Moving involves a lot of cleaning and if everyone does their part, then you’ll be leaving behind and moving into a spotless home. Ideally, you should deep clean your old house after the packers and movers have taken away most of your possessions.
Start with the kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of the home and so if you make sure it’s clean and ready for a new family then you’ll be doing them a big favour. They’ll be tired and they’ll want to prepare a simple first meal in a hygienic space.
If you’re leaving the fridge behind, make sure it’s ready to receive their food. Take out all the shelves, salad bins and other elements and use non-scratch pads and detergents to clean all the inside surfaces as well as the fittings. Don’t forget to pull the unit out and clean behind it.
Then you should clean the hob and oven
If you need to, use an oven cleaner inside as this takes around 30 minutes to work, which gives you time to clean the outside of the oven as well as the hob and extractor hood.
Pull out the oven and clean underneath and behind it – you may be surprised by the gunk that’s accumulated over the years…
Your cupboards and counters
Using a mild spray and a soft cloth, wipe down the outsides and insides of your cabinets – by now all your pans and crockery will be travelling with the packers and movers to Brisbane so this shouldn’t take long at all. Remember the tops of the doors as this is where drips and grease can collect, and make sure you clean handles and the insides of the drawers as well.
Then turn your attention to countertops and backsplashes; chances are these are already fairly clean, but make really sure before you go.
Detox the sink
You can use a sodium hydroxide-based cleaner to make sure the pipe is unblocked, then clean and buff the sink to a nice shine with a specialist cleaner and a soft cloth. If the plug is looking a bit grubby, then a soak in some diluted bleach or biological washing detergent will bring it up well.
Wash down the walls
You can skip this step if you’ve repainted before moving, but check for grubby little handprints before you go…
If you have the remnants of stickers on any surfaces, then dabbing them with fabric conditioner and rubbing them off after an hour or so usually does the trick.
Clean the flooring
If you have a carpet, then get it professionally cleaned. Otherwise, a good thorough vacuum and maybe a steam clean (for tiles) should do. If you have pets, then consider a flea treatment just before you close the door so that your buyers don’t get an unwelcome welcome!
