Anyone else feeling the spring cleaning fever start to set in? The kind that makes you wonder what the places you forgot to clean in your home are?
Just me?
I start to feel the desire to REALLY clean around springtime. I’m in Michigan, so we’re finally starting to have the outside thaw out from the deep freeze of winter. You start to see the sun again and a feeling of excitement starts to set it, Warmer weather is on its way!
I wasn’t always excited about cleaning. Which I mentioned before in this post for the person who feels overwhelmed and just doesn’t know where to start.
But, this post is all about the un-obvious places to clean. The places you forgot to clean in your home. There are plenty of obvious places to clean, you see them every day, the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom. But, what about those places that are overlooked or forgotten, maybe without even realizing you’re overlooking them?
This post is all about the Five places you may have forgotten to clean in your home. This post also contains affiliate links.
One: The Fridge
This is a place you store your food you eat every day; it should be one of the cleanest places in your home for that reason, right?!
Well, I think most of us have been there. You open the fridge and it hits you just how messy it has become. I know I’ve been there! That’s why this is a place that probably doesn’t get deep cleaned as often as it should!
When you deep clean your fridge make sure to take everything off of the shelf and wipe the shelf down completely. Wipe the items off as you put them back into the fridge and be sure to toss anything that has expired!
Here is a more detailed post of how I clean and organize the fridge.
Two: Dishwasher
In order to deep clean your dishwasher, you will need two ingredients. Baking soda and Vinegar.
Start by emptying all the dishes out after it runs a cleaning cycle. Then look at the bottom of the dishwasher and remove the filter, be prepared it will be gross. Use some dish soap and a small brush, or even a toothbrush to clean it out. Once you have that clean put it back. Don’t skip that part! Make sure it’s back before moving on.
Then spray the whole dishwasher with vinegar, the sides , the racks, everything! Now sprinkle some baking soda on it and scrub it with a scrubber or a sponge to really get any dirty areas. Next take a bowl with 1 cup of vinegar and put it on the top rack (or middle rack if you have 3 racks like mine does) and run it on a HOT full cycle.
That’s it!
Three: Strip the Bedding
For those that may not know, washing your sheets and stripping the sheets are two different things.
If you’ve never stripped your sheets before you will be so surprised at how dirty “clean” sheets actually are.
If you have no idea what stripping the sheets even means I go into in detail here, but the cliff note version is a DEEP clean of the sheets.
Start by washing your sheets in your washing machine.
Next, get it ready for the long soak. If you have a top load washing machine then you can use your washing machine, or for those that don’t, you can use your bathtub like I do. Fill it with HOT water and put in ¼ cup Borax, ¼ cup laundry booster, and ½ cup of powdered detergent and stir. Put your sheets in!
It’s worth noting that you can put the sheets in and mix it all together or you can wait until it’s all mixed and then put the sheets in. I’ve done both and haven’t really noticed a big difference.
Now you wait for 5-6 hours. Make sure every couple of hours you go back and mix everything around. Once you’ve waited 5-6 hours drain the tub and ring out the sheets. Now place them back into the washing machine and run on a rinse and spin cycle and dry!
Four: Washing Machine
I’m a big proponent of washing your washing machine.
I had always had a top load washing machine until we moved into our current house. Washing a top load was super simple, just select the “clean” cycle and add the appropriate amount of bleach every few months and call it good!
Now I have a front load washing machine, I’ve discovered it can be a bit more involved because of the ‘lip’ that is on the front loaders. The front loaders still have a “clean” cycle you use with bleach, but make sure you look at the lip on them because mold can grow on it MUCH easier than I ever anticipated. If you notice you are struggling getting the lip clean be sure to check out my post here on what I do in this scenario!
Five: Cold Air Returns
These often times are so high on the wall that they can be overlooked easy. However, boy oh boy the dust these babies collect!
I have horrible seasonal allergies and asthma, so I try and make sure we keep our cold air returns clean, otherwise it just perpetually blows dust around the home.
When we first moved into our new build home keeping the dust under control was certainly a battle. I had to clean them more often than I do now. However, I try to go around the house and do a detailed dust at least once every two or so months. This is when I typically use my extendable duster and make sure that I get the cold air returns well.
There you have it. Five areas of the house that you don’t typically think to clean but definitely should be cleaning!
Have you ever forgot to clean these places in your home?
Be sure to check out my 10 days to a cleaner home post! Or you can download the FREE checklist below!
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