Homes go through a lot of wear and tear over the years, and every now and then, they need a deep thorough cleaning. This is especially important if you are in the process of selling a home , before taking professional photos for your home listing, while preparing for visits from potential buyers, or when preparing to hand over the keys.
Deep cleaning your home goes beyond the daily maintenance of washing dishes, sweeping the floor, and dusting the shelves. Deep cleaning requires you to clean every corner of your home, including spaces that are often neglected during routine cleaning.
For some homeowners it is an annual spring cleaning ritual , while for others it is performed on special occasions. Either way, deep cleaning gives it that touch that will leave you sparkling and looking brand new at the end of the process.
Prepare your favorite music playlist, get your cleaning kit ready, and put on comfortable clothes; Here's our room-by-room guide to deep cleaning every inch of your home.
Prepare for Action
Before you roll up your sleeves and put on your rubber gloves, it is wise to have a plan. To get started, decide how you want to go about deep cleaning your home. It may sound like a great job, but breaking down the tasks room by room and task by task will make it much easier.
You can deep clean two rooms in your home every weekend or tackle one room every day until the whole house shines. Have extra hands to help? That's even better - you can have your kids wash the windows and window frames or put all the sheets in the washer and dryer.
It is worth considering what should be cleaned first and last. You don't want to mop all the floors just to clear the cabinets, making a mess in the room afterward. Your best bet is to start at the top and stop last with tasks like sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming.
Once you've mapped out your deep cleaning strategy and assigned your tasks, take a cleaning inventory. Make sure you are armed with what you need to tidy up each room. This will likely include a cleaning cart with gloves, all-purpose cleaner, glass and glass cleaner, baking soda, liquid soap, microfiber cloths, sponges, wood polish, and a bucket of warm water. Don't forget your broom, mop, vacuum cleaner, and some garbage bags. The last thing you need to do is interrupt your deep cleaning rhythm by stopping to rush to the store for supplies.
Tips for a Sanitized Bathroom
In a busy home, bathrooms can get quite messy, especially around door knobs, faucets, and around the ring in the sink and tub. A thorough cleaning not only makes your bathroom look better, it disinfects one of the germiest places in your home.
Clean your Medicine Cabinet and Drawers
To get started in your bathroom, clean the areas around your sink, tub, and toilet. You'll want a spotless bathroom that looks move-in ready. Remove everything so you can clean the bottom of the cabinets and drawers. Next, make sure all your toiletries and personal care products are neatly organized and stored.
Disinfect your Bathtub, Sink and Toilet:
With the bathroom clear, it's time to focus on sanitizing the bathroom fixtures. Spray your tub and sink with an all-purpose cleaner that specifically targets limescale, giving it a few minutes to soak in and disintegrate any build-up. This will make a big difference when it comes time to remove these spaces; your bathtub and sink can build up soap scum, mineral deposits, and body oil over time.
Pay attention to what your accessories are made of, as granite, copper, porcelain and ceramic sinks require different care.
Using a durable scrubbing sponge, scrub the sink and tub thoroughly. Don't forget to scrub the faucet, drain, and handles. You may need to treat certain areas with a cleansing paste of baking soda, vinegar, and hot water. When you're done, rinse the areas with soap and hot water, then wipe all accessories with a dry cloth. By now, they should be glowing. Throw away old shower curtains and bath rugs that need to be replaced; They may look out of place in your sparkling clean bathroom.
Then shift your focus to your toilet, cleaning it as you normally would with a toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush. Rub around the bowl and at the base of the toilet.
Disinfect and Clean All Mirrors and Surfaces:
Don't forget to use a glass surface cleaner for your mirrors and shower screen, while sanitizing the toilet seat, light switches, door handles, and door knobs. Wipe off any dirt in the corners of the mirrors and between the edges with a damp towel dipped in vinegar. It's the details that make the difference!
Clean Bathroom Tiles and Floors:
Finally, your tile floors and walls need some love. Use products like CLR, Clorox, or Lysol, along with an old toothbrush or bristle brush to help you scrub between your tiles. That mixture of baking soda and vinegar works well for removing tough stains; just let the mixture sit on those stains for 5-10 minutes, then wipe it off with a sponge soaked in warm water. Finish the job by mopping the floor to give it another rinse.
Tips for a Flawless Kitchen
With your bathrooms completely sanitized, it's time to shift your focus to the kitchen, which is often the focal point of every home. Deep cleaning your kitchen may seem like a daunting task, but here are the key areas.
Clean Your Refrigerator and Defrost Your Freezer:
Now is the time for a review of all the basic ingredients in your kitchen. Empty your fridge, freezer, and pantry so you can get rid of crumbs and food debris on all of these shelves.
Use a mixture of soap and hot water and gently scrub the inside of these spaces. Remove and clean the refrigerator and freezer shelves, too. Start from the top and work your way down to avoid disaster!
Now that you have a completely clean and empty fridge, freezer, and pantry, decide what to put back. Throw away anything that has expired or is not useful for the home. If you're moving or preparing for a visit from potential buyers, it's good to pack as much as you can. You want to organize your home so it doesn't seem too crowded.
Clean Cabinets:
You will need closets neat and organized to match your disassembled refrigerator and pantry. Take inventory of all your plates and silverware and donate any items you no longer need. Some homes can end up with too many cups or dishes.
With cabinets emptied, gently remove dust and dirt from the interior, walls, and doors of the cabinets with a damp cloth or sponge. Avoid using a damp sponge because some cabinets can swell from excess moisture. Dry the areas with a paper towel.
Scrub Your Appliances:
Your Microwave, Range, and Oven: They are probably covered in drippings of rotisserie chicken, dry pasta sauce, and residue from frying some tasty foods. Using your favorite cleaning products, or a mixture of baking soda, vinegar, and warm water, scrub the surfaces and interiors of these appliances. You will be amazed at how much grease and grime you will find on your cleaning cloth!
Appliances like your dishwasher, microwave, and oven may come with a self-cleaning or steam-cleaning feature. These can be life savers, doing the heavy lifting for you so you can simply clean up any leftover stains. If your appliances don't have these features, and you have stubborn food sticks that won't loosen, use a product like Easy Off to loosen the dirt.
Our best advice? Mix a tablespoon of vinegar with a cup of hot water and place the liquid in the microwave for five minutes. The steam from the boiling mixture will make it easy to clean up any adherent food scraps. For your oven, a mixture of freshly squeezed lemon and dish soap can also cut through layers of fat.
Sanitize and Degrease Your Sink, Splash Guard, and Other Surfaces:
Ideally, you're cleaning your sink, countertops, and backsplash after cooking, but during a deep clean, you can do a deeper clean, paying particular attention to missing corners and spots.
You can even use bleach to completely sanitize your sink. It can be worth it, especially if you handle raw meat in this space. A bleach cleaning solution will kill any lurking bacteria.
Also rely on disinfectant wipes; They will help lift dirt off the stove, countertop, and sink, while eliminating any bacteria on surfaces, handles, and faucets.
Don't forget hard-to-reach and often-overlooked places like the top of your refrigerator, under your toaster and microwave, and your range hood. The windows of your microwave and oven also accumulate a good amount of grease that must be cleaned with soap and warm water.
Sweep and mop:
Whether it's from the damage of your deep cleaning or the day-to-day rushing through the kitchen, the floor needs a well deserved polish. Sweep up dirt, dust, and debris, then with a bucket filled with warm soapy water, mop the floor, removing every last crumb.
Tips for an Organized Bedroom
With the bathroom and kitchen done, your bedrooms shouldn't be that strenuous for deep cleaning, especially if you've already arranged clothes, books, and other personal belongings. Now the dust bunnies have nowhere to hide!
To lessen the burden, put each family member in charge of deep cleaning your room.
Organize your Wardrobe, Drawers and Nightstand:
Whether you need to change your seasonal clothes or empty your nightstand, clear your personal space of items you no longer need. Make a pile of donations of clothes, accessories, books and other items carefully.
Wash All Your Sheets:
Get your sheets, pillows, duvets, and bed skirts out, throwing everything in the washer and dryer so they're cool, soft, and clean. I flipped her mattress over before putting her clean bedding back on.
Clean All Your Furniture:
Your weekly cleaning probably doesn't include checking under your bed, behind furniture, or along your headboard. During the deep cleaning of your room, with a microfiber cloth, wipe all your furniture, along the frame of your bed, on your dresser and inside the drawers, and disinfect the handles, knobs and switches.
You will be surprised how much dust accumulates on these surfaces! With a glass cleaner, clean your mirrors and picture frames that decorate your room.
Vacuum, Sweep or Mop Under and Behind Furniture:
Using various accessories on your vacuum or duster, get into hard-to-reach places in your room. If you can, move the furniture out of its place to vacuum in these places.
Tips for Sorting Common Areas
Your living room can be where your children gather to watch television or play video games. With just a few steps, you should have it in great shape.
Polish wooden furniture:
Your common areas can host wooden bookshelves, coffee tables, and chairs, so they could benefit from a bit of wood polish to polish off scratches and wear. Use a wood cleaner and dust cloth and work gently to smooth your furniture until it looks like new.
Disinfect electronic items:
Your family's TV remotes can be some of the dirtiest things in the house, so remember to sanitize those and other electronic devices to kill lingering germs. This also applies to your laptop and computer keyboard. You can also use a microfiber cloth or a duster to clean your TV and other screens throughout the house.
Clean your sofa:
A fun task you can give your kids is to clean the couch, making sure to look under the cushions and behind the couch. They may come across a treasure trove of surprises, from coins that may have fallen out of their pockets to an old bubblegum ball stuck to the seat. Get pillowcases and throw blankets into the washing machine, and use the vacuum to suck up all the dirt, lint, and dog hair around the sofa.
Tips for Deep Cleaning the Rest of Your Home
With the busiest places in your home neat and clean, now direct your efforts to the rest of your home.
Clean Walls, Baseboards and Door Frames:
With a bucket full of warm water and dishwashing liquid in hand, gently wash all walls, including baseboards and door frames. You will surely find scratches all over the house too, especially in the entryway and hallway. You can use a magic eraser to help remove these marks.
Pay attention to the corners of each room, where dust and dirt can easily accumulate. Using a packet of disinfectant wipes, clean light switches, door handles, and railings throughout the house.
Other overlooked places that need dust are the tops of your lamps, as well as ceiling fans.
Washing Windows, Window Frames and Sills:
Spray your windows, indoors and outdoors, with a glass cleaner like Windex and clean dirt, cloudiness, and stains. Professional cleaners also clean windows with hot water and vinegar. Tip: vinegar helps windows shine. Your window frames and sills can collect a lot of dust and debris, so don't forget them.
Deep cleaning of carpets, rugs and curtains:
If you have rugs and rugs throughout your home, take them outside and shake them out. You can even vacuum them up before bringing them back inside.
New carpets need to be professionally cleaned every year to keep them looking good, but you can make this a DIY project by renting a deep cleaning vacuum and shampoo. If you have wood or marble floors throughout your home, it is best to mop only.
Your curtains can collect a fair amount of dust - you can wash them, gently vacuum them, or take them outside for a good shake. If you have blinds, use a damp cloth and wipe them carefully.
Repair and Fix the Home:
During your deep cleaning, you may find peeling paint, uneven chair legs, or a tear in the sofa cushion. Make a note of everything that needs to be fixed and take out your toolbox to make these corrections.
If you are doing a deep cleaning to sell your home, you may consider a new coat of paint or other minor renovations, such as updating your kitchen cabinets. Make a list of your ideas and consider what is feasible for your budget.
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