Cleaning an apartment at move-out time

[drummagick]

Canada Sue, can you give DD#3 some advice?

A friend of mine is moving out of a smallish two bedroom apartment, and I am moving in.

She is going to have the carpets (bedrooms only) professionally cleaned, and is going to pay my daughter to clean the rest.

It's not in bad shape. She thinks DD can do this in 5 hours and is going to pay her XX per hour to do it.

I want it cleaned as if her mother was going to move in.

Can you maybe come up with a summary of where to start and where to end and what to do that I can print out for her. She's helped me clean a move out last year but I was there telling her everything to do. And even then I might not be doing this the most efficient way.

THANK YOU!!

[drummagick]

I found one list that addresses a lot of things

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-clean-ap...ut-376874.html

and another

http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-an-Apar...ore-Moving-Out

more

http://dallas.movingtoanapartment.co...-checklist.htm

ooh! good one!

http://www.themanlyhousekeeper.com/2...urity-deposit/

[CanadaSue]

Just found this - let me grab my breakfast, read what you found & add as needed.

[drummagick]

Thank you! No rush, it may be a few weeks.

[CanadaSue]

That's a good list & if she busts her butt & it's not too dirty - 5 hours should do it. Some additional points.

Do the kitchen first while there's plenty of energy to go around - LOL. Pop the temperature controls off the stove top & soak them in hot water/soap - they collect a lot of grease - especially the underside. Pull the grease trap from the filter & soak that sucker, then run a ton of hot water through it. Or buy a new one if they're cheap. If anything removable & greasy soaks overnight before she starts - most of the work gets done for her.

Using a cleaner that's a strong degreaser is mandatory in the kitchen - damned stuff gets everywhere. When she's doing the kitchen cabinet doors - tell her to make sure she does the top edge of those doors. I've seen apartments where I had to 'peel' off a 1/2" thick deposit of petrified grease/dust/dirt... & it's the little accumulations of crud like that which often result in a stale smelling kitchens. Make sure she does the kick plate under the bottom cupboards - dust city! Good way to check for any vermin too.

A good finishing touch for kitchens, bathrooms & light fixrutes is Windex - it remove any missed grease & adds a nice shine.

Other rooms - if there's a door frame, wipe down the top of it as well as the top of the door - great places for dust & pet hair to collect & again, accumulatuions there over time can add to a stale smell.

Wipe down the INSIDE of closet doors. If they're cheap & have a textured finish on the inside and/or are unpainted - a good spraying with a disinfectant after dusting or vaccuming them should do it - gets rid of other peoples' germs.

I'm glad the lights are mentioned - light shades collect collections of dead insects & dirt & taking them down & cleaning them, (just soak them in a sink full of hot sopay water for a little bit or tub), will add a lot to the lighting when you move in.

Good idea for you to have a thorough look around & take note of deficiencies. Take photos. Those will come in handy if the landlord doesn't repair or repaint certain things. If for example, you're nting & photogra[hing a permanent stain on a carpet - you can't be nailed for it later if it's already there. Put a small ruler or something in the photo for scale. Attend your incoming inspection of course & you should already know what you may find - LOL. If a needed repair appears to have been done, ask was done. Write it down, some repair techniques fall aprt very shortly, then a landlord may try to nail you 'for messing it up/breaking it again'. If you know something was just covered up, make sure the landlord knows you know that.

[MaxTheKnife]

[rb.]

i thought maybe drum was moving out on the millipedes.

[Mama Alanna]

Spammer's gone, Max. You can come out of hiding now.

[MaxTheKnife]

I knew it! I just knew it!!!

[drummagick]

What? What happened? What did I miss?

[rb.]

Spammer reincarnated your post, drum.

[drummagick]

Ooh, I LIKE reincarnation! So much better than just dying with no chance of coming back!