Before you start your end of lease cleaning checklist
Get everything out first. An empty home shows every mark, and nothing gets dirty again once it's done.
Then find your entry condition report (the record of how the home looked the day you moved in). Each state judges the clean against how the place started, allowing for fair wear and tear, so a stain that was there on day one isn't yours. In Queensland, use our bond clean checklist instead: it follows the RTA's forms.
End of lease cleaning in the kitchen
- Inside the oven, plus the racks, trays and door glass.
- Stovetop, under the burners and the rangehood filter.
- Inside every cupboard and drawer, then the fronts and handles.
- Benches, splashback, sink, taps and the plughole.
- Dishwasher filter and door seal, if the home came with one.
- The floor where your fridge stood, and behind it.
Bathrooms, toilets and laundry on the end of lease list
- Shower screen, tiles, grout and the drain.
- Toilet inside and out, including the base and the hinges of the seat.
- Mirrors, the vanity and inside its cupboards.
- Exhaust fan cover, which often holds more dust than you'd expect.
- Laundry tub, and the floor and wall behind the washing machine.
Bedrooms and living areas before the final inspection
- Inside wardrobes: shelves, rails and sliding door tracks.
- Skirting boards, doors and door frames, on both sides.
- Light switches, power points and light fittings.
- Ceiling fans, air conditioning vents and filters.
- Windowsills, window tracks and the inside glass.
- Marks on walls that wash off. Our wall guide shows how.
Floors, last of all in an end of lease clean
- Vacuum the carpets, going slowly along the edges and into corners.
- Mop hard floors from the far end of the home back to the front door.
- Check under where the beds and couch stood. That's where the dust went.
Not cleaning, but still yours when the lease ends
- Every belonging out, including the shed and the letterbox.
- Bins emptied and rubbish gone from the property.
- Keys, remotes and any other security devices ready to hand back.
- Patching holes and repainting. WA's Consumer Protection treats those as repairs, a separate item from cleaning.
- Gardens and lawns. They aren't part of a cleaning job through Cleaner Scout.
What each state's end of lease rules ask of you
| What you leave behind | Can the lease make you use a professional? | |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Reasonably clean and in the same condition as when you moved in, taking fair wear and tear into account (Residential Tenancies Act 1997 s 63(2)). | Only in two cases (reg 12): the home was professionally cleaned just before you moved in and you were told, or a professional clean is needed to restore how it started. |
| New South Wales | Reasonably clean, having regard to how it was at the start (standard agreement clause 18.3). | Carpets only if the landlord agreed to a pet inside and the clean is reasonable for that pet. |
| South Australia | The Law Handbook says a reasonable state of cleanliness. | The Law Handbook says a blanket carpet clean term is unenforceable, apart from a reasonable pet condition. |
| ACT | Substantially the same state of cleanliness as at the start, with your belongings gone. | The ACT Government says you're not required to. Carpets are the one exception, if the agreement says so and the landlord has evidence it was done at the start. |
| Tasmania | As nearly as possible the condition in the condition report, apart from reasonable wear and tear. | The Tenants' Union of Tasmania says not unless it's warranted. |
| Western Australia (vacate clean) | As closely as possible the same condition as at the start, fair wear and tear excepted. | Consumer Protection says to consider professional cleaners if necessary. No official statement covers lease terms when there's no pet. |
| Queensland (bond clean) | As far as possible the same condition as at the start, fair wear and tear excepted. | The tenant chooses, and the lessor or agent can't require you to buy from a person they nominate. A pet condition can cover carpets. |
| Northern Territory (bond clean) | A reasonably clean condition, allowing for reasonable wear and tear. | The Act doesn't address it. |
The last few days of your lease, in order
Read the lease for a pet clause
That's the usual place a carpet condition comes from. Fumigation is pest control, a separate job for a licensed pest controller, so it never belongs on a cleaning list.
Clean from high to low, far to near
Start with fans and vents, finish with floors, and work back toward the front door so nothing lands on a clean floor.
Walk it with the report
Go through each room against your entry condition report and fix anything you've missed.
Photograph the empty home
WA's checklist tells tenants to take photos of the cleaned, empty home as evidence of how they left it. It's a good habit anywhere.
Go to the final inspection if you can
In NSW the landlord or agent must give you a reasonable opportunity to attend. In the ACT you carry it out together, and all keys go back at it.
Cleaning products to keep apart when you move out
Never mix bleach with ammonia, acids or other cleaners. Read the label, follow it, and keep a window open or the exhaust fan running while you work. Large patches of mould that keep growing back need a mould remediation professional, not a stronger spray.
Which end of lease jobs you keep
Worth doing yourself
- Clearing out, rubbish included.
- Inside cupboards and wardrobes once they're empty.
- Wall marks that come off with a damp cloth.
- The final vacuum and mop, once the last box is gone.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- An oven with years of baked-on grease.
- Soap scum on shower glass, tiles and grout.
- Window tracks and inside glass across the whole home.
- Carpet steam cleaning, where your lease lawfully asks for it.
How we'd use an end of lease cleaning checklist
Clean to your entry condition report and stop there. Walk each room with it before you buy a product or ask for a quote, and mark only what's changed since you moved in. If the last week is already full, hand a cleaning business that marked-up report, tick the add-ons the home really needs, and take your own photos before the keys go back.