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3 Wallet-Friendly Steps to Deep Cleaning Your House Before Moving In
Moving into a new house is a big, expensive undertaking, which means that the smaller details are easily forgotten — and cleaning is a good example. A deep clean of the house ensures that you start off life in your new home on the right foot, and it guarantees that you are moving into a clean, healthy space. This may feel like an additional and potentially costly ordeal to add to a long to-do list, but it can actually be achieved simply and inexpensively.
Deep Clean All Areas
A deep clean allows you to do some much-needed maintenance in hard-to-reach areas (that are only going to become even harder to reach with furniture). These are usually the parts of the house you are unlikely to see, such as the tops of cabinets, under furniture, crown molding, and ceiling fans; Bed, Bath and Beyond details all these often-forgotten spots.
One way to save money on your deep clean is to search online at sites like Rakuten for promotional discounts, coupons, and deals for major retailers. You can even buy in bulk to stock up your cleaning cupboard. Then, you won’t have to buy supplies for several months, which will greatly reduce your home maintenance costs.
Ensure Good Air Quality
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the air in our homes is often more polluted than the air outdoors. This means that ensuring good indoor air quality should be a priority for you as soon as you move into your new home. Those suffering from allergies should be particularly careful, as poor air quality will affect them particularly strongly.
Common household pollutants include dust mites, pet fur and dander, mold, or even pollen from outside. However, there are a few less obvious pollutants to watch out for. Air quality can be affected by chemicals present in certain construction materials and paint, while radon (a natural gas in the air) can be harmful in large concentrations.
The best way to maintain your home’s air quality is to clean regularly and ensure you have the best tools for the job. A good-quality vacuum cleaner is essential, and there are often great deals on these products at major retailers such as Walmart. Handheld models work particularly well at getting to those hard-to-reach areas.
Get Rid of Lingering Smells
Finally, your pre-move clean is an opportunity to really make the house your own. This means getting rid of any smells remaining from your home’s past life. Cooking smells are some of the biggest culprits. You can get rid of these by focusing on your kitchen, especially the oven, stove, and fridge. Scented candles can also help, although they are usually pricey; however, Cosmopolitan has a great list of the best affordable candles on the market.
Another common problem is dog smell, for which there is luckily a very cheap solution. Baking soda works wonders on carpets and soft furnishings, while regular cleaning products will do the trick on hard surfaces such as hardwood floors. This is equally useful advice if you have a dog yourself, as it’s a good idea to take care of dog smells on an ongoing basis instead of letting them build up (and leaving them to be cleaned by the next owner).
A combination of savvy online shopping, smart home recipes, and good old-fashioned elbow grease should be enough to keep your costs down while preparing your house for moving in. Meanwhile, the effort you put into this cleaning stage will pay off in the long run and simplify your future cleaning routine. All you have to do on a regular basis is regular dusting, wiping, and vacuuming in order to ensure you are living in a healthy home.
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