Moving into a new home is an exciting (but stressful) time in everyone’s life. Make your life a little easier by cleaning your new home before you start moving in. When there’s furniture and boxes in the way, cleaning is a little bit of a hassle. If you’re moving into a new home and need to clean it but don’t know where to start, follow these tips to get your new home clean and move-in ready:
What You’ll Need
If you don’t have any cleaning supplies on hand, go to the store and make sure you have enough to tackle cleaning your house. Depending on the size of the home, you may need more or less. Regardless of the size, here are the basic supplies you’ll need:
- Vacuum
- Broom
- Mop
- Step Ladder
- Duster (extendable is preferred)
- Toilet brush and cleaner
- Floor and carpet cleaner
- An all-purpose cleaner that’s a disinfectant
- Bleach
- Rubber gloves
- Cleaning rags, sponges, and paper towels
- Scrubbing brush (an old toothbrush works great)
- Glass cleaner
- Anti-bacterial dish soap (for grease)
Where to Start
Start by walking around the house with a rag and some disinfecting cleaner. Wipe down all the light switches, hand rails, and door knobs. Then move on to the bathrooms—you might need to use them while you clean the rest of the house. A good rule of thumb is to start from top to bottom when it comes to cleaning a room.
Use a duster to dust light fixtures, vents/fans, windowsills, blinds, and anything else that could be dusty. Swat the duster in the corners near the ceilings to knock down any cobwebs you may not be able to see.
Use your glass cleaner on windows and mirrors and wipe them down. You might be surprised how dirty windows can get! If there’s mold/mildew in the windowsills, consider using bleach and a scrubber to scrub away the mold. When you’re done, put the scrubber brush in a bag and throw it away so you don’t spread any mold spores throughout the house.
Bathroom
Wipe down the inside and outside of your cabinets with an all-purpose cleaner to disinfect. Don’t forget the hardware! Next wipe down the sink, countertops, and any shelves in linen closets if you have them.
You’ll want to give the tub and shower a good scrub. Take your disinfectant and spray everything down. Let it sit for a minute so the cleaner can tackle any grime that may be left over from previous residents. You might need to use some extra elbow grease if there are hard-water stains.
A neat little trick for hard water is using vinegar solution! Mix white vinegar with equal parts of warm water and use it on areas that might have hard-water residue. The vinegar will dissolve the minerals left over and you’ll be left with a sparkling tub or shower.
Clean the inside and outside of the toilets. Give the inside a good scrub with your toilet cleaner and your toilet brush. Many people forget about the base of the toilet. Wipe that down as well for a super clean toilet!
Kitchen
Aside from the bathroom, the kitchen is one of the dirtiest and most difficult areas of the home to clean. Start with the most difficult objects to clean—the major appliances. Luckily, you’ll be able to clean most of the kitchen with anti-bacterial dish soap (for grease) and warm water.
If you have a dishwasher, you can most likely just use a dishwasher cleaner that you can buy at most grocery stores. Follow the directions for the cleaner and let the dishwasher run while you clean the rest of the kitchen.
Next, clean out the inside of the refrigerator. Take out the shelves so you can wipe down the inside. It’s also easier to clean the shelves when they’re not in the refrigerator. If it has an ice machine, empty the ice and clean the ice tray. Don’t forget to wipe down the outside. You might even want to move the refrigerator, so you clean under it.
The oven and range are the next big task. If it’s a gas range, remove all the grates and place them in the sink where you can give them a good scrub. You can let them soak in dish soap and warm water to help make it easier while you clean the rest of the oven. Spray the range with a mix of dish soap and warm water and wipe it clean. It might take several cycles until your rags don’t pick any dirt or grease up.
Remove the shelves inside of the oven and set them aside for now. Spray the inside of the oven with your cleaner and let it sit for a while. Wipe it with a rag or towel and repeat the cycle just like with the range. Clean the shelves by soaking them in a mixture of warm water and dish soap and giving them a good scrub.
Clean the kitchen sink with an all-purpose cleaner or bleach. Soak the sink plugs in warm water and bleach to ensure they’re thoroughly clean. If the sink smells bad, consider taking a mixture of warm water and baking soda and pouring it down the drain. Baking soda can neutralize the scent.
Floors
Sweep and mop any hard-surface floors. If there’s grout, you may need to clean that as well. Luckily, we have a whole blog dedicated to cleaning grout. Vacuum all the carpets in the house and tackle any stains with some carpet cleaner. Many households have the carpets professionally cleaned to ensure there’s no pet dander or stains left by previous residents. RCH Professional Cleaning offers carpet and rug cleaning services in Springfield, MO, and Port Charlotte, FL.
Consider Hiring RCH Professional Cleaning
RCH Professional Cleaning specializes in thorough cleaning services for homes and businesses in Southwest Missouri. We’ll visit your home and complete a customized cleaning plan for you. Contact RCH Cleaning today or call 417-763-8365 for more information on what we do!
