How to Deep-Clean Your Home — The Ultimate Guide

 

Your life is so busy that the most you can find time for on the weekends is vacuuming, a quick wipe down of your floors, bathrooms & some light dusting.

This will keep your home moderately clean for a time, but eventually your house will need a deep cleaning. This requires some serious planning to make it manageable.

It seems like such a daunting task, that you keep putting it off.

This is the time of year with the holiday season fast approaching that you will want to showcase your home to your friends and family. You want everything to be perfect.

But where will you find the extra time needed to accomplish this in depth cleaning? It almost feels impossible to add extra time to what you already have to do.

Don’t worry, I am going to tell you step by step you just how you can do this as quickly and painlessly as possible.

How to tackle your Deep Cleaning Mission

Kitchen and bathrooms take the most time. Tackle those rooms first. You will need a full uninterrupted day here. A closet can be done in an evening. You will need a day for your ceramic and hardwood floors.

If you plan this deep cleaning over a few weeks you will get it done. Also don’t forget to engage your partner and family to pitch in to help you.

Let’s face it, no one looks forward to this task. I am talking of serious cleaning here folks, not the feather duster kind. But I can guarantee you the wonderful feeling of immense satisfaction and accomplishment you will feel, once this task is accomplished.

Let’s get on with it then and get this serious cleaning out of the way

Clean the Kitchen

You want your kitchen to sparkle. Some people call the kitchen the HUB of the home. This is one room in the home where everyone seems to gathers. Kitchens get a lot of action on a daily basis by all family members. From preparing food to packing lunches, there seems to be always someone using this room.

1. Dust the walls and ceiling for cobwebs. Wipe any areas where there is dirt or marks. Wipe down all the baseboards.

2. Give your cupboards a quick wipe down. Pack away some extra mugs and dishes not in use every day, to make room for special platters and serving pieces.

3. Clean your pantry, organize and check your supplies. Make a list of what needs replacing.

4. Don’t forget to polish the silverware and any special items you will be using over the next few months

5. Clean out your refrigerator, remove all items, shelves and vegetable bins. Give the interior a good cleaning with warm soapy water. Clean all bins and shelves and put refrigerator back together. Sort out and wipe all items from fridge. Discard outdated items.

6. Defrost your chest or stand up freezer, making room for your bulk buying and baking.

7. Wipe down the stove and ventilation hood.

8. Don’t forget the oven, there will be lots of baking and cooking with the holiday season fast approaching. Most ovens today are self-cleaning. If your oven is not self-cleaning, get your oven spray out.

Wear rubber gloves when doing this task.

Lay paper over the pull out oven drawer, so oven spray will not spill on it. Spray oven with oven cleaner. Leave overnight, wipe out excess grime with paper towels in the morning. With soap and warm water wipe down oven thoroughly.

9. Wipe inside the microwave and toaster oven. Give the outside a good wipe and shine the glass.

Clean all windows and mirrors.

Make all your windows shine to welcome those beautiful sunny days and for some winter wonderland coming our way. Wash your windows with a vinegar and water solution. Mix in a spray bottle 50% distilled vinegar and 50% tap water.

If you windows are extremely dirty wash with soap (palmolive works wonders, soft on the hands and does a great job)and water first. Spray down your windows and then with a good quality squeegee start at the top and wipe down to the bottom.

To finish, use a good 100% cotton cloth (used cloths works better)or microfiber to get rid of any streaks and wipe around the preimeter of the glass.

Take your cloth, vinegar & water spray bottle and clean all mirrors and glass picture frames throughout your home.

Vaccum blinds with the brush attachment and wipe down if necessary. Wash curtains where possible and vaccum others to rid of dust or cobwebs.Organize your Linen Closet.

Closet can be one of the messiest areas in our home. We can hide everyting by closing the door. We seem to just pack in as much as we can until it is spilling out every time we open the door. This can be so fustrating and such a waste of time when looking for items.

1. Remove everything from your closet . Wipe down all of the shelves
2. Organize everyday tablecloths, napkins and placemats . Discard old & faded linen making room for any new purchases.
3. Fold or roll towels and designate a shelf for them.
4. Organize sheet sets and stack them by size.
5. Use pretty wicker baskets to store bathroom esentials. Keep all the baskets the same for a uniform look.

Clean and polish all floors

Floors take so much wear and tear. We run a busy household and it is not always convienient for us to slip off our shoes at the door. Gradually over time the floors get dirty and dull looking. Well lets restore them to their origional lusrtre and beauty.

Hardwood floors:

Clean the floors thoroughly to remove dust and dirt. Vacuum then clean with a commercial wood floor cleaner or simple soap and water will also do. Dry completely with a clean towel.

Check out the finish on your hardwood floors. this will determine your polishing method. If you have a protective surface such as urethane, this type of finish will need polishing. Using a flat surface mop, work the wood floor polish solution back and forth in the direction of the wood grain. Wait one hour before walking on floor and several hours before replacing furniture.

Floors with penetrating finishes like tung oil or unsealed wood require wax instead of polish. Tung oil will provide a deep rich color but it does not provide a gloss or semi-gloss finish. To get a semi-gloss surface you would need to wax the surface and buff when the floor is dry.

Waxes are sold in liquid, paste, and solid stick form. You can apply wax over any other finish and it will give your floors a soft sheen and smooth feel. To apply liquid or paste rub it on and wipe it off. For more shine, let it dry, then buff with a soft cloth.

Ceramic Tile:

Vacuum or sweep the tile to remove any dirt. Fill a bucket with warm water, all purpose cleaner or (dish-soap)and 1/4 cup vinegar. Use a easy wring microfibre mop. Never use a sponge mop as it will pull the dirt right into the grout. Don’t forget the baseboards.

Carpets:

You have two choices here. You can rent a carpet cleaning machine which will be more economical and clean it yourself or hire professional carpet cleaners.

Rental machines are only so good, especially for removing heavy stains or heavily soiled areas.

This is one area that I would leave to the professionals. Hot water extraction systems have much more suction power and can get water much hotter.

Make sure to book it early so you won’t be disappointed.

Make your Bathroom sparkle

The second most used room in the house. Cleaning the bathroom is not a task anyone likes. No one will volunteer to do this for you, believe me on this one. But if you have a plan, you can get this chore finished quickly.

1. Remove all items from the bathroom countertops and floors. Spray tub, sink and shower down with an all purpose cleaner. Let sit at least 10 min. This will help disolve soap scum and dirt making you job easier. Put tiolet bowl clean in your tiolet, don’t forget under the rim, put seat down and let sit.
2. Remove everything from cupboards and drawers. Wipe down shelves and drawers. Add scented drawer liners to your drawers for a special touch.
3. Sort and put like things (hair products)into baskets to store in cupboard. This keeps your cupboards tidy and helps you find items easier.
4. Discard outdated items and items no longer used (rule of thumb) if you have not used it in a year get rid of it.
5. Now wipe down sink, countertop and mirror. Shine, shine, shine everything.
6. Minimize items left out on counters. A clean clear space looks much nicer and easier to keep clean.
7. Lets tackle the shower and tub. Use an abrasive scrubbing pad on the tub to remove bathtub rings. A toothbrush works well around all your faucets. Use the softer part of your scrubbing pad to wipe down the shower wall if you have a tub surround. If you have a tiled shower you can use a tile brush to scrub the tile grout and get in cracks and corners.
8. We leave the nastiest job, the toilet for last. Don you rubber gloves if you have not already and using your toilet brush, clean all areas of the toilet bowl and underneath the rim. Use your disinfectant cleaner to spray all around the toilet seat, tank and outside of toilet bowl. Take you cleaning cloth (cotton work best because of the abosorancy)and wipe down the outside of your toilet. A toothbrush works well around the hinges on the toilette seat where those pesky little germs like to hide.Take a cloth and dry the toilet.

Your Bedroom, Your Oasis

Bedrooms are very important spaces in you home. This is your private oasis and should be a haven of tranquillity. A place to curl up with a good book, zone out and watch some TV, or simply get away from the world.

Too much mess and clutter in your room can ruin the sense of tranquillity. Try to keep your bedroom tidy and in order.

1. Dust the walls and ceiling for cobwebs. Wipe any areas where there is dirt or marks. Wipe down all the baseboards.
2. Remove all items from your closet. Wipe down closet and shelves. Discard anything you have not worn in a year. Now organize like items together- like pants, shirts, dresses.
3. Remove all items from dressers. Wipe down dressers , tops, sides and back with a damp cloth. Clean all items on dresser, remove items not needed .
4. After cleaning, polish furniture.
5. Dust all picture frames and art work

6. Light Fixtures and Lamps

Lighting can create ambience in all the rooms of your home. This is why it is very important to keep the light fixtures clean. Lamp shades, fans & pendant lights are all dust collectors. We want our lights to shine through in every room. Clean light fixtures, better lightening.

Always turn off the light, let the bulb cool off and then remove it. With a damp cloth wipe the bulb.

Ceiling fixtures

Carefully remove the fixture cover, wash in a sink of soapy water and shine. You can now replace the bulb and fixture cover.

Pendant Lights

Wipe the outside of the globes with a microfibre cloth and cleaning spray. Wipe bulbs, extension rods and cables

Ceiling fans

Remove globes and clean with soapy water. Wipe the bulbs, check to see they are all working. Dust the fan blades and return globes.

Lamps

Turn off lamp, remove the shade, take out bulb. Clean the bulb and base with a damp clean. Polish dry with another dry cloth.

For fabric lampshades dust with a soft vacuum attachement. For metal wash with a damp cloth. Rattan can be vacuumed. Replace paper lampshades when they get grimy.

Clean and Sparkling!

You did it. With a plan you can accomplish anything. Cleaning can seem like such a daunting task. Broken down into workable pieces, makes it much more doable.

Following your plan, your house is now spic and span from corner to corner.

Engaging some help from the family made the whole ordeal much easier.

Wow, your home looks great and everything is shining.

You feel a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment for a job well done. One step at a time, with a plan and some help, you can accomplish anything.

Now you can walk through you home room by room and admire how clean and shiny everything looks. You know every room in your home is spotless. You are ready to welcome your friends and family.

You earned that glass of wine. Pour, sit and admire your hard work (pour one for hubby too if he piched in). Your home looks fabulous.