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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not do a deep clean when moving house?

66 replies

MarianneVos · 27/10/2022 10:38

Moving house tomorrow and packers are here now. Trying to clean when things are cleared and will also have tonight, but a really proper clean is taking longer than I thought as I'm having to do it around a newborn and will have to sort out older DCs when they come back from nursery.

I'm hoovering everywhere, wiping doors and skirting, and inside kitchen cupboards, and doing bathroom. There's still going to be a few marks here and there if anything is stubborn, and I'm not going to have time to properly clean behind the toilet and sink etc. Visually it will look ok but it won't be perfect.

Is it ok to leave it like this? What kind of standard do other people clean to when moving?

I've only moved into places that have been left filthy so don't want to do that but not sure what level of clean is reasonable?

OP posts:
LoveAutumnColours · 27/10/2022 13:53

I remember my last two moves. Paid for the house to be cleaned and then the buyers had a delay for exchange/completion (was meant to be within the same week). I couldn’t get off work except the day of the move when it finally happened. Hoovered and swept like a maniac as movers were going in/out but as it was autumn, leaves were blowing in the house. Felt awful but I couldn’t keep up so when I had to leave, there were leaves crunched in the house.

Last move, mover disconnected the washing machine (not in the sale) and broke some piece that caused water to gush out in the floor and their dirty shoes tracked dirt, became a bit grubby, in the floors and carpets I had paid to be cleaned! While the movers did fix the leak, I had no time to clean it all up. Just quick hand wipe of the floor as everything was already packed, out of the house. Felt terrible.

things can happen. Do the best you can

Butterflytown · 27/10/2022 14:01

It sounds like you’re doing a great job OP and what you’re doing is absolutely fine, especially with young DC.

We sold our house last year and moved into rented- we had an overlap so moved out of the house we were selling the day before completion. I’d been plugging away at the bigger jobs in the run up, for example cleaning the inside of the windows, blinds, extractor fan hood filters, oven etc. i did the inside of kitchen cupboards as we were packing (we packed gradually in the previous weeks rather than getting packers in the day before). I had given the bathroom and kitchen a deep clean earlier in the week, dusted skirting boards etc. On moving day the removal men were loaded up by 10am so after they’d gone I stayed at the old house and vaccuumed everywhere, wiped skirting where furniture had been, cleaned bathroom, loo and kitchen and mopped all the hard floors downstairs. I took all rubbish to the tip rather than leaving in outside bins. So in my view the house had been deep cleaned and was spotless. i could only do it ti that standard because we weren’t in a chain and had the option to stay and finish the cleaning once the house was empty.

It turned out that the new buyers then did a load of work before they moved in, ripping out our 2 year old bathroom and all the upstairs carpets. They didn’t move in for several months so part of me wishes I hadn’t bothered being quite so thorough with the cleaning!

I think just make sure kitchen (including oven)/ bathroom / Loos are clean and vaccuum/ sweep/ mop everywhere so no visible dirt. The houses I’ve moved into have never had more than that done unless they’re rentals which have been professionally cleaned as part of the end of tenancy arrangements.

BiddyPop · 27/10/2022 14:19

We've moved in twice.

First time, builders had left loads of dust and rubble and bits around the place, and the loo was unflushed (grim). And the bins had already arrived before builders finished so of course those were filled as well so we couldn't use them until after collection day.

Second time, we bought from someone who was moving abroad and didn't want to bring lots of big things so left broken fridge, battered cooker, few bits of furniture and a cupboard full of glasses amongst others (had wanted to sell us the white goods and curtains, we said no and to remove them...). And all the curtains so chock full of dust having not been used for about 3 years. But the bathroom "set" (pine towel holder, toilet roll holder, toothbrush holder etc) had "sentimental value" and she brought those with her, which we agreed, but she literally ripped them off the wall and left a number of fist-sized holes in the bathroom plasterboard behind the vinyl wallpaper. And no, she hadn't cleaned as she left.

So our experience has always been to deep clean on arrival and be armed with rubber gloves, rolls of bin bags and kitchen towels, cleaning sprays and bleach for that first day.

I've also been involved in moving an Uncle (who is a priest) on a number of occasions - the houses are always taken over from other priests and while 1 was a joy to behold (very active Parish Council!), most have needed a very good scrub too.

When we moved out, I just tried to make sure we had done a reasonable job of leaving it clean, bins emptied, no gunge in the sinks, floor swept (movers had thrown the hoover into the van hours before even though I had it safely in a cupboard!) - but I didn't get a chance to mop as we left (pouring rain day and estate agent problems both sides meant we were under pressure to get out and also fighting about getting new keys) which annoyed me. But we did leave all manuals, some spare "headed" notepaper with the address (which we had printed for personal thank you notes instead of cards after our wedding the year before) and a bundle of envelopes, spare keys labelled, good luck card and a bottle of wine. And the pots of paint for touching up different rooms were in the shed, labelled, as we'd had to paint the entire house ourselves, and a couple of spare tiles for the kitchen splashback.

MarianneVos · 27/10/2022 16:58

My baby gave me the gift of four hours of sleep (he never manages that at night!) so I'm pretty much done. Kitchen is cleaner than it's ever been, all cupboards are sparkling etc. I even managed to do behind the toilet! Everywhere I can get to is dusted and hoovered, everything dusted and wiped.

The only bits left that I'll do are things I can't get to behind the beds which I'll do tomorrow.

I've left the windows (have wiped edges but not cleaned glass) and the oven door isn't perfect, I think it needs soaking in actual oven cleaner or something but I've done my best with it. It's not that long since I had someone out to do it so it's weeks rather than years of dirt.

I'm totally exhausted now!

The toddlers have somehow managed to leave a bright red mark on the bath, I think they must have scraped a toy on it or something. It's not coming off! Bath is plastic. Any suggestions for what to try?

OP posts:
MarianneVos · 27/10/2022 17:02

I'm also a bit stressed out about the packers as they left at midday! They said they'd do the rest tomorrow but there's absolutely loads left, they haven't even started on the garage and loft and have left stuff in all of the rooms. I don't want to keep the buyers waiting tomorrow. It's annoying as the reason I paid for packing was to remove all this stress and when they said they'd do it over two days I assumed they'd do it all bar the beds today so it was really quick tomorrow.

OP posts:
Bestcatmum · 27/10/2022 17:06

The man I bought my house from left it so filthy I had to get professional cleaners in and couldn't live there for a week. I had to throw away the toilet seat and lino in the bathroom as it was ingrained with years of urine, have all the light sockets and switches replaced as they were ingrained with filth that wouldn't even come off with bleach and have all the ceilings replastered due to the years of nicotine.
As long as its vaguely clean I wouldn't worry about it.

Fe345fleur · 27/10/2022 17:22

Am in awe at how much cleaning people do when moving! Honestly OP I wouldn't worry. What can the new owners do if they don't like it? Not a lot. Moving in gets a house dirty anyway.

You have a new baby. Take the pressure off yourself, sounds like you've done more than enough already 🙂

Yayyayitsaholiholiday · 27/10/2022 17:32

We looked at lots of places before we chose our house and I can’t imagine choosing one which was as filthy as some of the ones on this thread.
A bathroom covered in years of urine? Would that not put you off making an offer?

mynameiscalypso · 27/10/2022 17:54

Packers are an amazing breed. Watching them empty a room is like magic. They'll definitely manage it. Good luck with the move!

Roselilly36 · 27/10/2022 18:04

I always leave a previous property immaculate, and I have been quite fortunate that homes I have bought have been left clean too. You can only do what you can do, newborn’s are very time consuming so I am sure the buyer will understand.

goldfinchonthelawn · 27/10/2022 18:10

Hoover, dust, clean bathroom and kitchen - that's fine.

Georgyporky · 27/10/2022 18:11

I've always paid for a deep clean of the new house.
I thought everyone did this ?
No point in cleaning the place you're leaving when cleaners will arrive as soon as you've gone.

girlmom21 · 27/10/2022 18:28

MarianneVos · 27/10/2022 17:02

I'm also a bit stressed out about the packers as they left at midday! They said they'd do the rest tomorrow but there's absolutely loads left, they haven't even started on the garage and loft and have left stuff in all of the rooms. I don't want to keep the buyers waiting tomorrow. It's annoying as the reason I paid for packing was to remove all this stress and when they said they'd do it over two days I assumed they'd do it all bar the beds today so it was really quick tomorrow.

They packed up our entire 4 bed house with conservatory, garage, utility rooms and garden furniture in 2.5 hours

yerdaindicatesonbends · 27/10/2022 22:52

Dotcheck · 27/10/2022 13:38

Someone else’s ‘behind the toilet’ dirt is so gross. It takes about three minutes. What did I miss?

Turns out I was the one who couldn’t read! Apologies! Although I moved into a fairly clean house once and found all sorts behind the sink and toilet including a rubber duck and didn’t begrudge it tbh as everything else was spotless.

AlwaysLatte · 27/10/2022 23:02

Honestly, in the time you wrote this thread you could have cleaned behind the toilet
Not very nice. How do you know the OP is not feeding her newborn while posting?

Dotcheck · 28/10/2022 00:12

AlwaysLatte · 27/10/2022 23:02

Honestly, in the time you wrote this thread you could have cleaned behind the toilet
Not very nice. How do you know the OP is not feeding her newborn while posting?

Someone else’s behind the toilet dirt isn’t nice either.
It does take three minutes, and anyone who is moving should try and clean the toilet and the area around it. If not the OP, then her husband.
Yes she may be breastfeeding, but I still don’t think the people who bought the house should have to do it !

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