The holiday season usually leaves me exhausted and a bit daunted by the task of getting my home back in order after a month of parties, late nights, and house guests. I can deal with the big jobs: laundry, bathrooms, etc. — but it's the unexpected little jobs that make me feel overwhelmed by the long cleaning process.
So this year, I'm beginning by tackling some of the places that always get dirty, always drive me crazy, but usually get pushed to the bottom of my priority list or go unnoticed far too long:
• 1. The utensil drawer. I never will know how so much dirt manages to sneak into one place, but it's a magnet for crumbs. And by the time I notice it, I'm usually rushing to set the table just before everyone sits down, or eating on the fly before running out the door — not the ideal time for a scrub down.
• 2. Hallways and staircase walls. I'm not really sure why we have banisters because it seems that at least in my family, we prefer to use the wall for support — and it shows! After a busy month of having people coming and going I always notice a brownish haze running just about hand level along our staircase walls. Time for a wipe down!
• 3. Doorknobs (and surrounding areas), light switches, switch plates, and faucets. If you have a busy home, these areas get a lot of use, and could use a germ-dispelling wipe down a regular basis. The same goes for the refrigerator handle, coat closet, telephones and kitchen cabinet handles.
• 4. Doormats. Guests mean extra traffic and extra dirt especially this time of year when mud is at a high. Give your door mat an extra cleaning being sure to clean the area underneath as well.
• 5. Trash cans and the area around them. Especially the kitchen one. This is my very least favorite job, especially this time of year when its not as easy to bring it outside for a spray down. However, after the holidays it could always use a deep cleaning, and so could the walls around it. The combination of cooking extra dishes before hurrying them out the door to bring to dinner parties, more people around the table, and extra people helping in our kitchen during holiday meals usually means a messier kitchen area in general.
The best part about these places is that although we often overlook them, they only take a few minutes to remedy, and they make a big difference. Mr. Clean's magic eraser is great for quick wipes downs in high traffic areas. What other always clean-worthy places would you add to the list?
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In the same vein as the utensil drawer, our medicine cabinet and vanity drawers in the bathroom always seem to have dust bunnies and rouge fallen hairs. They somehow manage to go unnoticed while we're doing the regular bathroom cleaning.
Regarding number 5: It would be interesting to see a post about how apartment-dwellers deal with NEVER being able to take anything outside for a hose-down. Or not being able to go outside to paint furniture. I have never had any outdoor space -- not even a fire escape -- and this is always a problem. Would love to know how others cope.
Great tips, Leah!
Lisa - I have washed my plastic trash can in the shower. Not ideal, but it works.
Lisa...same here with using the bathtub for my trash cans and anything else bigger than a bread box! I have been an apt. dweller for years and years. As for painting furniture, drop cloth and windows open. I haven't figured out how to spray paint yet though.
I have found that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers leave a residue on my painted walls that is visible from certain angles - it looks worse than the original marks I was trying to erase. Any other tips for removing scuffs up and down the stairs that won't leave a mark?
definitely window sills and floor mouldings need to be added to the always need cleaning list.
I get great results removing scuffs with a wrung-out wet rag or paper towel and a tiny amount of Bon Ami.
About 5 years ago, I came across a roll of dry erase contact paper, and bought it with no particular use in mind - I just thought it might come in handy.
I quickly found a use for it. My roommates and I had three matching trashcans lined up against the kitchen wall to use for waste, cans & bottles, and paper. But one of our roommates had a jerky boyfriend who liked to pretend he didn't know which was which. I got so sick of cleaning his greasy food waste out of the recycling bin. He was also really sloppy and I was always cleaning dried gunk off the wall behind the trash can and next to the sink.
The whiteboard paper was a good solution. I put up a strip behind the cans, and wrote instructions for what was supposed to go in each one (Our walls were white, so it didn't stand out too badly).
I discovered that it also made cleaning the walls so much easier - just had to make a quick wipe with a damp towel, rather than scrubbing the cheap landlord flat paint with something abrasive and creating grey worn patches. So I also put the whiteboard paper up as a backsplash by the sink.
I've used it behind the trash and recycling bins in every rental I've lived in since then, and it makes cleaning so much easier.
My curse is the refrigerator! I can never seem to get to cleaning it out and then I have a spill and have to take EVERYTHING out and clean it. I need to be better about making sure it's consistently clean and food is rotated well!
Doormats and runners are filthy this time of year. In my climate (upper Midwest) they have to be vacuumed excessively to get the road salt and sand out before steam cleaning - otherwise the water melts the salt and spreads it through the doormat/runner fibers. Ick!
the floor and wall behind the baby's seat...and the ceiling above it.
Definitely the refridgerator and the drawer under the stove where you store all your pans....man that place is always filled with crumbs that fall down from inside the oven!
I admit to liking those quick disinfecting wipes. In addition to those jobs already mentioned, in my NYC apt, it's the "ring around the collar" that accumulates around baseboard trim.
I tend to do these things when I know I'm having a guest.
In fact, I'm just about to pull out the stove and tackle the horrors that lie beneath (and around). Ugh.
The little pile of mail/things-that-need-attention at the end of the kitchen counter...going to tackle that right now.
I am about to tackle my small pantry. After weeks of cooking and baking, the shelves are a jumbled mess. This is a good time to take everything out, wipe off the shelves, make a shopping list of what needs to be replaced and then restock and organize.
I agree with everything that has been said thus far. I would also include the top of the refrigerator, stove burners, the top of the couch right behind the back cushions &, having 9-foot ceilings I tend to forget...the tops of my kitchen cabinets, the top of the door frames, the top of my vertical blind tracks, ceiling lights & fans & my knick-knacks (vases, candlesticks, vintage milk glass) that reside on top of my kitchen cabinets. Essentially, the top of anything!
the two-inch space between the fridge and the stove is impossible to clean, as I cannot move either appliance on my own, and nothing fits in the narrow space to scrub it. grrr..
My all purpose cleaner is one of those hand-held steamers (SteamFast)
@ashasekh: Broom handle + washrag + rubber band...Just wrap the washrag around the end of the broom, secure tightly with the rubber band, and just shove into that space repeatedly. Works every time!
I clean walls with a little hot water and a teeny tiny dab of dish soap. It's amazing on body scum that collects around light switches and door handles. Just keep a damp washcloth with no soap on it to make sure there's no residue left from the soap. It will collect dirt faster if you don't!
Oven knobs!! My last oven had knobs you could just pull off and throw into a sinkful of hot, soapy water along with the burner covers but the current ones won't come off at all. I'm reduced to using full-strength cleaner or vinegar on q-tips to get behind them. Ugh.
I decided to copy Martha Stewart and actually schedule horror cleaning jobs on a calendar. first, I made a list of cleaning jobs that aren't habitual (top and sides of the fridge, shelves in the mud room closet) and then placed them on my calendar throughout the year. Its crazy how time flies between these tasks!