For many, home cleaning is a big deal. While most of us would clean up the home for spring, it’s easy to neglect the fall cleaning of your house. On top of that, a busy schedule of summers makes it nearly impossible to look into the nooks and crannies of your house. However, just like your home needs deep cleaning in spring, a fall clean is essential to steer clear of winter flu bugs and seasonal colds.
Why Is Fall Cleaning Important?
In winter, people spend more time in their houses compared to other seasons. They keep their windows closed and air conditioners turn into heaters. This lack of ventilation and central heating in the winter season sets the ideal conditions for bacteria, dust mites and molds to flourish. This is none of which you really want to have in your house. In addition, the importance of fall cleaning can’t be ignored if pets and kids are around. Also, if you have just completed home renovations, you will want to do a good fall cleaning!
With winters, holidays make their way. It takes a lot of preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is why it’s vital to delve into deep home cleaning before fall. This won’t only give you peace of mind, but it will also help in impressing your guests.
Guide to Fall House Cleaning
A few simple home cleaning guidelines can help you in achieving a healthier winter. Take a leap into the fall season with this home cleaning guide.
Windows, Vinyl Shades and Doors
Remove the dust on door frames and sterilize your doorknobs. To avoid the passage of winter bugs via disease-ridden hands, ensure that all surfaces including windows are well-cleaned with an antibacterial cleaning solution. Rather than using newspaper, use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the windows and vinyl shades. This will help in avoiding smears. Besides microfiber cloth, you can also use a vacuum with a low-setting brush attachment.
Furniture, Floor and Fabrics
Thinking the couch you are sitting on is clean? It may be until you tumble on it. In our everyday lives, the spillage, food pieces, sweat, and dead skin cells get accumulated in our bedding, carpets and sofas, which is often overlooked. And, they become a haven for seasonal bugs to grow. Give your couch and upholstered furniture a good vacuuming to eradicate moths and germs that might be still there.
Watch for scratched floors and hire professional services for floor refinishing. Meanwhile, the onset of the fall season is a perfect time for carpets to be professionally cleaned. This will help you get rid of allergy-inducing particles trapped within the carpets. Similarly, curtains need to be washed as well.
Revive your old furniture with wood polish. Spruce up artificial plants, if any. In addition, don’t forget to flip your mattress. This won’t just help the foam break in evenly, but it will also hinder the body impressions to form further deep patches. Dampen the mattress with baking soda to equalize the odors and then vacuum it.
Declutter
While getting your house ready for colder temperatures, make sure to spend some time tidying up and re-organizing drawers, closets and other storage areas. This will help in getting rid of as much good-for-nothing stuff as possible. Also, switch out your summer clothes with winter apparel.
Inspect and clean your smoke detectors
While preparing for fall, smoke detectors also need to be cleaned to perform well. Take a dry dust cloth and just simply wipe any dirt, or debris off the surface of the smoke detector. It’s a better idea to use your vacuum’s soft brush to clean up the openings and remove any debris inside the unit. Once it is cleaned, replace the batteries. Before fixing it back into the wall, check whether it is functioning properly or not.
Sweep the chimneys
Do you burn wood for heat? Your chimney is something that needs to be cleaned and inspected annually to assure safety. However, sweeping the chimney on your own can be a bit overwhelming job. So, before the arrival of winter, get your chimney and wood-burning fireplace professionally examined and swept.
Keep your pantry spick and span
The kitchen pantry is known for harboring stuff that may never come into use. Start with removing everything from the shelves. Use a vacuum to get rid of lingering dirt. Then, before putting them back into their places, look for anything expired or spoiled items, and discard them.
Gutters and Roof
Cleaning the gutters is quite important before winter arrives. This is because gutters control the proper water drainage. In fact, they control the flow of rainwater and secure your house, landscape, walls and roof. If their cleaning is neglected for a long time, it will allow the buildup of debris which will cause damage to your downspouts and eventually to the roof. Thoroughly clearing up gutters every fall will help them function like they are supposed to. Because doing it on your own is a riskier job, it’s better to hire a pro.
Deep Cleaning List
- Remove cobwebs from corners
- Spruce up ceiling fans, and light fixtures.
- In the bedroom, make sure to declutter, and sweep under the bed.
- In the living areas, tidy up everything including keyboards, screens and remote controls.
- Improve the efficiency of HVAC unit by cleaning any dust, and debris surrounding it, and replace your air filters, if needed.
- Check washer hoses for cracks and bulges. Make sure to change them every other year.
