To wonder what you do about cleaning when moving hous

[Mammylamb]

We are moving house early Jan. Since having our son, housework has gone to pot, so I'm worried about the house (inside of cupboards, fridge, freezer etc) not being sparkingly clean for the new owner. What do most people do when selling their home? Do you hire someone to clean your old home or do you focus your attention on cleaning your new home once you are there?

I have always cleaned the houses that I have left. Once the furniture is out, it's really easy.
I'd hate to move in somewhere that was dirty.

I have thoroughly cleaned every house I have sold.....and bought!

We moved into a property 3 weeks ago and the owners said they had cleaned it but obviously had not. 5 cleans of the oven later and it is still not clean. I wouldn't expect anyone else to clean up my mess so I would personally clean before i left.

You should clean before you move out.
If you are having movers, then as soon as they clear a room, you clean it.

So disheartening to have to clean a house before you can move into it.

We packed a lot of stuff into storage to show the flat, then once we got our removal booked and boxes in we packed stuff up in advance where possible, which made cleaning easier. Ran down the contents of the freezer etc - as much as possible done in advance, then hoover and mop as the rooms were emptied by the removal men. Hoover etc went in the car. I think as long as you don't leave it all to the last minute it should be fine. As people say, as the rooms empty it gets much easier.

Cleaned as I packed, Cleaned when all stuff out (with help of paid cleaning help - definitely needed it too - despite having a weekly cleaner and thinking it was usually fairly clean...).

Think it is a given that you clean up your own mess before you leave.

Thankfully never had to move into a place that wasn't clean when I arrived - that would be pretty grim.

as you run down stocks and empty cupboards, clean them (should not be a big deal) and then don't use again.

bathroom should be done the day before. All should be on a 'move in and use straight away' standard. It is understandable that if you move on a wet day, there will be some muck on floors despite best efforts.

you are leaving fridge and freezer?

I've always got cleaners in to sort the house as I've left it and I've sent bills for the oven to have been cleaned to the people leaving a house I bought. Just no excuse for it

Before children, we (and co-opted relatives!) cleaned the house, carpets etc after the movers left. With small children, we are planning to pay someelse to do it..but would definitely leave it fully clean.

Do as much as you can in advance.

Empty fridge and clean then just use a cool Box.
Clean oven and just use microwave and hob.
Take down all light fittings / lampshades and clean light fittings switches.
Dismantle beds and use mattresses on the floor take frames downstairs be sure to put bolts in freezer bags taped to headboard. Once you have minimal furniture you should be able to clean all the carpet edges and skirting boards.
Empty wardrobes and chests of drawers, utilising cardboard wardrobes with rails.
Empty kitchen cupboards and pack items (banana. Iced are good) clean inside cupboards and on top.

Have always left houses spotless. Unfortunately, haven't always moved into spotless houses!

I cleaned our old house from top to bottom after the ten

Argh, after the removal men cleared everything. I paid a professional cleaner to do our new house though as it was a 6 hour drive so the lorry stopped overnight and I was knackered!

Always leave it spotless.

Clean cupboards etc. as we run things down and pack up belongings. Then give quick freshen up wipe out day of. Do tops of kitchen cupboards and fitted wardrobes too.

Oven cleaned a few days before (in case it needs a second go) and then no more oven food.

Bathroom and kitchen deep cleaned day before move and then freshened up as we leave with flash wipes and bleach down loo etc. When we moved from a house with multiple bathrooms the last few days we all shared the same one to save extra work.

Windows done inside and out in the last week then rooms dusted, moped/hoovered as cleared.

Have never, ever, moved in to a house that was even close to what would be acceptably clean. I don't think we are that excessive - we have a cleaner once a week for three hours but we wipe kitchen every other day and might mop it if it's grim, no extra hoovering/cleaning generally though. I don't clean holiday lets etc. when we arrive... so I don't think I'm that obsessive! I do however think that a sizeable portion of the population are selfish when it comes to leaving the house they sell fit for the incoming purchasers.

I don't think the posts above are a representative sample. Every time I've moved in somewhere it's been dirty. I've always cleaned the house I've left because until I bought the house I live in, I rented and wanted my deposit back. If I moved from the home I own I'd do the best I could given how rushed and stressful moving house is. Experience has taught me to expect to give a new house a damn good clean before unpacking any stuff.

Yes we also left our house as clean as possible.

Wow. We moved into house that hadn't been cleaned for quite some time. Suspect it was because tenants lived there and they weren't happy about having to move.

The worst was all the grease in the kitchen - walls, cupboards, everywhere.

Clean as you pack. I'm a professional cleaner and it can take up to 8 man hours to clean a 3 bed unfurnished house up to standard that appears surface clean.
Start now by doing cobwebs and lights etc and skirtings.
When my mum recently moved whilst she was waiting for the completion date she started on her kitchen cupboards. Removing the stuff that was being binned, cleaning them and then using a greaseproof paper to line them to protect against further dirt. Things like that can take hours off your final blitz

Clean everything thoroughly as you go, once packed deep clean kitchen and bathrooms and go over again all floors, windows, sills, skirtings. Make good any damage.

Nothing worse than moving into a dirty house. It should be move-in ready.

I cleaned my flat from top to bottom when I moved out - even though I knew it was all going to be ripped out & replaced.

TBH - if you are actually the owners selling a home and you have lots of other stuff to bother about such as small Dcs etc - why bother? Whoever is buying you home will have seen it covered in dirt. You will never meet them again. They will probably redecorate anyway! Loads of people on this threa d are moaning about dirty homes they have bought so you will proably get one of those even if you had licked it clean? 1 st world problem IMO