Moving cleaning checklist: the old home and the new one

Two cleans, one move

Moving in Israel usually means dealing with two apartments in the same week: the one you’re leaving and the one you’re moving into. The old one has to be ready for the key handover; the new one should be ready before you move in, so you don’t inherit the previous tenants’ dirt. Planning both cleans together saves you a trip back to the old place in the middle of the move.

The order that works

1. Pack first. Once everything is in boxes, the cleaning can reach what used to sit behind your things.
2. Clean the new place before the movers arrive. Empty, it’s the only time you can reach every corner with nothing in the way.
3. Clean the old place after the last box leaves. That way nobody dirties what’s already been cleaned.

The old apartment, before you hand back the keys

• Kitchen: cabinets inside and out, countertop, sink, stovetop and the wall behind them.
• Fridge and oven, if they stay with the apartment: empty, clean and dry, with the fridge unplugged and the door left ajar so it doesn’t start to smell.
• Bathrooms: shower, toilet, sink, taps, drain and grout.
• Built-in wardrobes: empty, clean shelves, with nothing forgotten at the back.
• Windows, blinds and tracks, where dust builds up without anyone noticing.
• Floors, skirting boards and corners, which show once the furniture is gone.

Before the handover, reread your rental contract to check what condition the apartment has to be returned in, and photograph every room once it’s done. Dated photos help if a question comes up later.

The new apartment, before the first box

• Kitchen and bathrooms first: they’re the rooms you’ll use on day one.
• Cabinets inside, before you put away dishes, food and clothes.
• The tops of cabinets and the shelves, before anything goes on them.
• Windows and tracks, which in an empty apartment often hold months of dust.
• The whole floor, corners and skirting boards, with no furniture in the way.

If the apartment was renovated before you moved in, what it needs is post-renovation cleaning, made for the fine dust and leftover material that building work leaves behind.

Packing counts too

A smooth move starts long before the truck arrives. Sorting things by category, protecting what can break and labelling every box makes unpacking in the new home faster, and frees up the old apartment sooner for cleaning. When you arrive, putting each thing straight in its place, with the cabinets organized by type, keeps the boxes from sitting in a corner of the living room for weeks.

When to book

Book the clean of the new apartment for after you get its keys and before moving day. The old one comes after the boxes are out and before the handover date you agreed with the landlord. If your move falls close to the weekend, remember that in Israel many service providers work shorter hours on Friday and some don’t work on Shabbat, so it’s worth locking in your dates early.

How Hyper Clean helps

Hyper Clean cleans both apartments in a move: the new one before you move in and the old one before you hand back the keys. Packing for your move is a separate service, with sorting by category, protection for anything fragile and labelled boxes, and in the new home closet organizing can be added too. The team brings the equipment and products. Send us your city, the size of the apartment and your dates on WhatsApp, and you’ll get the quote before you book.