When it comes time to move out of your current apartment and into something new, no doubt that you’ll be focused on getting 100% of your security deposit back (check out our tips here).  And there’s no worse feeling than cleaning your heart out only to have your landlord charge you to have it re-cleaned.  Why do they do this?  Professional cleaning companies cover special details that tenants tend to overlook.

What usually happens is that when tenants are busy moving, they’re now invested in making their new place look great and just moving out of the old place quickly.  Typically, when tenants elect to clean the apartment themselves, they’re rushed and maybe a little stressed out so things that cleaning companies scour and scrub can sometimes be missed. We’ve got you covered with our Move-Out Cleaning Checklist to help make sure that those hidden nooks and crannies sparkle.

There’s no such thing as over-cleaning an apartment and as a rule of thumb, you want to leave your apartment “as clean as the day you moved in”.  If you don’t want to be charged for cleaning from your security deposit, we recommend that you leave it cleaner.

First, make sure that you have a full day to dedicate to cleaning and all of your personal belongings have been moved out.  This includes taking down any curtain rods and their hardware, recycling phone books and menus left in the drawers, clearing out cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink, etc.  Then, with a fresh set of eyes, look at your apartment as if you were moving in to it and were putting things away.  You don’t want to place your glasses on dusty shelves or hop in a shower where the walls haven’t been scrubbed down.  Then, get to work room by room.  We like to start in the bedroom and work our way out towards the front or back door to ensure that there are no footprints on the floor we just cleaned.

Print & Save: The Suite Life – Move Out Cleaning Checklist here.

Do you have any tips for apartment cleaning at move-out?  Let us know in the comments below.

Be sure to also check out our Tips for Getting Your Security Deposit Back, Five Things to do Before You Move Into a New Place, and our Apartment Hunting Checklist.  Happy moving!

photos: hgtv