Getting the keys to a new place is exciting. The temptation is to start hauling boxes in immediately. Try to resist it for a day, or even a few hours. A home is never cleaner, or easier to clean, than when it is completely empty. We spent the last few articles on leaving a home, ending with Don't Forget the Garage and Patio on Your Move-Out Clean. Now we turn to moving in.
An empty home is the easiest to clean
Once your furniture and boxes are inside, you are cleaning around everything. Cabinets are full before you have wiped them, beds sit on top of the carpet you never vacuumed and the shower gets used before anyone scrubs it. In an empty home, you can reach every wall, corner, shelf and floor without moving a thing.
Even if the previous owner or tenant cleaned, their idea of clean may not match yours. And the house has probably sat for a while, collecting dust, or had painters, inspectors and movers walking through.
A home that sat closed up through a Texas summer can also smell a little stale. Opening the windows on a cool morning, running the A/C and the bathroom fans and wiping down the kitchen goes a long way toward making it smell like a fresh start rather than someone else's house.
What to clean first
If you only have a short window before the moving truck arrives, prioritize the places where your things will go and the places your body touches.
- Kitchen cabinets and drawers: wipe inside before dishes and food go in.
- The fridge: clean inside before groceries go in.
- Bathrooms: toilets, tub, shower and sink before anyone uses them.
- Closets: shelves and floors before clothes go in.
- Bedroom floors: vacuum or mop before beds and dressers are placed.
Everything else can wait a few days if you have to.
The things previous owners rarely clean
Even after a decent move-out clean, there are spots most people skip. When you arrive, check:
- The tops of door frames, ceiling fans and vents.
- Inside the oven and the drawer below it.
- The dishwasher filter and the washer seal.
- Window tracks, sills and blinds.
- Behind and under the fridge if you can move it safely.
- Light switches, door handles and cabinet pulls.
Those high-touch spots are worth a good wipe, simply because you do not know who touched them last.
This matters even more if you have little ones who crawl, or pets who sniff every corner of a new place. A baby on the floor or a dog nosing around the baseboards will find whatever the last household left behind. A careful vacuum of the edges and a wipe of the low cabinets and doors gives you peace of mind before the first nap or the first night.
Plan around closing and the moving truck
If you are buying, you often get keys at or soon after closing. If you can, schedule the move a day or two after closing so there is a window to clean. If you are renting, ask the landlord or leasing office if you can pick up keys a day early. Not every place allows it, but it does not hurt to ask.
On moving day itself, the house fills fast. Plan the clean for before the truck, or at least for the rooms where heavy furniture will go. Once a king bed and two dressers are in the bedroom, the carpet under them will not see a vacuum for years.
Change the filters and check the basics
While the house is empty, it is a good time to look at a few non-cleaning items too. Change the A/C filter, since a dusty filter blows dust right back onto your fresh surfaces. Check that smoke detectors work. Look under sinks for leaks. These are not cleaning tasks, but the empty house makes them easier. While you are at it, find the water shutoff and the breaker box, and note which switch runs the garbage disposal. Knowing those things on day one saves a scramble later.
Do not forget the outside entry points
The garage, front porch and back patio are where your things come in. Sweep them before the movers start, so you are not tracking dirt into a home you just cleaned. Around Waxahachie and Midlothian, if it has rained recently, put down a big mat or old towels at each door. Red-clay mud on fresh carpet is no way to start in a new home.
Moving in soon?
We clean empty homes across the south DFW area before the boxes arrive. Tell us your key date and we will reply with a price.
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A move-in clean is a gift to your future self. Your dishes go into clean cabinets, your kids sleep on freshly vacuumed floors and you know the shower was scrubbed before anyone stepped in. It also lets you get to know the house, every corner of it, before life fills it up. For help with your move-in, see our move-in cleaning services.