The Complete Move-Out Cleaning Checklist for Finnish Tenants

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Moving out of a rental in Finland comes with one stressful question: will the cleaning pass the landlord's inspection? This is a complete checklist of what needs to be done, room by room, plus the things tenants most often forget.

What landlords actually check

Finnish rental contracts almost universally require the apartment to be returned in "good condition" (hyvässä kunnossa). In practice, landlords and real estate agents focus on:

• Kitchen appliances inside and out (oven, fridge, freezer, microwave, dishwasher)
• Bathroom — limescale on tiles, faucets, shower, toilet
• Floors throughout, including under furniture if it's removed
• Windows inside and outside (where reachable), including frames and sills
• Ventilation grilles in every room
• Inside cabinets, drawers, and storage spaces
• Walls — scuff marks, fingerprints, sticky residue from tape

The full room-by-room checklist

Kitchen

• Oven inside (racks, walls, glass door), outside, and behind if movable
• Stove top, controls, and underneath the burners
• Range hood and grease filters
• Fridge and freezer — empty, defrost, wipe inside and out, clean rubber seals
• Microwave inside and out
• Dishwasher — filter, door, seals, exterior
• All cabinet interiors and exteriors, including handles
• Countertops, sink, faucet (descale!)
• Backsplash tiles or panels

Bathroom

• Toilet bowl, seat, tank, base, and around the back
• Shower — walls, glass, drain, mixer (descale carefully)
• Bathtub if present
• Sink, faucet, drain
• Mirror, light fixtures
• Tile grout (mould-free)
• Floor drain — remove cover and clean the trap
• Inside cabinets and mirror cabinet

Living areas and bedrooms

• Floors vacuumed and washed (including under any remaining furniture)
• Skirting boards and door frames wiped
• Light fixtures dusted (yes, including the bulbs)
• Windows inside, frames, and sills
• Radiators dusted (between fins too)
• Electrical sockets and switches wiped
• Closet interiors

The often-forgotten spots

These are the spots that most often cause issues during inspection:

• Inside the ventilation grilles (kitchen and bathroom especially)
• Behind and under appliances if they're moving with you
• The balcony — yes, it counts as part of the apartment
• Sauna if present — benches, walls, kiuas, drain
• Attic and basement storage (varasto)
• Door tops (where dust collects)

When professional move-out cleaning makes sense

Doing it yourself is the cheapest option — but only if you have the time, the right products, and the patience. A professional move-out cleaning service makes sense when:

• You're moving across the country and don't have time to go back
• The apartment is large (3 rooms or more)
• The deposit you'd lose is more than the cleaning cost
• You need a same-day or next-day turnaround
• You want a guarantee that the inspection will pass

In the Helsinki metro area, Cleava handles move-out cleaning starting at 42€/hour — including a guarantee that we'll return free of charge if anything is flagged during inspection. We work in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and across the metro area.

The household tax deduction (kotitalousvähennys)

Move-out cleaning by a registered Finnish business qualifies for the household tax deduction. You can deduct 35% of the labour cost — up to €1,600 per person per year. For a typical 2BR move-out clean (€250 total), that's around €88 back from your taxes. Practically speaking: the deduction makes professional move-out cleaning cheaper than most people assume.

One last thing: take photos

Before you hand over the keys, photograph every room — including inside the oven, fridge, and cabinets. This is your insurance if there's a dispute later about the deposit. Date-stamped photos are accepted as evidence in nearly every deposit dispute case.