A bottle of the wrong cleaning product tips over onto a pale wool carpet. A heavy machine catches the corner of a stone worktop. A blocked sink quietly overflows while the cleaner is working in another room, and water begins to seep into the flat below. None of these are dramatic events, yet each can turn a routine end of tenancy clean into a bill running well into the hundreds or thousands of pounds. The question that follows is always the same: who pays? The answer rests almost entirely on whether the cleaning contractor carries valid, appropriate insurance. For landlords, tenants and letting agents across Barnes, SW13, that single detail can be the difference between a problem that is quietly resolved and one that escalates into a drawn-out dispute. This article explains why cleaning insurance matters, and what a genuinely valid policy should cover.

Why Cleaning Insurance Matters at All

End of tenancy cleaning is more hazardous than it looks. It involves strong chemicals, hot water, electrical equipment and ladders, frequently used in an empty property with nobody else present. A cleaner works unsupervised in someone else’s home, usually during the void period between tenancies, when the landlord or agent is not on site to notice a problem until well after it has happened. Mistakes, when they occur, tend to affect expensive things: carpets, worktops, appliances, flooring and the fabric of the building itself.

There is also the human side of the work. A slip on a wet floor, a strained back lifting heavy equipment, or an injury to a passer-by in a communal area all carry the potential for a claim. Without insurance, the cost of putting any of this right falls on whoever can be held responsible, and that is rarely the person who actually caused it. The contractor with no cover simply has nothing to claim against, which pushes the loss back up the chain towards the landlord or agent who hired them.

It is worth being clear about the scale of what can go wrong. A single splash of an acidic limescale remover on a natural-stone vanity top can etch it permanently, requiring full replacement. A steam cleaner used on the wrong type of laminate can lift and warp an entire floor. These are not freak accidents but everyday hazards of the trade, and they explain why insurers treat cleaning as a genuine risk rather than a formality.

The Core Covers a Valid Policy Should Include

A reputable cleaning contractor should hold several distinct types of cover, because no single policy addresses every risk. The names matter here, because a policy that sounds comprehensive can still leave a critical gap exactly where cleaning work is most exposed.

Public Liability Insurance

This is the cornerstone. Public liability covers injury to third parties and damage to their property arising from the contractor’s work. If a cleaner’s equipment cracks a glass shower screen, or a member of the public trips over a cable trailing across a communal hallway, public liability is the cover that responds. It is typically arranged at one, two or five million pounds, with the higher limits expected for work in larger or higher-value buildings. While it is not a legal requirement, no serious contractor operates without it, and its absence should be treated as a clear warning sign rather than a minor cost saving the contractor has chosen to pass on.

Employers’ Liability Insurance

Where a cleaning firm employs staff, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. It covers claims brought by employees who are injured or made ill through their work, and the law sets a minimum cover of five million pounds, though most policies provide ten. A genuine sole trader working entirely alone may not need it, but any contractor sending a team of two or more to a property should hold it without exception.

Treatment Risk and Damage to Property in Your Care

This is the cover most often missing, and the one that matters most in cleaning. Standard public liability frequently excludes damage to the very property the contractor is working on, described in policy wording as items in their “care, custody and control”. A cleaner scrubbing a bath is, by definition, working on that bath; if a harsh product strips the enamel, a basic public liability policy may decline the claim. A proper treatment risk extension, sometimes called care, custody and control cover, closes that gap by insuring accidental damage to the surfaces and items actually being cleaned. For end of tenancy work, where almost every surface in the property is being touched, this is essential rather than optional.

Key Cover and Loss of Keys

Cleaners are routinely entrusted with keys, often to occupied blocks of flats. If a set is lost, the cost is not merely a replacement key but potentially re-keying locks or replacing a communal entry system, which can run to a significant sum and inconvenience every other resident in the building. Key cover, sometimes bundled into a policy and sometimes added separately, addresses precisely this risk and spares everyone an awkward conversation about who funds the locksmith.

What Makes a Policy “Valid”

Holding insurance and holding valid insurance are not the same thing. A certificate can exist yet still fail to protect anyone at the moment it is actually needed, which is why the detail deserves a closer look than a quick glance at a logo on a website.

A valid policy is, first, in date. Cover lapses, and a clean carried out a week after a missed renewal is an uninsured clean, however reputable the firm. Second, the limit of indemnity must be adequate for the property in question; cover of one million pounds may suit a modest flat but look distinctly thin against a high-value riverside home full of expensive finishes. Third, and most frequently overlooked, the policy must actually list the activities being performed. A policy written for general office cleaning may exclude the specialist tasks involved in an end of tenancy deep clean, or the use of certain machinery. Finally, the business named on the certificate must be the business doing the work. Quietly subcontracting to an uninsured third party can void the protection everyone assumed was firmly in place, leaving a certificate that looks reassuring but covers the wrong party entirely.

Why This Matters to Landlords, Tenants and Agents

The chain of consequences from an uninsured clean runs further than most people expect, and it touches everyone connected to the tenancy.

For a landlord, an uninsured contractor who damages a property means the repair cost has nowhere to go but the landlord’s own pocket, since pursuing a small cleaning firm with no assets and no cover is usually fruitless. For a tenant, the stakes attach to the deposit: if a poorly executed clean prompts a deduction, or if damage caused during the clean is wrongly attributed to the tenant, the dispute becomes far harder to resolve cleanly and fairly. For letting agents, who increasingly carry professional responsibility for the contractors they recommend, instructing an uninsured cleaner is a reputational and potentially financial exposure they can ill afford.

In a market like Barnes, where period houses near Barnes Common and sought-after flats along the Thames towpath command high rents and exacting standards, the values at risk are simply larger. A damaged solid-oak floor, or a marble bathroom in a Castelnau conversion, is not a trivial repair, and the insurance sitting behind the clean is what stands between a swift, funded fix and a protracted argument over who is to blame.

How to Verify a Contractor is Properly Covered

Checking cover is straightforward, and entirely reasonable to do before any work begins. It is a routine part of due diligence rather than an imposition, and most disputes can be prevented at this stage rather than fought over later.

The first step is to ask to see the current insurance certificate and confirm that the renewal date falls after the planned cleaning date. The schedule should then be read to check that public liability and, where staff are involved, employers’ liability are both present, with limits that make sense for the property concerned. It is worth looking specifically for a treatment risk or care, custody and control extension, since its absence is the single most common weak point. The named insured should match the company being dealt with, and end of tenancy or domestic cleaning should appear among the listed activities. A professional contractor will share these details readily; marked reluctance to do so is itself informative.

The Bottom Line

Insurance is invisible right up to the moment it is needed, and then it suddenly becomes the only thing that matters. End of tenancy cleaning sits at a sensitive point in the rental cycle, handling valuable property unsupervised and feeding directly into the deposit process that determines whether a tenancy ends amicably. A valid, appropriately written policy, combining public liability, employers’ liability where relevant and, crucially, a treatment risk extension, turns an accident from a crisis into a minor administrative footnote. Whether you are letting a family home off Church Road or moving out of a flat near Barnes Bridge, the quiet presence of proper cover is one of the most reliable signs that a clean is in genuinely safe hands.

The end of a tenancy rarely ends quietly. Somewhere between the last box leaving and the deposit being returned sits a single document that decides who pays for what: the checkout report. For many tenants and landlords, reading one feels like deciphering a foreign language, full of phrases such as “betterment”, “apportionment” and “fair wear and tear” that carry real financial weight yet are seldom explained to the people they affect most. A single misunderstood term can be the difference between a full deposit return and a contested deduction that drags on for weeks. In a brisk rental market like Barnes, SW13, where flats change hands quickly and expectations run high, both sides gain from speaking the same vocabulary. This glossary sets out thirty terms that appear most often on checkout reports across England, grouped by theme, so that nothing in that final document catches you off guard.

The Core Documents

Every checkout sits within a small family of related paperwork. Knowing what each document does is the foundation for everything that follows.

Inventory (Check-in Report). The detailed record of a property’s contents and condition at the start of a tenancy, usually supported by photographs. It is the benchmark against which the checkout is later measured, and without it almost no deduction can be fairly proven.

Schedule of Condition. A room-by-room description of the state of fixtures, fittings and surfaces, noting any existing marks, wear or damage so that pre-existing issues are not wrongly blamed on the outgoing tenant.

Checkout Report. The closing document, prepared when the tenant leaves, which compares the property’s condition at the end of the tenancy against the original inventory and flags any changes that go beyond fair wear and tear.

Inventory Clerk. An independent professional who compiles the check-in and checkout reports. Independence matters, because a neutral record carries far more weight than one prepared by either party alone.

Reconciliation. The process of setting the checkout findings against the check-in record, line by line, to identify genuine differences rather than relying on memory or general impression. A mark noted at check-in cannot become a charge at checkout, which is exactly why a careful reconciliation protects both parties.

Condition and Wear

This is the territory where most disagreements arise, because the line between acceptable ageing and chargeable damage is rarely obvious to either side.

Fair Wear and Tear. The gradual deterioration that occurs through normal, reasonable use over time. Landlords cannot charge a tenant for it, and this long-standing principle remains firmly in place under current law.

Betterment. The principle that a landlord must not end up better off at the tenant’s expense. A deduction cannot fund a brand-new replacement for something that was already part-worn before the tenant moved in, nor can it pay to upgrade an item to a higher specification than the one it replaces.

Dilapidations. Items of disrepair or damage for which the tenant may be held responsible, over and above the ordinary wear expected during a tenancy.

Reinstatement. Returning the property, or part of it, to its original condition, for example removing a tenant’s fixture or repainting a wall that was altered without permission.

Useful Life. The expected lifespan of an item such as a carpet, a coat of paint or a kitchen appliance. It is used to work out how much value remained at the point damage occurred. A carpet with an assumed ten-year life that is ruined after eight years has only two years of value left to claim against, not the cost of a whole new one.

Apportionment. Dividing a cost fairly to reflect an item’s age and remaining useful life, so the tenant pays only for the value actually lost rather than the full price of a replacement. It is the practical tool that turns the principle of betterment into a specific, defensible figure.

Cleaning Standards

Cleaning is the single most common source of checkout deductions, which makes the language around it worth knowing precisely.

End of Tenancy Clean. A thorough, professional-grade clean carried out when a tenant vacates, intended to return the property to the standard recorded at check-in. It typically reaches the areas everyday cleaning misses: oven interiors, extractor filters, behind appliances, inside cupboards and along skirting and window tracks.

Cleaning Clause. The term in a tenancy agreement that sets out the standard of cleanliness expected on departure. A landlord cannot insist on a paid professional clean, but can require the property to be handed back as clean as it was found.

“Same Condition” Standard. The benchmark most checkouts apply: the property should be returned in the condition shown at check-in, allowing for fair wear and tear, rather than in a perfect or improved state.

Limescale. Hard mineral build-up on taps, tiles, shower screens and kettles. Whether it counts as wear or neglect often depends on the length of the tenancy and the hardness of the local water, which across much of south-west London is notably high and accelerates the problem.

Mould and Condensation. Black spotting, usually found in bathrooms and on cold external walls. Reports distinguish between mould caused by a building defect, which is the landlord’s responsibility, and mould caused by inadequate ventilation during the tenancy, which may fall to the tenant. The distinction is often the most contested judgement in the whole report.

Defrosting. The often-overlooked requirement to empty and defrost fridges and freezers before leaving. A refrozen pool of water and lingering odour is a frequent yet easily avoided deduction.

Deposits and Disputes

When money is withheld, a separate vocabulary governs how the deposit is held and how any disagreement is resolved.

Tenancy Deposit. The sum held against damage, unpaid rent or cleaning. It remains capped at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is below £50,000, and six weeks’ rent where it is £50,000 or more.

Deposit Protection Scheme. A government-approved scheme, namely the Deposit Protection Service, MyDeposits or the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, in which a deposit must be held. Protection is a legal requirement, not a choice.

Prescribed Information. The set of details a landlord must give the tenant about where and how the deposit is protected. A failure to serve it correctly can carry significant penalties and complicate later possession.

Adjudication. The free, evidence-based decision process offered by the deposit schemes when a deduction is disputed. An impartial adjudicator reviews the evidence from both sides and decides how the deposit should be split. Because the decision rests entirely on the documents submitted, the quality of the check-in and checkout reports usually determines the outcome.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The broader term for settling deposit disputes without going to court. Scheme adjudication is the most common form, and it remains available to tenants under current rules.

Burden of Proof. The principle that the party claiming a deduction, usually the landlord, must prove it. Clear check-in and checkout evidence is precisely what carries that burden, and a vague or undated record will rarely satisfy an adjudicator however reasonable the underlying claim may be.

Disputed Amount. The portion of a deposit a tenant formally contests. Only the disputed sum is held by the scheme pending a decision, so any undisputed balance can be released straight away.

Practical and Compliance Terms

A handful of practical entries round out the typical checkout, covering the readings, photographs and safety items that appear at the foot of the report.

Meter Readings. The gas, electricity and water figures recorded at checkout, used to close the outgoing tenant’s accounts and open them cleanly for the next occupant. Recording them on the day, ideally with a photograph of each meter, prevents arguments over final bills.

Void Period. The gap between one tenancy ending and the next beginning, during which the property is empty and typically cleaned and prepared for re-letting. A well-organised checkout shortens the void by making it clear exactly what needs doing before the next tenant arrives.

Date-stamped Photographs. Images carrying a verifiable date, used as evidence of condition at a precise moment. Undated photographs carry far less weight in any dispute, because they cannot prove when the condition they show actually existed.

Garden Condition Clause. Where a property has outdoor space, the agreement may require it to be left tidy and maintained. Riverside and period homes near Barnes Common often carry such a clause, given the value placed on their gardens.

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarms. Safety devices the landlord must provide and keep in working order. Checkout reports routinely confirm that they are present and functioning, as the law requires.

Forwarding Address. The address a departing tenant supplies for the return of the deposit and any final correspondence. Without it, both refunds and dispute notices can be delayed.

Speaking the Same Language

Read in advance, these terms turn the checkout from an anxious unknown into a predictable and fair process. The clearer both sides are about what each word means, the fewer surprises wait at the end of the tenancy, and the more readily a deposit can be returned in full. Whether you are letting a riverside flat near Barnes Bridge or moving out of a family house off Church Road, a shared vocabulary is what keeps a checkout calm, well evidenced and quick to settle. Disagreements rarely come from bad faith; far more often they come from two people using the same words to mean slightly different things. A glossary like this closes that gap before it can open into a dispute.

Few landlords give a thought to their tax bill while watching a cleaning team scrub a kitchen back to lettable order. Yet the humble end of tenancy clean has quietly become one of the more tax-efficient pounds a buy-to-let owner can spend. The reason lies in a piece of legislation that most landlords associate only with their mortgage: Section 24 of the Finance Act 2015. By restricting the relief available on mortgage interest, Section 24 reshaped the entire arithmetic of residential letting, and in doing so it raised the relative worth of every cost that landlords can still deduct in full. Cleaning is one of them. For owners of high-turnover lets, particularly in changeover-heavy pockets of London such as Barnes, the cumulative effect of repeated professional cleans across a tax year is more meaningful than it first appears. Understanding why means looking at what Section 24 took away, and at the one large category of cost it deliberately left untouched.

What Section 24 Actually Changed for Individual Landlords

To understand why cleaning costs now carry extra weight, it helps to revisit precisely what Section 24 removed. The change applies to individual landlords and to partnerships of individuals who let residential property. It does not touch limited companies, which can still deduct mortgage interest in full against rental profits, which is one of the main reasons so many landlords have weighed up incorporating their portfolios in recent years.

From a deduction to a tax credit

Before April 2017, a landlord simply subtracted mortgage interest from rental income before working out taxable profit, exactly as any business deducts its running costs. Section 24 dismantled that arrangement. Phased in between 2017 and 2020 and fully in force since April 2020, the rules now disallow finance costs as a deduction and replace them with a basic rate tax credit worth 20 per cent of the interest paid. For a basic rate taxpayer the effect is broadly neutral, because 20 per cent relief is roughly what they received under the old system anyway. For higher and additional rate taxpayers, the shift is genuinely painful: relief that was once worth 40 or 45 per cent is now capped at 20.

Why your taxable profit went up on paper

The subtler consequence is what happens to the headline figure. Because mortgage interest is no longer netted off before profit is calculated, a landlord’s taxable rental profit now appears larger than the cash they actually retain. That inflated figure can drag total income across the £50,270 higher rate threshold, pulling a landlord into a band they would never have reached under the old regime. In other words, the tax is being levied on a number that overstates real economic profit, and that single distortion is exactly what makes every remaining deductible expense matter far more than it once did.

Where End of Tenancy Cleaning Sits in the Tax Picture

Against that backdrop, it is worth being precise about how cleaning is treated. Section 24 narrowed the relief on one specific category of cost, finance, while leaving the rest of a landlord’s allowable expenses entirely intact. End of tenancy cleaning falls squarely into that untouched group, and that placement is the whole point.

Revenue expense versus capital expense

HMRC draws a firm line between revenue expenses and capital expenses. Revenue expenses are the day-to-day costs of keeping a property let, and they are deductible in full against rental income in the year they arise. Capital expenses, by contrast, improve a property beyond its original condition and are instead set against any future capital gain when the property is sold. A professional clean, scrubbing kitchens and bathrooms, deep-cleaning carpets, lifting limescale and returning a flat to the standard a new tenant reasonably expects, restores rather than improves. It is therefore a revenue cost, deductible at the landlord’s marginal rate. Fitting a superior new kitchen would be capital; cleaning the existing one is plainly not. That distinction keeps end of tenancy cleaning firmly in the fully deductible column.

The “wholly and exclusively” test

For any expense to qualify, HMRC requires that it be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the rental business. End of tenancy cleaning passes this test comfortably. A clean booked specifically to prepare a property for re-letting, evidenced by a dated contractor invoice tied to a particular changeover, leaves little room for ambiguity. There is no private-use element to apportion and no grey area about purpose, because the cost exists only because the property is being let to tenants.

Why Repeated Cleanups Matter More After Section 24

Here is where the two threads draw together. If your taxable profit is now artificially inflated by the loss of full interest relief, every pound of genuine deductible expense becomes more valuable, because it reduces that inflated figure pound for pound at your highest rate of tax.

Full-rate relief versus a basic-rate credit

Consider the contrast directly. For a higher rate landlord, £100 spent on mortgage interest now yields just £20 of relief through the Section 24 credit. The same £100 spent on a professional clean reduces taxable profit by the full £100, saving £40 in tax at the 40 per cent rate. The cleaning pound works twice as hard as the interest pound. This is not a loophole or a clever scheme; it is simply the natural result of one category of cost being relievable in full while another has been deliberately restricted. In a post-Section 24 world, the costs a landlord can still deduct outright are disproportionately worth claiming, recording and keeping properly.

High-turnover lets in areas like Barnes

The effect compounds with tenant turnover. A property held on a single long tenancy might see one clean in several years, but many lets change hands far more often, and that is where repeated cleans accumulate into a substantial annual deduction. Barnes, SW13, is a fitting illustration. Its blend of period family houses near the green expanse of Barnes Common and sought-after flats along the Thames towpath draws a mix of families chasing school catchments and professionals on shorter lets. Proximity to schools such as St Paul’s pulls in families who move in step with the academic calendar, while the village’s easy reach into Hammersmith and the City keeps working tenants circulating. Several professional cleans across a single tax year, each one fully deductible, quietly add up to a far larger figure than most landlords expect to see.

Keeping Cleaning Costs Allowable and Defensible

A deduction is only as good as the landlord’s ability to stand it up if HMRC ever asks. Two points deserve particular attention.

Cleaning during void periods between tenancies

End of tenancy cleaning almost always happens in the void, the gap between one tenant leaving and the next arriving. Some landlords worry that costs incurred while a property sits empty cannot be allowable. In practice, expenses during a void remain deductible provided the property continues to be available for letting and the rental business is ongoing. A clean carried out to ready a flat near Barnes Bridge for its next occupant is a normal cost of that continuing business, not an interruption to it. The deduction holds, exactly as it would mid-tenancy.

Records, invoices and Making Tax Digital

Documentation is what turns a legitimate expense into a defensible one. Keep itemised invoices from your cleaning contractor, with dates that line up with the end of each tenancy, and retain them alongside your other rental records rather than in a shoebox at year end. This matters more than ever from April 2026, when landlords with rental income above £50,000 come within Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, which requires income and expenses to be kept digitally and reported to HMRC quarterly. Tidy, dated cleaning invoices held in compatible software make those submissions straightforward and leave a clear audit trail behind every claim.

Putting It Together: A Worked Perspective

Picture a higher rate landlord with a two-bedroom flat near Barnes Bridge, let to two successive tenancies within a single tax year. Each changeover calls for a full professional clean, carpets included, at, say, £280 a time, or £560 across the year. Because both cleans are revenue expenses, the landlord deducts the entire £560 from rental profit. At the 40 per cent marginal rate, that translates into £224 of tax saved on a cost they would have incurred anyway.

Now set that beside the mortgage interest on the same flat. Under Section 24, even a sizeable interest bill yields relief at only 20 per cent. The cleaning spend, modest by comparison, delivers relief at double that rate, purely because it sits in the untouched revenue category. The landlord has done nothing unusual, merely maintaining the property to a lettable standard and keeping proper records, yet the tax treatment quietly works in their favour.

The wider lesson is one of control. A landlord cannot rewrite Section 24 or reclaim the interest relief it stripped away. What they can do is recognise that the expenses still relievable in full now carry greater weight in the overall calculation, and make sure none of them go unrecorded. Across a portfolio of frequently changing tenancies, the cleaning line becomes a small but genuine counterweight to the heavier tax burden Section 24 introduced. The figures here are illustrative, and any landlord’s exact position depends on their wider income and circumstances, which a qualified accountant is best placed to assess.

Some tenants are great. They don’t just pay the rent on time, but they also keep your rental property nice and tidy. They like to have nice surroundings and to live in a clean house, even if they don’t own it. They don’t try spray-painting slogans on the walls. When the time comes for them to move to a new place, they will (a) tidy the place properly, either by doing it themselves or by hiring an end of tenancy cleaning company; and (b) break your heart because finding others like them will be hard. They will have touched the garden with a few cheap and cheerful annuals if you’re lucky.

Other tenants… aren’t like this. They’re messy. And I don’t just mean that they are a bit slack about dusting and cobwebs and leave piles of washing unsorted on the sofa and a stack of unwashed dishes on the sink. I’m talking about the really messy ones. The ones who let the rubbish bins overflow onto the floor don’t mind mould growing in the bathroom and don’t seem to realise that for a place to stay fit to live in, you need to clean up the vomit and wee after a particularly hard night on the sauce. They seem to have the mentality that, as they don’t own it, they don’t have to look after it. (No, I don’t get this sort of thinking either.) These are tenants that you’re only too glad to see the back of when they leave – or when you finally get grounds to boot them out of the rental. Honestly, you might be left with the clean-up after this type of tenant, but this may seem like a relief. At least dirt cleans up eventually, and they didn’t burn the carpet or punch holes in the walls – oh, wait; they did.

Ouch. It’s not nice and really not what you hoped for when you got into the rental property game. If it’s happened to you once, you don’t want to have it happen again, and you’re left looking at the mess and wondering what to do about it. What right do you have as a landlord? Can you insist that your tenants keep the place clean? When they leave, can you ask them to get the place cleaned by a reputable end of lease cleaning service? Can you use the deposit money to pay for a professional cleaning company?

After checking out a few little legal matters, I’ve got some bad and good news. In time-honoured tradition, let’s start with the bad news first and get it over and done with.

What Landlords Can’t Demand In Terms Of Cleaning

The first piece of bad news is that legally, people are allowed to live how they like, and if they want to live in a mess, they have a legal right to do so. Yes, even if where they live is in the rental property they own. This means that although tenants are responsible for cleaning the rental property while they live in it, they’re not legally bound to do so. In other words, you don’t have to arrange for a domestic cleaning service for the house or come in personally with the vacuum cleaner and the dusters while they’re living in it. They can’t expect you to do this – any cleaning that needs to be done is their job. If they want to live like a bunch of slobs, they can.

But what about property inspections? Can’t you expect them to have the place tidy for those?

Unfortunately, even during routine property inspections, you can’t tell the tenants to mop the floors and wash the windows. Once again, they’ve got a right to live like pigs if they want. However, if any of the mess they are making is likely to cause damage to the house – the food rubbish that’s enticing rats that chew the walls, the mould that’s starting to attack the wood, anything that’s attracting flies and maggots that might start eating into the carpet. You can ask them to deal with that sort of thing. In fact, if you discover that they have done something (or neglected to do something, more likely), meaning that “The property has deteriorated due to neglect by the tenant”, this is grounds for eviction if they don’t do something about it after fair warning (see http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/schedule/2).

The second item of bad news is that you also can’t make it part of the rental contract that your tenants have to call in a professional end of tenancy cleaner to do the final moving out clean. In fact, if this is a condition, you could get fined big time. Yes, you can ask a tenant to leave the property clean and tidy, but you can’t make them get a professional to do it. Although I work as a professional cleaner myself, I can understand this. There are so many grey areas (figuratively but hopefully not literally). After all, your tenant’s brother might be a professional janitor, so when he comes to help with the moving out cleaning, he’ll bring his professional skills, although there won’t be a receipt involved. And some tenants who are exceptionally hard-working and motivated can do a good job of their own cleaning.

The Good News About End Of Tenancy Cleaning

Now for the good news. You can and should insist that the tenants leave the property clean and tidy. Here, we must note that clean and tidy isn’t the same as “show home perfect” or “just like new”. You can expect that there will be some signs of wear and tear around the place – worn carpets, faded curtains, crumbling grout, and slightly peeling wallpaper – but the place can still be clean despite the signs of age.

The Tenants from Hades

What’s more, if you’ve had the Tenants From Hades who left the place looking unfit for pigs to live in, let alone humans, then you are fully entitled to use some or even all of the deposit money to hire a team of professional cleaners to take care of the tidy-up for you. In fact, in the case of really bad tenants – the sort with the cat wee in the carpet and the piles of rubbish in the corridor that have stained the walls – you probably should get a professional to do it. It can be too infuriating and heartbreaking to do the cleaning yourself. It’s also very difficult to get this sort of mess up to a proper standard of hygiene and cleanliness. However, a professional end of tenancy cleaning team can handle this. Trust me, we’ve seen it all before!

Joint Final Inspection

It’s always best to do a final inspection of the property with your soon-to-be-ex tenants so if there’s anything that the tenants have overlooked (easily done!) or that isn’t up to standard, then you can give the tenants a chance to take care of it themselves and get all of their deposit money back rather than you holding onto the deposit money and getting a cleaner to deal with it, sometimes with hard feelings all around. This final inspection also helps overcome issues when you and your tenants have different ideas about what “clean” actually means, as different people have different standards. Tooting my own horn here, but this is one of the advantages of calling in a professional end of tenancy cleaning service – they know exactly what “the standard” is and use a proper checklist, saving both you and your tenants a heap of hassle.

If you do end up keeping some or all of the deposit money to cover the cost of professional cleaning, be fair about it. If it’s just a few things that need dealing with rather than a major clean-up after a bunch of filthy slobs, then only keep back enough of the deposit to cover the cost rather than the whole lot.

If you ask some professional cleaners what the most used product in their cleaning box is, we can assume that their answer will be dish soap. This strange answer is due to the flexibility and tenderness of dish soap. It is safe to use on almost any surface and is more environmentally friendly than many common household cleaners.

Dishwashing soap is a surprisingly green cleaning product

One of the many reasons we like to clean with dish soap is that it is a natural, environmentally friendly product. Plate soaps that contain phosphates can be hazardous to the environment. When phosphates enter lakes and streams, they can cause algae blooms, which reduce oxygen levels in the water. Fortunately, most major brands of dish soap eliminate phosphates.

Plate soap does not have strong chemical odours

It is powerful but does not leave a strong chemical odour lingering in homes and offices. One of the biggest special requests we receive from our customers is to use products that do not have a strong smell. Heavy artificial detergent fragrances can cause headaches and breathing problems in humans and pets. When you process fats, many effective degreasers also have strong artificial flavours. That is not the case with most dish soaps, which have a softer aroma while degreasing.

Plate soap is safe to use on many surfaces and very effective at the same time

Plate soap is safe on many surfaces: granite, marble, sealed wood, ceramics and more. Most soft dish soaps have a pH of 7 or 8, which is more or less neutral. Most other cleaners, such as glass and all-purpose cleaners, are acidic or alkaline, making them riskier to use on easily damaged surfaces such as marble that are susceptible to staining and etching.

Although dish soap is gentle, it is also a highly effective detergent. One of the first steps some people train to take when cleaning a kitchen or bathroom is to make a bucket of soapy water. They turn to this universal tool throughout the cleaning process. The dish soap dissolves edible grease, making it a natural choice for cleaning kitchen surfaces – strong enough to remove stubborn grease from stovetops, ovens, and microwave ovens while remaining safe for granite or marble countertops and appliances facades and stainless steel. Plate soap is also incredibly useful in the bathroom. We use it to deal with soap scum in bathtubs and showers, wash porcelain sinks, wipe countertops and scrub tile and linoleum floors.

Seven practical uses of dish soap in your home

As well as being a great cleaning product for everyday cleaning needs, dish soap can be beneficial for other tasks (and even for fun with children). We’ve compiled a list of seven of our favourite unusual uses for dish soap.

1. Clean the jewellery. Dip or two of dish soap into the water is an effective cleaning solution for shining dirty jewellery. Just put your jewellery in the solution for five minutes and then remove it (you can use a clean toothbrush to clean dirty jewellery gently).
2. Remove oil stains from concrete floors. Plate soap is also effective for removing oil stains from concrete floors in the garage or drive path. Just put over the stain layer of baking soda and then soap. After leaving it for a few hours, rub the area with a stiff bristle brush.
3. Keep bugs away from your plants. Make a highly effective plant spray for indoor and outdoor plants with dish soap. Mix 1 cup of saffron or sunflower oil (it helps the spray stick to the plant’s leaves) with 1 cup water and two tablespoons of dish soap in a spray bottle. Tip: test the finished spray on a small part of the plant to ensure it is not harmful. In general, dishwashing spray is safe to use on most plants.
4. Remove oil and grease from delicate tissues. Remove oil and grease stains from soft woollen and silk fabrics with hot water and soap. Add one tablespoon of soap to hot water. Immerse the garment and carefully rub the stain.
5. Indispensable when camping. Carry a small bottle on camping trips for all your cleaning needs! Plate soap is so gentle that it is safe to use as a substitute for shampoo and body wash in times of need.
6. Make bubbles. Need a break from cleaning? Make superbubbles! That is a great activity to play with children. Pour 1 cup of dish soap into 6 cups (preferably distilled) of water. Stir gently to avoid bubbles. Then add a cup of corn syrup and stir again. Put a lid on and let the solution stand overnight (this helps make the bubbles stronger).
7. Remove the stickers without leaving a sticky residue. Use dish soap to remove stickers and sticker residue. Cover the sticker with soap and let it stand for five minutes. The sticker should slide off immediately, although you can also use a cleaning brush and hot water for more stubborn stickers.

Dishwashing soap is very gentle and soft on the skin, super degreasing, does not dry your hands, as it is hydrating, and as you already understand, you can use it for plates, cups and cutlery, and body wash.

Personal hygiene and social distancing undoubtedly help to control viral epidemics. But it is not our only trump card against microbes – good hygiene and regular disinfection at home guarantee the health of its inhabitants.  

I will gather in one place the best tips and tactics for basic home cleaning and effective disinfection to stop the spread of viruses, germs and other bacteria. 

Cleaning and disinfection of the house 

Many people do not distinguish between cleaning and disinfection. Cleaning removes germs or dirt from the surface, but this does not kill pathogens. It more often wipes them but still reduces the spread of infection. On the other hand, disinfection uses chemicals to kill germs on surfaces. Here’s a look at what the differences are: 

Cleaning: Vacuuming carpets, washing floors, wiping countertops and tables, dusting, etc. 

Disinfection: We use disinfectants on surfaces with frequent direct contact, such as door handles, windows, cabinets, light switches, remotes, toilets, desks, chairs, sinks and countertops, etc. 

What can you use for home disinfection? 

Unfortunately, environmental products are not as effective as “household chemicals” when we talk about the destruction of pathogens of dangerous viruses. The most effective natural way to disinfect is to clean with a steam cleaner, but only some have one. However, you can use the following products: 

• Detergents that contain bleach 
• Solutions containing ethanol alcohol  
• A solution of hot water and lots of soap also works if you have nothing else. 

Disinfection with home-made detergents

You can easily make a home disinfectant with vinegar, water and essential oils. Vinegar and essential oil have excellent antibacterial properties. Mix the ingredients. The vinegar should be one part, and the water – three parts. Add three or four drops of your favourite essential oil and shake. It is best to use a spray to treat all surfaces at home. 

Disinfection with essential oils and salt lamps 

Essential oils are also a good disinfectant, so if you have such a device, its regular use will reduce the likelihood of getting sick. The same principle applies to unique salt lamps, whose salt crystals form ions in the air, destroying viruses and bacteria. The disadvantage of this disinfection method is that it works well only in smaller rooms. To disinfect a larger space, you must put in more than one salt lamp. 

Disinfection with alcohol 

Alcohol is suitable for treating smaller surfaces, toys, accessories and similar things. Pass them with an alcohol swab soaked in alcohol, and you will destroy all viruses. It is good to disinfect door handles and other more risky places periodically because all family members use them constantly. 

Practical advice 

Depending on the different disinfectants you use, the safety requirements are additional. Above all, it is good to take care of eye and hand protection (gloves and goggles) because many aggressive products can adversely affect the skin and mucous membranes of the eyes. 

Also, children and animals should not be there while treating individual rooms. It is best to start with all corners, horizontal or vertical surfaces and finish with the floor. Remember, the home textiles you must wash or treat in another way. Small accessories – personal accessories, toys, decorative items, spray or wash with soap and water. 

Other ways to keep germs away from home 

Check out the tips below – they, along with the use of disinfectants and good personal hygiene, are your best antiviral tactics. 

• Leave “dirty” things by the door. Minimise the entry of pathogens into your home. Please take off your shoes and keep them in the hallway or garage. Although the transmission of the virus through shoes is not standard, they can carry other nasty bacteria, germs and dirt in the home. Remember that purses, bags, backpacks or other outdoor items may have been in contact with a contaminated area or touched with dirty hands. Therefore, it is good that they remain in the hallway – do not place them on kitchen countertops, dining tables, or near recreation areas – coffee tables, sofas, or beds. 
• Disinfection of small items that we often hold in our hands. It is not enough to wash the door handle and hands if we use a mobile phone outside with us. Clean the device with an alcohol-based detergent. Even pure alcohol works. Disinfect keys and locks daily. 
• Change your clothes. If you’ve been outside, no matter what you’ve done, change into clean home clothes. Put the clothes you go out to wash, or at least take them out on the terrace or in the yard in direct sunlight for a few hours. You may not always wash outerwear every day, but ultraviolet rays will deal with germs. 
• Leave hand sanitiser near the door. In addition to frequently cleaning the front door handle, it is good not to touch it with dirty hands. Leaving a bottle of disinfectant and using it every time you enter will significantly reduce the germs you miss in your home. However, using a product containing at least 60% alcohol is essential. 
• Disinfection at the workplace. Even if you do not go to the office but work from home, we must not forget that the keyboard and mouse are one of the most extensive breeding grounds for microbes, viruses and bacteria. So clean your workplace often. 
• Use antibacterial cycles on the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher. Many newer models have this option, which uses hotter than usual temperatures to reduce bacteria. 

These are the essential tips to slam the door under the nose of epidemics. We hope you find it helpful, and we will be happy to share more methods for cleaning your home and disinfecting against viruses. 

It is good to treat the premises with special disinfectants every three months so that you can rest assured that you will not allow pathogenic bacteria, viruses or fungi in your home. 

There’s burnt sugar inside your oven!!! Don’t worry, read these simple steps.

Burnt sugar is a nightmare to clean – it’s famous for being impossible to remove from any kind of surface. That includes the inside of an oven. There are, however, ways to clean it – it’s not impossible.

You will need some ammonia, a glass dish, some eye protection, a plastic ice windshield scraper, a heavy-duty scouring pad, a pair of rubber gloves, some paper towels, and some Easy-Off Oven Cleaner.

1. Turn the oven off and make sure it’s completely cool before you start cleaning.
2. Before you do anything, put on the rubber gloves and the eye protection. Pour some ammonia in the glass dish until it’s full to the middle and then put it on the oven rack. Be careful not to spill it. Close the door and take off the gloves and eye protection.
3. Leave the ammonia dish in there overnight. Don’t use the oven during this time. The ammonia fumes are sure to loosen the sugar, and also all other stains and dirt that there is in the oven.
4. Before you continue, put on the gloves and the eye protection again.
5. Open the oven door, take out the dish and dispose of the ammonia in the appropriate way. Keep on your protection gear until all of the ammonia is gone.
6. Without removing the gloves, try to scrape away as much of the sugar and anything else in the oven as you can, using the plastic ice scraper. It won’t damage the oven, as it is plastic. If you need more room to work, remove the metal grates.
7. Use paper towels to wipe away all of the dirt that you’ve loosened in the previous step. Continue scraping, and wipe again from time to time.
8. When you’ve removed as much as you can, start removing gunk with the scouring pad. Wipe again periodically with the paper towels.
9. When you can no longer do anything about the messes, that is, you’ve scraped away as much as possible, spray the insides of the oven with the oven cleaner.
10. Read the label to know how long you have to let the oven cleaner set.
11. Still having the rubber gloves on, wipe away the oven cleaner with paper towels.
12. Rinse the oven with a cloth dampened in clean water.
13. When you’re done with all, the oven should look new and sparkling.

Be careful when dealing with ammonia, as its fumes are very strong. Don’t breathe in when your head is directly above it, and open some windows. Don’t let it come in direct contact with any part of the body.

If you’re worried that your children or anyone else will try to open or use the oven while the ammonia is inside, tape it shut and put on a sign.