Riverside Home Spring Cleaning Tips

5/1/2019 (Permalink)

Cleaning is in season and if you need help call the professionals at SERVPRO.

Spring is here!

Traditionally, people feel the need to deep-clean their homes once they feel the warm air arrive and can open their windows to welcome the new season. There are many areas in your home that you will want to clean once begin tackling this spring-time chore. Here are a few tips to help you get started that you may not have considered.

Wash Your Curtains and Drapes

When you start your spring cleaning, one of the first things you should do is clean your window coverings. This includes blinds, shutters, curtains or drapes. This should be done early on in the process as dirt and dust from the coverings can fall to the floor below, so you don't want to clean your floor before the drapes.

Test Your Smoke Detectors

Another step that should be included in spring cleaning is testing your smoke detectors. Most detectors have a test button on them that allows you to ensure they are working. If they don't work, you probably just need to replace the batteries.

Replace Water and Air Filters

As part of your spring-cleaning checklist, be sure to replace water filters and air filters. Filters catch debris from water and air. When they get full, they cannot filter as effectively as they should. The filters should be routinely replaced to ensure that they can work efficiently.

Clean Your Dryer Vent

Your dryer vent can easily become filled with lint and debris. Clean the dryer vent to help improve drying time and energy efficiency and also to prevent a fire. The vent inside your dryer should be cleaned with each load, but in the spring, you should check your exterior vent as well, making sure there is nothing accumulating in the tubing from the dryer to the outside.

Clean Your Grill

Once it begins to get warmer, people start thinking about cooking and eating outside. Now is the perfect time inspect your grill, refill your tanks if it is a gas grill, and clean all the cooking surfaces so it is ready to use when you want to make delicious meals.

Check Your Windows and Doors For Leaks

As you spring clean, take the time to check your windows and doors for leaks or air drafts. If you feel outdoor air seeping in, the seals may need to be replaced.

Check Your Plumbing for Leaks

Take the time to check your plumbing for leaks. Look for leaks under your sinks and for leaking faucets. If you notice any leaks, call in a plumber to make the needed repairs.

Make doormats welcoming

Shake 'em, wash 'em, swat 'em with a broom. Give them the toughest cleaning they can take. They’re your front line against tracked-in dirt—so keep them clean enough to function at peak efficiency.

Clean carpets and upholstery

Fabrics that have absorbed a winter’s worth of dirt, body oil, and germs will need a deep cleaning to get them ready for another year of wear—and for that close inspection by your relaxing guests. Move furniture just slightly—not out of the room or against the wall, as the old rules dictated—and place the legs of each piece back on top of small wax paper squares after shampooing. The wax paper will protect your carpet and keep the furniture legs from getting wet as the carpet dries. Open the windows to speed the drying process, which can take a day or more. If you’re not the furniture-shifting and machine-renting type, use a professional carpet and upholstery cleaner like SERVPRO.

Finish your floors

To protect the floors in your kitchen from another year of wear and tear, wax or apply a sealer following label directions. The simplest method: Use a combination wash-and-wax floor cleaner. No-wax floors don’t need a polishing treatment, but an occasional makeover will keep them looking fresher and add a protective buffer that could help them last longer. Use a floor cleaner that cleans, shines, or both. If you have wood floors, move furniture and rugs aside, then apply a wood cleaner and either liquid or paste polish to clean and add a new wax coating.

Wash walls, cabinets, baseboards, and woodwork

The walls may not look as if they need a bath—dust and soot fall to the floor, right? Most of it does, but just enough clings to vertical surfaces to warrant a seasonal or pre-holiday bath. Use a sponge and hand dish washing detergent, washing the surface in sections. A sponge mop makes it easier to reach higher spots. Use two buckets: one for dish washing detergent solution and another for wringing your sponge. Dry the walls and woodwork with a clean cloth.

Vacuum with intelligence

The old rules mandated that you go through the labor-intensive task of dragging every stick of furniture off the carpet, just so the vacuum cleaner could cover every nook and cranny. Instead, simply move those big items a little to the left or to the right. Vacuum the area previously occupied by the furniture and then move it back into place.

Clean ceiling fixtures

Remove dust and dirt from ceiling fans and air-conditioner vents with a cloth and a vacuum with a soft nozzle attachment.

Clean your light fixtures

A few minutes with a stepladder, all-purpose cleaner, a sponge, and a polish cloth will give new light to your life. If your home has skylights or tall ceilings, consider investing in a stepladder and extended-reach dust-and-dirt-removal tools, all of which are available at your local hardware store and at home supply stores.

Check your coils

You should clean the refrigerator’s condenser coil, usually found behind the toe grille, with a long-handled bottle brush and a vacuum cleaner with an attachment hose to remove dust and lint. Built-up dust can shut down the unit by causing it to overheat. To remove dust from coils attached to the hard-to-reach back side of the fridge, carefully pull the refrigerator out several feet (newer models roll on casters) and vacuum thoroughly; finish by sweeping or vacuuming the floor area you’ve revealed. Expect to rediscover coins, bottle caps, and twist ties that you and the cat knocked over the past year.

Are you looking to get your home clean for spring but lack the time to do it all yourself? Here at SERVPRO of West Riverside City, we can help you with some of your cleaning needs. We offer many services including fire and water clean-up services, mold remediation, and routine house cleaning, including carpet cleaning. Give us a call at 951-351-8033 so we can get started today.