Move-Out Cleaning Checklist for Michigan Renters (Get Your Deposit Back)

Start with the lease, then empty the place

A move-out clean is a vacant-home job. Closets, cabinets, and the floor under the couch only get cleaned when those surfaces are reachable. If the sofa is still in the living room, you are booking a different visit. Tell us that up front so the quote matches the apartment you will actually leave behind.

Read the lease before you buy a single sponge. Some Michigan leases name the oven, the fridge, the carpets, or a professional clean as a condition of getting the deposit back. Others are vague and just say the unit must be left in good condition. If the lease asks for a receipt from a cleaning company, keep the written quote and the invoice together. We can clean to a list you send from a landlord or property manager. We will not promise that an unseen third-party checklist is met unless those lines are in our quote.

This page is housekeeping, not legal advice. Michigan limits a residential security deposit and gives landlords a short window, commonly 30 days after you move out, to mail an itemized list of deductions and the rest of the money. You should give a forwarding address in writing. The exact deadlines, and what counts as damage rather than ordinary wear, live in your lease and in the state landlord-tenant statute. If a deduction looks wrong, check the statute or a tenant clinic before you argue from a blog.

Kitchen checklist

Kitchens decide a lot of move-out inspections. Grease on a cabinet pull and crumbs under the stove are easy for a landlord to photograph. Work top to bottom so you are not dripping on a floor you already finished.

A move-out clean from us covers empty cabinets and drawers, the inside of the oven, fridge, microwave, and dishwasher when they are empty, and the floors once the furniture is gone. We do not haul junk, patch nail holes, or pull carpet. If food is still in the fridge, we cannot clean the shelves.

• Empty and wipe every cabinet and drawer, including the corners
• Clean the sink, faucet, and the wall behind the faucet
• Degrease the stovetop, the drip pans, and the front of the range
• Clean inside the oven and the microwave
• Empty the fridge and freezer, wipe the shelves, and leave the doors open a crack so they air out
• Wipe cabinet fronts, the backsplash, and the counter edges
• Pull the stove and fridge out only if you can do it safely and the floor underneath is part of your plan
• Sweep and mop, including under where the table sat

Bathrooms

Soap film and a dirty toilet are the fastest way to lose a friendly walkthrough. Bathrooms in older Detroit flats and Dearborn duplexes often have caulk that is stained but still intact. Cleaning is not the same as replacing caulk. If the caulk is moldy and peeling, say so. We clean. We do not remediate mold or rebuild a shower.

Do the medicine cabinet, the inside of the vanity, the tub or shower including the track and the glass, the toilet from the base to the hinge, the mirror, and the floor behind the door. Hair in the drain is worth pulling before anyone judges the tub. Leave the fan cover if you can pop it off without breaking the clips, wipe it, and put it back.

Floors, walls, windows, and switch plates

Floors show every season of Michigan grit. Salt film in the entry, sand by a slider, and a gray path from the door to the kitchen are ordinary, and they still need to go. Vacuum carpet edges and closets. Mop hard floors, including the corners a rug used to hide. We do not steam-extract carpet. If the lease requires a carpet company, that is a separate vendor.

A deep clean and a move-out clean both pay attention to baseboards, door fronts, frames, and light switches. A standard clean does not. For a deposit, the detail list is the one that matches how a landlord walks a unit: hand on a door frame, glance at the sills, look down at the baseboard behind the door.

Interior glass we can reach is fair game. Exterior windows above the first floor are not a ladder job we add quietly. Nail holes, scuffs that need paint, and broken blinds are repairs, not cleaning. Do not fill holes with the wrong color and call it done if the lease says you must paint. Ask the landlord what they actually want.

Closets, storage, and the outside of the unit

Empty closets collect dust on the shelf and hanger marks on the rod. Wipe the shelf, vacuum the floor, and check the light. A basement or garage is included only when the quote says so. In a Warren ranch or a Livonia house, that can be half the square footage. Do not assume it is in the price of an apartment clean.

Patios, balconies, and the inside of a storage cage are the same story. If you used it, it is probably on the inspection. Sweep it, remove your belongings, and mention it when you request the quote. We come to the property. There is no showroom, and we do not haul a couch to the curb.

Renters in Royal Oak walk-ups should also plan the stairs and the entry mat. Shared hallways are usually the building's job unless the manager put them on your list. Confirm that before anyone scrubs a neighbor's door.

Photos, keys, and the deposit conversation

Photograph every room after the clean and before you lock up. Shoot wide, then shoot the oven, the fridge, the tub, the toilet, the inside of a cabinet, and the floors. Turn on the lights. Date the photos by sending them to yourself or storing them somewhere that keeps the timestamp. If a landlord later claims the oven was dirty, you want a picture, not a memory.

Write down the meter readings if the utility account is in your name, and return every key, fob, and garage remote the lease lists. A missing mailbox key is a silly reason to argue. Leave the forwarding address in writing, even if you also said it out loud. Keep a copy.

Walk the unit once more with the checklist in your hand. Look low. Inspections notice the base of the toilet, the floor of the coat closet, and the crumb tray of the toaster if you left the toaster. Then leave. A same-day handoff while movers are still in the hallway rarely leaves enough time. We would rather tell you the window is too short than pretend we can clean around a truck.

When you are ready for a crew, request a free quote and name the city, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, whether the home will be empty, and any landlord list you have to meet. Hours are Sunday through Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to noon. Saturday is closed. We do not promise a same-day clean.

Related services and cities

• Move-In / Move-Out Cleaning
• Deep Cleaning
• Standard Cleaning
• Cleaning in Detroit
• Cleaning in Dearborn
• Cleaning in Warren
• Cleaning in Royal Oak
• Cleaning in Livonia

More guides are on the blog.