It doesn’t matter how prudent you’ve been in housekeeping chores during the entire lease period in your current property.
If you are about to leave, prepare for a deep and comprehensive purge, known as the end of tenancy cleaning. This procedure might be stressful and frustrating, but it’s essential to make the house feel homely again if you want to get your security deposit.
Though, if you have a comprehensive guide like ours to lean on, you can please your landlord and parted good friends. So spend a few minutes reading our material and learning the most efficient tips and tricks to remember.
What is end-of-tenancy cleaning?
As a specific version of a classical home deep cleaning, the end-of-lease sanitising requires a lot of effort and time.
Sometimes, the customers find themselves in a lack of appropriate equipment. In this case, you should be ready to make some expenses. Try to be prudent and diligent in this duty. You are responsible for returning the flat or the house to its presentable state.
If you don’t believe us, check out your lease contract, where there’s, by all means, a clause explaining the end of tenancy cleaning and your landlord’s specific requirements for the procedure and the results.
Please, be aware that sticking to these instructions is a must, not just because it could be kind of yours to prepare the property for the next habitats, but also to get good references from your landlord if you’re looking for a new apartment.
Succeeding in the perfect hygiene restoration is also a chance to regain your tenancy deposit. If you fail or there’s an omission during the landlord’s inventory check, you will lose it – fully or partially.
End of tenancy cleaning checklist for tenants
The end-of-tenancy cleaning operation indeed can be handled by the landlord. This is the hypothesis when the tenant denies doing it or presents poor final results from the purge. Of course, the landlord will use the tenancy deposit to handle the procedure.
In short, you should take the tenancy cleaning checklist seriously and go through each step of it thoroughly and eagerly.
Kitchen cleaning
Many tenants and professional cleaners prefer to start with this room. Most of the property’s dirt, grease, and bacteria are concentrated in this premise.
You might feel a bit under the weather when figuring out how grimy the cooking zone is, but instead of discouraging yourself from the very beginning of your task, better approach the kitchen cleaning with high motivation and consistently:
- De-cluttering is the first thing you should do to minimise the chaos and the number of items you should clean. Some of your belongings can go for donation, the recycle bin, or a garage sale.
- Make sure to dust first, then start polishing each surface carefully and with the proper eco-friendly detergents. If you don’t have an all-purpose cleanser at hand, prepare one by mixing ingredients that you can find over the counter – white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, Borax, citrus essential oils, etc.
- Bad odour removal from all the kitchen’s dirtiest places is possible through ordinary coffee grounds. Sprinkle around, fill the premises with the fresh coffee aroma, and air the premises.
- Attention: all kitchen appliances, like the fridge, microwave, dishwasher, and particularly the oven, should be deeply disinfected. You might need to dismantle them in advance and soak each part in a soapy water solution.
- Don’t forget to hoover the floors, wipe out the light switches, remove all stains, brush the windows from the inside, and remove dirt such as cobwebs, crumbs, and burnt spots, and you name it.
Bathroom cleaning
There are several huge issues you might come upon when doing the end of tenancy cleaning chores in the sanitary premises. Let’s focus on them to help you cope with any problem you can meet while sanitising the bathroom:
- Soap or hard water stains. Remove them through an ordinary paste made of lukewarm water and baking soda.
- If there are clogged pipes, drains, etc., it’s your responsibility to find a solution.
- The same goes for the zones with mould. You can deal with this issue thanks to white vinegar and bleach.
- Attention: once you wipe and wash everything in the bathroom, polish each surface to restore the brilliance in the room.
Living room cleaning
In this room, tidying up in advance should also be done. Then, when you see a room with fewer items, you can remove old stains, cobwebs, dust, and other dirt. Attention to the little details, such as curtains, door handles, blinds, sofa cushions, etc., is essential.
Here are some other chores you’ve got in the living room end of lease sanitising:
- Clean the upholstery and the carpets (if they are made of organic materials, opt for dry cleaning solutions);
- Wipe all drawers, cabinets, and shelves (especially the upper ones that are rarely disinfected);
- Clean the floor depending on its type (avoid too much water in your disinfection chore if it’s a standard hard wooden floor).
Bedroom cleaning
In each bedroom of the property, there’s a list of mandatory cleaning chores. Here are your tasks in brief:
- Freshen up the mattresses and the skirting boards;
- Polish the windows and the mirrors;
- Get rid of foul odour, dust, and stains;
- Wipe all doors from top to bottom, as well as the furniture – from the inside and the outside;
- Clean the curtain rails and the picture frames.
Common areas
You should check for wall stains, cobwebs, dust, and mould in any house premise and in the zones such as the balcony, corridor, laundry space, etc. Then, tidy up all common areas and wipe out and disinfect each furniture piece or interior element. Vacuum the sofas and the rugs and air the rooms in the end.
What will your landlord or letting agent be looking for?
Every end-of-tenancy cleaning procedure is subject to an evaluation. It’s like an exam you should pass to receive your tenancy deposit back. They call it an inventory check, and the landlord or the letting agent can arrange it.
No matter who’ll come to the examination, here’s what’s going to be on focus:
- Are there any damages?
- Are there any stains and spots?
- Does the property suffer from mould, too much dust, or foul odour?
- Is there anything from your personal belongings left?
- Are the surfaces sleek?
- Is each piece of furniture cleaned not only from the outside but also from the inside?
- Is the fridge de-frosted, cleaned, and emptied?
What is fair wear and tear?
During the inventory check, the landlord or the letting agent will consider how the property was used.
The primary purpose here is to determine whether items are affected by a high level of deterioration. As a tenant, gradual deterioration is normal, and when a rug looks a bit older and duller than before, you will not have any problems as a tenant.
Moreover, the lease contracts usually include a clause where it’s said that tenants are supposed to use the premises reasonably and take care of them diligently. Fair wear and tear is the maximum admissible worsening of each item condition.
Conclusion
The end-of-tenancy cleaning is not an easy task to do, but if you found the perfect home for yourself, you must do it well since that will ensure you get your security deposit back and also help to set things up in your new place.
If you prefer to make a DIY plan to handle it rather than calling professionals, we suggest you at least reach some helpers.
Every extra hand matters in this deep disinfection operation.
