Move-In Cleaning Checklist: Every Room, Done Right

✅ General Areas (Every Room)

These tasks apply to every room in the house — bedrooms, living room, dining room, hallways, and any other space. Do these first before diving into room-specific tasks.

• Cobwebs — Check ceiling corners, light fixtures, and air vents. Use an extendable duster. Previous owners may have missed these entirely.
• Ceiling fans and light fixtures — Wipe fan blades (they collect dust fast), light covers, and bulb surrounds. Turn off the power before wiping near fixtures.
• Air vents — Remove vent covers if possible and wipe them down. Built-up dust in vents circulates through your entire home every time the HVAC runs.
• Baseboards and door frames — Hand-wipe every baseboard in the home. This is one of the most commonly skipped areas in any cleaning, and it’s where years of dust, pet hair, and grime accumulate.
• Light switches and outlets — Sanitize every switch plate and outlet cover. These are the highest-touch surfaces in any home.
• Door handles and knobs — Disinfect both sides of every door handle, including closets and interior doors.
• Window sills and tracks — Vacuum the tracks first (they collect debris and dead insects), then wipe with a damp cloth. For stuck-on grime in tracks, use an old toothbrush.
• Closets — Wipe inside and outside of all shelving, rods, and closet walls. Check corners for signs of moisture or mold.
• Floors — Deep vacuum all carpets and hard floors, including corners and along baseboards. Mop hard floors with a diluted floor cleaner.

🍽️ Kitchen

The kitchen is almost always the most labor-intensive room in a move-in clean. Previous owners cooked here for years — and grease travels further than you think.

Cabinets and drawers:

• Wipe inside and outside of every cabinet and drawer — top, sides, bottom, and the inside of the door
• Pay attention to the upper cabinets near the stove: grease vapor rises and coats them over time
• Remove and clean drawer liners if present, or add new ones
• Check for signs of pests in lower corner cabinets

Countertops and backsplash:

• Scrub and disinfect all countertop surfaces
• For tile backsplash, scrub grout lines with a brush — grease and food residue builds up in grout near the stove
• Check caulk lines where countertops meet the wall for mold or discoloration

Stovetop and oven:

• Degrease the stovetop surface, burner grates, and control knobs
• Clean the area under the burner grates — this is almost always overlooked
• For the oven interior: apply oven cleaner, let it sit per product instructions, then wipe thoroughly. This is offered as an add-on in our GoShineUp move-in service.

Sink and faucets:

• Scrub the sink basin with a non-abrasive cleaner
• Remove limescale from the faucet using white vinegar on a cloth (wrap it around the faucet head and let it sit 10–15 minutes)
• Clean the drain strainer and run hot water after cleaning

Appliances:

• Refrigerator exterior: wipe down all surfaces including the top, handles, and the rubber door seal
• Refrigerator interior: if it’s included with the home, clean every shelf, drawer, and the interior walls (this is a GoShineUp add-on service)
• Dishwasher: run an empty cycle with a dishwasher cleaner tablet. Wipe the door seal and inside of the door
• Microwave: use the steam method — bowl of water and vinegar, 3–5 minutes, then wipe interior. Clean inside and out.

Floors:

• Sweep and deep mop, paying attention to the area under where appliances sit

🛁 Bathrooms

Toilet:

• Apply bowl cleaner under the rim first and let it sit while you clean everything else
• Scrub and disinfect: flush handle, tank lid and sides, seat (both sides), bowl exterior, and the base
• Behind the toilet — get down there. Dust, hair, and residue collect here constantly
• Scrub the bowl interior under the rim and flush

Bathtub and shower:

• Scrub all tile surfaces with disinfectant
• Treat grout lines with baking soda paste and a brush — soap scum and mold live in grout
• Clean showerhead: soak in white vinegar bag for 20–30 minutes to dissolve mineral deposits
• Scrub the tub basin or shower floor

Sink and vanity:

• Scrub the sink basin, faucet, and drain
• Wipe inside and outside of all vanity cabinets and drawers
• Clean the mirror (glass cleaner on a microfiber cloth, not the mirror directly)

Floors, vents, and fixtures:

• Sanitize, vacuum, and mop the floor
• Clean the exhaust fan cover — this one is almost always full of dust
• Wipe light fixtures and check that all are working

🚪 Entryway and Hallways

• Front and back doors — clean both sides of exterior doors, including the glass panels and door handles. Wipe the door frame and threshold.
• Mirrors and glass partitions — polish with streak-free glass cleaner
• Coat closet — wipe all shelving, the rod, and the closet walls
• Floors — vacuum and mop, paying attention to the threshold where dirt enters the home first

🛏️ Bedrooms

Bedrooms are usually lighter work, but don’t skip these:

• Closet shelving — wipe thoroughly, including the back wall
• Window sills, tracks, and blinds
• Ceiling fan and light fixture
• Baseboards
• Floors — vacuum carpets, mop hard floors

🚿 Laundry Room

Often forgotten entirely in move-in cleans:

• Wipe inside and outside of washer and dryer (if included)
• Clean the dryer lint trap and the duct behind the dryer — this is a fire hazard if neglected
• Wipe down utility shelving
• Clean the utility sink if present
• Mop the floor

Task	Why It Matters
Inside oven cleaning	Baked-on grease from previous owners can smoke and smell
Inside refrigerator cleaning	Bacteria and old food residue in seals and drawers
Interior window cleaning	Visible from inside daily — worth a one-time polish
Inside washer drum cleaning	Run a hot cycle with white vinegar before your first load
Garage floor	Oil stains and debris tracked into the home

📥 Download Our Free Move-In Cleaning Checklist PDF

We put together a ready-to-print PDF version of this checklist — the same one our GoShineUp team uses on every move-in job across Oakland County.

⬇️ Download the Free Move-In Cleaning Checklist PDF

Print it out, check things off room by room, and make sure nothing gets missed.

People often ask whether they need a move-in clean, a move-out clean, or both. Here’s the quick breakdown:

	Move-Out Clean	Move-In Clean
Who does it	Previous occupant / you leaving	New occupant / you arriving
Goal	Leave the property clean for next person or security deposit	Start fresh in your new home
Focus	Every surface, appliances, floors	Every surface, disinfection, hidden areas
Timing	After all furniture removed	Before any furniture moved in
Professional help?	Highly recommended	Strongly recommended

In many cases, our clients book us for both — a move-out clean on their old home and a move-in clean at the new one. We cover both sides of the transition across all of Oakland County, including Waterford, Troy, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Novi, and West Bloomfield.

This depends heavily on the size and condition of the property. Here are rough estimates based on what we see regularly:

Home Size	Estimated Time (Professional Team)
Studio / 1 bed apartment	2–3 hours
2–3 bedroom home	3–5 hours
4+ bedroom home	5–8 hours
Home vacant 6+ months	Add 1–2 hours
Home with heavy buildup	Add 1–3 hours

DIY move-in cleans typically take 50–100% longer than a professional team — simply because a professional team has the right tools, products, and a system that covers everything without backtracking.

Moving is already one of the most stressful life events there is. The last thing you need is to spend your first weekend in a new home scrubbing someone else’s grime. Our move-in and move-out cleaning service covers every item on this checklist — and then some. We bring all supplies, work as an organized team, and leave your new home genuinely clean before a single box comes through the door. We serve all of Oakland County from our Waterford base — including Troy, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Novi, West Bloomfield, Pontiac, White Lake, and Commerce Township.