Move-in cleaning checklist: what to clean before the furniture arrives
The empty days between getting the keys and the truck arriving are the only time a home is fully reachable. A checklist for using them well, top to bottom, with the carpets last.
Clean a new home while it is empty, because it is the only time you can reach every floor and cupboard. Work top down: kitchen and bathrooms first, then the inside of every cabinet, then walls, windows and vents, and floors last. If there is carpet, have it cleaned before the furniture goes down, because nobody moves a sofa to do it afterwards.
What should be cleaned first, and why?
Clean from the top of the house down and from the inside of things out, and leave floors until last. Everything you clean above a floor drops dust onto it.
The order matters more than the products. Here it is, room by room, with the reasoning.
- Ceilings, vents and light fittings. Dust from up high lands on every surface below. Wipe the grilles, vacuum inside them as far as you can reach, and change the furnace filter. Health Canada's page on improving indoor air quality at home says to replace or clean the filter as per the manufacturer's instructions.
- Kitchen. Inside the oven, the range hood and its filter, the fridge and freezer, the dishwasher filter, and every cupboard and drawer before your plates go in. A previous owner's clean usually stops at the cupboard door.
- Bathrooms. Toilet, including the base and behind it, tub, shower glass, grout, sink, the fan grille, and inside the vanity. Run the fan while you work. Health Canada's same page tells you to use bathroom and kitchen fans.
- Inside storage. Closets, shelves, the linen cupboard, the basement storage room. These are the places that will be full by next week.
- Walls, doors, switches and trim. Light marks, handles and switch plates, the tops of doors and door frames.
- Windows. Inside glass, sills and the tracks, which collect grit and dead insects.
- Floors. Vacuum and wash hard floors last. Health Canada suggests that if you use a portable vacuum it should have a HEPA filter, and that floors be cleaned with a damp mop or cloth.
- Carpets. Last of all, once nobody else needs to walk through in boots.
A checklist that people tend to skip:
| Easy to miss | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Inside the dishwasher and its filter | Trapped food from the last household |
| The washer seal and the dryer lint trap | Lint and residue you will be washing your clothes in |
| Inside the range hood | Grease that drips back when the fan runs |
| Window tracks and balcony door tracks | Grit that stops the door sliding and scratches the frame |
| Behind and under the fridge and stove | The one time those spaces are easy to reach is before you push them back |
| Light fixtures and ceiling fan blades | Dust that falls on clean floors |
| Cold air returns and floor registers | Dust, debris and small items dropped through the grille |
What does a previous owner's clean usually miss?
The inside of things, and anything under or behind the appliances. A seller or outgoing tenant cleans what a walkthrough looks at, and a walkthrough looks at surfaces.
That is not a complaint about the last occupant. A tenant in Ontario is held to ordinary cleanliness, as we explain in do you have to clean when you move out, and a seller's obligations are whatever the purchase agreement says. Neither standard means the inside of the range hood was degreased. If you are curious what a thorough move-out clean does cover, compare it with what a move-out clean actually covers.
A new build is its own case
New homes come with construction dust, from drywall sanding and cutting, and it settles in places nobody expects: inside cupboards, on top of door frames, in window tracks and in the ductwork. Tarion's facts about the pre-delivery inspection say its main purpose is to document items in your new home that are missing, damaged or not working properly, and that your builder will note items needing further attention on a form and give you a copy. Note anything you can see at that visit. Then plan for a proper clean before you move in, because dust is not what a PDI is for. The method for fine dust is in how to clean construction dust.
When should the carpets be done?
After every other job in the house is finished, and before the furniture arrives. That gap is short, so book it as soon as you know your dates.
The reasons are practical:
- Painters and trades come first. A carpet cleaned before the painters arrive is a carpet that gets walked on in work boots and dripped on.
- Furniture goes on last. Once a bed, a dresser and a sofa are on the carpet, the parts underneath will not be cleaned again for years.
- It needs to dry. Furniture on damp carpet can leave marks, and wood or metal legs can stain. How long that takes depends on the carpet, the method and the weather, and we cover it in how long does carpet take to dry. Do not book it for the same morning as the truck.
The same thinking applies to mattresses. If you are bringing an old mattress into a new home, the empty days are the time to have it cleaned too, while it can stand in a dry, empty room.
This is the point where most people decide it is easier to hand the job over. The kitchen and bathrooms you can do yourself over a weekend. Carpet extraction needs the machine, and the window for it is a few days between closing and the moving truck. AllCleaner can do the whole move-in clean, the carpets and any mattresses in that gap, in one visit or two, with all equipment and solutions supplied. Our solutions are eco-friendly and safe around children and pets once dry.
The move-in checklist, in order
- Change the furnace filter. Wipe vents, grilles and light fittings.
- Kitchen: oven, hood and filter, fridge, dishwasher, every cupboard.
- Bathrooms: toilet, tub, glass, grout, fan, vanity.
- Closets and storage.
- Walls, doors, switches, trim.
- Windows, sills and tracks.
- Hard floors: vacuum, then damp mop.
- Carpets and mattresses: last, and dry before the furniture.
For a move-in clean, call 647-697-7435 with your key date and your moving day, and request a free quote. The price is confirmed before work starts.
Short answers.
- Is a new-build home clean on handover?
- Do not assume so. Tarion says the main purpose of the pre-delivery inspection is to document items that are missing, damaged or not working properly, so record anything you see at that visit. Builders' cleans vary, and fine construction dust in vents, tracks and cupboards is common in new homes.
- Should I clean the vents and returns before moving in?
- Wipe the grilles and vacuum inside them as far as you can reach, and replace the furnace filter. Health Canada advises replacing or cleaning the filter as the manufacturer instructs. Cleaning the duct runs themselves is a separate trade, worth asking about after renovation or construction work.
- How long before move-in day should the carpets be cleaned?
- Far enough ahead that they are fully dry before furniture goes down, and after any painting or trades are finished. Drying time depends on the carpet, the method, the weather and the airflow. Book it into the gap between getting the keys and the moving truck, not on the same morning.
Filed under Moving and renovation. More in the blog.
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