What a move-out clean covers in an empty home
Our cleaners work an empty place in a set order. Shelves, racks and corners that stay shut in a lived-in home are open for wiping once the furniture is out, and the floors are the last surface we touch. The visit assumes the fridge and oven have been emptied too.
1. A walk-through of the empty rooms
With you or against your notes, we go through each room first. Anything the landlord or property manager has asked for in writing is something to tell us on the call, so the walk-through covers it. The walk-through sets which room we start in and the order we take the rest.
The order of a move-out clean
Inside the cabinets and appliances first, the bathrooms next and the floors last, once the home is empty.
Cabinets and drawers
Every door and drawer opened, shelves wiped inside and out.
Fridge, oven and microwave
Shelves and racks out where they lift out, insides wiped.
Bathrooms
Shower glass and tile, grout lines, the toilet base, vanity and mirror.
Floors last
Vacuumed and mopped.
2. Cabinets and drawers inside and out, shelves wiped
Every kitchen cabinet opened one at a time, shelves and drawer boxes wiped front to back, pulls and door fronts gone over. The bathroom vanity and medicine cabinet the same way. Linen and hall closets get the shelf above the rod and every shelf below.
3. The fridge, freezer and oven inside, the microwave and dishwasher door
The fridge and freezer get wiped shelf by shelf, and the gaskets and crisper drawers come out so each one is done on its own. The oven's inside is done, with the door glass and the racks. The microwave gets wiped inside and out, and the dishwasher's door, seal and filter get the same.
4. Bathrooms top to bottom, including hard water film on glass
The shower glass and tile come first, with the mineral film wiped off the glass, the chrome and the grout. We work the grout lines around the tub, the base of the toilet and the vanity. The mirror and light cover get worked from the floor, the exhaust fan cover gets wiped, and the floor comes last.
5. Closets, shelves and rods, window sills and tracks, blinds within reach
Closet shelves wiped the full width, rods wiped end to end, sills on every window front and back, tracks vacuumed and wiped out, blinds slat by slat where they come down with a cloth. Inside glass on every window. No outside windows above the ground floor and no leaning out.
6. Baseboards, doors, switch plates and outlet covers wiped
We wipe the shoe scuffs along the baseboards, the finger marks around door handles, the dust on the tops of door frames and the gray line below each switch plate. Scuffs on walls get spot cleaned where they come off cleanly; anything that needs a paint touch-up belongs to a painter.
7. Floors last
Vacuumed in each room, along baseboards and into corners. Hard floors mopped. City code counts streets and gutters as part of the storm drain system, and bars anything but stormwater from it unless a permit or listed exemption allows it. We leave by the door you hand the keys back through.
| Room | What a move-out clean covers | What to have done before we come |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Cabinets inside and out, counters, sink, stove, backsplash | Cabinets and drawers emptied, fridge and freezer cleared |
| Bathroom | Shower glass and tile, grout, toilet, vanity, mirror, floor | Toiletries and medicine cabinet emptied |
| Bedrooms | Dusting from the floor, sills, tracks, closets, floors | Furniture out, closets emptied, hangers down |
| Living room | Baseboards, door frames, switch plates, floors | Furniture out, nothing left on shelves |
| Appliances | Fridge, oven, microwave, dishwasher door and seal | Shelves and racks emptied, food out |
| Windows | Inside glass, sills and tracks, blinds within reach | Items off sills and in front of windows |
When move-out cleaning fits, and when another service does
When this is the right call
- The lease ends and you want the place turned over before the walk-through.
- A landlord has told you cleaning will be part of the final inspection.
- The unit is empty, or will be before we arrive, aside from a few boxes.
- You have a new place lined up and want both ends on the same call.
When a different service is a better fit
- You still live in the home and want a thorough clean of the parts a regular visit skips. That is a deep clean while you still live there.
- Bulky furniture or a mattress still needs to go. We do not haul. LA Sanitation runs a free curbside bulky item pickup, and household hazardous waste like paint and chemicals goes to a S.A.F.E. Center.
- The unit is a short-term rental between stays. Turnovers between guests run on a different rhythm.
What Civil Code 1950.5 says about move-out cleaning
Under California's Civil Code 1950.5, a security deposit may be used for the cleaning when the tenancy ends that is necessary to return the unit to the same level of cleanliness it was in at the start of the tenancy.
The code also says a landlord shall not require a tenant to pay for professional carpet cleaning or other professional cleaning services unless reasonably necessary to return the premises to the condition it was in at the start of the tenancy, apart from ordinary wear and tear. Whether a cleaning is reasonably necessary in a given case sits between the landlord and the tenant.
Two parts of the code help with timing. The landlord notifies the tenant in writing of the option to request an initial inspection, to be made no earlier than two weeks before the tenancy ends; the landlord gives at least 48 hours' written notice of the date and time, and after the inspection gives the tenant an itemized statement specifying repairs or cleanings proposed as the basis of any deductions. Beginning April 1, 2025, the landlord takes photographs of the unit within a reasonable time after possession is returned, before any repairs or cleanings the landlord will deduct for, and again within a reasonable time after those repairs or cleanings are completed. Renters can keep their own photos too.
Move-in cleaning for the new place
Before the boxes are unpacked, the new unit's cabinets, drawers, closets and bathroom come out ahead of your things. Kitchen cabinets wiped inside, the bathroom cabinet and medicine cabinet wiped, closet shelves and rods wiped. The oven and fridge wiped out if they were left.
What our Los Angeles visit covers
What the cleaning covers for you is agreed before work starts, and that includes the parts we leave alone. Products are something we go over on the call: ours or yours. We work from the floor, so no step stools, counters or tub edges for high cleaning. Mold is small surface spots on tile and grout only; anything spreading or after a leak goes to a mold professional.