Move-In and Move-Out Cleaning Checklist, Room by Room

Cleaning an apartment before you move in is not like weekly cleaning. The place has months of built-up dust, traces of the previous tenants and corners nobody has touched. And when you move out, the final clean is the last thing the landlord sees before taking back the keys.

This guide gives you a practical room-by-room checklist, a clear top-to-bottom order, a way to document the apartment with photos before handover and what to do on your first day in a new home. Save it on your phone and work through it item by item.

Start in the right order: top to bottom

Dust always falls. If you mop the floor first and then clean the fans and shelves, you’ll be mopping again. Follow this order in every room:

1. Open the windows for ventilation and move out anything in your way.
2. Dust the ceiling, corners, ceiling fans and light fittings.
3. Clean the AC vents, the tops of wardrobes and high shelves.
4. Wipe the walls, doors, switches and handles.
5. Clean the windows on the inside, then their tracks.
6. Wipe the mid-level surfaces: tables, shelves and window sills.
7. Clean the skirting boards along the bottom of the walls.
8. Vacuum the floor, then mop it, starting at the point farthest from the door and working back towards it.

The room-by-room checklist

Kitchen

• Empty the cabinets and drawers and wipe them inside and out.
• Clean the range hood and its filter – it’s where grease builds up most. The full steps are in our kitchen grease cleaning guide.
• Clean the oven, the hob and the tiles behind them.
• Empty the fridge and wipe it inside; if it will stay switched off, leave the door open until it dries.
• Clean the sink, the tap and the drain.
• Wipe under the cabinets, and behind appliances if you can pull them out safely.

Bathrooms

• Clean the toilet inside and out and around its base.
• Remove the white scale from taps, the shower head and glass. Hard water leaves crusts that need a specific method, explained in our bathroom limescale and hard water guide.
• Clean the grout lines and around the bathtub.
• Wipe the mirror and the inside of the vanity cabinet.
• Open the floor drain cover and remove the hair.
• Switch on the bathroom extractor fan to check it works, and wipe its cover.

Bedrooms

• Wipe the built-in wardrobes inside, including the top shelves and drawers.
• Clean the window sills and curtain rails.
• Vacuum under where the bed stands and in the corners.
• Wipe the mirrors, doors and handles.

Majlis

• Vacuum the floor seating and sofas if they are staying, and clean the spot underneath after moving them.
• Look for bukhoor and oud residue on the wall and ceiling near where the incense burner sat; over time it leaves a dull film.
• Wipe the side tables and the spots where the coffee and tea pots stand.
• If the majlis has fitted carpet, follow our carpet cleaning steps at home.

Windows and tracks

• Clean the glass on the inside, and on the outside only if you can reach it safely.
• Clear sand from the window tracks with a small brush, then the vacuum, then a damp cloth.
• Remove the insect screen if possible and wash or wipe it.

AC vents

• Wipe the AC grilles and air vents on the outside.
• Wash the washable filters following the manufacturer’s instructions, and let them dry before putting them back.

Doors and switches

• Wipe both sides of the doors and the top of the door frame.
• Wipe light switches, handles and the doorbell – they’re what hands touch most.
• Don’t spray liquid straight onto light switches; spray it onto the cloth.

Balcony and roof

• Sweep away sand and leaves, and remove bird droppings while wearing gloves.
• Clean the water drains and make sure they aren’t blocked.
• Wipe the railing and the floor.
• If the water tank is on the roof, make sure its lid is closed properly.

Moving out: take photos before handing back the keys

After cleaning, photos are your memory. If you and the landlord later disagree about the apartment’s condition, dated photos are clearer than words. For anything about the deposit and handover terms, go back to the tenancy contract itself.

1. Photograph every room from more than one angle once cleaning is done.
2. Take close-ups inside the oven, the fridge, the cabinets and the bathrooms.
3. Photograph any existing damage, such as a scratch or a break, so it’s clear it isn’t a cleaning failure.
4. Photograph the electricity and water meters.
5. Keep the photos in one folder named with the apartment and the handover date.

What landlords usually check

• The kitchen, especially the range hood, the oven and inside the cabinets.
• Bathroom scale and the grout between tiles.
• The walls: holes, handprints and nails.
• Stains on floors and fitted carpet.
• Whether the ACs, lights and taps work.
• The number of keys and remote controls.

Moving in: clean what you don’t know

Even if the apartment looks clean, you don’t know what was used there or when it was last cleaned. Start with the surfaces that you, your children and your food will touch.

1. Wipe surfaces with soap and water first. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that cleaning comes before disinfecting, because dirt can stop the disinfectant from reaching germs.
2. Disinfect kitchen surfaces that touch food, bathroom handles and the toilet, and leave the disinfectant on the surface for the time stated on the label.
3. Clean the inside of the fridge before putting food in. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises keeping the fridge at 40°F (about 4°C) or below, and keeping a thermometer inside because the controls don’t show the actual temperature.
4. Check the water tank: open the lid and look at the sediment, colour and smell. If you don’t know when it was last cleaned, read our water tank cleaning guide before relying on it.
5. Run the ACs before moving furniture in if you can, and check that the air smells normal.

If the home is a large villa, the same list gets longer; you’ll find the details in our villa deep cleaning guide.

Safety while cleaning

• Wear gloves, and open the windows or run a fan while using cleaning products, as the CDC advises.
• Read every product’s label and follow it.
• Never mix cleaning products. The reasons are explained in why you should never mix cleaning chemicals.
• Store products out of children’s reach, and never keep them in unlabelled bottles. If your housemaid does the cleaning, explain these rules to her clearly.
• According to the CDC, some products can trigger asthma, so anyone with asthma should stay away from the area being cleaned.

⚠️ If anyone has severe symptoms after breathing in or swallowing a cleaning product, call the ambulance on 997 straight away.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to clean an apartment before moving in?

There’s no fixed number. It depends on the size and condition of the apartment and how many people are working. The kitchen, bathrooms and windows take the longest, so start with them while you still have energy.

Do I need to disinfect the whole apartment before moving in?

Usually not. According to the CDC, regular cleaning is enough in most cases, and disinfecting is recommended if someone in the home is sick or has a weakened immune system. Food preparation surfaces should be cleaned and then sanitised.

Who cleans the apartment at move-out, the tenant or the landlord?

That is set by the tenancy contract and what you agreed. Read the terms well before the handover date, and hand the apartment back clean with photos documenting its condition.

The bottom line

Work from top to bottom, go through the list room by room and take photos before handing over the keys. When moving in, start with the kitchen, the bathrooms and the water tank before anything else.

If time is tight between leaving one home and moving into another, you can book our cleaning service to get the apartment ready before your things arrive.