Set the order first: top to bottom, dry before wet
Nothing wastes more time in an empty flat than working in the wrong order. Always go top down: ceiling corners and light fittings, then the tops of cabinets and their shelves, then walls and skirting boards, and the floor last. The same logic applies to dry versus wet work: vacuum the dust first, then move on to anything involving water. Reverse that order and dust and drips land on the floor you have just finished, so you end up doing it twice.
Sort your materials before you start: an alkaline degreaser for the kitchen, an acidic limescale remover for the bathroom, microfibre cloths in two colours, a soft grout brush, a squeegee and a few sturdy bin bags. Never use acidic and alkaline products back to back on the same surface; rinse thoroughly in between. One detail people forget: do not have the electricity and water disconnected before the cleaning is done. In a flat with the meters shut off, the vacuum will not run and the bucket will not fill.
The kitchen: the first door anyone opens
The kitchen is where inspection begins. Landlords and incoming tenants open the oven first, then pull out a drawer. Apply alkaline foam inside the oven and give it twenty to thirty minutes before you start scrubbing; attacking baked-on residue too early only scratches the enamel. Soak the racks and trays in hot water while you wait. Remove the aluminium hood filter and let it sit in hot water with degreaser; a carbon filter is not washable and has to be replaced.
Work through these points in order: the greasy film along the top edge of cabinet doors, drawer runners and the crumbs inside them, the silicone seam between worktop and wall, the sink drain and trap, the hardened limescale around the base of the tap, underneath the hob knobs, and the fridge door seal along with the dust drift beneath it. Pull freestanding appliances forward and clean their sides and backs. If the fridge is empty and unplugged, leave the door ajar; a sealed empty fridge develops a heavy smell within days. One thing worth flagging early: if grease has seeped between the two panes of the oven door, it cannot be reached without taking the door apart, so tell the landlord before handover day.
The bathroom: limescale, soap scum and silicone
A bathroom holds two different kinds of soiling and one product will not handle both. Limescale and soap scum need an acidic cleaner, and it needs five to ten minutes of dwell time rather than an immediate wipe. Grease and general grime belong to the alkaline side. The cloudy film on shower screens is usually mineral deposit rather than dirt, so an acidic product and a soft pad will clear most of it, though any actual etching in the glass is permanent.
The checklist runs like this: behind the toilet and where the waste pipe meets the floor, the top of the cistern, the screws in the seat hinges, the shower head soaked in descaler inside a bag, hair caught in the floor drain, toothpaste splatter around the mirror, under the towel rails, inside the bathroom cabinet and the dust in the extraction vent. Mould in silicone may sit on the surface or may have grown into the sealant; in the second case no product will fix it and the silicone has to be cut out and replaced. Knowing which one you have makes the handover conversation much easier. Finish by buffing the taps and chrome fittings with a dry cloth; chrome left to air-dry keeps every water spot and makes the whole bathroom look untouched.
Bedrooms, living room and hallway: what the furniture was hiding
Rooms look completely different once the furniture is gone: the colour difference where the rug sat, the scuff line the sofa left on the wall, years of dust behind the wardrobe. Do not scrub wall marks with a wet cloth. Matt emulsion turns glossy where water touches it, and that shiny patch draws the eye far more than the original mark did. Work gently with a dry cleaning sponge, and if the mark stays, leave it. A wall with one mark beats a wall with two finishes.
The forgotten spots here are always the same: handprints on socket and switch plates, door handles, the top edge of door frames, the tops of skirting boards, curtain rails, wardrobe shelves and the panel above them, between and behind radiator sections, and the inside of pendant lights and lampshades. Take out the indoor air-conditioning filter, wash it and refit it only once it is completely dry; the smell from an air-conditioning unit is the most common complaint about a handed-over flat. If you have taken down a wall-mounted TV bracket or a shelf, filling and smoothing the leftover plug holes is a small job that visibly changes how the room reads at handover. Leave the floor until last in every room.
Balcony, glass, shutters and the shared areas
The balcony is the item skipped most often. Open the drain grate and clear the soil and leaves out of it, then do the lower profile of the railing and the rings left by plant pots. In Çanakkale the wind carries salty moisture and dust together, which builds a sticky film on glass, so a single pass rarely does it. The correct order on windows is to vacuum the frame, the casing and the rubber channel first, then clean the glass. Do it the other way round and the grit in the channel runs straight onto the pane you just finished.
Shutter and blind slats have to be handled one by one, and it is far easier to brush the dust off dry than to smear it with a wet cloth. On the way out, count the building's shared areas in as well: marks left on the stairwell, the lift floor and the entrance door during the move are usually the first thing the building manager mentions. The name label on the doorbell, the letterbox and the door number are yours to sort out too. These look like small jobs, but most handover-day arguments start exactly there.
Common mistakes, and where the professional part begins
The most common mistake is cleaning while the furniture is still in place. The dirt an empty room reveals, plus the dust the boxes leave behind, cancels out most of the work you have already done. The second is combining bleach with a descaler or spirit of salt on the same surface: that mixture releases chlorine gas, which is a genuine hazard in a poorly ventilated bathroom. The third is using acidic products on natural stone worktops and marble thresholds; the stain lifts but the surface goes dull, and that cannot be undone. The fourth is trying to finish a whole flat with a single bottle.
Most of this list is well within reach of anyone with the time to do it. The professional part usually comes down to three things: an oven and hood filter with years of build-up, wet rooms where the grout has darkened, and any textiles still in the property such as carpets, sofas or curtains. Derin Temizlik has been handling move-out cleaning since 2021, from central Çanakkale and Kepez out to Biga, Gelibolu, Ezine and Ayvacık, working in an empty home with steam and machines and agreeing the scope in writing first. We walk through the property together before the keys change hands, so if there is a part you are stuck on, get in touch and we will come and look at it.
Frequently asked questions
Can the cleaning be done before the furniture is moved out?
It can, but the result will be incomplete. Inside cabinets, under furniture and the floor beneath the rug simply cannot be reached while the contents are still there. On top of that, the move itself makes the place dirty again. The efficient approach is one full pass in the empty flat once the van has been loaded.
How long does a full clean of an empty flat take?
Scope decides the timing, not square metres. For an average empty flat, a full-scope clean including the oven, bathroom, windows and cabinet interiors usually takes a working day. Heavily built-up areas such as the oven, the grout or the extractor hood push that further. During the survey we agree which areas get which treatment and tell you the timing upfront.
Will a professional clean guarantee I get my deposit back?
Cleaning removes a large share of the usual arguments, but it does not cover damage. A drilled wall, a broken hinge or silicone that needs cutting out and replacing will not be solved by cleaning, so raise those with the landlord in advance. Photographing the property while it is empty and clean is the most practical protection against later claims.
The flat I am moving into was just painted or renovated. Is this checklist enough?
No, that is a different job. Plaster dust, paint splatter and silicone residue do not come off with ordinary cleaning products; they need a two-stage post-construction clean, rough first and fine second. Fine cement dust also stays airborne for a while, so it is never finished in a single pass. Mention it at the survey stage if that is your situation.
How far in advance should I book?
Early September is busy with student flats and early summer with rental and holiday-home handovers, so a few days of notice helps in those periods. In central Çanakkale and Kepez we can often send a crew at shorter notice. For the districts we run scheduled days, so it is best to fix the date together.
