What to clean before moving out of your rent home

We moved last summer and it was terrible. Brandon was doing a job out at a house and happened to ask if it was for rent (which it was!) and he brought me over to look at it. We decided that it was perfect for us so we started packing up our things to move.

It was August and very very hot in Texas, plus in order to avoid paying rent at two houses we only had a week to pack and move everything! Which was not a long time since Brandon was working crazy hours and I had a 9 month old running around. It was such a stressful week, but I love our house and I’m so thankful that we even had the opportunity to move here.

With such a short time frame for moving out, I knew it was going to be difficult to get our old house as sparkly clean as I wanted to. We didn’t have to put a deposit down so we didn’t have to worry about getting that back, but we love our old landlord so there was no way we were going to just abandon the place with dust bunnies rolling around.

This post is sponsored by Walmart, but all opinions are 100% my own. 

To be sure that I cleaned everything that I wanted to before we moved I made a moving out cleaning checklist that I followed. It worked out so well and I will definitely be using it in the future when we find a house to buy! Here is a detailed list of what to clean before moving out of your rent home.

Remove nails & repair holes

There are a lot of tips and hacks out there for repairing a nail hole in drywall, but doing it the right way isn’t that difficult. Here is a link to a blog post with a 40-second video on how to do it. It’s an easy way to make your old home look presentable and hopefully get that deposit back!

Dust ceiling fans

The easiest way to do this without making a mess is to do it after all of your furniture is moved out, but before you clean the floors. If you make a mistake and forget to do this step at the right time you can clean them by wrapping a pillowcase around the fan blades so that as you clean the blade the dust falls into the pillow case and not on the floor or furniture.

Clean windows & sills

Even if you clean these regularly, you’d be surprised how much dust and grime you find once you remove the curtains and hardware from around the windows. For making the most out of our money we use Bounty ® Select-a- Size paper towels. They are way more absorbent than others which will make the roll last longer.

I’m going to show this picture to her in 10 years and see if she still loves cleaning products this much 😉

Clean doors, knobs, switch plates, & outlets

Use your Bounty ® paper towels and your favorite all-purpose cleaner to scrub off the scuff marks and fingerprints from your doors, doorknobs, switch plates, and outlet covers.

Clean baseboards

This is probably the cleaning task that I dislike the most. I hate bending over on my hands and knees to clean every single baseboard in the house. I do love the end result though, I never realize how nasty it is down there until I clean it! If you are like me and loathe getting down on the floor for this task, you can always use a Swiffer ® WetJet Mop. Yep, you can easily get your baseboards clean with them. Not only does it make this job a lot easier it also sprays the most amazing smelling cleaner!

Dust walls, ceilings, & light fixtures

I dust the walls and ceilings in two parts. First I grab the vacuum and get rid of any cobwebs or big pieces of dust then I use my Swiffer ® to wash the walls further. The Swiffer ® makes washing the walls move so much faster than just using a damp wash rag. Then just take a duster or paper towel and wipe down all of the light fixtures in the house.

Vacuum & clean carpets

This is actually one of the very last things you will want to do to be sure every piece of dirt and dust that is going to fall is already there before you clean. Not to mention, all of the shoes that will be in and out of the house repeatedly to move out boxes and help clean the place up. If you don’t have a carpet cleaner you can rent one at a very reasonable price at Walmart! We did this and rented it for 24 hours which was perfect for us. The carpet looked brand new and we even cleaned the seats in our cars with it.

Clean bathrooms

Deep cleaning the bathrooms includes the mirrors, sinks, countertops, showers, and toilets. Use Bounty ® paper towels to clean the mirrors! Some paper towel brands leave fuzzy white residue on the mirrors and windows after cleaning them. I love the way Bounty ® paper towels don’t do that.

TIP: Make sure you keep toilet paper at BOTH your old house and new house. You’ll likely be at them both while your belongings are still in boxes and no one wants to be stuck without toilet paper. Plus, it is nice to leave a roll for the landlord after you’ve left in case he or the possible new tenants need to use the bathroom while they are there.

We are potty training so we always make sure we have toilet paper with us! Here is B holding her roll of Charmin ® Ultra Strong. Which, by the way, is super thick and soft. Perfect for wiping baby bums 😉

Clean inside & out of cabinets

Just take a paper towel and cleaner to wipe out all of the nasty gunk or dust that has been collecting inside of the cabinets or on the outside. Be sure to do this in the kitchen AND bathrooms! Or anywhere else you might have cabinets.

Clean kitchen

Scrub the countertops, sink, and kitchen appliances. Don’t leave the refrigerator or microwave smelling like old food. Also, be sure to run some type of cleaner down the garbage disposal to get rid of anything stinky down there.

Wash all linens

Wash the curtains, rugs, sheets, shower curtains, and any other linens you have in your house before you move to your new home. Do not put dusty linens up in your brand new clean home when you can wash them all before you get there. Don’t say you are going to wash them in your new house before you use them either because we all know there is no time for that when you are trying to unpack a house.

TIP: Grab a box of Tide ® PODS ® to use for your move. They are a detergent, stain remover, and a brightener so you only have to carry around one box instead of 3 different bottles. It is also way easier to keep packed for the move because they won’t spill like most detergents. I love these little things. It’s so convenient to just toss one pod into the washer and be done with it!

Clean hard surface floors

Last but not least, on your way out the door grab your Swiffer ® WetJet Mop to clean and polish the floors as you leave the house for the very last time. That way when the landlord comes in, the first thing he will see is shiny clean floors.

TIP: As you are leaving for the last time, spray Unstopables™ Air Refresher throughout every room in the house. When the landlord walks in he will be greeted with a fresh smelling home. My favorite is the Fresh Scent!

With all of these cleaning techniques combined I can almost promise you that you will not only leave a good impression, but be able to get your full deposit back on your rent house. Do you have any move out ready cleaning tips?