Many people clean their homes from top to bottom in the spring as a matter of course. However, doing a good home cleaning in the winter can lengthen the life of your furniture, your carpets and your home. Here are four home cleaning tips that many homeowners undertake once the weather turns frosty.
1. Mats and Cake Sheets
During the winter, muddy, gunky shoes take their toll on your carpets. Two easy cleaning tips will help you keep this problem at bay. First, place a mat or a rug on the front stoop allows you to wipe your feet off before you enter the house. The mat on the inside of the door is a good idea, according to Angie’s List. This mat catches any remaining gunk that still clings to your boots.
As a fail-safe measure, place a baking sheet beside the door in your mudroom. Muddy, wet shoes can go on here, so that you don’t track more mud into the house: It also gives your boots a place to dry. Taking these two steps keeps home cleaning in the winter a lot simpler.
2. Salty Floors
According to the US News and World Report, the salt you put on the front stoop to make everything less slick takes a toll on your carpets and your hardwood floors. If you’ve noticed a milky film on your floors, you can thank the salt water that has been tracked in on wet boots.
As such, come about mid-winter and then again in late winter, take the time to wash the floors and shampoo the carpets to get rid of the salt. The tip in the previous paragraph will help somewhat. Even if you don’t shampoo that often, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln website recommends that homeowners at least run the vacuum regularly to get rid of the sand, dried salt and other winter “messies.”
3. Winter Bedding
Winter is the time for cozy flannel sheets, heavy comforters and even electric blankets. However, if your winter blankets and sheets have been stored away, they’ll need a washing before you put them down on your beds. The nighttime weather will start to feel crisp around mid-October, so it’s best to get them washed and ready to go before the cold strikes.
4. Furnaces, Fans and Other Airways
Your home’s furnace and any fans gather dust throughout the year. That dust is what makes the house smell a bit when you turn on the furnace for the first time in the late fall, early winter. Give your vents and fan blades a good dusting to cut down on the dust. Also, change your furnace’s filter to keep it running smoothly and keeping away any mold.
Final Thoughts
Doing a thorough home cleaning before the winter strikes means that you have more time to sit with a cup of cocoa and relax on those frosty winter nights. The four cleaning tips on this list help you to get this winter cleaning project started, to clean up allergens before they build up and help your home stay in tip top shape, even when the winter weather starts to beat down on your home.
