Why You Should Clean Before Moving House

​If you will soon be moving house, you might find yourself wondering whether you are expected to clean the place before you vacate. There is a bit of an overhanging question mark atop this one. Some would ask, why bother? You don’t live there anymore and it was clean enough (probably.) You have your new home to clean. But removal experts at Compare My Move suggest that there is a certain level of courtesy that should be adhered to. There is no legal obligation to clean your home before moving out but there is perhaps a moral obligation to do so. Think about how keen you are to get settled into your new home, your old home is the ‘new home’ to someone else and they're looking forward to moving in just as much as you are, so why not make the effort to give it one last clean before you go?

There are cleaning standards when it comes to moving house. All that is really necessary is a general standard of cleaning that everyone could and should follow. Just do the basics, that way, you can focus on all the many other jobs involved in a house move. Let’s face it, it’s a very busy time. Some people go a little further and will complete, what we will call a ‘gold’ standard of cleaning, and then there are the house gods and goddesses among us that won’t leave the home without applying anything less than a platinum standard of cleaning and courtesy. Let’s run through these standards below:

General Standard:
We will say that the general standard is what is ‘expected’ from a moral/courteous point of view. Basically, if you want to sleep well on your first night in your new home without wincing at the thought of a stranger cleaning the soap splash marks from the shower you had that morning, then you will do the basic level of cleaning:

• Clean the kitchen counter tops and any built-in appliances
• Clean the oven
• Clean all the floors
• Bleach the sinks and baths
• Wipe down all surfaces

Gold Standard:
There are some among us (and you know who you are) that can’t bear the thought of anybody thinking that you didn’t keep your home spotless. You will feel compelled to do more than is really necessary. But you now what? That’s really nice of you so, go ahead. If you feel like the place should be left in a great condition then you can go as far as to tick off the ‘General Standard’ list and on top of that:

• Clean inside all cupboards
• Wipe down all the walls
• Pressure wash the driveway, patio and front door
• Clean the windows

Platinum Standard:
Ok, so this is reserved for the ‘Bree Van De Kamps’ of the world. If you are a desperate housewife or desperate house husband for that matter, then you might want to go all out and treat the new occupants of your home to the platinum standard. This would involve everything on the general and the gold list plus:

• Leave behind a bottle of wine and a card to welcome them to their new home
• Leave behind the details of the removal company you used
• Write little notes and instructions for built-in appliances or tricky doors

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This may all be a little over the top. At the very least, the decent thing to do is a quick clean or clean as you go along when you’re packing or loading up the truck on moving day. We have all done the stunned gasp when a sofa or side unit is moved and we see the colony of dust bunnies that appear to reside there. Quickly sweep or vacuum and just give the place a swift once-over. 
When you get to your new home, you will be relieved to find that the previous owner there has extended the same courtesy to you. Finding a nice clean home that you can put your furniture straight into will make for a positive and happy moving day, and that’s why you should clean before moving house.

For more information on how to move house, visit the good people over at CompareMyMove.com, who wrote this guest blog.