The “Upper Third” Never Gets Enough Cleaning Attention—Here’s What to Do

With Spring Cleaning for Your Mood, we’re helping you get your housekeeping done no matter what state of mind you’re in. For 20 weekdays in April, we’ll focus on cleaning a new area of your space, with three different ways to get it done—so it’s easy to stay on track even when you’re busy, tired, or away from home. Sign up with your email now and enjoy a better space by the end of the month.

I ought to start charging rent to the spiders that I share my home with. They leave a mess, and never clean up after themselves. I have exposed ceilings and even when I think I’ve done a good job of sucking up the occasional cobweb as I’m doing my normal vacuuming, any time I need to get on a step stool, I’m shocked at how much dust and webbing I miss.

Spring cleaning is a chance to get up close and personal with the upper third of your home—the ceiling nooks, corners, fixtures, and fans that seem to trap and hide an astonishing amount of filth. Grab a ladder and lets go!

The main mission today is getting tall and removing dust and debris from the high-up surfaces in your space. I’ll give you some suggestions for what to handle, but you know your home best, so do whatever needs to be done today, as long as you’re literally looking up to do it.

So what are you in the mood for today?

Grab a step ladder and a vacuum, or an extendable dusting pole if you have one, and walk around room by room clearing filth from up high. It’s smart to wear a dust mask as you do this, if you have one handy—there’s usually a lot of stuff.

• With a vacuum or duster, remove cobwebs from ceiling corners, molding, rafters, or other architectural details.
• Wipe down any exposed ducts, pipes, or similar details.
• Dust your ceiling-mounted light fixtures, including ceiling fans and their blades. You should have a plan for the dust that falls—either drape a dropcloth below the fixture to protect your furniture and floors from a dirt shower, or try something like the pillowcase trick to keep everything contained—there’s a video to show you how it’s done.

Grab your vacuum and try your best to clear the dust from your light fixtures and ceiling fans quickly. I find it fast but effective to have my vacuum wand in one hand and a handheld duster in the other, using the duster to brush off the fixture while the vacuum collects whatever dirt I can get dislodged.

If you have many fixtures, just use whatever time you have to handle the one or two most prominent (or most dirty) ones.

Dust is generally not great to have around, so cleaning your ceiling fans regularly is a smart habit to get into. They’re there to move air around, after all, and don’t you want that air to be as clean as possible? It’s okay if you’re not ready to take to this task today, but spend a moment thinking about what might make you more willing and ready to clean your ceiling fans and light fixtures more often. Do you need a reminder? Is there a tool missing from your arsenal? (I know I got a lot better about cleaning my fans once I got one of those bendable, extended dusting wands.) Whatever it is that you need, do it, and set yourself up for future success.

Visit the Spring Cleaning for Your Mood page to check out all the assignments so far. Download the PDF calendar so you always know what’s coming. And sign up with your email so you’re always on track: