There’s a reason that people say moving is one of the most stressful life events. It seems to be never-ending. Can you even remebr when you began your house-hunting? And now you’ve gone though it all; all the lawyers, all the agents, all the open houses, and all the bids.
You’ve closed the deal on your new home. Wooohoo!
So is it over yet?
Not by a long shot. In fact, you haven’t really started because now you have to actually plan and execute the move. And here’s another shocker. While blog posts usually offer ways to make your move easier, this one’s going to add one more huge task to your never-ending list of things to do.
Thoroughly Clean Your New Home
And when we say ‘thoroughly’, we mean it. We’re talking about cleaning like you have never done before. And that means doing so before you move in. You don’t want to have to work around your furniture on top of everything else.
Here’re some tips for thoroughly cleaning your new home.
1. Get Psyched
We don’t want to keep droning on about how difficult this will be, but the more you get your head into it, the easier it will be. Here’s the sort of thing you need to be prepared for: a giant stain on the hardwood under where the previous owners had their couch. Mold in the bathroom. Pest droppings behind the hot water heater. In other words, be ready for anything.
Only when you can safely say that you’re ready for any cleaning issue or damage you might come across, move to Step 2.
2. Set Aside at Least a Weekend
If you’ve bought what is obviously a relatively clean home and you know you won’t be facing some of the issues listed above, maybe you can get away with just one day. But setting aside the weekend is the sort of time commitment you must make.
3. Get Supplied
Here’s a brief list of what you should have in your cleaning kit:
- Rubber gloves
- All your favourite cleaners along with some that may have not been in your arsenal before, like bleach, borax and vinegar
- Lots of rags and paper towels
- A scrub brush and toothbrushes
- Some sponges
- Brooms and dust pans
- Vacuum cleaner
- A toolbox with everything you can fit in it
4. Start in the Kitchen
We’d like to say there’s one room that will definitely be the worst, but we can’t. But the kitchen will probably have its share of surprises and tough cleaning jobs. We’re not going to tell you how to clean the fridge and stove, but we will tell you that you should pull both of them, and your dishwasher, completely away from the wall to see what’s lurking behind. Other places to do a ‘close’ inspection include under the sink and over the cupboards. Other than that. Clean the entire space and everything in it as best you can.
5. The Bathroom
It’s probably next most likely place to hold surprises, at least before you head to the basement. Again, check around the plumbing for mold and mildew. Be ready to remove the sink trap (and the one in the kitchen now that we think about it), and clean it and the down spout from the sink.
6. Bedrooms, Living Room & Dining Room
We want to give these rooms their due, and you should clean them as best you can. But, except for damaged floors and walls, including potential water damage, you’re probably not going to come across as many cleaning surprises in these rooms as elsewhere. Make sure you get right into the closets.
7. The Basement
This one might need an entire day by itself. As always, the areas that will likely to need cleaning the most are those around the plumbing. But you should take a close look at your furnace and replace its air filter. If at all possible, have it professionally inspected and serviced as needed before you move in.
Being darker makes the basement a more likely place to find mold. Unless it’s covering a large area and/or found in a number of different places, the presence of mold in some spots is not necessarily the health issue it’s sometimes made out to be (but you should always take all precautions, including wearing a breathing mask). If there isn’t an ongoing source of moisture, like a leak in a basement wall or plumbing, you can remove mold with vinegar, borax and bleach.
We could keep writing about what you might need to clean in your new home for as long as it takes to do the cleaning. Again, we’re not trying to make this seem like it’s going to be the worst (or best) cleaning job ever, but the more you’re prepared for it to be that, the less chance there is of being unpleasantly surprised.
