Cleaning old and new house

[LitUpHeart]

We're due to move in a month or so. I'm wondering what level of 'clean' I should aim for when leaving our current house?

My house is clean and tidy, but I imagine when it is emptied of all our belongings on the day of the move that some ahem areas requiring a deeper clean may be revealed.

I am of course planning on hoovering, cleaning bathroom, wiping down surfaces etc. I will also have the oven cleaned. I'm wondering if I should be doing things like cleaning the insides of kitchen cupboards, wiping skirting boards, bit of a whip round with the feather duster etc? Wary of what I will reasonably be able to do on the day with two small DC in tow. What would you expect if you moved in?

Also, what did you do when you arrived at your new house? I'm guessing new toilet seats, clean the bathrooms and all other general cleaning. Any other tips? The people we're buying from are lovely and the house is in excellent condition so I'm not expecting any horrors.

Apologies if this all seems a bit naive. I've not moved house for a long time and I'm just not sure of the etiquette. When we left our old flat I think we had a quick squizz round with the Hoover I'm also in a sleep deprived blur thanks to DS2 who doesn't sleep so I'm going to try and make a list of stuff to do in advance so I don't miss anything. I'll have my stepmum and MIL on hand to help on the day of the move.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Some of these stories are horrific!

Unfortunately (trying to say this as nicely as possible...) giving DCs to MIL / stepmum is not an option. However I'm hoping we will move when DS1 is at school so then I only have the baby to worry about.

Some really useful replies on here; thank you.

Definitely don't bother lonecat....
Several years ago I had friends who lived in the same flat for 9 years - it was a company long term let - cheap but with a very dated kitchen/bathroom etc. It was in an up and coming area in London. They had redecorated themselves in that time (with landlord's permission) - all neutrals, nothing extreme.
When they were moving out one of them went round doing a deep clean - doing the skirting boards etc. Left it ready for someone to move in.
The day after they'd left there was a skip outside - as the landlord ripped out the kitchen, windows etc - refurbished it, made it more upmarket and put it back on to let at 5x what my friends had been paying....
Friend was gutted she'd bothered cleaning so much - but what made it worse was the landlord kept their deposit - for cleaning costs...

We moved in and the house had been given a cursory clean. However behind the radiators were decades of dust, the curtains were so dirty that they left residue on my hands and the dust smelt of people.
There were cobwebs and the skirtings filthy. Still upsets me now.

Doesn't the contract usually says that you will leave it in a clean and tidy condition?

However I always plan to clean the new house to a 'deep clean' standard.

Old house - mop and hoover floors, wipe surfaces, inside cupboards get a wipe round, bathroom and kitchen, quick wipe over skirtings and picture rails.

Yes, the contract says that it will be left clean and tidy. You'll see from my OP that I'm planning to do this. My question is the level of cleanliness that people generally leave behind them and find when they arrive.

How can we all be moving out of immaculate homes into dirty ones? It doesn't make sense but it's what happened to me too! They'd even left some thrush cream in the bathroom

Yes, the contract says that it will be left clean and tidy. You'll see from my OP that I'm planning to do this

No need for the sarky face, I wasn’t casting dispersions on your cleanliness FFS. And I gave you my opinion on what level of cleanliness I would expect, although it oviosuly differed from person to person.

My point about the contract was that it’s a bit shit that so many people have moved into very dirty houses.

How can we all be moving out of immaculate homes into dirty ones? It doesn't make sense but it's what happened to me too!

My last house was left very clean - so I am one of the luck ones!

We moved two months ago, but I have been studying so had only dealt with the rooms we use every day really and we still had quite a bit of stuff to sort out. Anyway, this weekend I cleaned the less-used rooms and deep-cleaned some other bits and pieces (spare bedroom which had been a dumping ground and so on). Let me tell you, cleaning a manky basin plug hole is one thing; cleaning one clogged up with someone else's hair and mould is quite another.

mould I'm dreading finding hair. In plug holes or anywhere. I hate hair.

We've had great clumps of it wash down the down pipe from the bathroom since we moved in and the gunked up plug hole was in a bedroom basin. I find I can tackle pretty much anything with my rubber gloves on! It is utterly disgusting to have to clean up someone else's mess though.

Absolutely leave it immaculate and yes to a deep clean. As others have said, if you can't do it, pay for someone else to do it (its not expensive in the grand scheme of moving house).

I have sold two houses. I cleaned but I did not do a thorough clean - as in immaculate - and that includes scrubbing the oven. As long as it's not grubby, j don't see the point. When you move in to a house, you give it a clean anyway.

I've moved in to 3 houses. 2 have been clean and 1 was truly disgusting - they left a bogey wall can you believe!

A bogey wall

Who does that???

When we moved I could a lot of it before moving day. So we packed up most of the kitchen bar a couple of plates, mugs and tins of beans etc and I cleaned those cupboards as I went along. On moving day I then only had to clean the single cupboard we'd been using in the interim.

Cleaned not could!

Let me tell you, I have only cleaned our new houses because it was necessary. Had they not needed it, I wouldn't have done. My first house was immaculate and it was so nice to not have to clean before unpacking.

Moving house is stressful, but that doesn't mean you should do the bare minimum. I planned and made sure the oven was clean and all the kitchen cupboards spotless, etc. DP swept out the garage once it was empty. There really is no excuse.