How to Do a Detailed Home Cleaning
Many people clean their homes a room or two at a time. However, these schedules do not typically allow for detailed home cleaning. Sometimes referred to as deep cleaning or spring cleaning, a detailed home cleaning makes the house look and smell fresh and clean, from top to bottom. Follow a plan and stay organized, and you can easily complete a detailed home cleaning in a weekend. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Pen
- Cleaning products
- Extendable duster
- Broom
- Mop
- Bucket to hold cleaning supplies
- Bucket to hold water and cleaning products
- Vacuum
- Washer and dryer
- Cleaning cloths
Instructions
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Plan your detailed home cleaning. Detailed cleaning means different things to different people. Decide exactly what you want done and write it down. Be specific. For instance, note whether you want carpets vacuumed and/or shampooed, if curtains should be vacuumed or washed, and whether you want places like inside the oven and refrigerator cleaned.
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Organize all supplies and materials before beginning. Put all your cleaning supplies in a bucket, cleaning cloths in a bag, and gather them all in one location. Move supplies and equipment from one room to the next as you go. This saves you the time and energy of tracking down items while you're cleaning.
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Pick up and organize in each room before moving on to actual cleaning tasks. Many people confuse picking up and cleaning with one another. Get rooms ready for cleaning by organizing and storing papers, and by putting away other items such as toys and clothes. If your detailed home cleaning list includes tasks such as organizing an office or going through toys in a play room, complete these tasks before cleaning the area.
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Follow a pattern to ensure a thorough cleaning. In general, move from top to bottom, back to front and around a room in one direction. Following these rules, you would clean fans and ceiling lights first, moving on to wall washing and furniture dusting before finishing with cleaning the floors.
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Start any washing for a room before doing any other cleaning. Washing and drying bedsheets, sofa and chair cushion covers, or curtains takes awhile. Get the process started right away and these items should be ready to replace by the time you are done in a room.
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Get the family involved. If you live with a spouse, partner or children, have everyone lend a hand. A detailed home cleaning takes many hours to complete and extra people can drastically reduce the workload. Smaller children can tag along helping a parent, but older children can complete many tasks such as picking up and cleaning their rooms, or changing and making beds.
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Start with cleaning tasks and rooms that are most important to have done. If something comes up and you are unable to complete the detailed home cleaning, or you simply run out of time or energy, you will feel better knowing that the areas which had been bothering you most are done. Plan to spend at least a weekend on a detailed home cleaning, even if you have others helping you. Setting unrealistic goals only discourages and stresses you out. You can further divide tasks into indoor and outdoor cleaning, setting aside a weekend for each.
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Consider ways to cut down on future detailed home cleaning tasks. For example, purchase mattress and pillow covers for beds to reduce laundry and dust mites in the home. Stick to a regular schedule for bathing pets, washing their bedding and vacuuming carpets to reduce pet hair and dander. Proper house cleaning and maintenance drastically reduces the work required to do the occasional detailed home cleaning.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear gloves when cleaning to avoid skin reactions to cleaning chemicals.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Woman cleaning the house. image by maron from Fotolia.com
