Hiring a Move-Out Cleaning Service: Checklist, Receipt, Guarantee

The scope by room: inside and outside of the oven, stovetop, hood, fridge, dishwasher and microwave; inside cabinets and drawers; all bathroom surfaces including grout and the toilet base; baseboards, doors, frames, switch plates; interior windows, sills and tracks; blinds; light fixtures and fans; closets; walls spot-cleaned; floors vacuumed and mopped. Then what's extra: carpet steam cleaning, wall washing, garage or patio, junk removal, a heavy-soil surcharge. The crew size and hours, whether the price is flat or hourly with a cap, the guarantee, and that you'll get an itemized receipt.

Look for a company that lists move-out or move-in cleaning as a specific service with its own checklist, is bonded and insured (ask), and offers a re-clean within 24–72 hours if the landlord flags something. Reviews that mention deposits returned are the useful ones. Marketplaces (Thumbtack, Handy, Angi) work for apartments; for a house with carpets, a local company that also does carpet cleaning saves a second booking. Ask what they don't do.

Flat rate, for a move-out. Hourly ($25–$50 per person per hour) can run long on a dirty unit and leaves you with a bill and an unfinished bathroom when the time runs out; a flat rate for a stated checklist puts the risk on the company. If a company only quotes hourly, ask for an estimate with a not-to-exceed cap and confirm what's in scope. Either way, the price should be for an empty unit.

After the furniture is out and one day before the walkthrough — the same day is possible but leaves no time for a re-clean. Book two to three weeks ahead for a month-end date; the last weekend of the month is the busiest in the industry and carries rush fees of $50–$200. Mid-week and mid-month is cheaper and easier. If the movers run late, call — most companies can push a few hours but not a day.

No — no company can, because the landlord decides. What the good ones guarantee is a re-clean at no charge if the landlord flags something within a window (usually 24–72 hours), plus an itemized receipt showing what was done. That combination answers most cleaning deductions. If a landlord still deducts, the receipt and your photos are the evidence in a dispute; the company isn't a party to it.

A 'move-out' price that's the same as a standard clean; no checklist; no answer on appliance interiors; cash only; no bonding or insurance; a crew that shows up without supplies or equipment; hourly with no cap; and a company that won't put the re-clean guarantee in writing. Also, a price that's half everyone else's — that's a standard clean with add-ons on arrival.

At the start to let them in and confirm the scope, and at the end to walk it before they leave — that's when a missed cabinet gets done in five minutes instead of becoming a re-clean call. If you can't be there, arrange access and ask for before-and-after photos, which many companies provide; then do your own photo walk before the keys go back. Never hand keys to the landlord before you've seen the finished clean.

It isn't expected, but $10–$20 per cleaner for a good job on a hard unit is common, more if they dealt with something unpleasant. Cash to each cleaner rather than through the company. Water and a clear path through the unit help more than the tip.