Unless you’re obsessive about cleanliness, chances are certain areas of your home tend to get missed in your weekly or monthly cleaning. The usual home-cleaning process isn’t very thorough and tends to target the common areas that are more visible.
However, as a professional house-cleaning service, at Maid4Condos we know exactly what spots most people tend to overlook during their cleaning sprees.
To help bring your cleaning to the next level, here we share 14 commonly missed spots to clean around your home the next time you’re enthusiastic.
1. Light switches and wall plates
Germy hands and fingers are always touching the switches and wall plates throughout your home. Even when hands are clean, they have a lot of natural oils and bacteria that are left behind on everything you touch.
You can keep the germ and greasy buildup under control by wiping your switches with a disinfectant wipe every now and then.
2. Your window screens
Although the old joke “We don’t do windows” is a house cleaners’ favourite, what even more cleaners fail to scrub are window screens. Even if you wipe down your windows, the dirt and debris on your screens can keep your windows looking dull and grey.
Window screens pop out quite easily and can be washed in your bathtub with a spritz of your favourite household cleaner or dishwashing liquid.
Leave them to soak or hose them down in the shower, and then dry them off with paper towels to remove the excess water. This will prevent rust. You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes for your view.
3. Dust bins and garbage cans
This is especially important in the kitchen, where stinky food can cling to the bottom and sides of the can. The stink and food can attract pests. Cleaning your garbage cans once a month keeps your kitchen clean and reduces odours.
If you have a backyard, take the bins outside and hose them down. Then, spray them with a kitchen cleaner and scrub away anything stuck.
If you live in an apartment with a balcony, do the cleaning and scrubbing outside. Otherwise, take your trash can into the bathtub to rinse it out, scrub it, and then rinse away all the debris from the tub.
4. Behind, between, and beneath appliances
Your fridge, stove, and laundry machines are magnets for all kinds of dirt. In the laundry room, you can vacuum or sweep out all the lint and dust bunnies every now and then to reduce the dust and debris floating around.
For the kitchen, pull out your fridge and stove, and use a broom to sweep up the debris. Then, use a good kitchen floor cleaning product to remove the grease.
5. Front-loading washing machines
Although people went crazy over state-of-the-art front loaders when they made a reappearance in the late 1990s, they actually can develop a stench.
If you’ve ever noticed that your front loader smells a little musty, it’s because the rubber seal has a buildup of laundry detergent scum.
They make special cleaners for this, but you can also use baking soda and vinegar to wipe away the scum and remove the smell.
6. Clean cycle for your dishwasher
Dishwashers can get a buildup of crumbs and grease left behind after you run a load of dirty dishes. Most dishwashers can be run with a cleaning pod or liquid, that should be done at least once a month.
If you don’t have this option, place a dishwasher-safe bowl filled with a cup of white vinegar on the bottom rack, and then run the hottest cycle. Do one more run without the bowl to rinse away all the vinegar and residue loosened up by the vinegar.
7. Your coffee maker
We’re not going to go into the details of how to clean a coffee maker here simply because there are just too many models and methods.
Read your user’s manual and follow the instructions to make sure you do a thorough, safe clean once a month or so.
8. TV remotes, gaming controllers, and other devices
These are prime germ collectors. We recommend using a disinfectant or alcohol wipe after use, but doing it once a week (at least) removes greasy thumb messes and also reduces germs.
Do the same to your phone once a day if you can.
9. Around the base and behind the toilet
For obvious reasons, bathrooms tend to be one of the dirtier rooms in every household.
At the centre of the ever-building grime is the toilet. While cleaning the toilet bowl and seat is, hopefully, a given, this isn’t the only part of your toilet that needs attention.
In addition to the toilet bowl and seat, behind and at the base of the toilet can also have a lot of gross mess you might not realize needs cleaning.
To tackle “drips” (not to mention dust bunnies and hair), first, use a broom to clear away debris. Then, use a disinfectant spray cleaner and mop or cloth to wipe away the drips.
10. Under the couch cushions
If your couch cushions come off, you should pull them out and clean all the crumbs from your favourite late-night snacks.
Use your vacuum or dustbuster. If you’re lucky, you might even find some loose change.
11. Doorknobs, cupboard pulls, and handles
During cold and flu season, wiping down your doorknobs, kitchen cupboard pulls, and handles will help reduce the spread of germs.
Use a disinfectant wipe to go over these quickly. If you have wood cabinets, ensure you’re using a cleaner or disinfectant that’s safe for wood surfaces.
12. Baseboards
When you’re sweeping the floors, go right up to the top of the baseboards. This removes dust and keeps them looking clean and crisp.
The more often you do this, the less likely you’ll need to get down on your hands and knees with a cleaner to wipe away a built-up mess.
13. Window treatments
Often, fabric curtains can be tossed in the laundry to remove dust and odours. Check the labels to look for cleaning instructions, as some might need to be dry cleaned, especially custom-designed window treatments.
Blinds should also be dusted, slat by slat.
14. Toothbrush and soap holders
Toothbrush and soap holders collect a buildup of icky spit and soap scum. This means you’re touching bacteria and germs every time you use your toothbrush or wash your hands.
You can toss the holders into your dishwasher to sanitize them, or soak them in your sink with some warm soapy water.
If this all sounds like too much work, you can trust our house cleaning services at Maid4Condos to get every messy spot in your home. Click here to reach out to us today, or call us at 647-822-0601.
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