Buying or renting a home someone else lived in is a little like buying a used car. It may look great on the lot, but you want to clean it out before you make it yours. We explained why the empty window matters in Why You Should Clean Before You Unpack in a New Home. This article is the actual plan, from the ceiling down to the floor.
A new-to-you house can be anything from freshly cleaned to clearly lived-in. Either way, assume you are starting from zero. It is the only way to know every surface has been touched by your own sponge.
Walk through first and make a list
Before you clean anything, walk every room with a notepad or your phone. Open every cabinet, the oven, the fridge and every closet. Look up at the fans and down at the floor edges. Note anything that needs more than a wipe, like a greasy range hood, a stained tub or a smell in a closet.
This walk does two things. It helps you plan your time, so you do not spend three hours on the first bathroom and run out of day for the kitchen. And it gives you a record of how the home looked when you arrived, which can matter if you are renting. Take photos as you go.
Top of the house: fans, vents, lights and high corners
Start up high, because everything up there will fall on whatever is below.
- Ceiling fans: slide an old pillowcase over each blade and pull it back. The dust stays inside the case instead of drifting down.
- Air vents and returns: vacuum the covers, or pop them off and wash them in the sink.
- Light fixtures: dust them, and if the glass covers come off, wash them. Bugs collect inside.
- High corners and door tops: cobwebs and dust hide here in nearly every home.
- Smoke detectors: a gentle dusting helps them work properly.
North Texas dust gets everywhere, so do not be surprised by how much comes off the vents. That is normal, and it is a good reason to change the A/C filter before you clean.
Middle of the house: walls, windows and cabinets
Next, work at eye level. Wipe light switches, outlet covers, door handles and door frames, the spots touched most often by people you have never met. Spot-clean walls gently.
Then do windows: wipe sills, vacuum the tracks and dust the blinds. If the blinds are very dusty, you can wipe them slat by slat with a damp microfiber glove.
Inside every cabinet, drawer and closet shelf, vacuum the crumbs and wipe with warm, soapy water. Let them dry before you unpack. This is the step that makes the house feel like yours, because your things go straight onto surfaces you cleaned.
Kitchen and bathrooms: the deep clean rooms
These rooms need the most time. In the kitchen, clean inside the oven, fridge, dishwasher and microwave, degrease the range hood and the cabinets near the stove, and scrub the sink and faucet. In the bathrooms, descale the shower glass and fixtures, scrub the tub and toilet inside and out, clean the grout and wipe inside the vanity.
The next two articles in this series go room by room on those two areas, because they are where most of the time goes.
Bottom of the house: baseboards and floors
Once everything above is done, wipe the baseboards, then clean the floors. Vacuum carpet slowly in two directions. Mop hard floors with the right cleaner for the surface. Get into the corners and along the edges, where the last household's dust line usually is.
If you plan to steam clean or shampoo the carpet, do it now, before furniture is placed. It dries much faster in an empty home with the A/C running.
Garage, porch and laundry
Sweep the garage, knock down cobwebs and wipe the door into the house. Sweep the front porch and back patio. In the laundry room, wipe the inside of the washer and dryer if they came with the home, clean the lint trap housing and wipe the shelves.
These are the doors and rooms your things pass through, so cleaning them first keeps dirt from coming right back inside on moving day. Around Midlothian, Waxahachie and the rest of the area, after a rain, that dirt is usually red clay.
Pace yourself over more than one day
A whole house is a lot for one day, especially after closing paperwork and packing. If you can, split it. Day one: high dusting, cabinets and the kitchen. Day two: bathrooms, baseboards and floors. Then the movers come. If you only have one day, put your energy into the places your things go first: cabinets, closets, the fridge and the floors under the beds.
Want the new place clean before you get there?
We clean empty, pre-owned homes across Mansfield, Midlothian and the south DFW area before move-in day. Get a free quote with your key date.
Get a free quoteMake it yours from day one
When you clean a new-to-you house yourself, you learn it. You find the sticky drawer, the drafty window and the closet with the perfect shelf. And you know, without a doubt, that every surface is clean. For help with the whole job, see our move-in cleaning services.