Home organization & decluttering

15 Cleaning Tips to Make your New Home Move-In Ready

Jacqueline Petitjean (modified Apr 25, 2023) Dec 15, 2021

Moving in to a brand-new home is the perfect opportunity to get everything sparkling clean. Before most of your furniture is in place, take the time to go through each room and give it a proper refresh.

Need a helping hand? Use our moving checklist and these handy cleaning tips to get everything in order.

1. Plan Your Cleaning Before Jumping In

When you have a lot to get through, it’s always best to have a plan of action in place first. Go through your home and look at what needs the most attention and itemize things according to your priorities. This will help you ensure everything gets seen to properly.

2. Get The Right Tools For The Job

Once you know what cleaning you need to do, you can stock up on supplies. Make sure you consider sponges, mops, cloths, degreasing agents, bleach, dusters and any specialty items you might need.

3. Inspect For Mold, Cracks And Other Handyman Jobs

Before you start to clean, take a look around to see if there are any jobs that need doing that will create more dirt. There’s no point in doing a thorough clean if you’re just going to do some sanding or drilling afterwards. This is especially true, when you plan to clean out the garage, as your garage is most susceptible to mold and cracks. Filling cracks, touching up paint, fixing wallpaper, cleaning up mold and other handyman jobs should be done first and then the big clean can start.

4. Start In The High Places

If you’re doing a big clean, it’s always best to start at the ceiling and work your way down. Begin with the light fittings on the ceiling and let that dust and dirt fall to the floor. Then go for the ceiling corners where cobwebs can often build up. Work your way down so you don’t have to clean the floors several times.

5. Get Your Fridge And Deep Freeze Sorted Early

When you move, you usually have to completely empty your fridge and freezer, making this the perfect time to give them a thorough clean. Be sure to plan that job for early on in the task list because you don’t want your perishables to be out of the cold for too long.

6. Focus On The Kitchen First

Next, turn your attention to the whole kitchen. This is a critical room to get operational early, otherwise, you’ll find mealtimes very difficult. It’s also great to be able to get into all the empty cupboards and drawers before you start unpacking and organizing your kitchen, because you can get all the old food dirt out first.

7. Give The Oven, Stove And Range Hood A Degreasing

The cooking appliances in a kitchen should also get a thorough cleaning before you start using them. It’s an unpleasant job, so it doesn’t get done very often, so make sure you start off life in your new home with things properly cleaned. This is where your degreaser will come in handy.

8. Disinfect The Bathrooms Next

Next on the list of critical rooms should be the bathrooms. If this is where you want to get yourself clean, the room needs to be sparkling clean. Make sure you use a good bleach or all-natural alternative to disinfect the toilets, showers and tubs.

9. Dig Into The Seams Of Water Fixtures

While you’re in the bathrooms and the kitchen, make sure you inspect all of the taps and faucets for mold or a build-up of dirt where they meet the wall, sink or tub. It’s important to get into those seams to remove that buildup. Use an old toothbrush to gently get in there without damaging the seal.

10. Go Item By Item Not Room By Room

Once you move onto the rest of the house, it’s easier and faster to go item by item rather than finishing off one room at a time. Work on all the light fittings in the ceiling, then the corners, the window, the blinds and so on until you get to the floors. Focusing on one task throughout the house and then moving on to the next will prevent downtime as you change between tasks and tools.

11. Don’t Forget The Walls

One thing that a lot of people forget is that walls can also get dirty and dusty. Most people will clean dirty spots on the walls but won’t give the entire wall surface a wash.

While the house is empty and you’re busy dusting anyway, give the walls in each room a good wipe. This is especially important if you’ve had to do any sanding or drilling—that fine dust clings to any surface.

12. Vacuum The Blinds

Fitted blinds can gather a lot of dust and this is often missed in a big clean. Take the time to vacuum each part of the blind carefully. This will be a lot more effective than using a duster, especially on fabric blinds.

13. Save The Floors For Last

Once you’ve gone through the entire home and worked your way down, it’s finally time to tackle the floors. It’s definitely best to wait until you’ve done all the other cleaning before you get out the vacuum cleaner because you’ll likely just keep tracking dirt through the rooms and into the floor.

Don’t forget to get a proper carpet cleaning machine in for any fitted carpets.

14. Wash All Your Bedding

Now that it’s time to start getting the furniture sorted out, you want to take a moment to clean your bedding. There’s no point in taking blankets, sheets, and duvets that have dust and dirt from your old home and putting them into your nice, clean, new home. Be sure to wash everything thoroughly and air them out before making the bed.

15. Air Out Your Furniture

On the subject of airing out, it’s good to do the same for all your furniture that can hold onto dust and dirt. If your old furniture's been sitting in the same area of your home and hasn't been dusted in a while, you should get yourself some wipes. Take the sofa cushions outside and bang out any dust, while you take off the covers and give them a wash. You can give chairs and other soft, fabric furniture a thorough vacuum before placing them in their room too.

That’s all there is to it. No matter where in the world you’re moving to, you can use these tips to make your new home clean, fresh, and dust-free!

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