If you’re moving house soon, you’re likely to be facing a big cleaning job! De-cluttering and cleaning are essential, but time-consuming, parts of moving house and it often ends up taking longer than you plan.
At Burke and Wills, we’ve partnered with Soap Cleaners, a family run cleaning company based in South West London to help our customers clean and prepare their homes ahead of a move.
Here, we share our advice on how to prepare for and clean your house or flat before moving out:
1. De-clutter
At least eight weeks before you move have a good declutter, sorting your items into three groups:
Keep – items that will be moving to your new home with you.
Donate – items for donation or charity.
Throw – for the bin or rubbish tip.
You don’t want to move with unnecessary items that you will only want to get rid of later!
2. Start packing early
Around the same time, start to pack away all your things that aren’t used frequently. It saves time when you get around to doing the last of your packing later.
3. Clean as you pack
The more organised you are, the more time you’ll save on moving day.
4. Get a professional deep clean done
We recommend hiring a professional cleaner to give your house a thorough top to bottom deep clean before you move. It will save you so much time on moving day itself! Do this around 4-6 weeks before you move to save time and effort later on.
5. Covid Cleaning Tips
During a pandemic, it’s even more critical to ensure your home is cleaned properly before a move. And, while I’m not qualified to give official advice (you should check the Public Health England website for that), I can offer my Covid cleaning recommendations:
- Use disposable gloves or rubber gloves when cleaning.
- Your usual household cleaning products with be sufficient as long as no one in your household has/had Coronavirus Symptoms.
- Antibacterial wipes and disposable cloths are super handy because they can be thrown away once used, avoiding any cross-contamination.
- If using reusable cloths, give them a hot wash after use.
- If someone has/had the Coronavirus, then it is essential to be more thorough than usual when cleaning.
- Ensure all communal areas are cleaned, and wipe the regularly used spots that usually get missed such as door handles, light switches, plug sockets, window latches and door frames.
- Wipe down all surfaces and appliances after use.
