Moving to a new house is challenging, but it also offers a host of new possibilities. Unfortunately, before you can start to enjoy your home, you need to clean it first. Don’t worry, it will only take a day or two, so it won’t derail your plans too much. Cleaning your new house after moving is easier if you still haven’t unpacked, as you don’t have to work around all of the furniture and items. Even if you have, it will just take a bit more time. Allow moving companies Kanata to transport your items, while you deal with the cleaning. Here are a few tips that will make the process easier.

Preparing for Cleaning Your New House

If you intend on cleaning, you will need cleaning supplies first, correct? Instead of shopping for supplies after you have moved, it is much easier to pack them in a separate box and have local movers Ottawa deliver it first. Take a good look at each individual room to see where the cleaning will be the hardest. If the previous owners or cleaning crew did a good job you won’t have much work to do.  Otherwise, it’s up to you. Decide on which room of your new house you will clean first. Additionally, think about changing the locks. You can’t know how many sets of keys for your new home exist. Better be safe than sorry. Furthermore, double-check if is everything is it should be according to your contract.

Laptop on a table.
Check that everything is in order before you unpack.

Check For Pests

You need to be sure that your house is pest-free. Nobody wants mites or other creepy-crawlies to crawl on them at night. They will be easiest to spot while you still haven’t unpacked and the rooms aren’t filled with your items. If you can see any insects with your naked eye, well, you know you have a problem. Otherwise, check for any small holes in the walls, especially at the bottoms. Grime build-up on walls and tiles and strange odors are all possible indicators of an infection. Bite marks and droppings are the clearest sign you have a problem. We know it is unpleasant to think of having a pest infestation in your home, but you need to deal with it. Consider it one of the steps of cleaning your new house after moving.

If you do find signs of an infestation, contact professional exterminators to deals with it. You are unlikely to have the knowledge and experience to deal with it yourself. The worst thing you can do is kill a few bugs and clean a few smears and think you have permanently fixed your problem. After you unpack everything, it will be that much harder to get rid of the infestation. Hire professionals while in the early stages of moving in, so that you can have peace of mind when you start living there. Furniture movers Ottawa can help you find the right exterminators. They store a lot of items and keep their storage units clean and bug-free. They will know of good and cheap exterminators in your area.

Light on a wall.
Check for small holes in your walls as a sign of an infestation.

Time To Clean Your New House

Now that you have investigated the house and made sure that there are no unpleasant surprises, it’s time to clean! First off, you should start with the top. Surfaces like the tops of shelves, overhead lights, and ceiling fans get just as dusty as floors but don’t get cleaned as often. Since you are cleaning your new house, start with those, so that you can be set for a while. Since these areas won’t be too dirty, any mixture of dish soap and water will do. Just wet the cloth you are using and lightly scrub. Of course, if you find any stubborn stains, scrub harder. Use the same mixture to clean floors and other surfaces. If your furniture, or at least most of it, is unpacked, do the same with it. You likely cleaned it before moving, so a light brushing will do to remove any dirt acquired during the move. Just remember, wipe down any wooden furniture with a dry cloth after you have finished cleaning it. Liquids can leave nasty stains on it, so be careful to avoid it.

Cleaning your new house after moving.
Make sure to use a dry cloth for wooden furniture when cleaning your new house after moving.

Cleaning the Bathrooms

No matter how clean and tidy the previous owners were, you want to clean your bathroom thoroughly. Everything being tidy and spotless is less important than everything being disinfected. For the initial wipe down you can use the same mixture of soap and water. Follow it up with some kind of disinfectant spray. For hard-to-remove stains on metal surfaces, you can use some kind of citric acid, like from a lemon, or vinegar. Both work just as fine to make the metal surfaces spotless as expensive cleaners. Consider replacing toilet seats and shower curtains.  You can clean and disinfect them after moving, but you don’t have to. They are cheap to replace. yet very hard to clean.

Continue Going Room by Room

You don’t have to clean one room at a time, but it is the easiest. Once again, start with the top and work towards the bottom. Use a vacuum for floors and carpets. Cleaning your house after moving will take a few days, so keep that in mind. Clean your items one by one as you unpack them. Even the tidiest movers, like moving companies Ottawa, won’t be able to prevent dust build-up if your items were in storage for an extended period of time. You don’t need to deep-clean them, just give them a light dusting. Additionally, it’s never a bad idea to rewash all of your bedding. Once you get to the fridge, make sure you thoroughly disinfect it, even if you cleaned it before moving. This is where you store your food and having germs inside is the last thing you want. After you’ve cleaned, throw a house-warming party, you deserve. Just don’t do it inside, so you don’t have to clean again.