The Fall Home Cleaning Checklist: Areas you should Clean and How

Pam Dollesin, October 3, 2018

Cozy clothes, colourful leaves, chamomile tea, and the smell of pumpkin baked goods… Fall is around the corner. Before you transition into the chilly season, prepare your home by giving it an extensive fall clean-up! Don’t worry, it’s not as half as stressful as the spring version but it is as equally important.

Deep cleaning your house for the coming colder months is both beneficial for you and the health of your home. It prevents pest infestations and other harmful creatures from invading your house in the search for refuge from the nasty weather. At JoyfulSource.com we know that you can improve your property’s state and overall appearance by committing to these seasonal cleaning habits and make it a more enjoyable space for your friends and family.

No matter if you just want to freshen up your living space for the holiday guests or to prepare it for the winter, our checklist can help you determine your fall cleaning strategy.

Spend a Bit More Time on Freshening Up your Kitchen

Your kitchen is one of the areas you probably use the most. That’s why you’ll need to spend a bit more time keeping it in a top shape. Besides the basic tasks like to mop the floor or to dust the spice shelf, there are three areas that will require more of your attention – the refrigerator, cabinets, and counters. Here is how to clean them:

Thoroughly scrub the refrigerator and toss out any expired products

First, go through all of the food items that are stored in there. There are usually products that have expired and are only taking up space.

Toss them out.
After you are done with that, remove each shelf and drawer.
You can wash them in your kitchen sink but a better option is to scrub them in the bathroom. This way you save yourself from participating in a wet shirt contest. Use warm water and liquid dish soap to clean the fridge parts.
When you are finished, wipe them down and put them back in the appliance.
If there is a big enough gap between the fridge and the floor, you can easily vacuum under the appliance. If the refrigerator is on the heavy side, we don’t advise on trying to move it yourself because of safety reasons. You don’t want any long-term back pain and bad memories from doing the house chores.

Finally, wipe down the surface of the appliance with an all-purpose cleaner to remove any stains.

Clean the kitchen cabinets and counters from grease stains

Start off with the exterior part of the cabinets. We advise that you use a degreaser for this part. If you don’t keep up with hygiene in the kitchen, the grease from your cooking ventures tends to stick to everything and it’s hard to remove with just dish soap and water. After that, with the same, all-purpose cleaner, scrub all of your appliances.

The coffee maker, microwave, food processor – basically everything. Continue with organizing the pantry and dispose of any expired food.

When it comes to the countertops, if there are not heavily stained, you can wipe them down with general detergent.

Take Care of the Upholstery in Your Living room

The living room is the main space that you hang out in during the harsher months. To fully enjoy your movie nights or those family-bonding board game evenings in front of the fireplace, look out for decor tips and keep up with trends and freshen up the upholstery in the room.

Spot-treat carpet stains with a specialized stain remover and rent a cleaning machine to thoroughly remove the dust and grime, advise the Cardiff Carpet Cleaners. You can always opt for a professional company to deep clean the rugs to save yourself some back pain.
Clean the carpet areas you can otherwise see, mention the experts at Big Warehouse Sale, such as under wardrobes, bookshelves, and sofas. Get some help and relocate these units so you can thoroughly vacuum those areas too.
Take care of your furniture, as well. Vacuum the surface of your sofa to remove any food crumbs or stray hairs from pets. After that, you can hand wash fairly easy. Just you water and plain dish soap. When the furniture is dry, apply some freshener.
Turn to a professional upholstery cleaner to steam clean your curtains. You won’t believe the amount of dust those collect. It is better for your health because this way you eliminate allergens that can trigger many respiratory system infections.

Also, consider our 7 Unpopular Hacks for Cleaning Carpets #Explained or even extra tips to remove any rug stain.

Organize your Bedroom Closet and Wash the Bedding

When you clean your bedroom focus on two main things – the bedding and your closet.

According to a study by Mattress Advisor, the average American changes their sheets every 24 days. That’s a lot of opportunity to leave dead skin cells, sweat, body oil, and love juices behind. That’s why experts recommend washing or changing your sheets every week.

Here is what you need to do:

Give the bedding a spin in the washing machine

Gather all comforters, mattress covers, pillows, bed sheets, curtains, blankets and give them a spin in the washing machine.
Buy a good laundry detergent and fabric freshener so they can smell fresher.
Take advantage of the last sun rays and line dry the bedding if you can.

An interesting fact is that ultraviolet rays in sunlight are good for the fabrics. There are known to actually disinfect. Yay, science!

To prevent uneven wear on your mattress, flip it with the help of a family member. Turn the mattress front-to-back and end-to-end. You should also consider using a mattress protector for an extra layer of protection and to prolong its lifespan.

Declutter and organize your closet

Here are a few tips on how to rearrange your closet space:

Put away all your summer clothes any items, so they don’t take up space.
Do a good deed and go through the pieces that you don’t wear and give them away to friend or charity.
Organize your clothing first by type and colour. You can even take it up a notch and coordinate them by the order of the rainbow: blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, green and so on.
Store your shoes by style and in plastic containers. If you don’t have such container, put them in some old shoe boxes, glue on some labels so you can identify them easily and stack them neatly one on top of the other. This way you optimize the storage space.

Give your Bathroom a Top-to-Bottom Deep Clean

Your bathroom is always an important area to clean, no matter what season it is. However, If you have any bathroom repairs on standby mode, fall is the perfect time to deal with those. Work like fixing a leaky faucet to get rid of a damp source, for example, tends to be a bit more expensive during the winter time. Save a bit of money by handling such repairs earlier.

With the fall months come problems such as mildew, especially if you didn’t keep the bathroom space dry during the summer. The best way to prevent mildew from forming is to re-caulk the area. Take care of any holes and gaps by filling them.

The next thing that should be on your to-do list is to deep clean the bathroom. Remove any soap-scum from the tile grout and shower doors. You can mix baking soda with vinegar to make an eco-friendly cleaning solution. After that take down the shower curtains, wash them and rehang them to air-dry.

Last chance to clean the windows

Let’s face it, the weather is only going to get worse from this point on. Do you see yourself going around your house armed with a squeegee and a bucket of soapy water on a rainy autumn afternoon? Probably not. Then now is the time to take a good look at your windows to figure out if they need to be washed on the outside. And in case they do, here is how NOT to approach this: sure, you might be tempted to just blast them with your garden hose but this is actually a bad idea, say Simon, a professional window cleaner. You need a really powerful stream to dislodge the smudges and accumulated grime effectively. However, this can actually damage the window frames and possibly the glass as well.

Your better handle this task manually so reach for your trusty squeegee when it’s time to do the deed. Opt for an extendable handle to reach the higher areas. It is much easier and safer than using a ladder. Of course, windows beyond the first storey present a serious challenge and this is where you might want to consider resorting to a professional service.