Deep Cleaning Your House Checklist

Now is the time to deep clean and restore some order to your home (since coronavirus has you quarantined at home, anyway). Whether you need to clean up from months of neglect, vacuum up the never-ending pet hair, or just get your house looking like new again, we’ve got you covered.

The kitchen is the best place to start using the two-step method - clean, then disinfect. Start with the appliances that did the most heavy lifting over the past few months. Give your refrigerator a deep clean by getting rid of leftovers,  spray the inside with distilled white vinegar, and then wipe it down with a clean microfiber cloth with warm water. Throw out expired condiments. Make sure to check your oven and microwave for food residue. Try an oven or stovetop cleaner so you don’t have to scrub as long. Most cleaners can be sprayed on any type of food, left for a few minutes, and then easily wiped clean. For best results, try Lysol Kitchen Pro or Clorox Clean-Up with bleach.

Kitchen cabinets are not only one of the highest-touch surfaces in your home but also tend to accumulate get layers of grease, dust, and grime. Wiping down your cabinets with a damp cloth daily or weekly, depending on how often you cook, can go a long way to making sure your cabinets stay clean. If you can’t keep up this routine, and now you’re stuck with a mixture of grease and dust, it might be hard to remove. Don’t fret! We have just the solution for you! Try an all-purpose cleaner or oil, like Murphy Oil Soap or Orange Oil. This will help to degrease your cabinets and cut through the grime. Once you have the grease removed, use a wax or polish to really make your cabinets shine! In two simple steps, you’ll have your kitchen cabinets looking like new again. Don’t forget the inside of your cabinets. Simply use a damp rag to wipe down the insides. It’s recommended to wipe the inside of cabinets every few months. Doing so ensures that you don’t have crumbs or other debris building up and creating a welcome invitation for bugs and other pests.

The one place in your home that can always use a deep cleaning is the bathroom. Just remember to not use the same cloths used in the kitchen for the bathrooms and make sure to wash your cleaning cloth constantly as you do not want to move bacteria from one spot to another! Microfiber Cloths are great as rinsing them thoroughly with warm water is enough to get rid of almost all bacteria that may have built up in the cleaning cloth.

These rooms are used daily, and can always use some cleaner and a sponge in the shower or on floors where hairspray mixes with dust to create a horrible film. Quickly clean your bathroom with a few hacks to speed up the whole process!

Remove everything from its normal spot, then dust and sweep. Use a cleaner on the shower and bathtub so it has time to soak while you clean the rest of the bathroom. Try The Works Tub & Shower, Clorox Bleach Foamer, or Rain-X Shower Door X-treme Shower Cleaner to clean any heavy buildup. Clean the rest of the bathroom working from top to bottom or left to right, so you get everything. Use a sponge or cloth with your all-purpose cleaner or distilled white vinegar and then wipe down with a clean microfiber cloth with warm water to remove any grime. Head back to the shower and bathtub to remove your cleaner. A light scrub should easily remove any buildup. Wipe down your vanity top with an all-purpose cleaner and lightly scrub the top, sink, and the mirror. Finish with your cabinet doors using a damp rag to remove any dust. Don’t forget the mirror! Use a glass cleaner and slow even strokes for a streak-free shine. Clean the toilet using a solution like The Works Bowl Cleaner or Clorox Bleach & Blue Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner. Hit the floor last using a bucket with warm water and a cleaning solution like Pine-Sol. If you have a tile floor, Goo Gone Grout Cleaner & Restore is a great option to really make your grout shine. Also, try Rubbermaid’s Reveal Grout Power Scrubber!

Furnace filters should be replaced often, but how often depends on the size of your filter and if you have any animals in the house. For a four-inch filter, you should replace it every two months while a five-inch filter should be replaced every three months. If you have one or more pets in your house, it’s best to change the filter every two months or less no matter what size it is. Other factors that affect your filter include the amount of dust that’s naturally in your home, whether you run heat or the air conditioner nonstop, and even open windows. All three can be reasons to change your home’s filter even more often. Another way to ensure your home’s air quality is up to par is to regularly clean your vent covers. You can do so by removing the covers and putting them in hot, soapy water. Let them soak for a few minutes to remove any dust and allergens. Once they’re clean, make sure they are completely dry before replacing.

Bedding should be washed using the hottest water setting to kill any unwanted critters and followed with the drier on high heat. It’s best to wash the comforter by itself because of the size. Removing bedding and first sweeping the entire surface will clean your mattress of any surface debris. Next, spot treat stains with any stain remover and deodorize the mattress by sprinkling baking soda over it. For best results, leave the baking soda on for 24 hours. This requires you to sleep elsewhere, so if that isn’t any option the longer you can leave it on the better. Once you’re ready to remove the baking soda, simply sweep it off and rest easy knowing you’re once again sleeping on a clean bed!