a nice finished look. Other areas that might have cabinets would be pantries, utility rooms, and laundry rooms/closets.
5. Missing light bulbs
This isn’t cleaning per se, but many residents will sneak off with the lightbulbs for no good reason.
Be sure to bring a few boxes of eco-friendly light bulbs along so you can either replace burned-out or inefficient light bulbs or any lightbulbs that are mysteriously missing. It will really make you feel at home when you have the type of light you prefer.
6. Polishing windows, mirrors, and glass doors
Dirty windows, mirrors, and glass doors really take away from a new home. Windex works well to get windows, glass, and mirrors to sparkle. Clean windows let more natural light shine into your home, which makes it feel more cheerful.
Mirrors with smudges or other messes are unpleasant, and dirty glass on features such as glass doors in the living room or shower stall can increase that ick factor.
7. Dusting and cleaning window sills and baseboards
These are finicky, less noticeable areas that the former residents likely didn’t even have on their cleaning checklist. These areas can get unexpectedly grimy and will require a good cleaning with an all-purpose cleaner.
It will take a good spritz and a clean rag or scouring pad to get rid of some of the dirt, especially if these areas haven’t been cleaned in a while.
8. Disinfecting the bathroom
A bathroom can look sparkling clean, but still harbour tons of germs. Again, the ick factor is ten times worse in the bathroom.
You want a good bathroom-disinfecting cleaner that kills 99.99% of germs before you use the bathroom. Every part of the room needs to be thoroughly wiped down.
We’d also recommend replacing the toilet seat, and we’re sure we don’t have to explain why. Don’t miss a thing.
Attack the toilet inside and out, the tub/shower, walls, sink and faucet, counter, mirror, inside the medicine cabinet, and, last but not least, the floor.
9. Cleaning inside the fridge and oven
The outside of the fridge and stove might look nice and clean, but again, you want to disinfect all the surfaces to make sure you get rid of foodborne germs left behind. Also, you really want to deep clean the inside of the fridge.
Use a good disinfecting cleaner to wipe down all the walls and shelves in the fridge. Take out the drawers and wash them in the sink.
For the oven, if you’re lucky, it will have a self-cleaning option. If not, use a good-quality oven cleaner to remove all the food debris and grease from a thousand meals.
10. Disinfecting frequently touched surfaces
Door knobs, light switches, and outlet covers are always especially germy and often have a greasy buildup.
You can wipe them down with an all-purpose cleaner, then use an antibacterial wipe to kill the germs. It will make you feel a lot better when all these surfaces look clean.
At Maid4Condos, we always recommend our deep, move-in cleaning services that Toronto depends on to provide 100% peace of mind. Click here for a free quote. You can also call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.
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