You may have spent hours painstakingly cleaning the home you’re leaving, but that doesn’t guarantee the inhabitants of your new home have afforded you the same courtesy. You can never really know the state your new property is going to be in until you get the keys, so it’s always best to have a cleaning plan in place — just in case.
If you’re about to make a move, keep the following tips in mind when you schedule your cleaning.
1. Schedule a day of cleaning the day before you move in
An empty house leaves cobwebs, dirt and grease nowhere to hide. Although your new home may have looked spotless when you viewed it, you should prepare for the worst. It is very easy to clean an empty home, however, so you should be aiming to clean yours before you move all your furniture and possessions in.
Schedule a major cleaning session just before the moving day. Enlist the help and support of family and friends, and create a rota to ensure every job is taken care of as quickly as possible. With the right vacuum cleaner, cleaning agents and tools for the job, this work should only take a few hours.
Of course, you don’t want to be carrying dusty furniture into your new and spotless home, so make sure you dust and clean your furniture and possessions before you carry them into the new property.
2. Clean from top to bottom
Guess what? Dust is susceptible to gravity, so it will fall from the top of your home to the bottom. If you clean the lower reaches of your new home first, the chances are they’ll be covered in the dust you remove from higher up before too long.
Start from the ceilings of the top floor, and clean your way through and down the house. Look for dust, bugs, grease and dirt in every nook and cranny, and use a steam mop, a brush, a cloth and the necessary cleaning agents to clean as you go.
3. Grab this opportunity to deep clean
Deep cleaning a home when it is full of furniture and possessions is incredibly difficult. You should take the opportunity to clean the areas you’ll probably never see again before you move all of your stuff in. For instance, you should scrub the floors and walls in areas where major appliances will stand. Get into the cupboards and clean. Spend a few extra minutes running a cloth over the skirting boards, coving and around light fixtures. Other areas to add to the list include the loft or attic, the basement, the radiators and any vents or fans.
4. Spend extra time on surfaces that are frequently touched
Your new home may look and smell spotless, but this doesn’t necessarily mean it is. While you may have been impressed by the previous inhabitants, you can never really tell how hygienic someone really is. So for your own piece of mind, it’s a good idea to spend a few hours cleaning and sanitising the surfaces of your new home that come into regular contact with hands.
To make the job easier, start by walking through your home, making a list of the cleaning jobs required in each room. While having a few microfibre cloths and some antibacterial spray is a great start, you can get the same job done without any chemicals by using the power of steam. The Shark Handheld Steamer will remove dirt and sanitise at the same time.
There will be some high-risk surfaces you should give special attention to, including:
- Toilets and toilet handles
- Baths and taps
- Showers and the controls
- Sinks and taps
- Appliances — including handles, knobs and dials
- Door handles
- Window handles
- Light switches and buttons
Once you have turned your home into a spotlessly clean blank canvas, you can move your possessions in with complete confidence.
