Cleaning Tips Before, During and After a Move

There’s a simple reality associated with most moving processes, especially for larger households or commercial businesses: A mess is somewhat inevitable. Between packing materials and what might be hundreds of individual items being packed and moved from their original places to new ones, messes are generally unavoidable in certain areas.

That said, the pros at CMS Relocation & Logistics are here to help all our Seattle clients with cleanliness and mess cleanup, in addition to our quality residential and corporate moving solutions that include a full range of packing and moving services that let you focus on other important tasks. How do we assist you with the cleanup process following any move, and what are some general tips we offer to clients as they perform move-out cleaning themes on their previous location? Here’s a primer.

How We Can Help You Clean

During the moving process, especially if you have a large number of items being moved, a major part of the mess will include boxes, packing tape, packing paper and several other related items. These will often end up strewn across various locations in your home as you began to unpack your boxes at your new home.

At CMS, we offer a Debris Pick-Up service, you can contact your move coordinator to schedule a time for a debris pick-up. For a small charge we will come pick up all your empty boxes and packing paper and recycle it for you.

If you schedule a full unpack (where we will unwrap and unbox your goods), the debris removal will be included. As we complete the unpacking services we will remove the empty boxes and packing paper with us.

In addition, we provide several areas of valuable expertise to our clients on cleaning for a move — both in terms of preparation for the move at your initial location and for unpacking and related themes in your new place. Here are some tips we often provide in both areas.

Move-Out Cleaning Tips

Move-out cleaning is a vital task for many of our clients, especially those who were renting a prior location and need to clean it to receive their security deposit back from a landlord. Here are some simple tips we offer for keeping things as clean and organized as possible during the move, plus for cleaning once it’s done:

• Pack items first, leave cleaning for after: What’s the point of cleaning a given area if you’re going to be making a mess of it in a few hours or days? As you prepare for moving day, we recommend organizing the goods that will be packed into boxes but leaving the dusting and mopping for after the moving truck has left.
• Pack strategically: When you’re thinking about how to pack items for your move, consider the value of packing strategically. Move room to room, packing one room at a time and labeling each specific room accordingly so that your goods make it to the same corresponding room at your new home. The driver will inventory the shipment based on the rooms the goods were loaded from at your pick-up residence.
• Clean from top to bottom: When all your items have been moved and it’s time for major cleaning, we recommend always going from top to bottom. Start high up on walls or even on ceilings, working your way down and across to cover every area of your home. Pay particular attention to ceilings, tops of walls and any other hard-to-reach areas that may get missed during a normal cleaning routine.

 Unpacking Cleaning

In addition to working with our pros for disposal of all unneeded boxes and other packing materials, here are some basic tips for cleaning and organizing during the unpacking stage:

• Maintain organization: You went to such efforts to stay organized during the move itself — don’t let these go to waste! Make sure that you maintain organization as you unpack and place items into their appropriate areas throughout your new home or office.
• Advanced cleaning: If possible, arrange for the new home or building to be cleaned prior to your move-in date. This will give you an opportunity to get a head start on basic cleaning tasks and prepare the space for your belongings.
• More advanced cleaning: If possible, arrange for some of the more intensive or complex work to be completed prior to your move-in date. For example, if you have carpets in a home or office that you need deep cleaned, ask about carpet cleaning services.
• Go at your own pace: There’s no rule saying you have to unpack everything in a single day, or within any time period. Our advice? Unpack at your own pace as you see fit. The most important thing is that you’re able to enjoy — or at least tolerate — the entire process of moving, which includes making yourself comfortable right away in your new space.

For more on cleaning and organization during and after any move, or to learn about how we’ll help with packing material disposal and other areas, speak to the staff at CMS Relocation & Logistics today.