How to Clean an Apartment or House when You Move Out: In the Kitchen

When you are preparing to move out of a rented house or apartment you will have a lot of stress. Something that adds to this stress of moving is the fact that you have to clean the apartment or house before you turn in the keys in order to get your security deposit back and avoid being charged for any cleaning charges. One area of a house or apartment that seems to need a lot of cleaning in order to have it presentable to the landlord, as an area that does not need to be cleaned by a professional, is the kitchen.

Landlords may charge you between 10 and 20 dollars per hour that they had someone come into the apartment and clean. Since you will have nearly every single thing that you own packed up right before you move you can keep a couple of sponges and use water to clean everything one last time before you go. Rags that you don't mind parting with, such as old t-shirts, can also come in handy in cleaning the kitchen of an apartment or house before you leave.

Cleaning the Floors

When it comes to things like the floors in the kitchen you will want to sweep and spot wash the floor, use a damp rag and clean any areas that are dirty rather than washing the entire floor. This will save you a lot of time and it is likely that when the new renters are in the home they will mop the kitchen floor as well to make sure that is sanitized.

Cleaning the Counters

Wipe off all of the counters so that there are no spills. You won't have to use cleaner unless you want to, by having a sponge and water you should be able to get the counters clean before you leave and that way you can pack up your kitchen cleaners.

Cleaning the Sinks

Clean the sinks good and it is a good idea to clean the faucet aerator so that the landlord does not feel that they have to replace it if there is poor water pressure.

Cleaning the Appliances

Inside and out make sure that you wipe everything that might have spilled. If you have a large task with any of the appliances you might want to clean them the day before or a couple days before. Spill over of food that happen on the range, the hood of the stove should be cleaned too, or in the oven will have to be cleaned so prepare yourself for a bit of scrubbing if you had any spill over. If you had a food or beverage spill in the fridge make sure that you clean it up before you leave.

Cleaning the Cabinets and Drawers

As long as the inside and outside of the cabinets and drawers in a kitchen aren't dirty you should be able to leave them alone. If you feel that they are dirty a damp sponge or rag will clean them off pretty quick.

You can clean some of the things in the kitchen a few days before to lighten your load of the what you have to clean and don't forget that you will want to make sure that you don't leave anything behind. Keep in mind that the kitchen will not be the only room that you will have to clean before you move out.