Overview of House Cleaning in Salt Lake City
As a local Salt Lake City company, we know what it is that the Salt Lake City locals value. And one of these things is a clean home! Thankfully we know a thing or two about house cleaning and are here to help!
Walking into a freshly clean and organized home is one of the best feelings in the world. It is known that living in a home that is maintained, scrubbed and free of clutter can help offset any additional stress on the homeowner. Looking to find a place to relax after a long day at work? A clean house is the way to go!
One of the biggest reasons that people don’t clean as frequently as they should is because they find it daunting. It can seem very overwhelming to tackle the whole kitchen, all the bedrooms, and the bathroom all at once! But thankfully there are ways to break down the cleaning process into smaller, more manageable steps. Below we have an overview of how to clean every room in your house so we can help you work on tackling each room at a time!
Are you ready to relax in the spotless house you’ve always dreamed of? Are you ready to flaunt your new found cleaning and organizing skills to all your friends and family? If you said yes, read on!
Here at our Salt Lake City location, we have some general house cleaning guidelines we like to follow when starting to clean a room. But be aware, you won’t follow all these rules for every room in your house. After all, you wouldn’t clean your bathroom the same way you would clean your kitchen! However, this is a good point of reference when looking to clean a room but not knowing where to begin.
Cleaning Clutter
Cleaning clutter is the main culprit as to why many homeowners feel overwhelmed when starting the cleaning process! And it’s easy to become daunted by how much work it seems needs to be done. But often, it can seem that there is much more to be done then there is. With a little organizing, you can manage the clutter in no time.
Many homeowners hold onto items for too long. And that’s ok- many people do it! But the first way to minimize clutter is to a general sweep through all the rooms in the house and determine if an item is worth keeping. If it is broken or no longer works properly, throw it away! If it is still useful, but you no longer want it or need it, donate it to your local thrift store!
Cleaning Dust
After getting rid of the clutter in your room, you can start cleaning your shelves and other flat surfaces that may have started to collect some dust. Dusting may seem like something that was left to the 1950’s housewives but it is quite beneficial! Dusting helps improve the air quality in your home and lowers the amount of allergens in the air. Dusting is especially beneficial if you have an allergy-prone family member in your Salt Lake City Home.
To dust correctly, make sure that you are using a microfiber cloth. This helps collect the dust as well as prevent any surface scratches. It is also important to dust from left to right and top to bottom to ensure that you are effectively capturing the dust and not just spreading the dust as you work.
Vacuum
After removing any clutter and dusting the flat surfaces in your home, you are now ready to move onto vacuuming. Vacuuming is one of the easiest and simplest ways to get rid of any dirt that you see ( or don’t see) on your floor. Before you start vacuuming, make sure that the vacuum bag is not full and the vacuum is still able to grab things with its suction power.
Be sure that the vacuum has the proper attachments for the floor surface that you are cleaning. Be sure to pay special attention to the hard to see places such as under the sofa or bed, but be sure that you don’t accidentally sweep up a larger object like a missing pair of socks! Before you finish be sure to vacuum any upholstered furniture, such as chairs or sofas, to get those in tip-top shape as well!
Mopping
If you feel that your house is extra dirty and needs some extra cleaning, or just if you are looking to do a deeper clean, mopping would be the next step on this list. It is important to make sure you sweep or vacuum all surfaces before mopping. If you do decide to mop without vacuuming or sweeping the floor before, you run the risk of scratching the floor surfaces with the remaining residue.
Once you are ready to mop, you can start by drawing some warm water in a bucket and placing the mop in it. Some homeowners like to add some soap that can be used on hardwood floors, such as Murphy’s Oil Soap, for an extra scent and cleaning power. When mopping work from the furthest corner of the room and work backward, rinsing the mop in the soap solution as needed.
How We Clean Each Room In A House Here In Salt Lake City
After following those four general guidelines on how to begin to clean a room, you are ready to tackle the more specific cleaning tips for each room. These suggestions will help you get on your way towards an immaculate house! Ready to start deep home cleaning? Read on!
Kitchen Cleaning
Kitchens are often the dirtiest or messiest of the areas in the home, which is due to this being the only room that constantly has food as well as food waste in it! Crumbs, spills and much more are bound to happen in the kitchen. For all these reasons and more, we like to show our kitchens a little extra love when cleaning them.
At the most basic level, cleaning the dishes and wiping down the counters each day is something that does not take a lot of time but will help your kitchen feel drastically cleaner in an instant. Also, be sure to wipe down the stovetops and microwaves as those areas are notorious for collecting crumbs and spills. Using scented spray to wipe down the kitchen tops and microwaves will help add a burst of freshness to the kitchen and hopefully help you enjoy the process just a little bit more.
Crumbs often fall in the kitchen, as this is the place where homeowners handle food the most. While you should be cleaning the entire Salt Lake City house frequently, sweeping the kitchen every few days or so will help prevent any build up in crumbs or dirt. Your floors, and your socks, will thank you!
Finally, be sure to pay some attention to your refrigerator and freezer. It is very easy to let food items sit in there too long which causes them to spoil, making your refrigerator smell bad while also taking up precious space! Be sure to check every week or two what foods you have stored in your refrigerator as well as your freezer and toss anything that is expired. Also, be sure to give your refrigerator a good cleaning every two weeks or so to get rid of any spills or grime that has accumulated through use.
Dining rooms
Dining rooms are another area that requires a little extra attention as they come into contact with food more frequently than the other rooms in the house. All the tips that were mentioned above for the general cleaning section as well as some tips from the kitchen cleaning section can apply to the dining room cleaning as well. Some dining rooms have a carpet instead of hardwood floors. In these cases, be extra careful not to spill any liquids or crumbs on the floor, and if you do, be sure to clean the carpet right away so the spill doesn’t blend into the floor and you forget about it.
Dining rooms often have a tablecloth that lives on the dining room table even when it is not being used. This tablecloth can become a huge dust collector. To prevent this from happening be sure to give the tablecloth a good shake out every week or so. If you are looking for a deeper clean, you can wash the tablecloth, but be sure not to do so too frequently or the colors will fade.
Living Room/Family Rooms
The living room or the family room often can seem like the simplest room to clean as following the four general house cleaning guidelines can get you a good start on these types of rooms. However, if these rooms are exceptionally dirty, you may want to employ some other cleaning tactics. Thankfully we have some additional cleaning tips listed below for you to test out.
Since the living or family room don’t serve as an immediate purpose such as a dining room or kitchen does, these rooms tend to be more haunted by clutter. Once the clutter is cleaned from a space, a homeowner can move onto the vacuuming process. While the vacuuming process is listed in our general cleaning tips, it is advised to thoroughly clean a living or family room by fully rearrange the furniture while vacuuming the space. This is beneficial as moving the furniture around can allow the person operating the vacuum access to hard to reach areas in the room. This is extremely helpful as it gives the homeowner the deepest clean possible.
Cleaning of Bathrooms
While the kitchen can be one of the dirtier rooms in terms of crumbs, the bathroom can be extremely dirty in terms of germs, if not maintained properly. One way to combat these germs is by weekly cleaning, which is very similar to the maintenance of the kitchen. Be sure to wipe down all counter tops as well as all sinks surfaces including the faucet and the faucet handles as well as behind the faucet.
It is also important to be sure to wipe down the toilet each week as well. You can use the same spray solution that you used on the counter tops. Just be sure to get the top of the toilet as well as the handle. It is also important to scrub the toilet each week or so as well to ensure that that stays clean as well.
Another important part of the bathroom to consider is the shower. This part of the bathroom should be cleaned each week or so to prevent any buildup in germs or stains. It is also important to take note of where the shower curtain or doors are placed as you will want to ensure that they are placed equally in the middle of the shower rod so they don’t bunch in the corner and cause any mold to form. While these may not be the most exciting or comfortable of tasks, by completing them frequently you cut down on the overall workload.
For any bathroom, be sure to take out any trash that may accumulate in the bathroom trash cans. Often these trash cans are smaller than the trash cans in the kitchen or anywhere else in your Salt Lake City home, which also means that they fill up much quicker. By taking out the trash in the bathroom once a week, or more if needed, you keep the bathroom looking fresh and clutter-free!
Bedrooms
Bedrooms are one of the trickier rooms to clean in your home as each person has their personal preferences on how they want their room organized. While the individual organization is ultimately up to the owner of the room, we can help by throwing out some general room cleaning tips. As you start with these tips we suggested, odds are you will become inspired and find new ways to clean and organize the room that works best for you!
To get started on cleaning your room, we suggest that you begin by following the first 3 of our general cleaning steps. By reducing clutter, dusting and vacuuming your room, you already have made excellent progress in cleaning! Often bedrooms are carpeted, but if your bedroom has wood or tile flooring, mopping would be another fourth step to add to your cleaning checklist.
Often the closets in our bedrooms get the worst of our hoarding habits or clutter and it is easy to see why! It is hard to get rid of clothes that we think we will wear “someday” and the closet is the perfect place to store small knick-knacks and other odds and ends because they are out of sight and out of mind! However, if you are looking to do a deep clean of your room, tackling your closet will be high in your to-do list.
To first start tackling your closet, be sure to get rid of any knick-knacks that you don’t need or you don’t need to be stored in your closet space. Once that is sorted through, it is time to go through your clothes. Anything stained, ripped, doesn’t fit or just anything you don’t like anymore should go! Anything that you no longer want can go to a thrift store and anything that is out of season but you still want to keep can be stored in under-bed boxes for a little more closet space!
Finally, it’s time to tackle the bed! Washing the sheets every week or so will keep your bed clean and fresh! Having an extra set of clean bed sheets will be helpful in this process as you can just put those in the bed and not have to wait for the dirty sheets to finish their cycle in the washer and dryer. Every three to five months you can wash your comforter as well for an extra clean touch!
Commonly Forgotten Areas To Clean in Your Salt Lake City Home
After following the guidelines that we have listed above, you will have done a pretty thorough job of cleaning your house. But there are some easily missed areas or items that we wanted to mention. Take a look at the list below and make sure you have cleaned these areas and get ready to enjoy your new spotless house!
Doorknobs, Remote Controls, Telephones
Between vacuuming and wiping down the counters, it is easy to forget to clean the things that we touch the most. For example, doorknobs, tv remote controls, home phones or cell phones and game controllers are touched every day but we rarely think to wash them! It’s for this reason that often a cell phone is dirtier than the bathroom!
To clean any doorknobs or home phones, spray a clean cloth or paper towel with an antibacterial cleaning spray and wipe down the surface. You could also use this method to clean your cell phone. However, some cleaning sprays are designed to be used specifically for cell phones which would make those a better option to use as you will not want to accidentally cause any damage to your phone.
Remote controls can be more difficult to clean as the buttons can store dirt in its cracks. To best clean a remote control, it is advised to use a smaller scrub brush or even a toothbrush to scrub the buttons and remove any stored up dirt. After that, you can use a clean cloth and an antibacterial cleaning spray to disinfect and remove the dirt from your controls.
Machines that store water
Another item in your house that often gets overlooked cleaning day is a machine that requires water to operate. Some common items include a coffee machine and a humidifier. Both store water but often the water is not completely used after operating the machine. If the water is not completely used and is left sitting in the machine’s reservoir, the water can mold and cause issues when operating the machine.
To prevent any sort of malfunction, or any health risks to yourself, be sure to empty any of the remaining water after each use. Every week or so, it is advised to wash the water reservoir with warm water and soap to get rid of any build-up that may have occurred during use. After washing be sure to thoroughly rinse the reservoir to make sure that all of the soap has been removed. Before reassembling the machine make sure that you thoroughly dry out the reservoir as you won’t want to cause any more mold to grow!
Hard to Reach Areas
Last but not least on our list of commonly forgotten areas, we have areas that are hard to reach. Out of sight and out of mind applies here but it is important to be sure to remember to clean these places ever so often as you won’t want these areas to build up dust and any other grime. Some of these hard to reach places include tops of cabinets, ceiling fans, and ceiling corners.
The reason that these hard to reach areas are so easily forgotten to clean is that they are often not seen because they are so tall. And because these areas are so tall, that makes them more difficult to clean! Thankfully with the right tools, these areas can be cleaned in an instant!
The tops of cabinets are often the lowest of these areas. Because of this, it is often possible to dust the tops of cabinets by standing on top of a ladder and using a regular microfiber cloth. The tops of ceiling fans and hard to reach ceiling corners are more difficult to reach. To effectively dust these areas, some homeowners have invested in an extendable duster that can reach up to 20 feet, making dusting those hard to reach ceiling fans a breeze!
Conclusion
There you have it! A few cleaning tips and tricks we have discovered over the years. While it may seem daunting to take all this on at the same time, by breaking the cleaning process down room by room, you will find that it is very manageable and incredibly rewarding. There is no feeling as great as coming home to a clean house. Your family will thank you for it!