Cleaning your home can be a feat, especially after a party or holiday event. When everyone is gone and it’s just you and your cleaning supplies, you might feel a little overwhelmed at all there is to do. Sure, you take care of vacuuming the carpet and wiping down the bathroom sink, but there are a few other places that you’re probably forgetting to clean in your home.
Table of Contents
Kitchen
In the kitchen, you should clean the following places:
- Cabinets: The inside of your kitchen cabinets can fill with dust, dirt and more. You should remove your dishes and cooking utensils from your cabinets at least once a year to deep clean the inside of them. You can also get liners for your cabinets that you place on each shelf to keep them clean. Just remove the liners and wipe off any debris that has built up.
- The top of your fridge: Using a long duster, reach the top of your fridge to wipe away the dust that has built up there. We often forget to look up when we clean, and the tops of our fridges, cabinets and shelving units can build up dust very quickly. If you store any cooking utensils on the top of your fridge, such as a blender or crockpot, you can cover them with a large towel to keep them from getting dusty. That way, you only have to wash the towel a few times a year instead of dusting the top of the fridge every week.
Dining Room
In the dining room, you’re probably forgetting to clean in these places:
- Under the chairs: Take a look at the bottom of the furniture in your dining room, especially your chairs. Sometimes, spiders make webs in the corners of your chairs because it typically stays dark and cool. Use the suction attachment on your vacuum to get those corners and spaces under the dining room chairs.
- Wall decor: Just because you have hung something on your wall doesn’t mean you shouldn’t clean it. Everything can collect dust over time, so make sure you use a duster or a soft microfiber rag to wipe down any wall decor you have hanging in your dining room. Any mirrors you have hanging there should be cleaned with a glass cleaning solution and paper towels. You’d be surprised just how dusty and dirty those wall decor pieces can get.
Living Room
In the living room, you’ll need to clean some of these items:
- Couch cushions: When you vacuum the floors, you should also vacuum the couch cushions at least once a month. Whether it’s crumbs you dropped while munching on chips, pet hair or even spider webs nestled in between, lint and other materials can hide out in between the couch cushions. Plus, all the weight from sitting on your couch can cause the material your cushions are made of to get matted down. Vacuuming the cushions gives them new life. Your couch will look fresh and clean – like you just moved it in – if you clean the cushions.
- Bookshelves: We’ve all seen montages of dusty bookshelves on TV. These aren’t just on television. Dusty bookshelves are real. Take a duster to the bookshelves in your living room at least once a week. Make sure to dust the tops of books or any other items you have placed on your bookshelves in your living room. This includes candles, photo frames and art pieces.
- The internet modem: When too much dust and dirt gets into your modem, it can cause problems with your internet. As you do your weekly dusting, make sure to also dust off your internet modem. It’ll keep your internet running fast.
Bedroom
While cleaning your bedroom, make sure you clean these places:
- Bed frame: Just like with dining room chairs, your bed frame can serve as a host for lots of critters and their eggs. You can use your vacuum to clean the underside of your bed frame. You can also get a bed skirt to help keep dust bunnies, hair and other allergens from getting under your bed.
- Closet floor: You can easily tell when you need to clean your closet out, but do you ever remember to take all your shoes out from your closet and vacuum or sweep the floor? Your shoes track in lots of dirt and debris, making your closet floor one of the dirtiest places in your home. Every season, take your shoes, boxes and other items out and give the space a deep clean. If you have shoes that you only wear at specific times, make sure to put them in a plastic storage container with a lid so that they stay nice and good as new.
Other Locations to Clean
Here are some other places you should clean in your home:
- Baseboards: The baseboards are the crown molding or wooden strips at the bottom of your wall and right above your flooring. They can collect dirt, dust and get scuffed up throughout the year. Using a damp cloth, wipe down the baseboards throughout your home. You’ll want to do this a few times a year.
- Vents: The vents in your home get dusty and dirty, too. Using an adjustable duster, you’ll want to wipe the vents in each room of your home. It helps keep the air circulating through your home free of any dust and can prevent fires. This also goes for your dryer and washer vents.
- Bathroom cabinets: The front of your bathroom cabinets will need to be wiped down a few times a year. While quality cabinets will resist scratches, they can still collect dust and germs. Make sure to wipe them down with a soft cloth and general cleaning solution.
- Indoor plants: Even if your plants get lots of sunlight, their leaves can still accumulate lots of dust. This especially goes for silk plants. Wipe the leaves down with a soft cloth once a month to get rid of any dust that’s accumulated on your indoor plants.
