End Of Lease Cleaning Tips

End Of Lease Cleaning Tips

An end-of-lease cleaning or bond cleaning is the process of erasing all signs that you lived in the home you are vacating. This means cleaning the property thoroughly, covering areas such as stove tops, toilets, ovens, and bathrooms.

End-of-lease cleaning is a necessary process when moving out of a house. By properly cleaning the rental apartment, you are ensuring that you restore the property to the way you saw found it, and this guarantees that you will get back your deposit.

Once the house is clean, the landlord will easily rent out it out to another person, and the person won’t have to be responsible for clearing your dirt. End-of-lease cleaning is a critical component of most lease agreements.

Generally, most landlords require end-of-lease cleaning, and failure to do that to the landlord’s satisfaction can lead to the denial of your deposit. Ideally, you will get back your rental deposit immediately after the cleaning, and once the landlord is satisfied with the work done.

Simple End Of Lease Cleaning Tips

The first thing you need to do when starting lease cleaning is ensure that you have all it takes to do a good job. You need to get the necessary cleaning tools and products beforehand. So, make a cleaning checklist that will guide you through the process. If you have one from your landlord, ensure that you stick to it. The following are some of the standard tools and cleaning products you will need:

• Ladder
• Broom
• Sponges
• Rags
• Vacuum cleaners
• Clean clothes
• Buckets
• Magic erasers
• Bucket
• Bleach
• Baking powder
• Cleaning gloves
• White vinegar
• Natural cleaning ingredients

When buying cleaning supplies, go for those that do not harm humans or the environment. They are known as chemical-free cleaners and sanitisers.

In Australia, most professional end of lease cleaners have a checklist that they use, which ensures that they satisfy the needs of landlords. Adhering to a list during cleaning will help you clean consistently ignored areas. Prioritise areas that need special attention, such as garage, patio, balcony, and laundry room.

How To Plan Your End Of Lease Cleaning Process

Begin from the top

The best place to start your cleaning is from elevated positions. These places are usually ignored during regular cleaning and so should be prioritised. These positions include high windows, air vents, ceiling walls, ledges fans, light handles, and so on.

Make sure you remove cobwebs, dust, and all forms of grime from the ceiling and change light bulbs and filters as necessary.

Experts in end of lease cleaning recommend the top-down cleaning approach of moving from ceilings, fans, corners, windows and then coming down to shelves, carpets, and floor.

Remove mildew, mould, grease, and stains

Getting rid of stains is very important during the end-of-lease house cleaning period. There are different homemade cleaning solutions you can utilise to eliminate these grease, stains, and mould from other areas of your property.

Baking soda, for instance, is an excellent and eco-friendly cleaning solution that can help you remove mould. To use this solution for mould or grease removal, follow these steps:

• Mix water and baking soda to form a thick solution.
• Use a scrub to remove dirt from the affected areas.
• Apply the baking powder solution to the surface and leave for an hour.
• Wash off with hot water.
• Repeat this process at least twice for a great result.

If you are not getting the results you want, consult a professional cleaner to assist you in getting rid of the stains.

Clean the windows

If you want to get your deposit back, you must pay attention to the windows. Clean the window frames, blinds, glass, and sills using eco-friendly products.

To start, remove dust using a microfiber cloth. Apply white vinegar and warm soapy solution on the glass solution and leave it for a few minutes before wiping with a wet mop.

Rinse the window with clean water and wipe again using a squeegee. Using a clean microfiber cloth, clean other parts of the window, including blinds, frames, and edges.

Also, remember to clean the door and also disinfect the doorknobs and handles.

Clean the kitchen and bathroom

Kitchen is unarguably the dirtiest place in the house and it is important to pay keen attention to it during your bonding cleaning exercise. Not only should it be cleaned, it should equally be sanitised. To achieve this, remove all the dust, strains, grease and spots from kitchen appliances, sink, cupboards both inside and outside, range hood, countertop etc. When sanitising, stick to using eco-friendly sanitisers.

For the bathrooms cleaning, clean the vanity area, disinfect the toilet seat and door handles, remove soap scum and mildew from the wall, dust and sweep floors, showers and bathtub.

Clean major appliances

It is also necessary to freshen up appliances such as microwave, dishwasher, and refrigerators during the end-of-lease cleaning. Wipe them down and clean properly as follows:

• Refrigerator: Remove all the food in the fridge and then allow the refrigerator to defrost. Once this is done, clean the interior with a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar.
• Microwave: Take out all removable racks. Add some baking soda and vinegar into water. Scrub off the racks using the mixture and remove all the built-up grease, food particles, and accumulated dirt. Proceed to clean the bottom of the microwave, doors, sidewalls, control panels, and other visible areas using a soft cloth.
• Dishwasher: Using the same mixture of baking soda and white vinegar dissolved in water, get rid of soap scum or food residue accumulated at the bottom of the dishwasher. Then proceed to wash the dishwasher using a microfiber cloth properly.

Standard End Of Lease Cleaning Checklist

When you pay for professional end of lease cleaning, the services will include the following:

• Cleaning of all walls.
• Cleaning of windows both in and out, including fittings (curtains and blinds).
• Cleaning the inside, outside and top of all cupboards.
• Cleaning and polishing of all light fittings.
• Vacuuming and mopping of floors.
• Removing stains or marks from all surfaces that weren’t pre-existing.
• Washing of extractor fans.
• Cleaning of skirting boards.
• Thorough cleaning of kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms.

Extra tasks may include

• Cleaning of dishwasher.
• Cleaning of upholstery, including mattresses, curtains, and couches.
• Steam cleaning of carpets.
• Cleaning of swimming pool.

Services that are not included in end of lease cleaning

• Renovation tasks such as plastering or painting of walls.
• Maintenance tasks such as repair of ceiling fans.
• Outdoor tasks such as weeding or garden tidy up.
• Professional tasks such as pest control.

What Is The Cost Of End Of Lease Cleaning?

This will depend on the type of house, the functions to be done and the amount of work required. On average, end-of-lease cleaning cost varies between $100 to $250. If you need extra services, you will need to pay more. The following is the price range for additional services that may come alongside end of lease services:

• Carpet cleaning $60 to $200
• Ceiling cleaning $50 to $200
• Mopping $30 to $50
• Floor cleaning $30 to $120
• Oven cleaning $30 to $150
• Rangehood cleaning $30 to $100
• Tile and grout cleaning $50 to $200
• Window cleaning $30 to $120

Should You Perform End Of Lease Cleaning Yourself?

This is a question many tenants ask, especially those who are changing apartments for the first time. While it is possible to do the cleaning yourself you need to consider some important factors before you make that decision.

First, you need to ensure that you have the necessary cleaning materials and equipment needed for the task. In addition, you require some specific skills to be able to do a good end of lease cleaning.

Also, you have to properly inspect the house, ascertain the kind of cleaning required, the work effort needed and other support systems, all these should help you decide whether or not to hire a good bond cleaning company or to do it yourself.

Another key factor is pets; if you have one, you may need a professional bond cleaner to help you do a thorough cleaning.

Furthermore, you have to check if your landlord used professional bond cleaners for the bond cleaning prior to your moving into the rental property. If this is the case, you may be bound to do the same when moving out.

Finally, there are some landlords that include use of professional cleaners for bond cleaning as part of the lease agreement. if this is the case, you don’t have a choice but to hire one for the bond cleaning. You will not get back your security deposit if you don’t provide proof that you used a professional for the house cleaning as stipulated in the rental agreement.

Why Hire A Professional For Your End Of Lease Cleaning?

An end-of-lease cleaning can be pretty stressful and complicated, especially if your house is large. Hiring a professional cleaning company for your end of lease cleaning has numerous advantages. First, it saves you time and money significantly. Again, it is the surest way to secure your deposit as they are experts who understand what it takes to do a good job. Lastly, these professional cleaning services use eco-friendly cleaning products, which ensures that all the material used during the cleaning does not have adverse effects on human health.