Move-In Deep Cleaning Checklist for Your New Austin Home

Why Clean Before Moving In

The previous owners moved out, the closing papers are signed, and you have the keys. The house looks empty and maybe even clean at first glance. But walk through with a critical eye and you will find what every Austin homebuyer finds: the house is not actually clean. It is just empty.

Baseboards have a layer of dust built up over years. The inside of the oven has baked-on grease. Cabinet interiors have crumbs, shelf liner residue, or sticky spots. Window tracks are packed with dead insects, pollen, and dirt. The bathroom exhaust fan is clogged with dust. The garage floor has oil stains and grime. The HVAC vents have enough dust to make you sneeze.

Cleaning before you move furniture in is dramatically easier than cleaning after. You have unobstructed access to every surface, every corner, every closet. There is nothing to move around, nothing to protect, and nothing in the way. Once your couch is against the wall and your bed frame is assembled, getting behind and under everything becomes a major production.

This is your one chance to start completely fresh. Take it.

Kitchen Deep Cleaning

The kitchen gets the most attention because it is the room where cleanliness directly affects your health and the one where previous owners leave the most behind.

Inside All Appliances

Open the oven and look inside. Most sellers do not clean the oven before closing. Run a self-clean cycle if the oven has one, or use a commercial oven cleaner. Do not skip the oven racks — soak them in hot water and dish soap in the bathtub, then scrub with a nylon brush.

Pull out the refrigerator drawers and shelves. Wash every removable piece with warm soapy water and dry before replacing. Wipe down the interior walls, the door gaskets (the rubber seals that trap crumbs and mold), and the top of the fridge where dust accumulates. If there is an ice maker, run and discard the first two batches of ice to flush the water line.

Clean the dishwasher interior, including the filter at the bottom (pull it out — it twists or clips free — and wash it under running water). Run an empty cycle with a dishwasher cleaning tablet or a cup of white vinegar on the top rack to flush interior residue.

The microwave interior should be wiped clean with a damp cloth. For stubborn stuck-on food, microwave a bowl of water with lemon juice for three minutes and let it sit with the door closed. The steam loosens everything and you wipe it right off.

Range Hood and Filter

Pop out the range hood filter (it usually clips or slides out from underneath). Most range hood filters are aluminum mesh that is saturated with cooking grease. Soak it in a sink of hot water, degreasing dish soap, and a half cup of baking soda for 15 minutes. Scrub with a brush, rinse, and let it dry completely before reinstalling. If the filter is disposable charcoal, replace it.

Wipe the exterior of the range hood, the vent opening, and the underside. Grease buildup here is a fire hazard and a magnet for dust.

Cabinet Interiors

Open every cabinet and drawer. Wipe the interior surfaces with a damp cloth and all-purpose cleaner. Pay attention to the bottom of lower cabinets (crumbs and spills accumulate here), the top shelf of upper cabinets (dust), and the area under the sink (potential moisture stains or past leak evidence). Remove any existing shelf liner and replace with fresh liner if you prefer lined shelves.

Countertops, Backsplash, and Sink

Clean countertops with a cleaner appropriate for the material — stone-safe cleaner for granite and quartz, all-purpose for laminate. Scrub grout lines in tile backsplashes with a grout brush and tile cleaner. Clean the sink basin, faucet, and drain with a disinfecting cleaner. Run the garbage disposal with ice cubes and a lemon half to clean the grinding elements and eliminate odors.

Bathroom Deep Cleaning

Toilet — All of It

Clean inside the bowl with a toilet brush and bowl cleaner. Wipe the exterior of the bowl, the base, behind the toilet (where dust bunnies thrive), the tank exterior, the seat (top, bottom, and hinges), and the flush handle. Use a disinfecting cleaner on every surface. This is someone else's toilet until you have cleaned it — approach it with that mindset.

Shower, Tub, and Tile

Scrub tile walls and floor with a bathroom cleaner that targets soap scum and mineral deposits. Austin's hard water leaves calcium buildup on glass shower doors, tile, and fixtures. A vinegar-water solution or a commercial lime and calcium remover cuts through it. Scrub grout lines with a stiff grout brush — grout is porous and absorbs everything it contacts.

Check the caulk around the tub and shower base. If it is stained, peeling, or has visible mold behind it, remove and replace it. Caulk removal takes 20 minutes with a utility knife and caulk removal tool. Applying new caulk takes another 20 minutes and makes the entire shower look fresh. This is a small effort with a big visual payoff.

Vanity and Mirror

Clean the countertop, sink basin, and faucet. Open vanity doors and drawers and wipe interior surfaces. Clean the mirror with glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth. Check under the vanity sink for any evidence of past leaks — water stains, warped cabinet floor, or musty smell.

Exhaust Fan

Turn off the exhaust fan at the switch. Remove the cover (it usually pulls straight down and squeezes off spring clips). The cover and the fan blades behind it will be coated with dust. Wash the cover in the sink with soap and water. Wipe the fan blades with a damp cloth. Let everything dry before reassembling. A clean exhaust fan moves significantly more air and does a better job controlling bathroom humidity, which matters year-round in Austin but especially during our humid spring months.

Throughout the Entire Home

Baseboards

Walk through every room and wipe every baseboard. Use a damp microfiber cloth or a sponge with all-purpose cleaner. Baseboards accumulate dust, scuff marks, and pet hair over years of normal living. In a house with dogs or cats, the baseboards behind furniture will have a visible grime line. This is tedious work but it makes an enormous difference in how clean the house feels.

Window Tracks and Sills

Window tracks collect dead insects, pollen, dirt, and condensation residue. Use a vacuum with a crevice attachment to remove loose debris, then wipe with a damp cloth. For heavily soiled tracks, spray with all-purpose cleaner, let it soak for five minutes, and scrub with an old toothbrush. Clean the window sills and the window glass itself, both interior and exterior sides.

Austin's cedar pollen season (November through March) leaves a yellow-green film on every window surface. If you are moving in during or after pollen season, exterior window cleaning is a visible improvement.

Light Fixtures and Ceiling Fans

Remove light fixture covers (the glass globes on flush-mount ceiling lights) and wash them in the sink. You will be surprised how much dust and dead insects accumulate inside those globes — it dims the light output and looks dingy. Reinstall clean covers and the room will feel brighter.

Wipe ceiling fan blades on both sides. Fan blades collect a thick layer of dust on the top surface that is invisible from below but gets flung into the room air the first time you turn the fan on. A damp cloth or an old pillowcase slipped over each blade (wipe as you pull it off) does the job without dropping dust on the floor.

HVAC Vents and Returns

Remove every supply register and return air grille in the house. Soak them in a bathtub of warm soapy water, scrub, rinse, and dry. Vacuum inside the duct opening as far as your vacuum hose reaches. Reinstall the clean registers. Replace the HVAC filter with a fresh one rated MERV 8 or higher.

If the ductwork looks severely dusty or you can see debris inside the ducts beyond what a vacuum reaches, consider scheduling a professional duct cleaning before you move in. This is especially worthwhile in older Austin homes where ducts may have decades of accumulated dust, pet dander, and allergens.

Garage Floor

The garage floor is the forgotten surface in most move-in cleanings. Sweep or blow out all loose debris. For oil stains, apply a degreaser or a paste of baking soda and water, scrub with a stiff broom, and rinse with a hose. A clean garage floor makes the space usable for parking, storage, and projects — and prevents tracking grime into the house through the garage entry.

Closets

Vacuum or sweep closet floors. Wipe closet shelves and rods. Check for any hooks, nails, or anchors left by the previous owner and remove or fill as needed. Install fresh shelf liner if desired. This is also the time to install closet organization systems before your clothes and belongings go in.

Professional vs. DIY Cleaning

A full move-in deep cleaning for a typical 1,500-to-2,500-square-foot Austin home takes one person roughly 10 to 16 hours of focused work. If you have a partner helping, cut that in half. That is a solid weekend of scrubbing if you tackle it yourself.

Professional deep cleaning crews bring the right tools, the right chemicals, and the experience to move through a house systematically and efficiently. A team of two or three can deep clean most Austin homes in 4 to 6 hours. They bring their own equipment — commercial-grade vacuums, steam cleaners, professional degreasers — and they know where to look for the spots that homeowners miss (top of the refrigerator, inside the dishwasher filter, behind the toilet tank).

The trade-off is straightforward: professional cleaning saves you time and ensures thoroughness, while DIY saves money and gives you complete control over what products are used and how each surface is handled. Both approaches work. The wrong approach is skipping the deep clean entirely and moving furniture into a dirty house.

Our move-in cleaning service covers every item on this checklist and includes a walkthrough with you at the end so you can flag anything we missed. We schedule move-in cleans for the day after closing or any time before your moving truck arrives. For homes in Mueller, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Cedar Park, and across the metro, we are typically available within a few days of your request.

One Last Thing: Change the HVAC Filter

We mentioned it above in the vent cleaning section, but it deserves its own callout. The HVAC filter is the most important air quality component in your new home, and you have no idea when the previous owner last changed it. Put a fresh MERV 8 to MERV 11 filter in the day you take possession. Write the date on the filter frame with a marker. Set a phone reminder for 60 to 90 days to check it. In Austin, where AC runs eight months a year and pollen infiltrates everything, a clean filter makes a real difference in what you breathe.

Laundry Area

Wipe the inside of the washer drum and door gasket (front-loaders trap moisture, lint, and mildew in the door seal). Run an empty hot water cycle with a washing machine cleaner or two cups of white vinegar. Clean the lint trap housing in the dryer — pull out the lint screen, vacuum the slot it sits in with a crevice attachment, and wipe down the dryer drum interior. Check the dryer vent hose connection behind the machine to make sure it is intact and not kinked.

Clean the surfaces around and behind the washer and dryer. Pull the machines out if possible (be careful with water supply hoses) and wipe the wall and floor behind them. This area collects lint, dust, and lost socks for years without being cleaned.

Outdoor Spaces

If your new home has a patio, porch, or deck, sweep and hose down the surface. Pressure washing is ideal for concrete patios and driveways — Austin's red clay dust, pollen, and mildew accumulate on horizontal outdoor surfaces and make them look older than they are. A clean front porch and walkway set the tone before you carry the first box through the door.

Check and clean exterior light fixtures. Remove the globes or covers, dump out dead insects, wipe the interiors, and replace burned-out bulbs. Functioning exterior lighting matters for both aesthetics and security when you are moving in after dark.

Clean the mailbox inside and out. Remove any debris, old mail fragments, or spider webs. If the house has been vacant for weeks between closing and your move-in, the mailbox may have accumulated junk mail and advertising circulars.

The Order That Makes Sense

Work from the top of the house down. Start with ceiling fans and light fixtures, then walls and windows, then countertops and surfaces, then baseboards and trim, and finally floors. Dust and debris fall downward as you clean, so cleaning the floors first means cleaning them twice. End with the floors in every room, vacuuming carpet or mopping hard surfaces as your last step.

Within the kitchen and bathrooms, clean inside out: interior of cabinets and appliances first, then exterior surfaces, then countertops, then fixtures, then floors. This sequence ensures that anything you knock loose from an interior surface gets caught during the exterior and floor cleaning passes.

Walk into your new Austin home knowing it is truly clean — not just empty. Your first night should smell like fresh cleaner, not someone else's cooking. Your first shower should be in a scrubbed tub, not one you are trying not to think about. Start fresh. You earned it.