Move-Out Cleaning Checklist
Dyment Cleaning Service · Lowell, MA & Southern NH · (978) 398-9586 · dymentcleaningservice.com
The short answer: the move-out cleaning checklist below is free, complete and needs no email address. Press the print button, and choose Save as PDF instead of a printer if you want it on your phone. The print version drops the menu, the photos and the footer, so what comes out is the checklist alone — empty boxes, room by room, in the order that keeps you from cleaning the same room twice.
Print the checklist, or save it as a PDF. No sign-up, no email. In the print dialog, set the destination to Save as PDF and you have the file.
How to get the PDF
Most checklists online ask for your email before they hand over the file. This one does not, because the page itself is the file. Your browser already has a PDF writer built into it, and this article is set up to use it.
- On a computer: click the button above, or press Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on a Mac). Where it says Destination or Printer, pick Save as PDF, then save.
- On an iPhone: tap the share icon in Safari, choose Print, then pinch outward on the preview and share it to Files.
- On Android: open the browser menu, tap Print, and choose Save as PDF as the printer.
- Prefer paper? The same button prints it. Two pages, boxes big enough to tick with a pen, no colour needed.
If you would rather work from the phone screen than from paper, the boxes below stay on the page as you scroll, and this article sits happily in a browser tab all day. Either way, nothing here expires and nothing costs anything.
The move-out cleaning checklist, room by room
This is the list we work through on a real move-out cleaning. It is written for an empty property, which is the state the person inspecting it will see. If your furniture is still in place, do the boxes you can reach now and come back to the rest once the truck has gone.
Before you start
- Empty every room completely, including closets, the loft hatch and the space under the stairs
- Bag the rubbish and get it out of the property, not into a pile in the garage
- Check that the water and electricity are still on — a lot of move-out cleans stall on a supply that was cancelled a day early
- Open the windows; most of this job goes faster with air moving
- Set aside the bin, one mop, one vacuum and your cloths as the last things to leave
Kitchen
- Empty every cabinet and drawer, then wipe inside, including the runners and the back corners
- Wipe the tops and the sides of the cabinets, not only the doors
- Oven: racks out and soaked, interior scrubbed, glass clean on both sides, drawer underneath emptied
- Stove top, burners, drip pans and the knobs, which come off on most ranges
- Range hood and the filter — the filter needs soaking in hot water, not wiping
- Fridge and freezer: shelves and bins washed, seals wiped, defrosted, left off and propped open if the place will be empty
- Dishwasher: filter out and rinsed, seals wiped, one empty hot cycle run
- Microwave inside and out, including the turntable and the roof of the cavity
- Backsplash, countertops, and the caulk line where the counter meets the wall
- Sink, drain and taps, including the underside of the spout where limescale sits
- Behind and underneath the fridge and the stove, if they pull out safely
- Light fixtures and switch plates
- Sweep, then mop, edges and corners last
Bathrooms
- Shower and tub: tile, grout, glass, and the track the door runs in
- Descale the shower head and the taps
- Toilet inside and out, including the base, the bolts and the wall behind it
- Sink, vanity top, and inside every cabinet and drawer
- Mirror and the light above it, plus the extractor fan cover
- Towel rails, toilet roll holder and the door handles
- Skirting boards and the corner where the floor meets the tub
- Floor last, working out of the door
Bedrooms and closets
- Closet shelves, rails and floor, wiped after everything is out
- Ceiling corners and light fittings for cobwebs and dust
- Window glass inside, plus the sills and the tracks the window slides in
- Blinds, slat by slat, or curtain rails if the curtains are going with you
- Wall marks around switches, door frames and headboard height
- Vents and radiator tops
- Skirting boards all the way round
- Vacuum the whole floor, including where the bed stood, then mop if it is hard flooring
Living areas, hallways and stairs
- Ceiling fans, light fittings and the tops of door frames
- Windows, sills, tracks and any patio door runner
- Fireplace surround and hearth, if there is one
- Every switch plate and socket cover
- Banister, spindles and the edge of each stair tread
- Wall marks behind where the sofa and the television stood
- Skirting boards, then vacuum the carpet edges with the nozzle, not the head
- Floors last, working back towards the front door
Laundry, utility and entry
- Washer: drum, door seal, and the detergent drawer taken out and rinsed
- Dryer: lint trap emptied, drum wiped, and the vent checked
- Behind and under both machines if they roll out
- Utility sink, shelving and any wall cupboard
- Front and back doors, both faces, plus the frames and thresholds
- Doorbell, letterbox and the porch light
- Sweep the entry step and any shared hallway you are responsible for
The last pass
- Walk each room once with the light on and once with it off — low light shows smears on glass
- Check the inside of every cabinet again; this is the single most common miss
- Replace any dead light bulb, because an empty socket reads as damage
- Take photos of each finished room, dated, before you hand over the key
- Leave the keys, the fobs, the remotes and the manuals where you agreed
- Bins emptied and rinsed, and nothing left in them
The order that saves you a second pass
The checklist is already in a workable order, but the reason behind it is worth knowing, because it is what stops the job doubling in length.
- Top to bottom. Dust falls. Do the light fittings before the counters, and the counters before the floor.
- Back to front. Start in the room furthest from the door and finish at the entry, so you are never walking back across clean floor.
- Dry before wet. Vacuum or sweep before anything gets damp, or you turn dust into smears.
- Inside before outside. Empty and clean the inside of cabinets and appliances before you polish their fronts.
- Floors are always last. In every room, without exception.
If the property has not had a thorough clean in a year or more, the first pass through the kitchen and bathrooms will feel closer to a deep clean than to a move-out clean. That is normal, and worth saying out loud before anyone quotes on it. Our complete move-out cleaning list goes into what separates the two jobs in more detail.
What gets checked first at the walk-through
The person holding the clipboard does not read your checklist. They have their own, and they tend to go to the same handful of places first. Getting these right buys you goodwill on everything else.
| Where they look | What they are checking | What usually fails it |
|---|---|---|
| Oven | Interior walls, the racks and the inside of the glass door | The fronts were wiped and the inside was not touched |
| Fridge | Shelves out, seals, and the drip channel at the back of the base | Left switched off and closed, so it comes back smelling |
| Shower and tub | Grout lines, the door track and the shower head | Limescale, which looks like damage rather than dirt |
| Inside cabinets | Crumbs, sticky rings and liner paper left behind | Emptied but never wiped out |
| Floor edges | The line where the floor meets the skirting board | Vacuumed with the wide head, which never reaches the edge |
| Walls and switches | Marks at hand height, behind doors and around plates | Assumed to be wear rather than dirt, so nobody tries |
Six lines people cross off too fast
These are the boxes that get ticked because the room looks finished, not because the job is done.
- Window tracks. The glass gets cleaned and the runner underneath stays full of grit. It takes a vacuum nozzle and a damp cotton bud.
- The top of the kitchen cabinets. Nobody sees it at eye level, and everybody checks it with a phone camera held above their head.
- The dishwasher filter. It unscrews from the floor of the machine, and it is the reason a clean dishwasher still smells.
- The extractor fan in the bathroom. The cover comes off, and there is normally a felt of dust behind it.
- Behind the toilet. The pipe, the bolts and the strip of wall you cannot see standing up.
- Light bulbs. A dead one is not dirt, but it is the first thing noticed when someone flicks a switch in an empty room.
Doing it yourself, or booking it
The checklist works either way. Doing it yourself costs you a day, sometimes two if the property is larger than a two-bedroom or the kitchen has been through a few tenancies. That is a fair trade when the move is local and you are not also driving a van.
It stops being a fair trade when the handover is the same day as the move, when the property is being handed to a landlord who has already flagged the standard they want, or when the oven and the shower are past the point where a supermarket spray helps. That is the day it makes sense to hand the list to someone whose whole job is the list.
If you book it with us, the work is priced by the job, never by the hour, and the number is agreed before anyone starts. Hourly pricing means the clock decides when the cleaning stops. A price per job means the checklist decides. You can see what is covered on our move-out cleaning page, or get in touch with the date of your handover and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth booking.
Frequently asked questions
Is the move-out cleaning checklist PDF really free?
Yes. There is no email form, no sign-up and no download page. Press the print button and choose Save as PDF as the destination, and the file is yours. The print layout drops the menu, the images and the footer, so you get the checklist on its own.
What is the difference between a move-out clean and a deep clean?
A deep clean reaches the build-up a weekly clean skips, but it works around your furniture and your life. A move-out clean is done on an empty property and is judged by someone with a checklist, so everything gets cleaned inside as well as on top — cabinets, drawers, appliances and the floor your furniture was standing on.
How long does the whole checklist take?
For a two-bedroom home in reasonable condition, a full day on your own is realistic, and most of that day goes on the kitchen and the bathrooms. A trained team works through it faster because two people can split rooms and nobody stops to look up how to clean an oven.
Do landlords and agents use their own checklist?
Usually yes, and it is normally shorter than this one. Ask for it before you start. Where it overlaps with the list above, you are covered; where it adds something specific to that property, add it to your own copy in pen.
Should I clean before or after the movers come?
After. Cleaning around boxes means doing the same room twice, and the floor under a wardrobe is one of the places most likely to be checked. If the timing is tight, do the kitchen appliances early, since those are the slowest items and they do not need the room to be empty.
Do you charge by the hour for a move-out clean?
No. Every job is priced by the job, never by the hour, and the price is agreed before we start. Tell us the size of the property, the condition, and the date of the handover, and you get a number.
Do you clean in New Hampshire as well as Massachusetts?
Yes. We are based in Lowell, MA and work across the Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire, including Nashua and Manchester. If you are not sure whether your address falls inside that, just ask.