10 Things You Must Clean to Get Your Home Ready to Sell

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*This post was sponsored, and paid for, by Scrigit Scraper. All opinions are my own.

Getting your house ready to sell is no joke, but having a home that is fresh, clean, and inviting for potential buyers can make all the difference. The goal is to sell your home for the most money in the least amount of time. Did I mention that I received an offer on my home after it had been on the market for only one day? While eliminating clutter, repairing things, and even freshening up paint can also be important, cleaning your home the right way is an important step in getting your home ready to sell fast. If you’re wondering, “how do I get my home ready to sell quickly,” then this cleaning checklist is something you will want to make sure you get done.

As a mom of 9, I feel your pain when it comes to finding the time to get these cleaning jobs done while busy. If you have kids, I also feel your pain on not only getting your home clean, but also keeping it that way while you’re in the process of selling. But, it can be done. I’ll show you some essential things you’ll want to clean to put your best selling foot forward.

Here are 10 things you’ll want to clean to get your home ready to sell FAST (& they’re the things most people forget!).

(this post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you)

First, you’ll want to gather some basic cleaning supples. Then, I’ll give you the cleaning tips to put all these supplies into action.

• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• All purpose cleaner
• Script Scraper find them HERE
• Window cleaner
• Toothbrush
• Dusting wand
• Plenty of rags

Now, let’s start cleaning your buyer’s new house!

Start with cleaning your appliances

The appliances take a beating in any home. Just when you clean inside your microwave, there is a cooking explosion to make it dirty again. Clean the inside of your microwave by first boiling some hot water to loosen everything up. Then, use an all purpose cleaner to wipe everything off.

Clean inside your dishwasher using vinegar and baking soda along with a toothbrush to get in all the cracks. Read the full tutorial on cleaning your dishwasher HERE.

Cleaning the refrigerator is super easy when you know my trick. The only hard part is taking everything out and then putting it back in. With my trick, all those spills and sticky messes basically clean themselves! Grab your all purpose cleaner, your Scrigit Scraper, and read the full tutorial on how to clean your refrigerator HERE.

Don’t forget to clean inside your oven glass. Read how to clean the glass in between your oven door HERE. Then, read how to clean your glass stove cooktop HERE. You’ll need your baking soda, vinegar, and maybe your toothbrush.

Clean inside cupboards, cabinets, and drawers

Whether in your kitchen or your bathroom, you will want to organize inside your cupboards and cabinets. But, giving them a good wipe out is also essential. You want any potential buyers to see your home as clean and well maintained. The more your home is move in ready, the faster it will sell. Potential buyers have a hard time thinking about moving into a place they need to spend days cleaning first.

Cleaning your cupboards can easily be done just using your all purpose cleaner and some rags. You can check out the all purpose cleaner I make HERE.

Clean all parts of your windows and sliders, inside and out

Clean windows are essential in having a house that looks like it is neat and clean. With so many little hands around, I know firsthand that this can be a struggle. Make sure you pay as much attention to the sills inside the window, the window tracks, and all flat surfaces of the windows as you do to the actual glass.

Cleaning the windows is where your vinegar, your baking soda, and your Scrigit Scraper will really come in handy. Together, baking soda and vinegar work like magic, bringing scrubbing to a minimum no matter what you’re cleaning. I would also be lost without a Scrigit Scraper in my home.

I’ve used this handy tool not only to help get in all the nooks and crannies of various cleaning projects like my window sills and tracks, I’ve also used it to get paint off the floor, gum out of the inside of my dryer, stickers off my son’s bed, and more. 

You can order your Scrigit Scrapers HERE.

Read the full tutorial on how to clean your window tracks HERE, and you can also read how to clean your slider tracks HERE.

Clean the grout

Nothing says “gross” quite like dirty grout. Focus on the grout in your kitchen, the grout in your bathroom, and the grout on any flooring, too. The wining combination of baking soda, vinegar, and your Scrigit Scraper will again help you get this job done in no time and with virtually no elbow grease. 

Clean the carpets

Cleaning any carpets in your home will be time well spent. This is true even if you’re renting a carpet cleaner or paying someone to do it. It is amazing how dirty your carpets get just with the dust and dirt that is in the air. 

Clean your shower head

The shower head really can get nasty with mineral buildup. You can easily clean this by filling a freezer bag with a little vinegar and attaching it right to the shower head with a hair tie or rubber band. Of course giving your entire shower a thorough cleaning is essential, too.

You can read how to clean your shower (especially if it’s stinky) HERE.

Clean your blinds or other window treatments

In my home, I have the 2 inch wood blinds, and they become blackened with dust in no time. Just when I clean them, they are dusty and dirty looking again. There is a way to make cleaning your blinds super easy, so be sure to read that cleaning trick HERE. Just FYI, you will need a sock.

Look for dirty handprints

These can appear anywhere, especially if you’ve got kids. Generally you will want to wipe down all doors, hand rails, light switches, and walls where hands tend to go. In my home the walls going up and down the stairs are always covered in hand prints. 

Become a detective and go on the hunt for handprints. They should come right off using just a rag and some cleaner.

Clean the ceiling line

The ceiling line (where the walls meet the ceilings) is almost always a place for cobwebs and dust bunnies to collect. I find this is easy and quick to take care of by just running your dusting wand all along the ceiling line in every room of your home. 

Scrub down your table and chairs

Ideally, someone will be sitting at your kitchen table to write an offer on your house. Nothing will gross out a buyer more than pulling out a grimy kitchen chair. Anywhere there is food there is going to be things that need to be wiped down. 

Getting the grime and simple off your kitchen table and chairs can done just using a rag and cleaner. But if you’ve got stuck on food, your Scrigit Scraper will rescue you yet again. 

Selling a home is almost never a fun process, but the faster the process goes the easier it will be. Get the right supples, and then work through this cleaning checklist one project at a time. When all of little known things things are nice and clean, your home will stand out above the rest.