A sunlit, empty living room with clean wooden floors

One idea for your checklist

Top down, back to the Door

Clean in the order dust falls, and nothing on your list gets done twice.

Dust and drips fall, so the high places go first: the tops of doors and wardrobes, curtain rails, light shades and the extractor hood. Worktops and shelves come next, and the floors come last.

In every room, work from the far wall towards the door. You finish at the threshold, and you never walk across a floor you have just mopped.

First

Up high, where a finger gets run first

Tops of doors and door frames, wardrobe tops, curtain rails and light shades. Each one takes a minute, and an inspection often checks them before anything else.

A hand wiping the top of a white door frame with a cloth

Last

Behind and under, before the final mop

Once the furniture moves, the floor behind the fridge, the cooker and the bed is in plain view. Pull them out, sweep and mop behind, push them back, then give the floors their final clean.

High places first, floors last, from the far wall to the door. It took an evening less than I had planned, and the deposit came back in full.

Ciara

Renter, Rathmines

A job on your list you are not sure about?

Ring us on 01 555 0176, Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm. Next time: how a renter in Phibsborough handed back a two-bed with a day to spare.

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