With the holidays comes a wave of visitors so you better make sure your home is up to snuff. To give your whole house the ultimate deep clean, we’ve compiled checklists for three main rooms: your living room (the entertainment hub), the dining room (a place to eat, drink, and be merry), and the guest bedroom (a sanctuary for rest).
Without further ado, here are our cleaning checklists! Don’t forget to check ‘em twice.
Living Room Checklist
Your living room is where you spend the most time with your family and friends. To deep clean this area of congregation, take heed to the following steps:
✓ Dust furnishings from the top to the bottom ‒ You might think that the order of operations is irrelevant, but on the contrary, the key is to clean the room from top to bottom — literally. This ensures that you don’t have to clean anything twice. When you clean the higher-up surfaces first (like ceiling fan blades and tall cabinets), this allows dust and dirt to collect on the floor, which you can vacuum or sweep at the end.
✓ Dust and wipe down wall décor ‒ Regardless of how dusty or dirty they are, a duster or clean microfiber cloth should do the trick. On ornate decorations, be sure to dig your fingernails through the cloth to really get into those crevices. We recommend temporarily taking things off the wall as you clean them.
✓ Dust and wipe down windows ‒ Take a duster to the window, making sure that you sweep over the glass, blinds (if you have them), and all around the frame. Next, generously spray your window with a glass cleaner and wipe a clean towel in a Z-shaped motion to dry the glass.
✓ Clean or wash soft surfaces ‒ Clean curtains, throw blankets, decorative pillows, and living room seating according to manufacturer care instructions.
✓ Dust and sanitize high-touch surfaces ‒ Dust your furniture with a soft microfiber cloth. To clean lamps, tables, doorknobs, handles, desks, and electronics, use a damp, soapy cloth to reduce the number of germs, dirt, and impurities that often linger on these surfaces. To sanitize them, you may also use a household disinfectant with at least 70 percent alcohol.
✓ Sort or discard clutter ‒ As you audit the items in your living room, evaluate them based on these three categories: purge, out-of-place, and to-donate.
✓ Vacuum or sweep every corner of the room ‒ For the ultimate deep clean, you may opt to shampoo your carpet or polish your wood flooring.
Dining Room Checklist
It goes without saying that great food and even greater company are what the festivities are all about. To make sure no detail is missed, we cordially invite you to read through our dining room cleaning checklist:
✓ Dust furnishings from the top to the bottom ‒ In other words, make sure you dust your ceiling fixtures, curtains, blinds, and tall cabinets first so that you don’t sprinkle down any debris on items you might have already cleaned.
✓ Dust your table and chairs ‒ Dust your dining room furniture with a clean microfiber cloth.
✓ Clean your furniture according to the material ‒ For wood dining room furniture, dip a sponge in a mixture of warm water and liquid dish soap to gently wipe down surfaces; as an optional measure, you may apply furniture wax polish with a cheesecloth and buff it dry. In addition, if your furniture has metal accents or is made of glass, spray a liberal amount of glass cleaner on a clean microfiber cloth and rub it on, taking care of any crevices.
✓ Vacuum or sweep every corner of the room ‒ For the ultimate deep clean, you may opt to shampoo your carpet or polish your wood flooring.
✓ Launder your table linens ‒ Machine-wash your tablecloths, table runners, napkins, and placemats with warm water. If your washing machine features a sanitize cycle, we recommend using it. Additionally, if your table linens can be safely thrown in the dryer, we suggest using the anti-wrinkle option or steam cycle if your dryer model offers them.
Bedroom Checklist
’Tis the season for overnight guests! To ensure your weary travelers have the most comfortable experience, we crafted a cleaning checklist for the guest bedroom:
✓ Dust furnishings from the top to the bottom ‒ Work your way from top to bottom, remembering cobwebs, ceiling fans, and blinds. For really dusty bedroom items like bookshelves, plants, and TVs, give them an extra wipe-down with a dryer sheet. In addition, be sure to dust down any wall décor, windows, and furniture.
✓ Launder your bedding and throw accessories ‒ If you have a bathroom in your bedroom, be sure to wash your towels while you’re at it.
✓ Clean furniture upholstery ‒ Follow manufacturer care instructions to deep clean upholstered items, including accent chairs, ottomans, and benches.
✓ Sort or discard clutter ‒ As you audit the items in your living room, evaluate them based on these three categories: purge, out-of-place, and to-donate.
✓ Deep clean your mattress ‒ Sprinkle your stripped mattress with baking soda (add a drop or two of essential oils, too, if you like). The longer the baking soda sits on the mattress, the better. Then, whip out the vacuum, and using the upholstery attachment, suck up all the baking soda. Pay extra attention to the seams, tufts, and in between the mattress and foundation, as these are havens for dust mites.
✓ Vacuum or sweep every corner of the room ‒ For the ultimate deep clean, you may opt to shampoo your carpet or polish your wood flooring.
Call or Visit Us
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