Move-out cleaning checklist

Work through storage and appliances before finishing the floor. Heka and HOAS include oven and fridge interiors and the extractor grease filter in their tenant checklists. These tasks are not automatically included in a purchased cleaning service.

• Empty cupboards and drawers. Wipe shelves, doors, handles and accessible tops using a suitable method.
• Empty and clean waste bins and their cupboard.
• Clean worktops, the splashback, sink and tap. Check the material before using a descaler or abrasive product.
• Clean the cooker and oven, including racks and trays, according to their instructions. Start with the oven switched off and cool.
• Check the appliance manual before removing an oven door or other parts. Bosch's oven guide (Opens in a new tab) illustrates why this is model-specific.
• Empty and clean the fridge. Defrost and clean the freezer as its manual directs. Follow your landlord's instructions on switching the appliances off and leaving doors open.
• Clean the extractor hood and removable grease filter as their instructions allow.
• Check accessible areas around appliances. If a heavy, connected or built-in appliance must move, ask for help rather than pulling it out yourself.

Finish fixtures and storage before the floor. Use products approved for the actual surface, including taps, shower glass and any coated fittings.

• Clean the toilet inside and out, including the seat, hinges and base.
• Clean the basin, tap, mirror and shower area.
• Empty and wipe cupboards, shelves and handles.
• Clean wall and floor surfaces using methods suitable for their materials. Avoid turning a mark into surface damage by repeated hard scrubbing.
• Clean the floor drain according to its instructions. Remove accessible hair and debris; ask maintenance for help if a part will not come out or go back correctly.

A leak, damaged surface or persistent unusual staining needs a report to the landlord or maintenance company. Do not cover a defect with cleaning or treat cleaning as proof that the underlying problem is fixed.

• Empty and wipe wardrobes, cupboards, drawers and shelves, including their doors and handles.
• Remove dust from accessible ledges, skirting boards and radiators.
• Wipe doors, handles and reachable surfaces. Keep moisture away from electrical fittings.
• Deal with wall marks only as the paint or wall covering permits. Ask before using a solvent, abrasive or repainting.
• Vacuum the floors, including emptied cupboards. Wipe or mop only where the floor's care instructions allow it.

Check the entrance again after the final boxes leave. Do not assume a floor cleaned before the move is still ready for handover.

Check what your landlord requires and what is safe in the weather. Heka includes inside windows and outside surfaces when weather permits. HOAS advises cleaning only the inside in freezing weather. Neither example means you should attempt unsafe exterior work.

• Clean required, safely accessible window surfaces and wipe frames and sills.
• Ask for instructions if opening or reaching a window would create a fall risk.
• Clean ventilation fittings only as their care instructions permit. Do not alter adjustments or dismantle unfamiliar parts.

Include these spaces if they belong to your tenancy and your handover instructions cover them.

• Follow the sauna's material-care instructions for benches, floor and door. Do not use the bathroom's cleaning method without checking that it suits the wood.
• Empty the balcony or terrace and clean required surfaces safely, subject to weather and building rules.
• Empty and clean the storage space. Check any other shared storage for your belongings.
• Arrange an appropriate collection or recycling destination for bulky waste. Do not leave furniture or unwanted belongings in the building's waste area, stairwell or yard.