Let’s face it, when you are packing boxes, coordinating the removalists and juggling a dozen other things that require your attention while moving, the oven doesn’t usually get much thought. You might think that a quick wipe will take care of it, but you’re mistaken. The one thing that property managers are trained to check during the end-of-lease inspection is the oven and they will notice grease splatter, built-up carbon and discoloured oven racks. And the sad thing is that usually, tenants who take great care of their home during the duration of their lease lose money from their bond due to one oven not being cleaned properly. So let’s have a chat about ensuring that the oven is cleaned to maximise your bond money before you hand back your keys.
In this blog, we discuss oven cleaning for bond return: why it’s the #1 reason bonds get deducted.
Why the Oven Is the Most Inspected Appliance
To ensure you aren’t missing anything, property managers will thoroughly inspect your oven by additionally pulling out its racks and looking through its door glass – this is one of the few pieces of equipment that can be seen to have a very noticeable buildup of dirty and gross deposits (i.e., baked-on grease, burnt food) during an inspection.
Unlike other areas of maintenance (i.e., dusty shelves or smudgy windows), baked-on grease and burnt food are unmistakable signs that the property has not been well maintained. Thus, landlords and agents will judge the amount of baked-on grease and burnt food to be a direct representation of how well the property has been maintained; therefore, they will be held accountable if this does not meet their expectations.
What Inspectors Actually Look For
To ensure you reach a high standard of cleanliness, it is important to understand what gets flagged during a bond inspection. Generally, during the interior part of the inspection the following will be checked:
- Inside the oven cavity — Inspectors will check for excessive carbon deposits, grease build-up, and spilled food from the walls, floors, and ceiling of the oven cavity. These are red flags.
- Racks and trays — Often referred to as one of the biggest offenders in terms of holding onto burnt food, if the racks and trays are not returned to a suitable standard of cleanliness, they will be noted as red flags.
- Oven door and glasses — Inspectors will often comment on the amount of grease trapped between the glass panels of the oven. This extreme amount of buildup will be noted as the very first area of concern.
- Stovetops and burners — During the inspection, the area surrounding the oven will be inspected for excessive grease and staining as well as food debris (whether the stove is gas or electric).
- Rangehood and its filters — One of the most frequently overlooked areas by tenants during an end of tenancy clean, the rangehood filters are very often used as a reason for bond deductions. There will be little or no chance of your bond being returned to you if the filters are filled with grease.
Why DIY Cleaning Often Falls Short
Many tenants resort to cleaning their own oven with supermarket sprays and some kind of sponge. Cleaning on your own may work for light oily dirt but generally will not meet the standard necessary to receive a full bond back — particularly if an oven has not been cleaned by a cleaner professionally during the period of tenancy.
A few reasons why you cannot do the job yourself:
- Standard oven cleaners will not penetrate through the hardened carbon deposits without using the appropriate dwell time and technique
- To clean the inner glass doors of the oven properly requires disassembly, something most tenants skip
- Oven racks cleaned using household products will often still have discolouration and residue remaining
- Rushing to clean the day before an inspection will leave behind smearing and chemical residue
- A property manager will be able to recognise whether or not you cleaned the oven yourself compared to how it was cleaned professionally.
The Real Cost of Skipping It
Cleaning the oven can cost anywhere between $80-$200 or more from your bond depending on how dirty it is and what cleaning service is used for the inspection. This is money taken from your bond, usually for an amount that you could have cleaned yourself for much cheaper before the inspection. The negative impacts of a disputed bond will cause a delay of weeks between when you receive your bond back and therefore more stress during an already stressful period.
How to Get Your Oven Inspection-Ready
To avoid being deducted for an unclean oven, here are some things to do to ensure that you have the best chance of avoiding those deductions.
- Start cleaning as early as possible; do not put it off until the night before. If your oven has very built up grease and grime it may take multiple cleanings before it is cleaned sufficiently.
- Take apart what you can. Remove all of the racks, trays and the bottom of the oven, clean them separately from the oven’s sides and back.
- Use the right products. Alkaline degreasers will work better than regular cleaners for removing built up grease from the oven. You’ll want to leave the cleaner on long enough to break down the grease first.
- Do not forget about the glass panel between the inner and outer layers of the oven door. If the glass is dirty with grease and fog, it will need to be cleaned as well.
- If you want to guarantee that you get your bond back after you leave your rental property, one of the best ways to do this is to book a professional to conduct an end-of-lease cleaning.
Conclusion
Full recovery of your bond will depend on your ability to comply with the lease’s criteria. Most tenants fail when it comes to cleaning out their ovens; The Bond Cleaning Brisbane offers a complete oven cleaning service that guarantees a professional and inspection-ready oven, guaranteeing that you will receive your entire bond amount. Don’t throw away hundreds on one appliance; clean your oven before returning the keys!
FAQs
Do I really need to clean the oven before my end-of-lease inspection?
Certainly! During a bond inspection, the property manager will generally start with checking the oven. If your oven is dirty or greasy, it doesn’t matter how well you have otherwise cleaned the rest of your property, you will probably receive a deduction from your bond. The oven is not optional; it must be returned to the same clean condition that it was in when you moved in.
How clean does the oven actually need to be to pass inspection?
As described in your entry condition report, the item must be in reasonably good condition. In most cases, this means it is not showing any signs of grease, carbon, food remnants, or stains in the cavity, racks, door glass, and stovetop. “Clean enough” is not an adequate description for what you would have expected prior to moving into your unit. Inspectors expect that standards of cleanliness will be very close to the way they were when moving into the property.
Can I just use a supermarket oven cleaner and do it myself?
You may attempt to clean the oven, however, most of the time your attempt will fail to pass inspection, especially if deep cleaning was done a while ago. Commercial oven cleaners typically work well on fresh light grease; however, they do not work well on old, burnt-on carbon and grime. Oven door glass, baking racks, and range-hood filters are the hardest items to clean without the appropriate tools or cleaning techniques.
What happens if I don’t clean the oven and the landlord arranges a cleaner?
If you have a professional cleaning service hired by your landlord/property manager, they will deduct this cost from your bond. You won’t have a say on which event/cleaning company is hired and how much they will charge you for their services. Therefore, the bill for this service will range from $80-$200+ depending on how dirty your kitchen was before moving out and sometimes if there were any major messes to be cleaned from the oven as well; so it’s usually cheaper and smart to clean it yourself prior to the final move-out date.
