Deposits are rarely lost on the things tenants worry about. They are lost inside the oven, inside the cabinets, and on the strip of floor where the fridge used to stand. Here is the list in the order an inspection actually runs, and the items that cost people money.
A move-out clean is a different job from a deep clean, and the difference is furniture. With the unit empty, the work reaches inside every cabinet and drawer, behind where the appliances stood, and along the full length of every baseboard. That is exactly the scope a landlord inspects, which is why the two lists match so closely.
Kitchen — where most deposits are lost
- Inside the oven, including the racks and the glass door. This is the single most commonly deducted item.
- Inside the fridge and freezer, defrosted, plus the floor and wall behind it once it is pulled out.
- Inside every cabinet and drawer: crumbs in the corners, liner residue, the underside of shelves.
- Range hood exterior and filter, cabinet fronts degreased, backsplash.
- Dishwasher interior, including the filter at the base and the rubber door seal.
- Sink, drain, and the caulk line where the counter meets the wall.
Bathrooms
- Grout and tile scrubbed, not just wiped. Landlords look at grout colour first.
- Shower glass, including the bottom track where soap scum collects.
- Behind and around the toilet base, and the bolt caps.
- Exhaust fan cover, mirrors, and every chrome fixture polished.
- Inside the vanity and the medicine cabinet.
Everywhere else
- Every baseboard, along the full length, not just the visible stretches.
- Door frames, door tops, and light switch plates.
- Inside all closets, including the shelf and the rail.
- Window interiors, sills, and the tracks the windows slide in.
- Light fixtures and ceiling fan blades.
- Floors vacuumed and mopped last, after everything above has been done.
What is not part of a cleaning
Cleaners clean. They do not patch nail holes, repaint, replace burnt-out bulbs, or shampoo carpets. If your lease requires professional carpet cleaning, that is a separate trade and should be scheduled before the cleaning crew arrives, not after, so the floors are the last thing touched.
The empty-unit rule
Every item above depends on the unit being genuinely empty, including the garage and any storage locker. A crew cannot clean inside a cabinet with boxes in it, and the whole value of this service is reaching inside and behind things.
If your landlord gave you a list
Send it to whoever you hire. Property managers often work from a specific form, and matching their list beats matching a generic one. If something gets flagged afterward that was in scope, a decent company comes back and re-cleans it at no charge — ours does, within 24 hours.
