How to Clean Your Apartment When You Move

When the time comes where you have to pick up your things and go, make sure that you leave the place as clean as it possibly can be. Especially if you live in an apartment. Not only will this be courteous to the people who move in after you do and your landlord, but it will be good as a reference for the next place you live. You might even get your entire deposit back!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A broom
• Mop
• Bleach
• Vacume
• Sponges
• Paper Towels
• Ajax
• Window/Glass Cleaner
• Rent a Carpet Cleaner (from Safeway $30)
• Bar Of Soap
• Old Toothbrushes
• Oven Cleaner
• Toilet Bowl Cleaner
• Air Freshener (Air Wicks work great)

1. 
    
   Easy Off Oven Cleaner

   Target all the tough stuff first. Clean that oven. I bet you haven't cleaned it since the day you moved in. Some ovens clean themselves, but I bet yours doesn't. Buy that oven cleaner, and use a sponge or a scratchy sponge, and scrub away. Save the easy stuff for last.

2. 
    
   Easy Off Bam Power Cleaner for Stove Tops

   Clean the top of the oven. Get the burners. Don't forget to put aluminum foil underneath the burners themselves so that you don't have to clean them again before your actual move date. This way, you can save yourself some of your very much needed moving energy.

3. 
    

   That toilet: Clean it!!!! Everyone knows how. In case you forgot: buy toilet bowl cleaner, a toilet bowl scrubber, and scrub away! If you want you can let it soak. To keep the bowl cleaner before the move date, you can put some in the tank and let it clean it every time you flush. A good thing for the toilet is also bleach.

4. 
    

   Vacume, and then..... Clean the Carpets!!! Sometimes there are those stains that are unavoidable. But do your best to get them out of that carpet! Try your hardest to get that deposit back into your hands. Rent a carpet cleaner from Safeway for $30. I believe it's called a Rug Doctor.

5. 
    
   Shower Shine Shower Cleaner

   Clean the tub and the shower. Clean it so that there isn't any soap residue, mildew, or hair. Get hairs out of the drain, because it's disgusting to move into a "new" apartment when the drain is clogged from someone elses hair..... Bleach all the white parts of the tub and shower to make sure that there aren't any kinds of stains there that you can't scrub off.

6. 
    
   Nature Clean Glass and Window Cleaner

   Clean all the windows (inside and out if possible), mirrors and light fixtures. Anything glass that doesn't belong to you, that stays in the apartment when you move should be cleaned really well. A good way to make sure that you don't leave any streaks on the windows is to spray, wipe, and then wipe over again until it's completely dry and squeaks. Windex is the best glass cleaner.

7. 
    

   Sweep and Mop those floors. Make sure that all spots are off!! You can bleach these too.

8. 
    
   Vim Fridge and Microwave Oven Cleaner

   Clean out the fridge. Make sure it's very disinfected, throw away everything you can't keep (you can replace it later). Clean the freezer too. You can use bleach for the fridge too, but make sure that it's dilluted bleach.

9. 
    
   Just a plain white bar of soap, you can get this for cheap anywhere.

   Wipe down the walls, if there is anything on them. Sometimes there will be stains on the walls that need to be cleaned. Sometimes you can fill in picture holes on the walls with a bar of soap (a tip reccomended to me by someone, and it proved to be VERY effective..), just make sure it's the same color as your walls. If your walls are white, bleach them too with a dilluted mixture of water in a spray bottle.

10. 
     

    Clean out all the cabinets and drawers and sinks in the bathroom and the kitchen.

11. 
     

    Sometime within the two weeks before you move out, get a few great smelling air wick plug-ins (they are cheaper than glade) and make sure they are on full blast all day long, for two weeks. That way, when the landlord comes inside to check your apartment out, they'll think, "dang, it really smells great in here!".

12. 
     

    After all these steps are completed, then you can be sure that your landlord will be absolutely pleased, and relieved, that he/she will not have to do all that work themselves!

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure that if you have kids, that you keep the windows open and fans running to circulate all the air. You don't want them around a bunch of chemicals while you are doing this.
• If you choose to use bleach, make sure that you don't get it on anything like the carpet. If you spray the walls, make sure that there's plastic down underneath where you spray.

[inpulse-ive]

on 7/3/2008 Definitely a great article! And smart idea to start a few weeks in advance if possible. I usually wait till only a few days in advance, but I know it would be way easier to do it your way!

[SnickersAREgood]

on 11/9/2007 I am so moving in two months. I am totally going to do what you said, with the rug doctor, and get my entire deposit back from my stupid landlord. Thankyou!