End of Lease Cleaning in Melbourne: The Room-by-Room Tenant Checklist

Moving out is busy enough without wondering whether you have cleaned everything. This checklist walks through a Melbourne rental room by room, so you know what a thorough end of lease clean involves and can decide whether to do it yourself or hand it over. Use it as a working list: print it, tick things off, and leave yourself more time than you think you need.

Before you pick up a sponge

Find your lease and the condition report from when you moved in. The aim is to leave the property as clean as you received it, allowing for normal wear and tear. Keep the report beside you as you work, because it is the best guide to what the property looked like on day one.

Gather your supplies before you start: microfibre cloths, a scourer, a razor scraper for glass, a bucket, a mop, a vacuum with a crevice tool, and a degreaser for the kitchen. Having everything in one place stops the job from stretching out over several days.

A sensible order of work

The order you clean in makes a real difference. Work from the top of each room to the bottom, so dust and drips fall onto surfaces you have not cleaned yet. Do the kitchen and bathrooms first because they take longest. Leave floors until last in every room so you are not walking over them again once they are done.

The kitchen

The kitchen is where most cleaning gets missed. Work through these:

Benches, sink, splashback and stovetop
Inside the oven, plus the cooktop and range hood
The dishwasher, if the property has one
Inside every cupboard and drawer, wiped out and empty

Ovens and range hoods take the longest, so start them first and let the cleaner work while you move on to something else. Pull out the oven racks and soak them, and do not forget the range hood filter, where grease collects quietly over a tenancy.

Bathrooms and laundry

Bathrooms and the laundry need to be descaled, not just wiped. Look closely at shower screens, tapware, grout and the base of the tub. Soap scum and limescale build up over a tenancy and show up clearly under good light. Check the exhaust fan cover, the tops of door frames and the laundry tub, including the overflow and plug hole.

Bedrooms and living areas

Empty every wardrobe, cupboard and drawer and wipe them out inside, including shelves and the tops of fixtures. Vacuum and mop all hard floors, paying attention to the corners and the edges of rooms where dust collects. Wipe skirting boards, door frames and light switches, which pick up marks you stop noticing after a while.

Windows, tracks and flyscreens

Windows are a common surprise. Clean the glass, but also the tracks, sills and flyscreens. Tracks hold dirt and dead insects, and they are easy to overlook. Sliding doors need the same treatment, including the rail at the bottom. If you have flyscreens, take them out, wash them and refit them.

The garage and outdoor areas

If your rental has a garage, sweep it out and clear the cobwebs from the corners and ceiling. Remove anything you have stored there, and check for oil marks on the floor. If there are outdoor areas you are responsible for, make sure they are tidy and clear of rubbish.

Carpets

Carpets are a separate job from the rest of the clean. Steam cleaning lifts dirt out of the pile rather than pushing it further in. If you are booking a professional clean anyway, it is usually simpler to add carpets to the same visit so everything is finished at once, and most carpets are walk-on dry within a few hours.

How long it takes

A full end of lease clean is rarely a quick afternoon job. Even a modest rental has an oven, two or more wet areas, several wardrobes and a full set of windows, and each one has its own detail work. Split the checklist across two days if you can: kitchen and bathrooms on the first, bedrooms, floors and windows on the second. If your schedule is already full, that is the point at which booking a professional clean makes practical sense.

The final walk-through

When you think you are finished, do a slow lap of the property with your entry condition report in hand. Open every cupboard, wardrobe and drawer one last time. Check the oven and the dishwasher. Look at the windows from inside with the light behind them, because streaks show up best that way. Take dated photos of each room for your own records.

Common mistakes

A few errors come up again and again. People clean floors before finishing the rest of the room and then have to redo them. They leave the oven to the last day, when it needs the most time. They forget the tracks and flyscreens. And they clean while furniture is still in the way, so the insides of wardrobes and the floor beneath beds never get done.

Doing it yourself or booking a clean

A full checklist can take a long time, especially while you are also packing. Our Bond & End of Lease Cleaning starts from $280 and is the service we are named for. It covers inside all cupboards, drawers and wardrobes, the oven, cooktop, range hood and dishwasher, a full descale of the bathroom and laundry, windows, tracks, sills and flyscreens, and a garage sweep with cobweb removal.

We clean to the REIV exit condition standard, and the 7-day re-clean guarantee is in writing: if your property manager raises a cleaning issue within 7 days, we come back and fix it free of charge. Carpet steam cleaning (from $35/room) and window cleaning (from $8/window) can be bundled and quoted as one job.

We are based in Bundoora and cover all 386 Melbourne metro suburbs. Most quotes take under five minutes by phone, and bookings are usually within two to four business days, so you can plan the clean around your move.

Frequently asked questions

What should be on my end of lease cleaning checklist?
Kitchen (including oven, cooktop, range hood and dishwasher), bathroom and laundry descale, inside all cupboards, drawers and wardrobes, floors, windows, tracks, sills and flyscreens, and the garage if you have one.

Does your clean include the oven?
Yes. Oven, cooktop, range hood and dishwasher are part of the Bond & End of Lease Cleaning inclusions.

Can I add carpet cleaning?
Yes. Carpet steam cleaning (from $35/room) can be added to a bond clean, and we quote bundles as one job.

How much does it cost?
Bond & End of Lease Cleaning starts from $280. Call for a price, as the final figure depends on the property.

Which suburbs do you cover?
All 386 Melbourne metropolitan suburbs. We are based in Bundoora, so the northern suburbs get our fastest response.

How soon can you book me in?
Bookings are usually within two to four business days after we confirm the scope and price.

Ready to tick it off your list? Call 0401 398 705 or request a free quote.

See also our services, contact page and free quote form.

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