The short version
Clean an empty home from the top down and from the inside out. Do the insides of every cabinet, drawer, closet and appliance first, then walls, doors and trim, then bathrooms, then floors last as you back out the door. Landlords look hardest at the oven, fridge, bathroom grout, floors and anything sticky, so spend your time there.
The biggest mistake people make is treating a move out clean like a normal clean in an empty room. It isn't. When furniture is gone you see the dust line where the dresser sat, the scuffs behind the couch, the cobwebs in closet corners and the dirt along the baseboards that was hidden for a year. Leave yourself more time than you think. Ideally, clean the day after the movers, not the same afternoon.
Pack a cleaning kit before the movers come so it doesn't end up on the truck: a vacuum with a crevice tool, a mop and bucket, a stack of microfiber cloths, a degreaser, an oven cleaner, a bathroom cleaner, a grout brush, a melamine sponge for scuffs, trash bags, paper towels and a step stool. Leave a roll of toilet paper and a hand towel too. You'll be there for hours.
Room-by-room move out cleaning checklist
Kitchen
- Empty, wipe and dry every cabinet and drawer, including the corners and shelf edges
- Clean inside the oven and broiler drawer, plus the stovetop, burner grates or drip pans
- Empty and wash out the fridge and freezer, including the drawers, shelves and door gaskets
- Degrease the range hood, backsplash and cabinet fronts
- Scrub the sink and faucet, and wipe the dishwasher door, edges and gasket
Ask your landlord whether to leave the fridge running or unplugged with the doors propped open. Unplugged with the doors shut is how you end up with a smell, and a smell gets noticed.
Start the oven first. Apply the oven cleaner, let it sit while you work through the cabinets and fridge, then come back and wipe it out. Trying to scrub baked-on grease without letting the cleaner work is the slowest job in the whole move out, and it's the one people most often give up on halfway.
Bathrooms
- Scrub the tub, shower walls, grout and glass until there's no soap film left
- Clean the toilet inside and out, including the base and the floor behind it
- Empty and wipe the medicine cabinet, vanity drawers and the cabinet under the sink
- Polish the mirror and fixtures, and wipe the exhaust fan cover
- Mop the floor by hand, especially the corners and the edge along the tub
Bedrooms, closets and living spaces
- Wipe closet shelves, rods and the floor at the back of each closet
- Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures and the tops of door frames
- Wipe window sills, vacuum the window tracks and dust the blinds
- Wipe doors, knobs, switch plates and outlet covers
- Spot-clean scuffs on walls where furniture used to sit
Go easy on the walls. Test a melamine sponge on a hidden patch first, because on flat paint it can leave a shiny spot that looks worse than the scuff. Light pressure and a barely damp sponge usually does it. Whether to patch nail holes is a question for your lease and your landlord, not your cleaning kit, so ask before you start filling holes with spackle that doesn't match.
Floors and the final pass
- Vacuum every edge and corner with the crevice tool
- Mop hard floors, or vacuum carpet slowly in overlapping passes
- Check under radiators, behind doors and inside the front closet
- Take the last bag of trash out with you
Don't forget the spaces that aren't really rooms: the basement storage cage, the garage, the balcony and the shelf above the washer. Things left behind in those spots are among the most common walk-through notes.
What landlords check at the walk-through
Most landlords and property managers follow roughly the same mental list, and it's worth walking your own home with it before you leave.
They open the oven and the fridge. They look in the bathroom: the grout, the toilet base and the tub. They check the floors in the kitchen and the bathroom for sticky spots and grime in the corners. They look at walls for marks and holes, and at blinds and window sills for dust. They notice smells right away, whether that's a fridge, a trash can or a pet. And they look for anything left behind, from a box in the closet to a bottle of cleaner under the sink.
If you kept photos or a condition checklist from the day you moved in, pull them up now. Comparing the two is the fastest way to spot what's changed, and it reminds you of things that were already worn or marked when you arrived, which is worth pointing out at the walk-through.
Once you're done, walk through with your phone and take dated photos and a slow video of every room, including the inside of the oven, the fridge and each closet. Keep them until your deposit question is settled. If something gets noted later, those photos are the clearest record of the condition you left the home in.
New York's security deposit rule, in plain terms
Under the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, a New York landlord must return your security deposit within 14 days after you move out, along with an itemized statement of any deductions.
That itemized statement is why the condition you leave the home in matters. Anything the landlord holds back has to be listed, so a clean oven, a clean fridge and a set of good photos give you a solid footing if you disagree with a line on that list. Make sure your landlord has your new mailing address in writing so the deposit and statement can actually reach you.
This guide isn't legal advice. If you're in a dispute, talk to a tenant attorney or a local tenant resource about your specific lease.
Timing it right, especially around college move-out
The best day to clean is after the movers and before the walk-through. Packing, moving and cleaning all in one day is how ovens get skipped. If your lease ends on the last day of the month, try to have the home empty a day or two before so cleaning isn't squeezed into the final evening.
In the Capital Region, a lot of leases turn over at once. Late spring brings college move-out around UAlbany, RPI, Siena and Skidmore, and summer is busy with family moves before the school year. If you're renting near campus, like the many students in Troy apartments and older row houses, book help early in those stretches.
The same checklist works if you own the home. Sellers handing over keys at closing and landlords turning over a unit between tenants face the same empty-room problem: every surface shows, and the next person through the door will notice. For a landlord, a clean turnover also gives you a clear baseline to photograph before the new tenant moves in.
If you'd rather hand off the whole list, our move out cleaning in Albany, NY service covers empty homes for renters, owners and landlords, and you can get a free quote by telling us the home's size and move-out date. If you're settling into a new place and want it cleaned before your things arrive, our deep cleaning checklist covers what a thorough first clean should include.