The Quintessential House Cleaning Checklist

If you’re planning an event soon and you’ll need your home up to speed, then this checklist will be your best friend. Without further ado: Hallways, Common Areas, and Around the House Dusting Surfaces and Knickknacks Cobwebs in Corners and Walls Dusting Ceiling Fans Wiping Baseboards and Crown Moldings Cleaning Window Ledges and Window Wells Cleaning Light Switches, Light Fixtures, and Doorknobs Emptying Waste Baskets Sweeping Staircases and Wiping Down Railings Sweeping, Vacuuming, and Mopping Floors This section is your go-to for every area in the house. Even when you work on specific rooms, you’ll want to make sure that you are addressing every item listed here. For example, you’ll want to make sure that every doorknob in your home is cleaned because knobs and handles can be high-traffic carriers of bacteria. Bedrooms Nightstand, Desk, and Top of Dresser Lamps, Lampshades, and Electronics Cleaning and Organizing Inside Drawers Cleaning and Organizing Closet Cleaning Mattress, Pillows, and Bedsheets Washing and Setting Blankets and Comforters Sweeping and Mopping Floors, Including Under the Bed and Underneath Furniture Your bedroom is your haven; you’ll want to make sure that it is in top condition regularly. Since you’ll be spending so much time inside the bedroom, make a habit of cleaning it at least twice per week. Even the little things like putting your clothes away and tidying up your things go a long way towards maintaining your bedrooms. If you practice good habits during the week, the cleaning on the weekends will go much smoother. Bathrooms Cleaning Bathtub and Shower Cleaning Toilet Cleaning Sink and Counter Tops Organizing Linen Closet Wiping Mirrors Scrubbing Tile Walls and Shower Doors Sweeping and Mopping Floors, Including Behind the Toilet Cleaning the bathroom is critical to keeping a happy and healthy home. You’ll want to keep this area clean at least 2-3 times per week. Don’t forget to address commonly overlooked areas like behind the toilet, the sink faucet, and in the tile grout. The toilet is a very high priority! Make sure you clean inside the bowl, the toilet seat, lid, and the flushing handle. The base of the toilet should not be overlooked, especially if you have kids. Kitchen Cleaning Stove Top, Stove Fan, Inside Oven, Oven Door Cleaning Microwave Interior and Exterior Wiping Exterior Surfaces of Appliances and Cabinet Doors Cleaning Underneath and Inside Small Appliances Cleaning Sinks and Counter Tops Cleaning Inside Fridge and Wiping Down Fridge Door Wet Wiping Walls and Backsplash Sweeping and Mopping Floors Keeping your kitchen clean can be tricky because of the buildup of grease and other cooking materials on your walls, on your stove, and generally all over the place. Besides the weekly deep cleaning, you’ll want to at least maintain the quality of your kitchen every day. Practice good habits like wiping up after you finish cooking doing your dishes after every meal. Not only will you keep unwanted guests like bacteria and critters away, you’ll cut your cleaning time in half. Dining Room Washing Tabletop, Chairs, and Runners Setting Tablecloth and Placemats Setting Silverware and China Sweeping and Mopping Floors Cleaning inside your dining room can be a lot of fun because you spend some of your favorite times gathered around the table with family. Keep your goals in mind while you are cleaning; maybe you are hosting a party soon and you’ll want to impress your guests with a sparkling home. Since the dining room will be the primary meeting point for your dinner party, you’ll want to keep this room in top shape. To help speed up the process, enlist your kids or family members and delegate the simpler tasks to them. Living Room Dusting Tabletops and Entertainment Center Vacuuming Furniture, Including Under and Between Cushions Dusting Figurines and Electronics Dusting Picture Frames and Fireplace Mantle Sweeping, Vacuuming, and Mopping Floors, Including Underneath Rugs and Furniture The living room is the epicenter of all life and activity in your home. If you take a look underneath your couch cushions, you may find a budding ecosystem of fallen fries, loose change, and dirt in every corner. Pay extra attention to those hard-to-reach areas such as underneath the furniture, under the rugs, and behind the entertainment center. Attic Dusting Surfaces and Walls Dusting Nooks and Crannies Cleaning in Corners and Removing Cobwebs Dusting Boxes and Crates Sweeping Floors, Including Underneath Your Belongings For those of us with attics, we know how messy it can get sometimes. Often the attic becomes home for all the things we can’t seem to find a use for or a proper place elsewhere in your home. Spend at least an hour reorganizing and decluttering your personal belongings when you clean out your attic. Be sure to dust the areas that normally have items before putting everything back in. Garage Washing Walls Cleaning and Organizing Shelves Wiping Down Entryway Door and Doorknob Cleaning Garage Bay Door and Outside Frames Sweeping and Mopping Floors, Including Grease Stains With the overall amount of traffic that comes into your garage, you’ll want to clean it out at least 2 or 3 times every year. If you are washing your walls, avoid the tendency to start at the top and work your way down; starting at the top will leave you with watery stains that run all the way down to the floor and it is much harder to clean the bottom portions of the wall with water stains. Instead, start at the bottom of the wall, closest to the ground. Clean in horizontal layers with a sponge and soapy water. As you work your way up, the water stains will drip down onto your clean lower sections. Don’t worry! This is what we want. It will be much easier to quickly wipe down the watery stains on clean walls once you are done with scrubbing the top layer. Once you finish scrubbing the entire wall, use a clean rag to wipe away the water stains. When you are cleaning the garage floor, you’ll first want to sweep away the debris. If you have oil stains, you can use kitty litter or sawdust to absorb the oil deposits. After sweepingFree Articles, run a quick mop over the floor and then let it dry before putting your car or anything else back into the garage. Article Tags: Mopping Floors Including, Wiping Down, Mopping Floors, You’ll Want, Make Sure, Floors Including, Dining Room, Water Stains