This is ordered by how a leasing office actually walks a unit, not by how a house is usually cleaned. Kitchen and bathrooms carry the most weight, so they come first while you still have energy. Floors are last, in every room and in the unit as a whole.
1. Kitchen
- Empty every cabinet and drawer, then wipe interiors including runner channels
- Cabinet fronts, sides and the underside of upper cabinets
- Oven: racks out, interior cleaned, door glass both sides, broiler drawer
- Refrigerator: shelves and drawers out, interior and door seals cleaned, then leave doors ajar if the power is going off
- Pull the refrigerator and range forward if you can and clean behind and beneath
- Microwave inside and out, including the turntable and the ceiling of the cavity
- Dishwasher: door gasket, filter area, and the front panel
- Range hood exterior and filter housing
- Countertops, backsplash and the wall behind the range
- Sink, faucet, drain, and around the disposal opening
- Toe kicks and the floor line beneath the cabinets
2. Bathrooms
- Toilet: bowl, seat both sides, exterior, base, behind, and the bolt caps
- Tub and shower: walls, floor, soap dish, and the corner joints
- Shower glass, track, hinges and frame — descaled, not just wiped
- Grout lines scrubbed where staining will lift
- Vanity top, sink, faucet, and inside the vanity cabinet
- Mirror and medicine cabinet, inside and out
- Exhaust fan cover removed and cleaned if it lifts off easily
- Towel bars, hooks and holders
- Floor last: mopped edge to edge, behind the door, around the toilet base
3. Bedrooms, living and throughout
- Closets: shelving, hanging rails, corners, and the floor
- Baseboards along their full length in every room
- Door frames, doors, and the paint around every handle
- Light switch plates and outlet covers
- Ceiling fan blades — top and bottom, not just the leading edge
- Light fixtures and any glass bowls
- Air return grille and supply vents
- Window glass, sills and tracks
- Blinds dusted and hanging straight, with any broken slats reported
- Wall scuffs spot-cleaned where they lift without taking paint
4. Floors, and out
- Vacuum every room including closet floors and the perimeter of each room
- Mop hard floors edge to edge, working out toward the door
- Sweep the balcony or patio and clean the sliding door track
- Check the storage closet or utility area if the unit has one
- Remove every bag of trash from the property
The eight items tenants miss most
- 1Inside the oven. Always inspected, rarely done.
- 2Behind the refrigerator. It gets pulled out during the turn.
- 3The dishwasher door gasket. Visible the moment the door opens.
- 4Closet floors. Emptied is not the same as cleaned.
- 5Window tracks. Two minutes each, consistently forgotten.
- 6The balcony or patio. Part of the leased premises.
- 7Ceiling fan blade tops. Only visible from below when they are dirty.
- 8The floor under where the couch was. It looks different from the rest of the room.
5. Document and hand over
Photograph every room, plus inside the oven and refrigerator, timestamped, before you leave. Then hand over the keys and do not go back in. Anything that enters the unit after the clean becomes something you have to explain.
If you would rather not do the day, move-out cleaning covers this whole list. Book at least a week ahead for a month-end handover — the last three days of any month are the busiest in Dallas.