Well, I am almost all the way moved out of this crappy apartment that I have called home with my two daughters for the past 3 years.  Here are some tips on how to get as much of your deposit back as you possibly can;

Clean everything.

Be sure to wipe down these items in the kitchen: cupboards (inside and out), countertops, drawers, stove hood, microwave, drawer under stove, faucet, outside of fridge including sides and top, walls where spaghetti sauce or brownie mix may have splattered, dishwasher, under the kitchen sink, be sure to take the knobs off the stove so you can soak them in soapy hot water to get the grease off.

Bathroom: Clean shower walls and bathtub, wipe down fixtures in bath, wipe down these items in the bathroom as well, toilet seat, lid, tank, don’t forget the little area on the bottom where all the grossness gathers by the bolts that hold the toilet to the floor, wipe countertops, cupboards or drawers, wipe out sink and polish fixtures.

Living Room: Wipe window sills, clean blinds if you can (this is a time consuming pain in the butt), wipe all marks off walls, if you have a sliding glass door be sure to vacuum inside the track, clean out the fireplace and wipe down the mantle and the stone in front of the fireplace.

Bedrooms: Wipe all marks off walls, wipe window sills, clean blinds, wipe down any shelves that may be in the closet etc. Wipe marks off closet doors.

Overall: Wipe marks off all walls and around door handles (you’d be surprised how many you will find), in the door jambs especially if you have kids look for marks at about the 3 foot level.

Sweep and mop all hard floors, be sure to wipe the baseboards in places like bathrooms and kitchens. 

Remove all nails, screws, molly screws etc. Check your lease but it may save you if you take the time to fill holes with spackle or putty, remove all stickers from walls and doors, don’t forget the mug hooks you used to hang the pet nets or the hanging plants.

Replace all lightbulbs, inside and out (back patio etc.) Sweep off the patio and sweep out the storage unit if there was one. 

Vacuum the entire apartment or house and don’t forget to use the crevice tool to get around the edges. 

Windex all windows and mirrors, don’t forget to polish (I use windex as “polishing agent” lol) all sink fixtures and the medicine cabinet metal around the sliding mirrors in bathroom (if it’s there).

When cleaning the fridge don’t forget to wipe the mold or gunk out of the rubber strip on the door.  Wipe out all surfaces as well including butter container, cheese holder, crisper drawer etc.

I used these cleaning agents for my apartment;

Clorox Clean-Up: Countertops, stove top, microwave inside, inside fridge,

Easy-Off Oven Cleaner Extra Strength: Inside oven and in the little area where the rings go on the stove top also under the drip pan area

Mr. Clean Sponge Original: Outside of fridge, dishwasher, inside fridge compartments and freezer area, on all cupboards throughout unit to remove marks and fingerprints, on walls to remove marks, in tub if you have a lot of soap scum, painted window sills

Soft Scrub: Bathroom sinks, Kitchen sink, bathtubs, showers, toilet if stubborn stains exist.

Clorox Disposable Toilet Wand: Toilet

Bounty Paper Towels: To soak up stained areas on carpets, to clean mirrors and windows, for final wipe out of freezer, fridge, stovetop and microwave, they are great for removing fibers, hairs, fuzz, food particles etc.

Clorox and Costco Lemon Scented Wipes: Toilet surfaces, I used to mop floors also cause I was in a hurry, then wiped floors with moist paper towel as a rinse, for wiping washer and dryer (if you have a lot of soap and stuff built up in the washer agitator you can run it on hot cycle and use a paint brush 2″ size to get in the cracks and rinse in the hot water to get all the gunk out.

Don’t forget to clean out your lint filter for your dryer.

De-Solv-It: For removing stubborn stains in carpet including some gum that was stuck in the carpet, (about 3 huge gumballs sized pieces chewed up and then carelessly dropped out of the mouth of a friend of my daughter’s from her most recent birthday party) then of course smashed into the carpet De-Solv-It took it all out just sprayed it on and then used a fine toothed comb and a paper towel and about an hour to get it all out but it’s totally gone. Also this stuff works great on candle wax just spray it on then use the comb to run over it back and forth and to gently comb it up to the surface of the carpet then vacuum off.

I used Hot Shot for some of the stains but it didn’t seem to work so good, we’ll have to see after the carpets are shampooed.

I also used De-Solv-It for this area where a cigarettes had been dropped on the carpet.  There was just about a 1/2 inch burn mark, I sprayed the stuff on the waited, used the comb to break up the melted parts then carefully used some scissors to cut out the melted carpet (this only works if the burn hole is not all the way down into the carpet. 

Depending on your region, you may not have De-Solv-It, if Goo Gone is sold in stores near you that might work too, it’s orangy smelling oilish like stuff so I’d imagine it would do the same thing.  De-Solv-It is cool cause it’s all natural and bio-degradable and stuff if you care about that kind of thing.    

Another cool thing I learned on the internet about this whole move out thing is to take pictures of your work, take two sets, take a picture of the daily newspaper with the date showing inside the apartment.  If you have really bitchy landlords send them a copy of the pictures certified mail and then send yourself the other copy-don’t open your copy.  Then if you have to fight them regarding what was done and what wasn’t you have a method of defense, sometimes just telling them you have a copy of the pictures is enough to win your case without taking it to court with them, but if you have to go you can show these to the judge.  You could also make a video and copy it to a cd one for you mailed and one mailed to them.

This might sound extreme but once I got a bill for $1900.00 from an apartment and it was not warranted, luckily I talked them out of it because I had a copy of the move in checklist that showed the damages that were already there that they were trying to charge me for.  I ended up not having to pay a dime.  That’s why it’s good to be super picky when you move in and write diwn every little thing even if you have to get another piece of paper to include it all.

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