Cleaning your home so it’s ready for sale

Cleaning your home so it’s ready for sale

Are you about to sell your home and looking for a guide to tackling the cleaning? Brikk has put together a clear cleaning guide to help you through the process. Read on below.
When your home is up for sale, it is important that it looks great and smells clean. Our many years of experience show that putting real effort into a thorough clean can be exactly what gives you the final edge in selling your home. Broadly speaking, there are three steps to a properly clean home that is ready to sell:

1.    Tidying up
2.    Dusting and vacuuming
3.    Washing and wiping down

It will come as no surprise that every room needs to be tidied, cleaned and aired, but how can we do it as smartly as possible in the shortest time? Start with the entrance, where the viewing begins.

Entrance
Shake out the doormat, vacuum the entrance area, wipe the door handle with a damp cloth and remove any visible marks.

Hallway
Dust first, then give it a quick vacuum. Wipe the floor over with a damp cloth, and go over shelves and other visible surfaces with a damp cloth wrung out in a mild soap solution.

Kitchen
Start by wiping down all shelves and anywhere that is visibly dusty. Then do any washing-up and make sure the fridge, hob and cooker, including the oven, all look clean. Buyers are often keen to see that any fittings for storing and preparing food that come with the kitchen look nice. Finish cleaning the kitchen by washing the floor.
Also make sure the kitchen has a bit of personality: buy some flowers and leave a laptop or a newspaper out during a viewing, so people get the feeling that this is a cosy kitchen that gets plenty of use.

Living rooms and bedrooms
Start by wiping down all bookcases, shelves, lampshades and anywhere that is visibly dusty. Give it a quick vacuum afterwards. If the floor is washable, give it a quick wash with a damp cloth and the soap solution you normally use on it. Wipe shelves and other visible surfaces with a damp cloth wrung out in a mild soap solution.

Shake duvets, blankets and cushions, including sofa cushions, outdoors, and make sure the bedroom and living room look neat. Buy a few flowers and leave out some work, a book, a laptop or something similar, so visitors get a sense of a warm, cosy home.

Bathroom
Always make sure the bathroom has been cleaned recently. Polish the mirror and clean the toilet, the floor and the shower or bath. Also hang up clean towels, ideally the newest and softest ones you have.
Every area should be checked and cleaned before a viewing when you are selling. Always remember to air the rooms as well. If you are selling in winter, make sure there is a little heating on in every room. Last but not least, add a little personality to every room – a coffee cup left out, a lamp switched on, a laptop – but tailor it to your target audience, and remember that nothing should look cluttered.