Move-in cleaning in Greer: what to clean before you unpack

The truck is not due until Saturday, the keys are in your hand, and the house is completely empty. That quiet window is the only time you will ever get to clean the inside of every cabinet, closet and drawer without moving a single box. Move in cleaning in Greer is really about using that window well, whether you do it yourself or hire a crew.

Previous owners and tenants rarely leave a home dirty on purpose, but "move-out ready" and "ready to put your dishes away" are not the same standard. Here is the order we would follow, and where we usually find the spots people regret skipping.

Start where the food goes

Open the kitchen cabinets and drawers first, before anything is stored in them. Shelf liners hide crumbs, and the corners near the sink often have a faint film. Wipe the inside and outside of each cabinet, including the tops of the handles, where fingerprints build up.

Then move to the appliances. The refrigerator and freezer need to be cleaned inside before they hold food, and the oven and microwave deserve a full scrub. Degrease the range hood, stovetop and backsplash last, so drips from above do not land on surfaces you already cleaned.

Bathrooms: the three places that get missed

Everyone scrubs the toilet bowl and the tub. In an empty home, check these instead:

• The base of the toilet and the area behind it
• Grout lines in the shower and on the floor
• The inside of the vanity, under the sink, where moisture sits
• Shower glass and tracks, which collect soap film
• Exhaust fan covers, which hold dust that falls back on the room

If the home has been vacant for a while, run the water in every sink and tub for a minute first. It clears stale water from the traps and tells you right away whether anything is draining slowly.

Closets, laundry and the rooms nobody photographs

Listing photos focus on the kitchen and living room. The laundry room, hall closets and garage entry are where dust and lint pile up. Wipe closet shelves and rods, vacuum the floors, and check the dryer vent area and the back of the washer hookup, since these are much harder to reach once the machines are in.

Wipe the baseboards, door frames and light switches in every room. In a house this empty, they are the first things you see when the lights come on, and one pass with a damp cloth makes the whole place feel newer.

One more habit from the empty-house stage: open every window and door before you start, even in cooler months, and leave them open for a few minutes after you finish. Cleaning products and stale air are easier to live with when the house has had a full air change, and any lingering paint or carpet smell from the last occupants clears faster. Keep a bucket and a few cloths near the door for whatever turns up later, because there is always one more smudge on a wall once the lamps are plugged in.

Floors last, windows before them

Clean windows, sills and tracks before you do the floors, because dust falls downward. Spring pollen in the Upstate collects in window tracks, and a home that sat closed for a few months will have more than you expect. Vacuum first, then mop edge to edge, working toward the exit so you do not walk across wet floor. Carpet should be vacuumed in slow, overlapping passes. If you plan professional carpet work, schedule it before furniture goes in.

How much does move-in cleaning cost in Greer?

There is no honest flat number, because the work changes with the home. What moves the estimate:

• Home size, in rooms and square feet
• Condition left by the last occupant
• Appliances, since the inside of the oven and fridge are included but heavy grease adds time
• Empty or furnished, as empty homes clean faster
• Timing, because a tight schedule may need a larger team

Perfect Services gives prices only after a free in-home estimate, a quick visit with no commitment. Call (864) 399-5168, text (864) 666-8520 or fill in the form on the move-in cleaning page for Greer. You can also send a request from the estimate section on our home page.

When it makes sense to call a crew

Greer has a mix of homes: older houses near Downtown Greer, and newer ones near GSP Airport and the BMW plant, with I-85, SC-14, SC-101 and US-29 connecting them. Newer homes are often easier, but a home that was sold by a family with pets or kids will have different needs than one that sat staged and empty. Our move-in and move-out cleaning service is built for exactly this stage, and our team works the way Brazilian cleaners do: by hand, corner by corner, with the baseboards and door frames included.

If the previous owners also left the home needing more than a standard clean, we may recommend adding deep cleaning. Renters leaving a place face the opposite question, and our move-out checklist for Duncan renters shows that side of the process.

If your new place sits just outside Greer, the same checklist applies; our move-in and move-out cleaning in Duncan follows the same room-by-room list. Also, pets and kids change the picture. A previous owner with a dog leaves hair in floor vents and along baseboards, and a family with small children leaves marks low on walls and around light switches. Look at those two heights, ankle and hand, when you walk through.

Most people book a week or so ahead of closing. Put the clean on the calendar for the day after keys and before the movers, and the first night in your new home will feel very different. Request your free move-in cleaning estimate in Greer and we will take a look at the house.

More answers in our house cleaning FAQ: move-out cleaning →