The best time to clean a house is the one time it will ever be completely empty: before you move in. No furniture to work around, no dishes in the cabinets, no rugs hiding the floor. Once the truck is unloaded, a lot of these spots disappear behind your own stuff for years.
Even if the previous owners or tenants cleaned on their way out, “clean enough to hand over the keys” and “clean enough to put your toothbrush on the counter” are two different standards. Here’s what to take care of first, whether you just closed on a house in Seminole, signed a lease on a townhome in Largo, or are moving into a condo in downtown St. Pete.
Start with the places your things will touch
Anything you’re about to fill should be cleaned before it’s filled. That’s the whole idea behind a move-in clean.
- Kitchen cabinets and drawers, inside and out, including the shelf edges and the corners where crumbs collect
- The refrigerator and freezer, with shelves and drawers pulled out and washed
- The oven, stovetop, and microwave, inside and out
- Bathroom vanities and medicine cabinets, before your toiletries go in
- Closets, including shelves, rods, and the floor
If you only have time for one thing, make it the kitchen. It’s where the last household’s habits show most.
Bathrooms get a true reset
A bathroom that looks fine at a showing can still hold someone else’s soap scum, hair in the drains, and buildup around the base of the toilet. Before you use it, have the shower, tub, toilet, sink, and floors properly scrubbed and disinfected, not just wiped down. Pay attention to the grout lines and the caulk around the tub. In Florida’s humidity, that’s where mildew likes to start.
Floors and baseboards while they’re bare
Empty rooms are the one chance to get every inch of floor, including the strip along the walls that furniture covers. Baseboards, corners, and the floor under where the beds and couch will go are easy now and almost impossible later.
Tile and terrazzo floors are common in older Pinellas homes, and they show dirt in the grout lines. Carpet can hold a surprising amount of sand, pet hair, and dust from a previous household. If you have pets or allergies, that’s worth knowing before you settle in.
The details nobody else cleaned
These are the spots most move-out cleanings skip, and they’re worth handling before you’re living with them:
- Light switches, outlet covers, and door handles
- Ceiling fan blades, which in Florida run almost year-round and collect a thick layer of dust
- Window sills and sliding door tracks
- Air vent covers and return grilles
- The inside of the dishwasher and washing machine
Plan it around your move
Timing makes a move-in clean much easier. The ideal window is after the previous occupants are out and before your truck arrives, even if that’s just a day. If your closing and move-in land on the same day, ask whether you can get early access to the home, or plan to clean the kitchen and bathrooms first and work around the boxes for the rest.
Let the team know anything special about the home ahead of time: a gated community, a lockbox from your agent, a condo building with a front desk, or utilities that won’t be on until a certain date. Cleaning works best with the water and power already on.
Moving out of your old place too?
If you’re leaving a rental at the same time, the move-out side has its own checklist, and it’s the one that decides whether you get your deposit back. Our move-out cleaning checklist covers it room by room, along with what Florida law says about getting your deposit returned. Many people book both cleanings back to back so neither one is left to the last frantic night.
Wondering what a cleaning will run? Our post on what house cleaning costs in St. Petersburg breaks down what moves the price.
Tampa Bay Home Services is a locally owned St. Petersburg company. Every cleaner is a background-checked, bonded W-2 employee, and you can see what our move-in and move-out cleanings include on our Services page. We clean homes in St. Petersburg, Seminole, Largo, and across Pinellas County. Get your price and start your new home off clean.