Even the cleanest-looking homes could use a deep cleaning once in a while. Grime, stains, grease dirt, pests, and spills often build up out of sight. This could be behind your fridge, inside your appliances, underneath your furniture, or on top of your lighting fixtures.
In this article, you will learn what deep cleaning is, why it’s important, and our best deep cleaning tips.
What Is the Difference Between Regular Cleaning and Deep Cleaning?
House cleaning is the set of cleaning tasks carried out on a regular basis (weekly or daily). Domestic cleaning tasks include tasks like mopping or vacuuming floors, trash removal, appliance cleaning, wiping countertops, cleaning bathrooms, and cleaning toilets.
Unlike regular cleaning, which is done on a weekly or daily basis, deep cleaning usually happens once every few months. Deep cleaning or spring cleaning covers hard-to-reach areas and gets rid of deep-seated dirt and grime. This includes areas behind kitchen appliances like the oven and cooker, inside the oven, under the sink, and on your bathroom tiles.
While you can hire deep cleaning services, here, we’ll cover how to do a deep cleaning yourself.
How Often Should You Deep Clean?
Traditionally, spring is the season associated with deep cleaning. However, it would be advisable to deep clean more often in order to keep your home in good shape. This is especially important when several people share the living space.
For example, you could perform a deep clean once every three months. Alternatively, break your deep cleaning work into smaller weekly or monthly tasks. This will save you the stress and fatigue of getting everything done at the same time.
5 Benefits of Deep Cleaning Your Home
Here are some of the advantages of deep cleaning your home:
1. Gets Rid of Harmful Bacteria and Viruses
Dirty homes are the breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and viruses. Places such as the kitchen sink and toilet contain the highest concentration of these bugs. You need to sanitize your home to get rid of such bugs and protect yourself from illness and infection.
2. Improves Indoor Air Quality
Dust mites, pollen, pest dander, and mold could cause asthma attacks, sneezing, hay fever, coughing, and eye irritation. If this persists, it could result in even more damaging health problems. Deep cleaning your carpets, walls, and upholstery will help eliminate all the allergens in your home.
3. Eliminates Pests
Nothing is more frustrating and embarrassing than having flies, bed bugs, termites, or cockroaches roaming your house. Most of these creep critters hide in small crevices in your home where regular cleaning doesn’t reach. While general home cleanliness could help minimize the problem, deep cleaning will provide a long-term solution.
4. Eliminates Clutter
Besides keeping your home clean, deep cleaning is also an opportunity to get rid of things you no longer need. This could be clothes, shoes, appliances, books, and furniture. When you declutter, your home will look much neater and spacious.
5. Improves Your Mood
Getting rid of pests, dust, viruses, mold, and clutter will improve your mood and reduce stress. Nothing beats the feeling of living in a sparkling, germ-free home.
Deep Cleaning Tools
Effective deep cleaning will require using the right tools. Here are some of the cleaning supplies you need to get the job done:
- Rubber gloves: A pair of thick rubber gloves will protect your hands from grime and cleaning chemicals as you clean your home. They will provide more protection and last longer than nitrile or latex gloves.
- Vacuum cleaner: If you have carpeted floors or furniture, a vacuum cleaner is a must. You might also want to get the handheld dustbuster, which is ideal for vacuuming tight spaces like the corners of your furniture or baseboards
- A good sponge: There is a wide range of sponges available in the market. However, the best kind of sponge for deep cleaning will have an abrasive side you can use for scrubbing dirty, grimy surfaces
- Microfiber cloths: To clean sensitive surfaces without leaving a scratch, use a microfiber cloth. This cloth can get surfaces clean with just a little water or entirely on its own. Microfiber cloths are great for cleaning appliances or counters, and polishing glass or tiles. You can have one cloth for the kitchen, another for the bathroom, and a third for other parts of your house.
- An extension dusting kit: With an extension dusting kit, you don’t have to step on a stool to clean difficult-to-reach spots in your home. This tool makes it easy to clean high shelves, light fixtures, and chandeliers. Once you are done, rinse it in the sink or shake the dust off outdoors.
- Squeegee: A good squeegee will not only clean your windows, glass doors and mirrors — it’ll also keep them streak-free. If you have high windows or tall mirrors, get a squeegee that can attach to an extension pole.
- Scrub brush: A cloth or sponge won’t always work on some of your surfaces. You will need a scrub brush to get rid of tough stains on your fixtures, tub, bathroom, tiles, garage, or patio.
- Multi-purpose cleaning brush: Kitchen appliances like coffee grinders, food processors, juicers, and blenders can be a pain to clean. To make your work easier, look for a brush that can reach the nooks and crannies of your appliances. Your old toothbrush could work just fine.
- Spray bottles: Buy inexpensive spray bottles to spray homemade cleaners or water on surfaces.
- Cleaning solutions: For a proper deep clean, you will need to use DIY or chemical cleaning solutions. Home remedies like baking soda and vinegar can be very effective in removing dirt and grease and eliminating odors. Alternatively, you could go for commercial cleaners available on Amazon and other stores: all-purpose cleaners and cleaners for glass, tiles, or wood. However, some cleaning products contain ingredients that could harm your appliances and you. Stick to homemade products as much as you can.
Deep Cleaning Checklist
Once you’ve assembled all your tools, it’s time to get down to work. Here is a deep cleaning checklist for the different rooms in your home:
Kitchen
One of the first areas to focus on is your kitchen sink drain. To get rid of the grease and food residue that might be stuck in your pipes, use baking soda and vinegar. Simply pour one cup of baking soda down your drain followed by one cup of vinegar. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then flush using hot water. Alternatively, you could pour a chemical drain cleaning solution down the drain.
Here is how to deep clean some of your kitchen appliances:
- Refrigerator: After unplugging the appliance, use a sponge and warm, soapy water to clean the inside and outside of your refrigerator. Vacuum the condenser coils at the back of your fridge to get rid of dust and dirt. You should also pull out the fridge and vacuum underneath.
- Dishwasher: Empty the dishwasher of the dishes, racks, and baskets. Use a toothbrush to remove any debris trapped in the drain. Mix one cup of water and one cup of vinegar. Dip a clean rag in the solution and use it to wipe down the inside and outside of the dishwasher.
- Oven and stove top: Soak the oven racks, range hood filters, and grates in a basin with warm water and dish soap. Use a scrub brush to remove any tough grime. Wipe the stovetop and electric burners with a microfiber cloth and warm, soapy water. Then, use the same cloth to wipe the inside of the oven.
Be sure to protect your hands using rubber gloves during the cleaning process.
Bathroom
Wear your rubber gloves and clean your bathroom as follows:
- Shower: Soap residue, hair, and other objects often get stuck in shower drain pipes. Over time, this could cause clogs. To clear bathroom drains, use baking soda and vinegar (follow the same steps for cleaning kitchen sink drains). For stubborn clogs, use a plunger or a plumbing snake to pull out hair and other debris in your pipes. To keep hair from going down the drain in future, use a drain stopper like ShowerShroom or TubShroom. This tool fits nicely into any standard drain and catches hair before it creates a clog.
To clean the walls of your shower, you need a commercial grout cleaning solution. Pour the chemical into a spray bottle and wet the entire wall surface. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, then use an abrasive sponge and warm, soapy water to scrub the grout off. Once the grime is gone, rinse the walls, and use a squeegee to remove any lingering water.
Remove shower curtains and wash them with a gentle detergent. If the curtains have some mold, you could add vinegar, bleach, or baking soda.
Finally, use vinegar to descale your showerheads and faucets.
- Bathroom sink: Baking soda and vinegar can also be very effective in clearing bathroom sink drains. Mix bleach, warm water and soap and use a scrub brush to clean the inside of the sink. While you’re at it, also give your toothbrush holders and bathroom cabinets a good scrub.
To keep hair from going down your drain and causing clogs, use SinkShroom.
- Toilet: Use a scrub brush and toilet cleaner to clean the inside of your toilet bowl (including the rim). Wait for about 10 minutes before flushing it. Close the lid, and use a disinfectant spray to sanitize the outside of the toilet. Don’t forget to clean the flusher, the seat, and the inside of the lid.
Living Room
Vacuum every upholstered surface in the living room (including under your cushions). Launder your cushion covers, pillow covers, blinders, and curtains. Take down your picture frames and dust them with a microfiber cloth.
Don’t forget to dust your electronics, ceiling fans, and lampshades with an extension dusting kit. And, remove cobwebs in all corners of your living room, dust window sills, and clean windows. Empty your drawers and cabinets, give them a vacuum, and wipe all the surfaces.
Bedroom
Launder the pillows, shams, duvet cover, and bed skirt. To freshen your mattress, sprinkle baking soda on it, let it sit for about one hour, and then vacuum it. Remember to rotate or flip the mattress according to the manufacturer’s advice.
Go to your closet and get rid of any clothes or shoes you’ve not worn for a long time. Clean all your windows and mirrors with an all-purpose or glass cleaner. Vacuum carpets, disinfect all surfaces, and wash your curtains.
The Right Tools Make Deep Cleaning Easy
Deep cleaning will eliminate harmful pathogens, improve your air quality, eliminate pests, get rid of clutter, and even boost your mood.
For effective deep cleaning, you will need tools like rubber gloves, squeegees, vacuum cleaners, sponges, scrub brushes, microfiber cloths, and cleaning solutions. Use these tools to thoroughly clean your bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedrooms, and other spaces.
Are you looking to eliminate plumbing problems and clogged drains for good? Look no further than our complete 'Shroom drain protection line! We have award-winning solutions for every drain in your home.
Need some motivation to deep clean? Check out this great video!
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