What to Deep Clean When Moving Into Your New Home

You’ve closed on the house, and the shiny new keys are in your hand.

Finally.

All those months of searching on Zillow, house tours, bids, and inspections have paid off, and you can’t wait to move into your new home.

That said, as moving day approaches, the reality of the work it requires will likely start to sink in.  

Packing your old house. Cleaning the new house. Completing any necessary renovations. Figuring out how to fit your belongings into your new home. Buying new furniture to match the new house.  

Fortunately, there’s no need to stress about doing it all on your own—Stanley Steemer can help you tackle your large surfaces, getting below the surface to remove all dirt and grime from the previous owners.

Keep reading for our best tips on how to make sure your new home is safe and clean for your whole family!  

Evaluating Your New Home

You probably did a final walkthrough of your new home prior to closing, but you’ll want to do this again once you step into it as the owner for the first time. Now that all furniture and personal belongings from the previous owner are gone, you might notice dirt and grime that you didn’t know existed.

There’s an extra risk of this happening if your contract included a clause allowing the seller to live in the home past the closing date.

You’ll also want to review any available home maintenance documentation that might give you a better idea of what cleanings and/or replacements have happened in the home. For example, a brand-new HVAC system from just a year ago may not need an air duct cleaning just yet. On the other hand, if you know the tile floor hasn’t been cleaned for three years, you’ll want to make sure to schedule a professional tile and grout cleaning ASAP.

Finally, consider any renovations you might be undertaking. If the renovations will be extensive and cause dust and debris to float in the air, such as a kitchen renovation or replacing drywall, you’ll want to wait to clean certain surfaces. For example, dust in the air will land on and contaminate flooring and then be swept up into air ducts, so you would want to clean these surfaces after renovations are finished.

Get a Fresh Start: Deep Clean Your House from Head to Toe

Each home will have a mix of surfaces that will need to be deep cleaned by a professional and things you can clean yourself with your family’s help. To help you determine your own cleaning plan, we’ve outlined how we can help with professional cleaning below. As you read, keep the considerations from the previous section in mind.  

Air Duct Cleaning

 Air duct cleaning improves Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and is particularly valuable to anyone with allergies or asthma. Stanley Steemer air duct cleaning uses a truck-mounted vacuum system to do source removal, which means we don’t just stir up the contaminants in your ducts—we remove them.

We typically recommend that air ducts be cleaned every 3-5 years or when you move into a new home to clear out dirt and dust from the previous owner. We also recommend having the air ducts cleaned anytime construction or renovations happen in your home, as fine particulates from construction can get swept up into air ducts easily and lower IAQ.

Carpet Cleaning

Carpet cleaning is recommended once a year for most households and every 3-6 months for pet owners or those who struggle with allergies. If the carpet in your new home hasn’t been cleaned recently and has spots or an odor, it’s a good idea to clean it before you move in. Our hot water extraction process will flush out bacteria, dust, and dirt while our professional-grade spot remover and odor treatments tackle any tough spots, giving you and your family a truly fresh start.

Tile and Grout Cleaning

Tile and grout are extremely porous materials that allow bacteria, allergens, and dust to fester below the surface where no surface cleaning can reach it. This flooring type is also usually exposed to some of the most dangerous bacteria in your house due to its popularity in bathrooms and kitchens, which makes it extra important to stay on top of professional cleanings that can go beneath the surface, such as our hot water extraction process. Our spot treatments and color seals make discoloration disappear along with the bacteria, making your floor look like and smell new again. We typically recommend homeowners have this done once a year or if they’re moving into a new home.

Luxury Vinyl Plank Cleaning

If you have fake hardwood (Luxury Vinyl Plank) in your home, we also recommend that you clean it once a year or before moving in. Although this floor is more durable and less porous than its hardwood counterpart, it can still absorb contaminants and experience discoloration or even scratches if it’s not cleaned often enough.

Area Rug Cleaning

While you typically don’t inherit a rug from the previous homeowner, area rugs absorb a lot of the same contaminants as your carpet, which means they also need to be cleaned regularly. In the case of moving, area rugs can also be exposed to or damaged by additional contaminants from being put on the ground or stored in a moving truck. Plus, if you clean the rest of your floors, you don’t want to layer a dirty area rug on freshly cleaned carpet or tile.

Upholstery and Mattress

Similar to area rugs, you typically move with your upholstery and mattresses, but you still might want to consider having them professionally cleaned with the rest of your new home. Normally, we recommend that upholstery and mattresses be cleaned once a year or every 3-6 months if you have pets or suffer from allergies, but additional exposure to contaminants during the moving process can make professional cleaning necessary sooner.

Note: We clean leather upholstery, as well as other, more traditional fabric types.

(Bonus) Vehicle Upholstery

As you move, you may also use your vehicle to transport some of your belongings, exposing your upholstery to extra dirt, dust, and allergens. In a worst-case scenario, your kids’ paints or a cleaning product may leak onto your upholstery. To get your car back to its pre-move state, call us to schedule a hot water extraction vehicle cleaning. We also have specialized spot removers and odor treatments that will be effective for the tough spots.

 

For a list of other things you and your family should clean yourselves, take a look at our comprehensive moving cleaning checklist from our other moving blog.

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From inside your home to inside your car, Stanley Steemer is here to help you make sure your fresh start is genuinely fresh. If your home or vehicle is ready for any of the services listed above, call 1-800-STEEMER or go online to get a FREE quote and schedule!