The first step to making your house perfect for selling is deep cleaning it. The process is similar to the checklist you’d use to deep clean your house before you move out. You can use it as your guide to deep cleaning your house before you put it on the market. And here are some cleaning tips you will hopefully find useful.
Deep cleaning every room and closet will take time, so we recommend that you come up with a plan that spans two to three weeks before you’re ready to put the house on the market and start showing it. Cleaning the kitchen, with all the greasy residue, mystery food in the cupboards and a rarely-cleaned oven will take time and planning to accomplish. Ditto for the bathroom(s), especially if there’s mold.
Whatever your plan is, gather the cleaning supplies first. They should include (but not be limited to):
Cleaning gloves
Sponge or dish towel
Microfiber cloth
Paper towels
All-purpose cleaner
Dish soap
Oven cleaner
Floor cleaner
Products for special surfaces (wood, stainless steel, etc.)
If you’d rather use homemade, more eco-friendly solutions, you’ll need:
White vinegar
Baking soda
Table salt
Lemons
Removing stains from the carpet(s):
If your carpet is grimy all over, you’ll need to shampoo the whole thing. But if you only have a few stains on your carpet or rugs, you can spot-clean. Getting stains off the carpet is not a futile endeavor if you use the right cleaning agent. Use the wrong one, and the stain can become permanent. Speed also counts.
The supplies you’ll need include:
A white cloth
Carpet cleaners
A mild mineral spirit solution
Non Flammable dry cleaning solvent
Aerosol shaving cream, club soda or carbonated water
Baking soda, cornstarch, cornmeal or talcum powder
White vinegar
Here’s a quick cheat sheet on which cleaning agent you should use for each type of carpet stain:
Greasy stains (oil, butter, salad dressing) or ink:
Use a nonflammable dry cleaning type solvent, following all product instructions and warnings.
Light greasy stains:
Coat with aerosol shaving cream or carbonated water. Speed-dry with a hairdryer and vacuum. You can also sprinkle the stain with baking soda, cornstarch, cornmeal or talcum powder. Leave on for at least six hours, and then vacuum.
Water-soluble stains (soft drinks, fruit juice, alcohol, candy, sugar and starch, mud).
Mix one teaspoon of mild detergent and one teaspoon of white vinegar with one quart of water. Dab a clean cloth into the solution and apply as needed. Place several layers of white tissues or paper towels over the spot and weigh down with books or pots and pans. Let stand for about one hour. Replace with fresh tissues or towels and leave overnight.
Combination stains (coffee with cream, gravy, lipstick, ice cream):
Use both the dry cleaning solvent and the wet cleaning agent to remove the stain.
Red wine:
Use club soda to flush the wine from the carpet fibers.Treat fresh spots with a paste of water and cornstarch, cornmeal, or talcum powder. Let dry and brush off. Cover fresh or dried stains with a meat tenderizer and add cool water. Sponge off with cool water after 15-30 minutes. Avoid hot water, which will set the blood.
Pet urine:
Dilute with a cloth dampened with water. Then clean with an acid solution consisting of one teaspoon of white vinegar mixed with one quart of water. Or, apply a pet bacteria/enzyme digester according to the directions. Saturate the spot, cover with plastic, and allow to work as long as indicated.
Removing Slime:
If you have kids, you might be familiar with the slime — a fun, gooey substance kids love — but the carpets don’t.
To remove slime from your carpet:
Use a spoon, knife or paper towel to remove what you can.
Try freezing the slime before removing it by placing ice cubes on top of it for 15 minutes.
Spray a vinegar and water solution directly on the stain (two-parts white vinegar with one-part water)Let it soak, dab with a paper towel.
Finish cleaning with a wet dry vacuum cleaner (the one that cleans both liquid and solid particles)
Removing stains from concrete:
Like everything porous and made with natural materials, concrete stains with time. So you might end with oil in the driveway and food grease from the grill, as well rust, paint, dirt and pet stains. All those can hinder reaching the desired level of curb appeal, but can be successfully removed. Read our guide to removing all types of stains from concrete, with a different set of solutions and cleaning agents for each type of stain.
Removing rust
Anything made out of steel, iron or iron alloys can rust when exposed to the elements. That means that your outdoor furniture, garden tools and gym equipment can rust, speeding up their deterioration and corrosion and lowering your curb appeal. Knowing how to remove rust quickly, cheaply and effectively can save you a lot of time and effort and prevent rust from occurring again.
You have several options for removing rust, including a store-bought rust remover, abrasive tools like a sander or steel wool, WD-40, and using common household ingredients like vinegar.
Remember if this all sounds like too much, you can hire a cleaning company to do it for you. Once the cleaning is complete, don’t forget to email me for a staging quote.
Email: Hello@staged2sell.co.uk
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