When you're renting property, there always comes the nasty moment when you move out and you wait to get your deposit back. The agency charge for cleaning will often be much higher than cleaning yourself, or even getting a cleaning company in to clean for you. Some areas of the property might have been dirty before you moved in. Unless you brought this up with the letting agent at the time, or it's on the inventory paperwork made when you moved in, you are stuck with cleaning it even though it's not your fault.
When cleaning, don't forget these important areas:
Kitchen - clean out the fridge and freezer. You may need to defrost the freezer if it has got iced up. When you defrost the freezer (e.g. by unplugging it) when the ice melts it will likely flood on to your kitchen floor, so put some towels down to soak the water up, and a bowl under where it's leaking if you can.
If you've left it quite late and the freezer won't defrost quickly, boil the kettle and put the water in a bowl, then put the bowl inside the freezer. If you're really desperate, you can use a hair dryer to warm up the ice. Whatever you do, don't leave the hair dryer resting on the ice, or you'll have a lot of explaining to do when the water and electricity mix and cause a bigger problem than an iced up freezer. Make sure the area around the bin is clean, and if the bin belongs to the property, clean that too. This may be disgusting, but it's the sort of thing that gets checked and if it isn't clean, there goes some of your money.
Bathroom - properly clean the bath, sink, tiles and floor. If the grouting between the tiles is grubby try to get hold of a specialist bathroom grout cleaner. They contain extra-strong bleach and you just squirt it on the grout and clean it off a few minutes later, it saves a lot of scrubbing. Don't forget to clean the plugs. This may be gross, depending on the amount of hair down there, but it'll only take a minute or two. Think of the money you're saving while you do it to keep your mind off what you're doing. When cleaning the general rooms, make sure the woodwork around the doors, the skirting boards, and window frames are clean.
If there is damage to a wall or floor, it may be put down as general wear and tear, especially if it looks like you've looked after the rest of the property and kept it clean.
If there is minor damage, it may be worth not pointing it out and see if the inspector notices it at all. What can look like a big problem to you may just be a minor piece of wear and tear to them. http://www.scoop.it/t/rhnws
When cleaning, don't forget these important areas:
Kitchen - clean out the fridge and freezer. You may need to defrost the freezer if it has got iced up. When you defrost the freezer (e.g. by unplugging it) when the ice melts it will likely flood on to your kitchen floor, so put some towels down to soak the water up, and a bowl under where it's leaking if you can.
If there is damage to a wall or floor, it may be put down as general wear and tear, especially if it looks like you've looked after the rest of the property and kept it clean.
If there is minor damage, it may be worth not pointing it out and see if the inspector notices it at all. What can look like a big problem to you may just be a minor piece of wear and tear to them. http://www.scoop.it/t/rhnws
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