SWITCH CEILING FANS TO COUNTER CLOCKWISE!
CLEAN OR REPAINT ALL BASEBOARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CLEAN ALL WINDOW TREATMENTS!
COAT CLOSET / ENTRYWAY
1. Take all heavy coats to the dry cleaners for cleaning then store them till next winter.
2. Clean gloves and knit hats and store in a hat box until winter as well.
3. Wipe down snow boots and store.
4. De-clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter!
LIVING ROOM
1. Dust and vacuum corners and crevices from high points to low. Remember dust falls downward so you want to clean from the top to the bottom of any room.
2. Vacuum furniture (under cushions), lampshades and pictures. Remember all those gadgets that come with your vacuum cleaner? Use them here, and experiment with different attachments for furniture and corners of rooms.
3.Vacuum or wash/dry-clean curtains.
4. Dust wood furniture. Repair any damage with a wood touch-up kit.
5. Move furniture and vacuum under or sweep if hardwood.
6. Dust mop floors.
7. Vacuum carpet.
8. Take plants outside for a gentle washing with a fine spray from your garden hose or put in the tub and run the shower on them. Plants and their pots get dusty over the winter.
BEDROOMS
1. Wash, or dry-clean curtains.
2. Take blinds (if you can) outside and wash them with a mild ammonia solution Rinse with that good old stand by--the garden hose! If you can’t…use a mild ammonia solution and a good rag to clean.
3. Strip bed linens and dust ruffle. Clean.
4. Vacuum your mattress and box spring. Flip and rotate the mattress before putting on new sheets. This will prevent dips from forming on the mattress, and keep it firmer longer. (Actually, every week when I change sheets I spray Lysol on the mattress until it’s slightly damp to the touch.
5. Polish wood furniture (touch-up any damage) and dust knickknacks.
6. Vacuum everything, from the floor behind and under the bed to the carpet, lampshade and pictures.
7. Clean mirrors and wipe down light fixtures and lamps.
8. Dust mop wood floors.
KITCHEN
1. Let cleansers do the scrubbing for you! Spray your oven with cleaner the night before you plan to spring clean your kitchen This will literally "marinate" the grease and grime, making it simple to sponge off. Or just use the self cleaning feature on the oven.
2. Here is a great microwave cleaning tip: fill a paper cup with water and a few tablespoons of baking soda. Nuke it for about 30 seconds, or until you see the contents explode! Then just take a paper towel and wipe it all off. The explosion spreads the cleanser over the entire area, and you can even use the moistened rag or paper towel to wipe outside the microwave and its surrounding area.
3. Vacuum stove vents, refrigerator coils, floor, and counters.
4. Defrost that freezer. A blow-drier aimed at the ice will speed up the process. Get rid of old foods, or those jars of things you thought you'd like but never ate.
5. Clean the inside of freezer and fridge with a solution of three tablespoons of baking soda and one quart of warm water.
6. Clean outside of fridge with glass cleaner.
7. Clean counters, appliances and stove top with an all purpose glass cleaner or the baking soda solution listed above.
8. Wash out the trash can and spray it with a good disinfectant before putting in a new lining. Leave it outside the kitchen for the next step.
9. For linoleum floors, spray a foaming tile cleaner and take a five minute break, (you can change the CD, or start clearing out items in another room). When you come back, you just need to sponge mop the floor. The foaming cleanser will have already lifted up the dirt so you don't have to.
10. In the sink put a good cleanser for your cabinets in with warm water. Use a rag and wipe down all cabinets. Remember to dust anything you may have on top of cabinets.
11. Wash out garbage can. Shine metal ones with window cleaner.
BATHROOMS
1. Clean grout. Replace any broken tiles.
2. Remove everything from under the sinks and out of drawers, vacumn, declutter and return whatever you're keeping neatly.
3. Remove drain covers and scrub all drains openings clean.
4. Wipe down walls.
5. Spray shower and tub with strong cleanser.
6. Pour cleaner into the toilet bowl, and spray the outside with the same cleaner. Let the chemicals do the cleaning while you do the next steps.
7. Clean mirrors, chrome, bathroom scale, and light fixtures with glass cleaner.
8. Vacuum everything! This will remove dust and hair that is so hard to get up when surfaces are wet.
9. Empty and clean (shine metal ones with window cleaner) the wastepaper basket.
10. Clean the sink and wipe off the cleanser you already applied to the shower and tub.
11. Working from the top of the toilet down, clean the outside, and brush and flush the inside.
12. Scrub the floor with a strong cleanser. Tough tile floors can be most easily cleaned by hand with the scrub-brush side of a bathroom-only sponge.
13. One more tip: spaghetti mops are more efficient at getting into tough corners than sponge mops. Many types can even be thrown in the washing machine between cleanings.
14. Fill Jacuzzi tubs with water and a good amount of bleach. Run jets for 20 minutes and continue soaking for 40 minutes.
OUTSIDE
1. With pressure washer, wash house, fence and deck. Treat deck if needed.
2. Treat wooden deck furniture with wood oil.
3. Degrease grill with something like 409 or Fantastik. Just spray it down well and let the 409 work then wipe down.
4. Repaint front door, change kickplate if need be.
5. Put out container pots that you put away in winter.
6. Re-mulch flower beds.
7. Plant and transplant plants/flowers in flower bed.
8. Remove dead plants.
9. Do maintenance to grass as needed.
10. Replace any broken stepping stones.
11. Clean outside garbage can. (Good time to go to Walmart and buy some vinyl numbers and put your house number on the front of your can in the event a good wind blows it down the street one day.)
12. Change outside light bulb to bug light.
