End of Lease Cleaning Checklist

Is your rental property coming to the end of its lease? If, for whatever reason, you will not be renewing your lease and will now be moving to a new home, you will need to begin the dreaded pre-move clean. Whilst you can always hire a professional cleaner to take on this part of your home move, sometimes time constraints and availabilities mean that you will need to do it yourself.

So, what do you need to do to make sure you get your rental bond back?

When you leave a rental, sometimes the hardest thing can be making sure you get your bond back. Often real estate agents will pick over every detail in the house to avoid returning your bond to you, so it pays to know all the tricks toward ensuring your home is clean.

Cleaning can be an arduous task, but there are things that you can do to make it easier and quicker. Here are a few tips that we have complied.

• Get started early – don’t leave all the cleaning to the last day. If you being the cleaning process a couple of weeks in advance, then your workload will seem so much lighter.
• Pack a bucket of cleaning materials – keeping your cleaning products together and close by will make the cleaning process so much easier.
• Sugar soap, vinegar and citric acid are your best friends – these cleaning products will save you a lot of grief when it comes to cleaning things like red wine stains and getting rid of bacteria, mould and mildew.
  • Sugar soap: floors, bench tops, stubborn stains, de-greasing your barbeque, toilets, outdoor furniture.
  • Vinegar: drains, microwave, benchtops, tile surfaces, mattresses, glass windows/mirrors, wooden floors.
  • Citric Acid: taps, shower, hard water stains, calcium deposits, soap scum, rust. Do not use citric acid on brass or natural stone surfaces.
• Keep a step ladder handy - to get those hard to reach places.

General Cleaning

• Walls – make sure all stains are removed and all holes are repaired.
• Lights – clean all lights, flight covers and light switches.
• Windows – Clean both sides of the glass as well as window sills and curtain track.
• Ledges – wipe along all ledges.
• Floors – steam clean all carpets in your home to remove any stains and to freshen it up.
• Fly screens – ensure that all damaged fly screens are repaired.
• Extras – any appliance or furniture that was there when you moved in should be returned to its original state.

Bathroom

• Mirrors – clean all mirrors and remove wipe marks.
• Toilet – this is where you can use sugar soap or vinegar. Make sure that you scrub all areas of the toilet to ensure there are no stains.
• Shower – clean glass, taps and shower head, use citric acid to remove mould.
• Basin – use sugar soap again to wipe the basin to return it to its original white glow. A useful tip is to take a toothbrush to get to any hard to reach edges and the inside of the drain.
• Extras – wipe down soap holders, towel rails, toilet paper holder and ceiling fan.

Kitchen

• Oven – make sure that you clean both the interior and exterior of your oven. Ovens can be tough to clean as years of grease can build up. Sugar soap is great for cleaning stubborn grease from ovens. Make sure that you clean around the outside of your oven also as well to pick up any spills that may have occurred.
• Stovetop - ensure you remove any fittings and knobs where possible prior to cleaning.
• Backsplash and bench top – if your backsplash is tiled make sure that you use a grout cleaner to freshen it up and get rid of any mould that may have developed.
• Sink – make sure that you wipe all sinks and taps and ensure that there is no calcium build up. Use citric acid to remove any that may be there.
• Pantry – empty pantry completely and wipe in all corners.
• Cupboards and draws – empty and clean the interior.
• Appliances – ensure that all appliances that came with the house/apartment are cleaned and returned to their original state.
• Clean above window sills – make sure there is no dust or spiders.
• Bin Cupboard – make sure you use a strong detergent or disinfectant to clean the bin cupboard to get rid of any bacteria.

Bedroom/Living rooms/Dining rooms

• Dust all blinds – go over wooden blinds with a lightly damp cloth. Wash all curtains in the washing machine or take them to the dry cleaner as required.
• Clean door frames and window sills – ensure there is no dust or spiders.
• Light Fixtures – clean all light fixtures along with switches.
• Steam clean any carpet – remove any dirt or stains.
• Spot clean walls – sugar soap is best for this to remove any stains that you may have from sticky tape or blu tack.

Outside

• Back and front yard – mow lawn, weed garden, trim trees, sweep paved areas.
• Deck – mop and sweep all decking.
• Windows – remove all cobwebs and wipe all dust away.
• Pets – clean any animal mess and repair any damage.
• Pools and spas – ensure there is no debris or dirt on the tiles.
• Garage – empty and clean any oil marks or dirt, remove cobwebs and clean garage door.
• Rubbish bins – wash and dry.

Getting your bond back when you leave your rental doesn’t have to be difficult. With good planning and preparation you can clean you house to ensure that you have the best possible chance of a full return.

Allied are Australia’s premier moving company.We offer a range of additional moving services such as house cleaning, pet relocation and vehicle relocation. Call us on 13 25 54 today for a quote or fill out an online quote form.