The move-out clean that actually gets your deposit back
Deposits are not lost on dust. They are lost on the four things an agent photographs.
The Xoot team
What an inspection is actually looking for
An agent walking an empty flat is not assessing cleanliness in general. They are looking for a short list of things that photograph as damage or neglect: oven interior, extractor filter, bathroom grout and seals, marks on walls, and the state of the floors in corners.
Everything else is noise. Those five decide the outcome.
The order that saves a day
Empty first, entirely. A move-out clean around boxes is a clean you will do twice, and it is the single most common reason the day runs over.
Then oven and bathroom, because they take the longest and are the least forgiving. Floors genuinely last.
Photograph everything, at the end
Photograph the finished state, dated, room by room — including inside the oven and the bathroom seals. Disputes about deposits are settled weeks later on evidence, and the tenant almost never has any.
That is the whole trick, and it costs ten minutes. Under the Rental Housing Act the outgoing inspection matters; your own record of it is what makes an argument possible.
If the deposit is withheld anyway
Ask for the deduction in writing, itemised. A landlord or agent should be able to say which item, what it cost, and why it was not fair wear and tear.
The Rental Housing Act gives you a route: each province has a Rental Housing Tribunal, it is free, and it hears deposit disputes. Your dated photographs are what make that hearing short. This is general information rather than legal advice, but the tribunal exists and most tenants do not know it.
Quick answers
When should I book the move-out clean?
After the flat is empty and before the outgoing inspection. Around boxes is a clean done twice.
Does a move-out clean guarantee my deposit back?
Nothing can guarantee that — it depends on the property's condition and your lease. What a proper clean and dated photographs do is remove the easy reasons to withhold it.
Do you clean inside the oven?
On a deep or move-out clean, yes. It is one of the few things an inspection reliably checks.
Ready for Xoot?
Choose your service, review the details and continue through the booking flow.