Moving is busy enough. This move-out cleaning checklist shows what a professional move-out clean covers, room by room, and how to get the home ready so the clean goes smoothly. Whether you’re handing back the keys, selling, or preparing a rental for its next residents, the same list applies. Moving in instead? We follow the same checklist for move-in cleans too.
What Move-Out Cleaning Includes
A move-out clean starts with everything in a standard clean and a deep clean. So every room gets dusted, wiped, scrubbed, and detailed, including baseboards, grout, and window tracks. Then it adds the insides an empty home finally opens up.
Your Move-Out Cleaning Checklist, Room by Room
On top of the standard and deep cleaning lists, here’s what we clean in each room:
- Kitchen: inside the cabinets and drawers, including the back corners; inside the oven and the dishwasher; and inside the refrigerator and freezer (defrosting isn’t included).
- Bathrooms: inside the vanity and drawers, and inside the medicine cabinet, with both sides of mirrored cabinet doors.
- Bedrooms: closet shelves, rods, floors, and corners; inside the drawers; and both sides of sturdy blinds.
- Living and common areas: inside closets and cupboards, and both sides of sturdy blinds.
- Laundry: the washer and dryer interiors, as far as they’re accessible.
- Floors: every carpet vacuumed and every hard floor mopped.
Because the home is empty, we can reach places a regular clean never sees. As a result, the home is ready for whoever comes next.
How to Prepare for Move-Out Cleaning
A little preparation keeps the clean on schedule. Before we arrive, work through this short list:
- Empty the cabinets, drawers, closets, and appliances.
- Clear the surfaces and floors you want cleaned.
- Move your furniture and belongings out first. We don’t move furniture, appliances, or belongings, or clean under or behind anything left in place.
- Defrost the freezer ahead of time if it needs it.
- Keep the water and power on for the clean.
- Make sure our team has a place to park. We’ll ask about parking and access when we set up your clean.
You don’t need to be there, either. If you’ve already moved, we can use a key, a lockbox, or a door code instead.
Timing Your Move-Out Clean
Book the clean for after the movers leave, because furniture and boxes block the floors, closets, and cabinets on the checklist. Also, leave a little time between the clean and the final walk-through or the handoff of the keys. That way, if anything was missed, there’s time to tell us within 24 hours and have it fixed.
For Landlords and Property Managers
Getting a vacant rental ready for its next residents? Turnover cleaning follows this same move-out cleaning checklist. If the unit also needs repairs, we do those first and the final clean second, on one schedule, so the unit is ready sooner.
Extras You Can Add
A few tasks sit outside the standard move-out checklist, but you can add them to your clean:
- Outside window glass, for windows we can reach without a ladder (at an additional cost)
- The garage, balcony, or patio
- Washing whole walls (otherwise we spot-wipe them)
On the other hand, a few things aren’t part of a move-out clean at all: moving furniture or appliances, defrosting the freezer, and cleaning blinds that aren’t sturdy enough to clean safely.
How Long It Takes and What It Costs
A move-out clean usually takes 4 to 6 hours, depending on the home’s current condition. It starts at $259, and your fixed price is based on the property’s size and type, its current condition, and your timing. We confirm that price before we start.
Missed something? Tell us within 24 hours and we’ll come back and fix it at no charge.
One More Item for Your Moving List
While you work through your move-out cleaning checklist, don’t forget your mail. You can change your address with USPS so it follows you to your new home.
Common Questions About Our Move-Out Cleaning Checklist
What Does a Move-Out Clean Include?
Everything in a standard clean and a deep clean, plus the inside of the cabinets, drawers, closets, and appliances, room by room, as listed above. See the full move-in and move-out list.
Do You Clean the Outside of the Windows?
Yes, for an additional cost, and only windows we can reach without a ladder. We clean the interior glass in every move-out clean.
Do You Clean Garages?
Yes. Add the garage when you request your quote, and we’ll include it in your move-out clean.
Book Your Move-Out Cleaning
We clean homes across Greater Seattle, from our base in Lynnwood to Seattle, Bellevue, Edmonds, Shoreline, Bothell, Everett, and Renton. Tell us the move-out date, the home’s size, and anything you’d like to add, and we’ll confirm your fixed price.