Move-out cleaning checklist, room by room
Published 2026-10-16 · Updated 2026-10-16
Clean the empty rooms after the notice date is written and before the walk-through. The tasks below come from two university housing offices we opened, plus the EPA page on leftover household products. They are examples of what those offices ask, not a rule for every lease. Read your lease for the condition it names, and add any line it adds.
Room-by-room tasks named by housing offices
Kitchen
- Empty the refrigerator. Carnegie Mellon Housing says to empty the refrigerator and wipe down counters and ovens in kitchen spaces.
- Clean the microwave and the refrigerator. Berkeley Housing lists both.
- Wipe counters. Leave cabinet shelves empty of your food.
Bathroom
- Clear belongings from the bathroom, including lockers if you have them. Berkeley Housing says to remove items in the bathroom lockers.
- Wipe fixtures you can reach, and leave the room free of trash. Carnegie Mellon Housing includes the bathroom in the rooms that must be completely clean and free of personal belongings and trash.
Clean the toilet, the tub or shower, the sink, and the floors. Vella's move-out checklist says to sanitize the toilet, tub, and sink and to mop the floor, and Berkeley Housing says to vacuum or sweep the floor.
Bedroom and other rooms
- Empty drawers, wardrobes, and desks. Carnegie Mellon Housing says drawers should be empty and wiped clean with a damp towel. Berkeley Housing says to make sure drawers, wardrobes, and desks are empty.
- Remove wall and window decorations, decals, stickers, hooks, and tape. That line is on the Berkeley page.
- Return furniture and appliances to the arrangement you found. Both pages ask for that.
- Close windows. Carnegie Mellon Housing says to close windows and make sure faucets are shut off. Berkeley Housing says to turn off the heater and lights.
Whole place, last pass
- Remove trash, recycling, and compost. Berkeley Housing lists all three. Carnegie Mellon Housing says to take trash to the dumpsters and that large items left in the room can result in a charge on that campus.
- Return keys the way your agreement describes, and write the date.
- Walk once more with the lights on, then turn them off.
Berkeley Housing says the room should look the way it did on move-in day. That is that campus's standard. Your lease may use other words. Write the words your lease uses next to this list.
The first result, a Vella cleaning-company page, is a commercial move-in and move-out pitch. The Vella page has no stop date. The Vella page covers a broader set of surfaces than the housing tasks above, including baseboards, windows, vents, and appliance interiors. The second result, a Pinterest pin, was blocked and was not read. The third result, Maid in America, compares checklist formats for Georgia homes. It is a vendor roundup, not a housing-office rule. Use the room tasks above, then add whatever your lease names.
Leftover cleaners and paints
Leftover products are part of moving out, and they are not ordinary trash. The EPA household hazardous waste page names paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides as products that need special care when you dispose of them. The same page says improper disposal can include pouring them down the drain, onto the ground, or into storm sewers, and it says to read the product label for disposal directions. It also says to keep leftovers in the original container and to avoid mixing products.
Find a local collection by searching for household hazardous waste near your postal code, as the EPA page describes, or ask the local solid waste agency. Set those products aside for collection instead of leaving them under the sink for the next resident.
Where cleaning sits in the move
Put cleaning after the unit is empty and before the walk-through, on a day you choose. The same week, file the postal change if you have not. The U.S. Postal Service says to allow at least 7-10 business days after an approved request before it takes effect, so the cleaning day and the mail day are both easier if the request is already in.
Notice, the walk-through, and the deposit notes belong with the apartment move, not on a cleaning list. Those tasks are on the apartment moving checklist. The full move order is the checklist for moving.
Do the kitchen first, then the bathroom, then the bedrooms, and finish with the last pass for trash and keys. That order keeps the rooms you will photograph for the walk-through until the end, when the floors are clear. If the lease names an extra surface, add it in the margin of this list rather than guessing from a cleaning-company page.
The moving file has no cleaning list
Our moving file does not include these rooms. The Moving Checklist & Planner contains no cleaning checklist. The admin file, the Moving Checklist & Planner, is one fillable PDF, US Letter. It is for the surrounding admin: plan a household move in one file, work through a timeline, compare mover quotes, log when utilities stop and start, and track who still has your old address. Get the Moving Checklist & Planner for $3.00 for the admin around the clean. For the admin file, the Moving Checklist & Planner has typing tested only with pdf.js (Firefox's PDF engine); other apps not tested. Not legal advice. Not a will.
Use this page for the rooms. Use the planner, if you want it, for the timeline, the utility stop and start dates, and who still has the old address. The file prints no deadlines. You choose the cleaning day.
What a housing list does not cover
A campus list does not decide your deposit. Carnegie Mellon and Berkeley can charge their own residents under their own agreements. Record your lease terms and check local requirements or a local tenant resource. That is the honest limit of this page: the room tasks are real and sourced, and the result of your walk-through is still between you and the agreement you signed.
Questions
What should I do to clean my house before moving out?
Empty the refrigerator, wipe counters and ovens if you have them, clean the microwave, clear drawers and wipe them, remove trash, and return furniture to the way you found it. Those tasks are what Carnegie Mellon Housing and Berkeley Housing ask their residents to do. Your lease may add others.
What should I include in my move-out cleaning checklist?
Include kitchen appliances, counters, drawers, bathroom and bedroom surfaces you can reach, trash removal, and a last check that faucets and lights are off. Add any line your lease names.
What does a move out clean usually include?
On the two housing pages we opened, it includes a clean refrigerator and microwave, wiped counters and ovens, empty drawers, removed decorations and trash, and furniture put back. A commercial cleaner's list can be longer. The lease is the list that applies to you.
What does a move-out clean consist of?
It consists of leaving each room free of your belongings and trash, wiping the surfaces those housing offices name, and disposing of leftover paints and cleaners the way the label and your local collection program say.
How clean should an apartment be when moving out?
Berkeley Housing says the room should look like it did when you moved in. Carnegie Mellon Housing says rooms should be completely clean and free of belongings and trash. Your lease can set a different standard. Read that paper.
What cleaning supplies do I need for a move-out?
Carnegie Mellon Housing names a damp towel for wiping drawers. Beyond that, use what the surfaces in your place need, and keep leftover paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides for a local collection rather than pouring them out.
What are the typical items on a move-out cleaning list?
Refrigerator, microwave, counters, ovens, drawers, decorations, trash, furniture placement, faucets, lights, and keys. That is the set from the two housing offices. It is a starting list, not a promise about a deposit.
