30 ways to make your house cleaner than it's ever been
Your house is dirty.
It might look clean because you vacuum and you dust and you mop on the daily, but it's still dirty. There are countless areas that never get touched. Not necessarily because you neglect them, but because you don't know they need to be cleaned.
Here are 30 ways to make your home cleaner than it's ever been before.
General living spaces and bedrooms
Skirting boards. They never look dirty until you wipe them down.
TVs, stereos, and other electronics. Wipe them with glass cleaner and the cloth that comes with any pair of sunglasses.
Under beds. The carpet is always covered in dust (particularly near the wall where the bedhead meets it). These areas need a good, strong vacuum.
Window glass. Clean them with a solution of white vinegar and water, applied with a microfibre cloth to prevent streaking.
Upholstery. Using the brush attachment, vacuum down your couches and chairs.
Blinds. They particularly need to be wiped down from the back, which involves a helping hand to hold each blind at a 45-degree angle for you.
Wooden furniture. It gets banged up all the time but this problem can be solved by rubbing the offending nicks with an unshelled walnut.
Under furniture, where the wall meets the carpet. Anything pushed hard up against a wall will be in particular need of a good vacuum underneath.
Cushion covers. Hopefully they are removable and washable, because they'll need it considering how many dead skin cells are left on them time after time.
Lightbulbs. They become filthy with time and need carefully removed, wiped, and re-inserted. Important because modern energy-efficient bulbs last years, not months.
The top of pendant lights. They also collect grime, but you never, ever see it. You need a ladder and someone to spot you in order to clean them.
Tops of shelves. As above. Always covered in dust that you never see.
Picture frames. Ditto.
Dog mats. Put them in the washing machine, or if too big, get an antibacterial stain remover from the supermarket, spray on, and vacuum off.
Kitchen
The corners of the kitchen. Where the kitchen bench meets the floor is where you'll have pushed dirt continuously when mopping. Get on hands and knees to wipe these corners.
Garbage disposal. Lemon rinds and cold water will freshen up the stink from old macerated food.
Wooden cutting boards. Bacteria can hide in the cracks and grooves. Wipe them with undiluted white vinegar, rub with lemon, and rinse with cold water.
Oven extractor fan. It accumulates cooking oil and this can be cleaned by removing the mesh panels and soaking/scrubbing baking soda, white vinegar, and hot water in the sink. All other nooks and crannies will need a wipe down too.
Oven hood. Difficult to get to, but it'll have accumulated a sticky oil/dust layer which can be removed using the above solution.
The dishwasher. It's not self-cleaning. Place a cup of white vinegar on the upper shelf and run through a hot cycle with nothing else in there.
Fridge seals. Always full of crumbs. Spray and wipe them, or use an old toothbrush.
Bathroom and laundry room
Sink splash backs. When they're white tile, the usually look clean all the time. After withstanding hundreds of water splashes, they need a proper wipe down.
Mirror. Goes without saying that this should be clean, but it's an often-forgotten surface.
Written by Lee Suckling. Republished with permission of Stuff.co.nz.