Washing and sanitation of living space are probably among the most hated tasks around. Still, they’re necessary steps after long-distance moving. Knowing how to clean an apartment before moving in will make your adjustment a lot smoother and safer. No matter how spotless the home looks, you never know what hides beneath those carpets or who lived there before you. Avoid nightmares with bed bugs and other pests, and do deep sanitation of your home.
Cleaning the apartment before moving in is a necessary step, even if you are in a last-minute relocation. Falling asleep in a house that hasn’t been cleaned will be impossible. This is why it is crucial to prepare for this step before your truck arrives and have everything ready to clean the minute you step into your new home. Your unpacking after the move will have to wait until you finish scrubbing your place. That probably seems like tedious and hard work, especially after relocating to a new state, but it doesn’t have to be. With good preparation and organization, you will find time and energy to do everything before your long-distance movers arrive with your belongings.
Relocating to a new home demands a lot of preparation and planning. But if you do everything by the book and organize your move like a pro, you will have stress-free relocation and have more time to do good sanitation of your home. The crucial part of every move is to pack a box of relocation essentials. You will have to pack clothing, hygiene products, plates, mugs, important documents, and valuable items here, along with some washing supplies. Depending on your relocation schedule, if you arrive a couple of days before your belongings, you can buy cleaning supplies, but if you arrive just a couple of hours before movers, it would be good to have your supplies with you.
The third option is to ship cleaning supplies with your belongings, wait for the truck to arrive, and start scrubbing while your movers do the unloading. The good thing about hiring movers for long-distance moving services is that you don’t have to do anything, and they will be out of your way, so you can actually tidy things up while they are unloading. Just make sure to label your box with sanitation necessities appropriately so you can access these items at once. Here are some of the essentials you must have for cleaning new apartment:
So you opened up a bit, you hired cross country movers for the packing service, and now all your belongings are neat, without damage, and wrinkle-free, sitting in your boxes and occupying the space on your house floor. The last thing you want to do is to ruin everything by placing belongings in dirty closets or cabinets. First, inspect your space to see if there are any pests, mold, or humidity. Check behind cabinets and beneath the carpets, if possible, and look for pest residue. An empty house is excellent for spotting these kinds of things, and getting rid of them will be much easier. Just make sure to put on your checklist for relocating to another state a phone number of the best pest control service in the area.
One of the first things you will have to do after relocating is to make your bed. But before you start unpacking your rooms, the best relocation tip is to do a good deep scrubbing. First, you have to vacuum everything, then wipe your floors and if you have carpets – wash them. There are tons of products you can use for your carpet, so double-check to put them on your relocation to-do list as well. Use a dry cloth and dust off all surfaces, then, later on, sweep everything with an all-purpose cleanser. And if you wonder how do you disinfect an apartment before moving in, you can use alcohol for extra sterilization and disinfect all the surfaces before placing your belongings. If you are relocating with kids, arrange their space first.
Probably the last thing on your mind is to wash your walls, but if it is possible, it is highly recommended. Even if there is fresh paint, some dust had likely gathered there before you moved in. But if you don’t plan to repaint anything, disinfection of the walls is crucial for your health. You never know who lived there and what kind of chemicals and bacteria are hiding on your walls. Take a broom and dust any spider webs, then wipe everything with an all-purpose cleanser. If anything is suspicious on your walls, like mold, you can scrub it with bleach and call the experts the next day to deal with that. Before you place racks, wash them as well, or if there are racks already on the walls, perform proper disinfection. Dip a cloth in an alcohol solution and wipe railings, plugs, and switches.
Whether you are relocating from a house to an apartment or the other way around, your kitchen will probably be one of the dirtiest spaces. When you start cleaning, ensure to move your refrigerator and stove to see if there are any dirt and grease behind. If your kitchen has tiles, you can clean the grease with oven cleaner or some other degreasing solution. Just spray this on greasy parts and wait for a half-hour. Then it will come off easily.
On the other hand, if your kitchen has laminate, do not use oven cleaner as it can damage your floor. Use dish soap and hot water instead, mix them, and tap into greasy parts with a sponge and leave it for one hour. You will have to scrub a bit, but it will come off.
Before you start with other parts of your kitchen, you must first spray your oven and stove with oven solution. Make sure to spray all the parts and clean them last. Take a stainless steel wire sponge and scrub everything with it. If you have a glass top stove, the safer solution is to take white vinegar and baking soda. First, soak the stove with vinegar and leave it for a couple of minutes, then take a cloth and remove all extra vinegar. Then put some baking soda on everything and put a wet hot towel on top of it. Leave the towel for 15 minutes and then remove it. Using the same towel for scrubbing is not wrong. If there are any burnouts left, take a razor blade and carefully remove it.
Mix vinegar, water, and baking soda, and tidy up your cabinets and countertops. If some parts are too greasy, use some of the solutions we mentioned above. After scrubbing them with a wet cloth, use a dry cloth with some alcohol for extra polish if you have glossy cabinets. One of the benefits of cross-country moving is the fact that you can make everything spotless.
You probably have packed pots and pans before washing them. Well, if this is the case now, it is the moment to start with scrubbing. The bottoms of your pans are probably greasy and burned, so if you don’t want to destroy your shiny cabinets, you should remove all the dirt. Take baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap and soak the bottoms of your pans. The dirt will easily come off. Watch this video to see how to remove burns from your pans.
Tidying up a bathroom is probably one of the most important things you have to do when entering an apartment or new house. Here you will have to be extremely detailed because dirt is hardly visible on bathroom tiles, let alone a bunch of bacteria. Ensure to scrub every tile with the most care. Dirt from water and soap is not that hard to be removed from your bathroom, and yes, again, your best friends will be vinegar and baking soda. Open all drains and rinse them, too, as a lot of dirt and hair will likely be there. Put vinegar in one plastic bag and wrap that bag around your shower head and leave it there for 20 minutes – you will be amazed how much dirt will end up in a bag.
Also, use a toilet brush to scrub your toilet. If your toilet seat is dirty, you can unscrew it and wash it with some bleach. Put bleach in your bathtub, too, and soak every really dirty spot in it. This way, you will wash your bathtub but other bathroom items as well. When doing this, just wear protective gloves and a mask, and do not soak things for more than 20 minutes. And most importantly, never mix bleach with other chemicals – it can be lethal.
We already mentioned that certain types of floors can’t be washed with some products. For example, ammonia, alkaline products, or abrasive cleaners are really bad for hardwood. The same is with water and vinegar. There are a lot of products that are made for wood like sprays, oils, and wax, but these are expensive and not that efficient. Wax is hard to apply and it makes the floor extra slippery. Best way to wipe your floor is with water and soap, but bear in mind you don’t apply soaking wet mop but only wet. As you know, water is the worst enemy of the wooden floor. The same rules apply to laminate flooring.
If you still don’t know the answer to a question, “How do you clean before moving in,” or you are just not up to that task, consider hiring an agency to do this for you. This way, you can stop wondering about “how do you deep clean an apartment.” If you hire a reliable long-distance moving company, ask them if they provide storage service as well. Do so, and you’ll be able to store your belongings and do deep disinfection of your house at your own pace and maybe even renovate a bit.
Also, when looking for long-distance movers near me, make sure to hire a company that has all the services you need – from auto transport and commercial relocation to wooden crating. Professional service will be especially useful if you plan to relocate your piano, for example. It is always better and cheaper if you find one company to do all the work for you. The same is with a cleaning company – it would be good to find the one that is dealing with all kinds of surfaces and materials.
