Pre-move cleaning and feeling overwhelmed

lookstraightahead

Our sellers left us a couple of bottles of spirits - the house was clean too but that didn't matter once we opened the bottles. 😂

Racky_Roo

Once the movers have left you could spend an hour cleaning then, that should be plenty of time to hoover, wipe over the skirting boards and window sills and wash any hard floors. Chances are your keys won't be available for a while and even accounting for the drive to the new house, you should still have some spare time

firebubble

Don't bother getting a cleaner in to do a moving day clean, as they never do it properly (I guess they know the new owner is unlikely to complain, and the old owner won't even see the results).

When you pack, as you empty each shelf/cupboard, give it a quick wipe with a damp cloth, so you're cleaning as you go.

Then when all the furniture is out on the day, whip the hoover round to get the worst of the dust lines of the floor.

Give bathrooms a quick wipe, make sure toilets are fully flushed (and check under the seat). 

Clean the sink, taps and surface in the kitchen so they look shiny. 

Make sure bins are emptied, rubbish taken down the tip.

That's all you need to do. Everyone moves in to a house and moans about the filthy state of it, then rolls their sleeves up and cleans to their own particular standard. You'll probably need to clean your new place so save your energy for that if you're not !00%, and just aim to leave the old place in a presentable state.

Brie

We left our place in a shocking state.  In our defense we were selling 2 places and moving into 1 so had tons of things to do.  

The one place I did a 2 minute hoover to get the dust off the walls and around where the cupboards had been but little more.  I don't think (hope!) that the new owners weren't too bothered that it wasn't immaculate (or even close to that) as they were slowly moving into a 2 bedroom from a studio flat so weren't going to be moving in tons immediately.  There biggest concern was that the fridge didn't stay - I think it was a due to food restrictions as well as the fact that it did need replacing.

The second place was going to be stripped to the beams and have a major reno so I did little more than put the garbage out.

And when we moved into the new place my OH rang and said he didn't know what to do - the place was so clean he didn't want the movers walking in and getting the floor dirty.  I could have wept for joy.

Next time (hopefully not for at least a century) I will get a cleaner post move.

Skiddaw1

OP, it might be easier if you broke down the cleaning into manageable chunks so that it doesn't feel so overwhelming. Perhaps make a list of what needs to be done and tackle one task per day? Try not to stress about it too much- no one is going to expect the house to be like a show-home.

babyblade41

Clean as you pack . I usually get removals in a few days before so the place is pretty empty on moving day.
We normally kip on the sofas so moving day is just a whip round with the hoover ..job done 

robatwork

I'd have been mortified to have not left any house I owned in clean condition.  Not "deep clean" clean but thoroughly clean. 

I always leave bleach in the toilets (and leave the half empty bottle), plus written instructions/printed manuals for things like the boiler in a folder for the new owners.

In fact it's only when the house is empty you can really clean it properly. You need to be organised though, as if you have removal men you won't have ages between them leaving and needing to vacate. 

So tips are to have a cleaning pack ready and not packed. Clean each room as they empty them. If you can, mop any laminate/wood/vinyl/tiled floors with a damp mop and something fresh smelling (I use very diluted bleach but that's because I have a slight thing about the "clean" smell of it). Air the house. Buy the removal men lunch (I went to Greggs and bought a bundle of sarnies/rolls/cakes). 

It's knackering, not least because of the stress but cleaning takes your mind off the lorry full of your life.

comeandgo

I must be very lucky but the houses I’ve moved into were immaculate as were the ones I left.  I would have cut off my arm before I left a house in anything other than pristine.  Someone has spent a lot of money to buy my property, I think it is the least I could do and I leave the toilet roll.

badger09

I started doing a deep clean, on every room at the beginning of December. Every surface was cleaned/polished to within an inch of its life, including inside cupboards. I'd started a massive declutter and packed away things we didn't need several weeks before.

I was up doing the final kitchen clean @ 04.00 6th Jan, packing day, as I couldn't sleep. Just as well as I couldn't get to most of the kitchen when they finished that day . All that effort meant everywhere just needed a quick dust & vac after they had finished loading following day.  

And I left a toilet roll in the 3 loos. I realise that's not very MSE, but to me, its the epitome of stinginess to remove them, not to mention inconsiderate.  

Murphybear

On our last move my husband followed the removal men around the house with the vacuum cleaner . As soon as they took beds, wardrobes, large units etc he vacuumed up a few years of dust bunnies etc.  A quick swipe of the skirting boards with a wipe followed.  By the time the house was empty it looked reasonably clean.  

We did a spring clean of the kitchen cupboards as soon as we knew we were moving and got rid of anything old and thoroughly cleaned the cupboards.  

Moving is exciting but it can be stressful and draining.

Good luck with your move.