Should End-of-Tenancy Cleaning Be Done Before or After Removals?
Clean after removals. Not before. Not during. After.
Your deposit is judged on the final condition of an empty property, compared against how it looked when you moved in — also empty. Every decision about cleaning timing flows from that one fact. The scenario planner below gives you a step-by-step plan for your specific situation.
Why "After Removals" Is the Only Logical Call
The checkout inspection that decides whether you get your deposit back doesn't evaluate the property against some general idea of cleanliness. It compares the empty property against the check-in report — a document created when the property was also empty, before your furniture went in.
That means the only comparison that matters happens in a bare room. The clerk walks through every space, opens every cupboard, checks behind where the fridge used to be, and runs a finger along the skirting boards you haven't seen since the sofa was blocking them. If you clean before your furniture leaves, you're cleaning the wrong version of the property.
❌ If you clean before removals
You physically can't reach behind the fridge, under the bed, or behind wardrobes
You'll miss the skirting boards hidden by furniture — the ones clerks always check
Removal team will dirty the floors, scuff the walls, and spread packing debris
You'll need to clean again after the van leaves — so you've doubled your effort
Wall marks hidden behind furniture won't be spotted until they're recorded against you
✅ If you clean after removals
Every surface is accessible — behind appliances, under beds, full skirting boards
You see the property the same way the checkout clerk will — bare rooms, nothing hidden
You can spot wall marks, floor stains, and damage that furniture was covering
The clean that counts — the final one — is the only one you do
Your cleaning matches the comparison: empty property vs empty property
What the professionals do: Professional London end-of-tenancy cleaning teams won't start until your belongings are out. It's not a preference — it's a requirement. Most companies will charge extra or void their cleaning guarantee if personal items are still in the property. The people who do hundreds of checkouts a year know this is the only way to deliver the right result.
Removals Always Make Mess — Even Good Ones
Even the most careful removal team leaves traces. It's not carelessness — it's physics. Here's what a clean property looks like after four hours of carrying heavy furniture through it:
👟
Boot prints and dirty floors
Four people walking through your freshly mopped hallway with outdoor shoes for three hours. No clean floor survives a removal.
🛋️
Scuff marks on walls
Carrying a sofa around a doorframe or along a narrow hallway leaves marks. It happens on every move, no matter how careful the team.
🗑️
Packing debris everywhere
Bubble wrap fragments, foam pieces, tape residue, cardboard dust. It distributes itself across every room without being asked.
💨
Dust disturbed from moving furniture
Every piece of furniture that moves releases the dust trapped underneath and behind it into the air — which then settles on the surfaces you just cleaned.
🔧
Disassembly residue
Flat-pack screw holes, dowel dust, felt pad adhesive left on floors. Disassembling beds and wardrobes creates debris that a pre-clean cannot account for.
If you deep clean before the movers arrive, you'll need to clean again anyway. That's not a risk — it's a certainty.
Your Moving Day Plan — by Situation
The right sequence depends on your timeline. Select your situation below and get a step-by-step plan you can actually follow.
Moving Day Planner
Select your situation for a step-by-step timeline⚡
Same-day handover
Van leaves and keys go back the same day📅
Day between
Removals today, keys back tomorrow✅
Two or more days
Plenty of time to do everything properly🛋️
Furnished (landlord's furniture stays)
Some furniture isn't yours to moveSelect your situation above to see a tailored step-by-step plan
Can You Clean As You Pack?
Some people try a room-by-room approach — pack the bedroom, clean the bedroom, close the door, move on. In theory it sounds efficient. In practice, it runs into two consistent problems.
⚠️ Problem 1: Removal teams don't work room by room
Movers take what's easiest to carry first, work around each other, and move through the property in whatever order makes logistical sense. You'll find yourself trying to clean a bedroom while someone carries a bookshelf through it from the living room — and the hallway gets trashed regardless of what order anything happens in.
⚠️ Problem 2: The final sweep problem
Even if you clean rooms as they empty, the hallway, entrance area, and any communal spaces get heavily trafficked for hours. You'll need to revisit the whole property at the end regardless. Which means the room-by-room clean was partial effort, not the real clean.
Where room-by-room does work: as a pre-clean, not a substitute
Cleaning inside cupboards and wardrobes as you empty them is genuinely useful — it reduces the workload for the final clean. Same with defrosting the fridge a day before, treating carpet stains early so products have time to work, and wiping shelving as it empties. Think of it as preparation, not the clean itself.
One Rule for Carpet Cleaning Specifically
If your check-in report noted that carpets were professionally cleaned at the start of the tenancy, you'll likely need to match that standard at the end. When that applies, carpet cleaning has its own timing rule within the post-removal clean.
After removals: general clean first
Complete the full clean of every room — oven, bathroom, skirting boards, windows, everywhere — before the carpet cleaners arrive.
Carpet cleaning as the last step
Professional carpet cleaning leaves floors damp for several hours. It needs to happen after everything else is done, not before.
Allow drying time before photos
Take your final dated photographs after carpets have dried — wet carpets can look patchy in photos and don't reflect the finished result. Leave windows cracked for airflow.
For DIY carpet stain removal before the professional clean, see our guide on removing carpet stains before moving out.
Professional End of Tenancy Cleaning in London
We work on empty properties only. Book cleaners for after the removal van leaves — we'll handle a 1-bed in 3–4 hours, a 2-bed in 4–6 hours, and back it with a 72-hour re-clean guarantee.
Always book for 1–2 hours after your movers' quoted finish time. Removals always run over.
Related Pages
Deni is a seasoned professional with over 10 years of experience in content marketing and vast knowledge in the cleaning business. He specializes in creating engaging content that drives growth and builds brand identity. Passionate about innovation, Deni believes in delivering value through impactful messaging and providing value to readers in a concise and comprehensive manner.
View all posts by Deni Ivanov →