How to Clean Your Apartment Before Moving Out

When you decide to move out of your apartment and sign a lease for a new place, it’s easy to fall into the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality about your current unit. But if you’re thinking “who cares?” about the mess in your soon-to-be former apartment, the answer is your landlord. And if you care about getting your security deposit back, it’s in your best interest to care, too. 

That’s right — in some states, your landlord can take a cleaning fee out of your security deposit when you move out. In others, like Massachusetts, this is illegal. Check your state laws and rental agreement to figure out exactly what you need to do in order to get your deposit back. 

Many landlords require renters to leave their apartments in the same exact state as when they moved in as well — so if you painted or hung pictures on the wall, your to-do list may extend beyond cleaning.

In this article, we cover how to clean your apartment from top to bottom in our Room-by-Room Guide to ensure you get your full security deposit back. Plus, we provide sone natural DIY cleaning hacks that can replace many standard cleaning supplies like bleach. If you’re just moving into a new apartment and want to do a deep clean as well, read on — because these apartment move-out cleaning tips will also apply when you’re moving in. 

For a quick overview, scroll down to our interactive Cleaning Checklist to make sure you covered every room.

The state that your apartment needs to be in at move out depends on your state laws, lease agreement, and landlord. In some cases (likelier in bigger buildings run by property management companies), a member of the maintenance or building team may walk through your apartment with a checklist as part of a move-out inspection. If you weren’t offered this checklist in advance of your move out, ask your building management if you’d be able to see it. In other cases, your landlord may be less strict about everything looking exactly as it did when you moved in.

As mentioned above, in some states, you can be charged a fee if the state of your apartment does not meet the standards set by your landlord or property management company when you move out.

While it’s always courteous to clean your apartment before you move out (Remember: Your current landlord is who you will be asking for a reference from when applying to future apartments!), check your lease terms and state laws before moving out if you are worried about your security deposit. 

If you are planning to do an intense deep clean, you can start cleaning your apartment a couple of weeks before moving out. Typically, it’s best to clean a room that has no furniture in it — but you can start tasks like removing picture frames and patching up holes before you move your furniture out. You can also focus on decluttering and cleaning less-used areas of your place, like some cabinets or closets before removing furniture. At the minimum, you should start cleaning two to three days before moving out to make sure you’ll have enough time to get everything done. 

If you are hiring a professional cleaning service to deep clean your apartment for you, you will want to start calling companies and getting quotes a few weeks before move out as well.

Each room of your apartment will have different cleaning requirements — and cleaning on a room-by-room basis will allow you to gradually get your apartment back to the state it was in before you got there rather than packing it all into one or two days.

Clean the inside and outside of the refrigerator. About a week or two before you move out, it’s likely that you will have stopped buying as many perishable groceries and that your fridge will have less clutter inside. This is a perfect time to clean and disinfect it.

Clean the stove. If you cook on the stove often and didn’t clean it weekly, there’s likely to be some grease buildup around your burners. Once you clean your stove, try to refrain from cooking food with oil on it to avoid any more mess — or make sure to wipe it down after once it cools down.

Clean the inside and outside of the cabinets. This task may have to wait until a few days before your move in date, as you will likely be using items in your cabinets until then. However, once you pack up most of what is in your cabinets — like pots and pans, nonperishables, spices, etc. — you can start cleaning the inside and outside of them.

Clean the kitchen sink. You’ll want to clean your kitchen sink pretty close to your move-out date, since you’ll most likely be continuously using it until then.

Clean the floor and walls. Once you’ve finished cleaning the rest of the kitchen, it’s finally time to tackle the floor and the walls. I know what you’re thinking — “The walls?” Yes, you’ll likely need to clean them — especially around the stove, where cooking oil or grease may have splattered on them.

Wipe down countertops. You’ll want to do this right before you leave if you plan on using your kitchen again before your move-out date. If your countertops need a deep clean, plan to do this in the week leading up to your move along with the rest of your cleaning. If not, you can wipe them down the day before you move with an all-purpose cleaning spray or a water-vinegar solution.

Clean out the medicine cabinet. The day before your move-out date, you’ll want to start packing up all of the non-necessary items from your bathroom. Go through your medicine cabinet and pack up everything that you won’t need until you’re in your new place.

Clean the toilet. It’s not appealing, but it’s necessary. The week before you move out, you’ll need to clean the inside and outside of the toilet. We’ll help you make this process as quick and painless as possible.

Clean the bathtub/shower. One of the more laborious parts of getting your bathroom ready for your move-out date is deep-cleaning your bathtub and/or shower. As you’ll likely be using the shower until you move out, save this task for the end of your move-out cleaning regimen.

Clean the bathroom sink. Follow the above instructions for cleaning the kitchen sink.

Clean the walls. If your bathroom walls are made of tile, spray them with a disinfectant or water and vinegar solutions, then scrub away any soap scum. Then, wipe them down with a rag. If the walls are not made of tile, follow the above instructions for cleaning the kitchen walls.

Clean the floors. Start by removing any bathmats or towels from the floor and throwing them in the washing machine. Follow the above instructions for cleaning the kitchen floor. If your grout has stubborn stains, use a toothbrush to scrub them away.

Remove all furniture. Your living room will be difficult to deep clean if there is still bulky furniture in place that will be difficult to clean around.

Dust ceiling fans and blinds on windows. Use a microfiber cloth to remove excess dust from any surfaces like ceiling fans, window sills and blinds, or built-in shelving that you will be leaving behind when you move out. Use a duster to remove any cobwebs and to clean hard-to-reach places, like the tops of light fixtures.

Clean walls. Start by removing any wall art or added hardware, like wall sconces or hooks. Ask your landlord if they would like you to fill any holes in the wall from nails. If they say yes, fill them with drywall spackle, which you can find at most hardware stores. Put a small amount on the tip of your finger, and spread it over the holes, then smooth it out with a putty knife or another, similar tool that you can use to scrape off excess.

Clean the floors. Follow the instructions for cleaning the floor of your kitchen, unless you have wood floors or carpet. For wood floors, you will want to use a special wood cleaner and hardwood mop that will protect them while you are cleaning. Ask your landlord about carpet cleaning, if applicable. They will most likely be okay with vacuuming, and will handle calling a professional carpet cleaning company on their own. This is the last thing you’ll want to do during your cleaning process, to avoid getting the floors dirty again after you already cleaned them once.

There’s a lot to keep in mind when you’re getting ready to move out of your apartment. We created an interactive cleaning checklist that will make clean up easy, and help you get your security deposit back.

While you are only legally allowed to be charged by your landlord for cleaning fees in some states, deep cleaning your apartment before you move out is a best practice. If you want to not only ensure that you get your security deposit back, but also that your landlord will provide a good reference in the future, follow this guide to make your old apartment spotless before you move into your new home.