Home Cleaning Tips To-Do List
Making a New Year’s resolution often involves self-help or a need to do something important.
While there’s nothing wrong with losing weight, quitting smoking or saving more money, it’s also important to do something for the largest investment in your life, your home. The free repairs below will not only save you money, they burn calories. Knock out more than one resolution at once!
Each year our homes get a little older, they too need a little care and sprucing up. Pick one small repair or task a week/month to keep your maintenance list down and your home’s value up.
Clean the furnace/heating grates/vents – Keeps the air flow more efficient and clean. Also cuts down on dust/cleaning. Same applies with having the ducts cleaned out and the furnace serviced if needed. Vacuum around your water heater and furnace. Vacuum the ceiling and corners of the basement. That’s where the furnace pulls air from to take to the rest of the house. Less dust there means less dust on all floors.
Clean behind the refrigerator. This is a job not often done. Pull that heavy guy out and vacuum all the dust bunnies, keeping your refrigerator running more efficiently and lasting longer.
Clean the baseboards. Around the house and behind the furniture, baseboards sometimes don’t get cleaned often enough.
Ceiling Fan/Chandelier. Get on the chair/step ladder and clean the ceiling fan lights and blades. This helps the ceiling fan do its job much better by producing more air. It also keeps the dust/dirt down in the home and just looks good.
Prolong The Life of the TV/Computer. Dust builds up behind the TV and computer blocking the fan. It’s a good idea to keep dust build up off the openings to add life to your electronics. It’s also dusts favorite place to hide.
Replace/clean your light-bulbs. During the winter months, we use our lamps and lights more often since the sun sets early. Replace your bulbs with long-lasting efficient lights to maximize savings. Also, clean your light bulbs. Dust that builds up makes the room darker.
Steam the Couch/Mattresses. If you have a hand-held steamer, run it along your couches, mattresses, pillows and rugs. It freshens them up but more importantly, kills dust bunnies and other possible critters…
Mini-blind cleaning. Tackle a room or the whole house. Remove the mini-blinds and give them a good wash or dusting.
De-clutter. Christmas is over and it’s time to find new homes for the gifts. De-clutter closets with unused clothing, shoes, bedding and more. Donate or sell online to make a few extra dollars.
Detail hardware. There is hardware all over the home that we often don’t think of. Hinges, doorknobs, cabinet pulls, faucets, hooks, curtain rods and more. Give them a good cleaning, shine them up, oil if needed. (a squeaky door can be fixed by spraying a little PAM or olive oil on hinges.) View my list of great home cleaning tips and hacks.
Self clean the oven. It’s recommended that you use your oven’s self cleaning mode both in winter and after cooking. The oven is already hot after use so you save the heating up process. Make a roast and turn on the self clean afterwards. If you have removable grates on top of your stove, add them to the oven. The build up will burn off!
Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year! The housing market is doing well and now is a great time to both buy and sell. Keeping your home’s value and repairs up makes it a lot easier when the time comes to sell. It also just feels and looks good…
For the record, since 2002, my best home selling month has been January. Most people are surprised to hear that month! Why January? Well, often times there are less homes on the market and when buyers need to buy, sometimes they can’t wait! It can be a perfect storm for both parties… Contact me anytime to discuss Cleveland, Ohio area home buying, home selling relocation, or to inquire about staging, financing and more. I’m always here to help you with your next move!
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