Hello Friends,
Happy Autumn!
With fall approaching and children returning to school, it's time to think about a deep cleaning in our homes. I do a deep cleaning in my home twice a year fall and spring. Clean out from underneath beds, dressers, sofa's and large appliances. Start by dusting down furniture with a rag and furniture polish instead of a feather duster. Take down curtains and dry clean or wash them. Then follow up with vacuuming and washing floors. I clean in and under everything that I have not touched previously. Hit the refrigerator with a blast of Lysol disinfectant cleaner and ditch the leftover condiments sitting longer than 6 months. Pay very close attention to all the details. For instance, the kitchen cabinets. You can't see it but it's there, a very slight film of grease that you get from cooking. Use a mixture of water and ammonia to get the grease off the cabinets, then wipe dry. Clean inside drawers and cabinets, and add new drawer liners. This can be done once per year if you choose. Wipe down ceiling fans and wash glass globes as well as the blades. Have carpeted areas steam cleaned by a professional too. It takes away all the allergens that have made home in our rugs. This will also keep our wall to wall carpets looking their best over time. Keeping our homes clean and free of debris is one way we show the love we have for our families and ourselves. Take care of your biggest asset and it will take care of you.
Try these tips for cleaning other areas in your home:
- Salt and lemon juice gets stuck on stuff off pot bottoms. The acid in the lemon mixed with the salt can give them a new glow. ***Never use this on non-stick pots.
- Use a steam mop to kill germs on hard wood floors. I usually mop my hardwood floors with boiling hot black tea. But in a rush I will go for the steam mop which does the same job with quicker drying time.
- Dont forget closets. Reorganize linen and clothes closets to make every item is easy to find. Then place natural cedar planks in them to keep fabric loving bugs out. In addition to adding cedar planks, I made lavender sachet's and hung them on every third hanger to help keep my closet smelling fresh. Men would prefer tea tree scent or clove over lavender. Clove sachet's can easily be made with whole cloves from the spice rack. *Tip: I place my top, fitted and one pillow case of sheet set inside one of the matching pillow cases to keep the set together and easy to find in my closet. Each sheet set is then neatly stacked in my closet. :)
- Use a stiff brush to remove dust from lamp shades, and free standing fans. Then place them out on the sun for an hour to kill any dust mites before replacing them on lamps. Same goes for silk flowers.
- A big must.... vacuum then hang large area rugs outside in the sun for one hour. They will smell better and dust mites are irradiated. Wash smaller area rugs then hang to dry instead of simply shaking the out. :) There is nothing better than sunlight and a little time to freshen up items that can't be washed.
Finally, make it a habit to deep clean at least two times per year. Put it on your calendar and stick to it. More frequent deep cleaning is best, but with work and family requiring most of our time twice per year is good enough. I love doing this in chunks so that it does not so overwhelming. Choose a chunk of time to do a few things and finish them before moving on to the next. You will be happy with the outcome. If you hire a professional to do your cleaning, make certain they use good products and follow your instruction precisely. Cutting corners is not ok. Inspect everything before paying the bill.
One final word before I say goodbye, don't forget the exterior of your home. You can buy siding wash from home improvement stores or hire a professional to do your windows and siding all at once.
Love and hugs,
Suz
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