What Does a Deep Clean Consist of? Everyone dreads the annual deep-cleaning. Whether it is yearly spring cleaning, or a spur-of-the-moment cleaning before company visits, you have undoubtedly felt the deep-clean dread. Although a daunting task, deep cleaning does not have to be an arduous one. Save yourself time, energy, and frustration by reading and learning the ins and outs of what deep-cleaning your home entails.
Table of Contents
What do you need to deep clean your home?
To find success in deep-cleaning one’s home, you must decipher which products and tools are most useful for the task at hand. If a home is rich in authentic hardwood and wooden cabinetry, a wood-safe oil-based soap will be necessary, along with a soft, porous towel to allow for easy translation of the product.
Avoid using hard, scratchy material on wooden surfaces, as wood is soft compared to less porous surfaces such as linoleum, tile, or ceramic. Microfiber towels are an excellent option for deep cleaning because they are gentle on surfaces, but still moisture-wicking and absorbant.
A large portion of deep cleaning involves dusting hard surfaces to rid them of dander, dead skin, pollen, and other debris common in the home. Ditch the chemical and fragrance heavy store-bought dusting polish and replace it with a homemade solution consisting of Castile soap, lemon oil, and water. This simple solution smells wonderful, but also utilizes the sticky nature of the Castile soap to trap unwanted dust particles. The lemon component leaves behind a lovely, clean-smelling home and adds moisture to wooden surfaces.
Your favorite dishwashing detergent works wonders all around the home. Do not buy expensive cleaner at the store – there is a more affordable and versatile option sitting on your kitchen counter. Mainstream cleaners such as Dawn or Gain share a common degreasing agent capable of scrubbing bathroom grout, living room walls, kitchen appliances, and messy bathtubs.
Proper equipment required in a deep clean includes a functioning vacuum, broom, ergonomic stepping stool, and any other item used to lessen the wear and tear that a day spent deep cleaning has on your body.
Decluttering is the first step
Most of the battle in deep cleaning will be decluttering your space and preparing it to be deep cleaned. Clear the pesky items that have crept their way onto the countertops, desks, or floors.
Find a new spot to store items appropriately, or toss or donate items that no longer serve a purpose in the home, or if there is not adequate storage space. Starting the deep cleaning process with a decluttered home fights half of the cleaning battle before it has begun.
Start with the messiest areas and work downward
Everyone has undoubtedly heard the expression “it gets worse before it can get better” this statement rings true in the realm of deep cleaning, too! Start cleaning each room at the highest point of the room. Start cleaning with surfaces such as ceiling fans, chandeliers, window blinds, and any artwork hanging on the wall.
These items produce a lot of dust and will pepper your floor with dander and pollen, which is why it is smart to save your floors for last. Use the previously mentioned homemade dusting concoction or your favorite dusting polish to rid these items of dust. Once you clean everything above eye level, move down to focus on the room’s surfaces.
Clean the surfaces
Depending on the room you are cleaning, this step of your deep cleaning will look different. When cleaning a living room or bedroom, it is important to use a microfiber cloth and surface-safe cleaner to rid surfaces of dust, fingerprints, or mysterious smudges that come with everyday living. When cleaning a bathroom or kitchen, this step becomes more complex.
To clean the surfaces in a bathroom, you need to break out a heavier duty cleaner with the ability to break down soap scum, grease, and any unpleasant, yet unavoidable proof that you live in your home. A bleach-based shower cleaner is excellent for whitening grout that greyed over time.
As previously mentioned, dishwashing detergent is a wonderful substitute for many other bathrooms and kitchen cleaners and will leave your shower and sink hardware shiny, and germ-free.
To clean the surfaces in a kitchen, breaking out the old and trusted dishwashing detergent is a good bet that ensures you have sparkling surfaces. Consider an antibacterial soap for the kitchen, as it prevents any common kitchen bacteria and viruses such as salmonella and e-coli from building up over time.
The kitchen forces you to face more difficult surfaces such as the stovetop and the inside of appliances. An easy stove-top hack used to shave hours off of your scrubbing time is using a razor blade or a painter’s blade to remove crusted or sticky substances from the stove. This trick can also be used inside the oven.
Once you have freed the room’s surface from any debris and dust, you are ready to begin switching out your soft-sided items such as linens, towels, couch covers, and throw pillows.
Soft-sided items and upholstery
One of the most important steps to completing a deep cleaning process is to remove, wash, and/or replace any soft-sided items in your homes such as bed linens, couch and pillow covers, throw pillows, curtains, and towels. These items harbor bacteria, hair, dead skin cells, and most importantly; odors.
The bed linens, furniture covers, curtains, and towels can all be thrown into the wash and put back, or replaced with different covers. Soft-sided furniture can be sprinkled with baking soda and left to sit for an hour before vacuuming it up to remove odors.
Time to clean the floors
By the end of the deep cleaning, the floors will have retained any dust and dander that fell to the ground. After moving large furniture aside, It is important to first sweep or vacuum any loose debris or pet hair from the floor before using any wet agent. Failure to vacuum or sweep will result in more relocating the debris around the floor rather than properly cleaning it.
If you have carpet, a simple run of the vacuum is sufficient. For extra long carpeting, consider a canister vacuum with different settings for carpet plushness.
There are many options for washing hardwood and tile floors, ranging from the traditional mop and bucket, Swiffer Wet Jets, or scrubbing on your hands and knees. While detailed manual scrubbing provides the best results, it is incredibly harsh on the human body and may be substituted for with ergonomic mops.
Make sure that whatever mode of cleaning you choose, that the ingredients are safe for your floor and pet safe if you have any furry friends living in your home.
For homes with carpets, steam cleaners are effective at removing stains, odors, and dust. Using a specific concentrate in conjunction with your steam cleaner (such as a concentrate aimed at remedying pet urine odor, dirt, or grease) will improve the results.
For those who do not own a steam cleaner or have access to rent one, baking soda can be sprinkled on the carpet an hour before vacuuming to reduce odor and assist in lifting any pet dander from within the carpet fibers.
Finishing Touches
Once you have decluttered, dusted all surfaces high and low, vacuumed, scrubbed, and most certainly earned some dirt under your fingernails, you will add your finishing touches. Running a cleaning wax capsule through your dishwasher, running an empty load of detergent through the washing machine, or lighting a candle are all excellent ways to finish your day of deep cleaning.
What Does a Deep Clean Consist of? – Conclusion
Not only does deep cleaning provide you with a beautifully clean home, but it also prevents any illness due to build-up bacteria, and allergy flare-ups due to dander around the home. For the best results, consider deep cleaning your home on a tri-monthly basis, or once every season.
