Where To Clean First When Moving Into A New Home

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You spent weeks (or months) planning your move, with countless hours dedicated to packing your life into moving boxes. But before you kick back on your couch or cook your first family meal in your new home, you'll want to clean it from top to bottom — a deep clean is one of many important things to do right away when moving into a new home. Maybe the previous owner cleaned a little bit, but you never know what's lurking in the corners or if their cleaning standards live up to yours. But, when you're transitioning from a small apartment to a house or even just coming to terms with your new space, it can be hard to know where to begin.

You may decide to start with the rooms and appliances that suffer the most wear, and this is fine. The bathroom and kitchen are two priority areas since they get a lot of use and could harbor germs and gunk. Larger major appliances can also get gunky, whether it's dried vegetable goo in the fridge, brown sludge along the dishwasher seal, or mucky buildup in the washing machine. But, if you're totally lost on where to get started, here are some easy-to-follow guidelines for each cleaning task: from dusting to scrubbing.

Your new home likely has plenty of dust, dander, and other debris on all surfaces. Even new construction homes often have sawdust, drywall particles, and other microscopic debris. It might seem like a purely cosmetic cleaning task, but wiping away dust helps improve the indoor air quality. The order in which you dust is important — working from the highest point to the lowest keeps you from recleaning surfaces since the dust naturally falls downward.

Start with the highest points in each room, like ceiling fans, light fixtures, tops of cabinets, ceilings, and visible rafters. Don't forget to check for cobwebs in the corners and dust on HVAC vents. A handheld duster with a long handle, like this Swiffer Duster, makes it easy to reach higher areas without a ladder. Specialty tools, like the Blade Maid Ceiling Fan Cleaner, can also make the job easier. 

One of the first areas you'll use in your new home is the bathroom. Even if you're doing renovations before you move in, you'll need to use the toilet and sink. Bathrooms are high-traffic areas that are often breeding grounds for germs and bacteria. High moisture levels in the bathroom help bacteria grow rapidly. There might also be visible gunk, like toothpaste splatters, soap scum, spilled hygiene products, hair, and potentially dangerous mold.

Deep clean your bathroom as one of your first cleaning tasks, focusing first on the toilet and sink, to get rid of the visible and invisible contaminants. Disinfect all parts of the toilet, including the tank, lid, seat, and outer bowl, with an all-purpose cleaner, and use toilet cleaner with a scrub brush for the inside of the bowl. Replace the toilet seat if you feel more comfortable starting fresh — basic toilet seats cost as little as $10 to $15, so this is an inexpensive swap. For the sink, all-purpose cleaner works — you may need to spend time with a small, gentle scrub brush around the faucet and drain. And, don't forget safety measures: wear a mask and gloves when cleaning toilets or using harsh chemicals, and if you encounter a severe mold outbreak, you may need to call a professional.

Long days of cleaning, remodeling, and unpacking leave you sweaty, so you'll probably want the shower up and running quickly. Bathtubs can also collect a lot of bacteria, and they often have soap scum, hair, dirt, and other gunk. Running some baking soda and vinegar down the drain can easily clear clogs.

To disinfect and polish surfaces, use a shower and tub cleaner, or stick with vinegar and water to break up soap scum. A baking soda paste can also help clean up the gunk in the shower. If the shower has glass doors or a glass surround, use vinegar diluted with water or glass cleaner on the surfaces. Scrub the tracks for shower doors with an old toothbrush with vinegar. Rinse all surfaces well.

Deep cleaning your fridge early in the process creates a safe and pristine space to house all of those perishable food items. It's usually the first kitchen appliance you'll want to clean — you won't need your stove until you have a fridge full of food. If the previous owner didn't clean the fridge well, it could have crumbs, drips, and other nasty food remnants. Dirty coils could also be an issue — they can decrease how effectively the fridge works, cost more to run, and shorten the life of the refrigerator.

Pull out the shelves and drawers, and clean them in the sink using hot, soapy water. Rinse those components thoroughly, dry them, and set them aside while you clean inside the fridge. Hot, soapy water works for wiping down the inside of the appliance. For tough spills, apply a mix of equal parts water and vinegar, and let it sit on the spot for several minutes before wiping. Clean the exterior, including the handles and seals, using soapy water. For the coils, use a specialty tool like the Vanitek Refrigerator Coil Cleaning Brush to loosen the debris, and follow up with a narrow vacuum attachment. 

Kitchen countertops serve as the home for small appliances, utensils, seasonings, dish racks, and many other items. They're also the prime food prep area in the kitchen. Disinfecting kitchen countertops helps create a healthier and cleaner environment in one of the busiest rooms. Tackling this task before moving in makes it easier to set up the kitchen and prepare healthy meals and snacks to fuel the move.

How you clean your countertops depends largely on the material. Warm, soapy water is a safe option for most countertop materials, including granite. Dish soap is a pH neutral option that prevents damage on many typical countertop surfaces. Avoid using vinegar to clean granite, marble, and other stone countertops as the acidity can cause major surface damage. A diluted vinegar solution is safe on laminate countertops and could help remove stains.

Light switches and other high-touch surfaces are some of the very first things you should clean when you move into a new home. Those areas you touch frequently are often magnets for bacteria, especially in already germy rooms like bathrooms. It's impossible to know how often the previous owners wiped those surfaces. Plus, it's likely that there were extra hands in the house touching those surfaces — other prospective buyers, real estate agents, inspectors, and contractors doing repair work, for example.

Common high-touch areas in homes include doorknobs and handles, locks, light switches, faucet handles, toilet handles, grab bars, railings, and keypads to open doors. Use a cleaning cloth dipped in soapy water, or spray a disinfectant cleaner onto a cleaning cloth to wipe down those areas. And, be sure you're using the right cleaning materials for the object you're cleaning. Do not disinfect electronics, like light switches, with any liquid cleaners.

The bathroom sink may already be done, but the kitchen sink and other locations (like a wet bar in the entertaining area or a utility sink in the laundry room) still need a good cleaning. In addition to the possibility of bacteria, sinks may also have traces of food particles in the kitchen or laundry soap in the laundry room. Sink pipes could also be dirty with clogs that slow the drains, so you may need to clean those hidden areas as well. Cleaning out sinks makes them more sanitary for washing hands and preparing food.

Warm, soapy water followed by a thorough rinse removes many of the contaminants. Follow up with a commercial sanitizer, or dilute a tablespoon of chlorine bleach in a gallon of water to help eliminate bacteria. If the sink drains slowly, use a plunger with a flat bottom, like this Rocky Mountain Goods Small Drain Plunger. Add a few inches of water to the sink, and completely cover the drain before plunge up and down aggressively for several seconds.

Your refrigerator might be the priority, but the rest of the kitchen appliances should be close behind on your cleaning list. Deep cleaning your range makes it safe to cook without grease issues or funky smells. Dishwashers are meant to get kitchen items clean, but detergent, food particles, and other gunk often build up along the seal and in the filter, causing odors and decreased performance. And we're all familiar with the caked-on splatters common in the microwave.

Specialty cleaning products, like Affresh Dishwasher Cleaner and various brands of oven cleaners, offer effective options, but simple products you have on hand can be just as effective (and safer). For your dishwasher, pull out and clean the filter. Then, put a dishwasher-safe container on the bottom rack filled with 2 cups of white vinegar, and run a normal cycle. Follow up by sprinkling a cup or so of baking soda in the bottom and running another cycle. To loosen the gunk in your microwave, heat a cup of water with a little vinegar in it for a few minutes to create steam, and then wipe the sides. Vinegar and baking soda are also effective for cleaning your range. If you have a flat-top range, grab a razor blade scraper to ease up cooked-on food.

Movers, inspectors, contractors, friends, and family are just some of the people who may have walked across the floors before and after you took over the home. All sorts of contaminants, including pollen, pesticides, fungal spores, and dust, are tracked into homes. Pet dander, dead skin cells, hair, and other tiny particles could also be left behind from the previous family. Before you kick off your shoes, do a deep clean to give yourself peace of mind and eliminate potentially dangerous contaminants.

Sweeping or vacuuming all floor surfaces removes the loose debris that can get stirred up inside the house. Mopping is next for hard-surface flooring. Floor cleaner formulated for the specific flooring material is a safe option that won't damage the floors if you're keeping them. Vinegar diluted with water is a safe option for linoleum, vinyl, and porcelain tile floors, but it can be damaging to hardwood, ceramic tile, and natural stone flooring. Rinse and dry the floor well before resuming your move-in activities.

Open the cabinets in the kitchen, and you may discover little crumbs, spilled spices, and stains from liquid spills. On the outside of cabinets, it's common to find a layer of grease, especially on cabinets near the range. Food spills and dirty smudges can also blemish kitchen cabinets. Cleaning the shelves removes contaminants, so you can fill the cabinets with your food safely. Degreasing kitchen cabinets and cleaning the outside helps the kitchen look fresh and clean.

Starting with the highest shelves and working your way down, wipe off the loose crumbs and dust. Then, spray all-purpose cleaner onto a microfiber cloth to control the moisture level, and wipe each shelf from the back to the front, focusing on spills or sticky areas. For the exterior, use all-purpose cleaner or equal parts vinegar and water with a little dish soap to help break up grease. Be sure to check that your cleaner is safe for the type of cabinetry you have. For example: if you have glass-front cabinets, you may not use the same cleaner for the fronts as you do for the wooden sides.

Since you don't know how regularly the previous owners changed their filters, it's safest to either clean or replace the HVAC filter right away. A dirty, clogged filter often makes the air inside the home dirtier, and it can damage the equipment. The HVAC system has to work harder to push air through the old filter, which could wear out parts. That, in turn may increase repair needs and make the HVAC system die sooner.

You're supposed to change your furnace filter about every three months, but it depends on the type of filter and how dusty the house is. To be on the safe side, replace the filter or wash it if it's a reusable model. Washable HVAC filters can be vacuumed or rinsed with water and put back in the unit. If you want to go further, clean your HVAC system on your own by removing debris from the outside unit and checking the drain pan.

Kitchen, bathroom, and dryer exhaust fans pull heat, moisture, and odors out of your home. Dryer vents allow the appliance to operate safely and efficiently, while bathroom and kitchen vents control humidity to prevent mold and odors as well as to improve indoor air quality. Cleaning the vents and exhaust fans in a home is essential to enable them to operate effectively.

To clean bathroom exhaust fans, shut off the breaker, and pull down the grille. Hand wash it with soap and water, rinse it well, and dry it. Vacuum or dust the fan blades and housing before putting the cover back on. A vacuum helps remove built-up lint from the dryer vent, and you can buy dryer vent cleaning kits to clean out more of the debris. Range hoods typically have removable filters that you can soak in soapy water for several minutes before scrubbing clean. Wipe the remaining surfaces to remove grease and food particles.

The previous owners left the washing machine and clothes dryer for you, but did they clean them? Having a sparkling washer and dryer simplifies the cleanup process after those long, sweaty days of moving and renovations. Washing machines tend to collect grime from dirty clothes and laundry additives, like detergent and fabric softener.

To freshen a top-load washer, run a long, hot cycle with 2 cups of baking soda in it, followed by another wash cycle, this time with 2 cups of white vinegar. For a front-loader, skip the baking soda cycle, instead running one cycle with 2 cups of white vinegar. On both types, remove any detergent or additive drawers and cups, cleaning them well with soapy water. A toothbrush helps clean crevices inside the machine. Don't forget to wipe the gasket on front loaders. Dryer cleaning focuses on removing excess lint from the trap. Vacuum inside the lint trap opening as well.

Closets, basements, attics, mudrooms, and other storage spaces fill up quickly once you start moving your belongings into your new home. Those areas can also be dusty and filled with cobwebs. Some areas, like garages, could have insects and spiders, leaves, chemical spills, and other potentially hazardous messes in them. Give those stored items a clean spot by dusting, sweeping, and disinfecting the surfaces while they're completely empty.

Wipe all closet or mudroom shelves, cubbies, and drawers with a cleaning cloth. Check corners for cobwebs and dust. Vacuuming the floor clears out the debris that falls down from above. In outdoor storage spaces, like garages and sheds, a leaf blower can come in handy to remove the loose debris quickly.

Before your move-in day is one of the only times you'll have an empty house with all of the walls and baseboards exposed. That makes it the perfect time to clean those surfaces without having to move furniture out of the way. Walls and baseboards often get covered with dust and debris that makes them look dirty and discolored. 

Removing dust with a duster, vacuum, or broom first keeps the dirt from sticking once you start washing the surfaces. In rooms with semi-gloss or gloss paint (usually bathrooms and kitchens), you can scrub with soapy water using a soft cloth. However, the paint often rubs off easily when you scrub walls with eggshell, flat, or satin finishes. Baseboards can usually handle gentle scrubbing with a soft cloth. Grab a toothbrush or cotton sway for crevices along the baseboards.

Windows are often lower on the move-in cleaning list, but it's still helpful to clean them early. Clear, streak-free windows allow maximum sunlight to flood the home, creating a bright, inviting feel. It also gives you a better view of the home, which could help you select paint colors. Just like with your baseboards, it may be easiest to access all windows before furniture is moved into the house.

The best time to clean your windows is when the weather is overcast or at a time of day when the sun isn't shining directly on the window. Sunlight makes the cleaner dry faster, which can leave streaks. Use commercial glass cleaner, or mix one part white vinegar to 10 parts water with a few drops of dish soap for a DIY cleaner. Dusting the window area first prevents dirt from spreading across the glass. Use a microfiber cloth for lint-free window washing.