Bond Cleaning Before or After Furniture Removal? Getting the Order Right

Moving out of a rental property is more than just chucking your possessions in a box and turning in the keys. How you approach furniture removal and bond cleaning can dictate the finish of your final clean and how your property inspection pans out. A recurring question for renters and owners alike is: When should a bond clean take place, before or after moving your belongings out? 

While everyone has their own approach to rental vacate cleaning, the best practice is, by and large, to remove your furniture and all belongings, and hire a bond cleaning service once your property is empty. To facilitate more efficient cleaning and a deeper overall clean of your floor, corners, walls, skirting boards, cupboards, and other tricky spaces, an empty house is essential to allow access behind all furniture and to avoid further damage and dirty footprints. In this ultimate guide on how to move house and arrange end-of-lease cleaning, Excellent Bond Cleaning provides you with a step-by-step timeline and helpful hints.

Should You Do Bond Cleaning Before or After Furniture Removal?

Typically, you should carry out your bond cleaning after removing all furniture from the property.  Once you’ve fully moved out and cleared all of your possessions, boxes, and other clutter, cleaners have clear access to every corner of the house, apartment, or unit to perform a more intensive bond clean. After-cleaning helps ensure that all areas that have been hidden or obstructed by furniture and items get a good scrub, from carpets to floorboards to skirtings and cupboard corners. 

Furthermore, it prevents you from introducing dust, footprints, marks, and dirt onto an already-cleaned surface through the rigmarole of moving. However, that’s not to say you can neglect everything until after the movers have gone. Minor cleaning during packing and cleaning individual pieces of furniture prior to moving can save time and ensure that everything is in good shape. The key is to leave the comprehensive final clean for last. 

Recommended sequence for moving out and cleaning your rental property: 

1. Organize and pack up everything: Make it clear what is moving with you, what is being donated, thrown out, or sold. 

2. Move furniture and all belongings: Make sure nothing is left in cupboards, on shelves, or out of the way anywhere in the unit or home. 

3. Dispose of all rubbish and unwanted items: Leaving excess waste in a rental unit can impact its overall condition. 

4. Address any small issues: Carry out simple fixes such as polishing away minor marks, where applicable. 

5. Schedule your final bond clean: Schedule for the bond clean once your unit or home is empty. 

6. Final Inspection: Beforehand, walk through and ensure every room aligns with your original rental inspection list before you Hand Over the Keys.

What Is the Best Order for Furniture Removal and Bond Cleaning?

The timing of your furniture removal and bond cleaning can be quite important in ensuring a smooth exit. The simple rule of thumb when dealing with bond cleaning and furniture removal is to get all your belongings and furniture removed prior to the cleaning being completed. This will make it easier for the cleaners to access and clean each area of the property without obstruction. It also significantly reduces the chances of you causing new mess within the premises after the cleaning has been carried out.

1. Pack and Organise Contents and Belongings

Prior to moving, make sure all your belongings and items you are transporting to your new home are packed. Separate items that you intend on selling, throwing away, or donating. 

2. Remove Furniture and Possessions

Once you have packed all your belongings for removal, make sure all the furniture, boxes and possessions have been removed from the property. Remember, things will likely be packed into wardrobes, cupboards, and have likely been accumulated in the garage, balcony or storage spaces. 

3. Remove Rubbish, Packaging, and Personal Belongings

Before the cleaners get to the property, it's important that all rubbish, packaging and unwanted possessions are removed from the premises. An empty and clean home will give the cleaning crew more time to focus on properly cleaning every surface and corner.

4. Carry Out Minor Repairs If Necessary

If there are any reasonable marks or smaller issues that need to be addressed, make sure you attend to these, where necessary, prior to the final clean. This ensures the property is presented in the best possible condition prior to handover.

5. Book and Carry Out Professional Bond Cleaning

As the property is empty and clear of furniture and possessions, you are now able to schedule and carry out the final bond cleaning. All areas within the property will be cleared for access by the bond cleaning professional, such as floors, carpets, kitchen and bathroom surfaces, windows and cupboards, etc.

6. Conduct Final Walkthrough

After the bond cleaning has been carried out, it's now time to carry out one final walkthrough of each room in the property. Look for any outstanding or missed areas from the bond cleaning, or any residual belongings and rubbish that might have been overlooked.

7. Complete Final Rental Inspection

Once you are satisfied with the cleanliness and the property is entirely empty and tidy, you can then proceed with conducting a final rental inspection of the property and handing over your keys.

What Should You Clean Before Furniture Removal?

While it's ideal to do the final cleaning on the empty property after the removalist has taken everything away, there are a variety of cleaning and preparation duties you can carry out in advance to simplify the move and make the final clean more manageable in the days before and during packing.

1. Dispose of unwanted items: Sorting through possessions and putting aside anything you no longer need should be one of the first tasks you undertake. 

2. Clean appliances: Remove any dirt and food residue from appliances that are coming with you, for example, refrigerator, microwave, washer or small kitchen appliances, before loading them for transit.

3. Wipe down reachable surfaces: Wipe reachable shelves, tabletops, work surfaces, and so on during the packing process. This should not be regarded as part of the final clean; the movement of household effects may still cause debris to accumulate once the house has been cleared of furniture and your possessions.

4. Remove spiders and loose matter: Clear cobwebs, dust and loose dirt from ceiling corners, and inaccessible places in corners and behind items of furniture.

5. Wipe down items for the new home: Dust, grime and pet hair can be transported from the current home to your new home via furniture and other effects, so consider wiping or vacuuming anything being moved into the new place as part of the early clean.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When should bond cleaning be done before or after furniture removal?

Bond cleaning should be done after furniture removal because an empty property (without furniture) gives professional cleaners better access to floors, corners, cupboards, skirting boards, and areas that were hidden behind furniture.

2. Is it okay to clean before removing furniture? 

You can get rid of the clutter and start wiping, disinfecting your home, or cleaning your appliances a little beforehand, but for your bond cleaning, it is important to do so after the house is vacant.

3. When to carry out the bond cleaning after moving the furniture? 

Your end of lease cleaning can be booked as soon as the house is vacated because that will prevent any further dust settlement, dirt accumulation etc and will help to finish the job in a quick time.

4. What places must be covered in your bond cleaning plan after removal of furniture? 

Floors, carpet, skirtboards, walls, doors, wardrobes, cupboards, kitchen area, toilets, bathroom, toilet room, corners, spots beneath furnishings, as well as below and behind furnishings must be covered.

5. Is moving furniture post bond cleaning really an issue?

Furniture leaving scuffs, scratches, foot tracks, and dirt on your walls as well as flooring might cause concerns even after the cleaning if the job has actually been done initially prior to the furniture removal. 

6. Why should you choose Excellent Bond Cleaning?

When it comes to cleaning before the final walkthrough inspection of your rental room, you need the most perfect bond cleaners, as they can cover every area of the home, leaving it spotless. Hence, booking Efficiently Bond Clean after furniture removal would provide greater ease in cleaning more areas.