woman doing housekeeping
Cold weather not only means more time spent inside, but it also signals the holiday season and large family gatherings. Instead of putting everything off until the spring, you might want to take a look at some fall cleaning tips to prepare your home for the winter.
1. Create Separate Projects
Trying to clean your entire house at once is going to lead to frustration and some serious oversights. Instead, you should start this process as early as possible and break this larger project into manageable steps. One Saturday you might want to start washing winter clothes and linens while the next weekend you can tackle the kitchen or living room. Making a list and crossing off items as you go along is a great way to see that you are making progress.
2. Block Off Unused Vents and Rooms
Compartmentalizing and closing off certain areas of your home is going to provide you with a few immediate benefits. First, sealing off vents and closing the doors to unused spare rooms will have an amazing effect on your energy bills. With over half of the average home’s energy going to heating and cooling, it is never a bad idea to find some ways to save extra money. Another benefit of sealing off vents and doors is the fact that fewer contaminants will be floating around your house and into your family’s lungs.
3. Rethink Your Storage Options
Dragging out winter gear and stowing summer supplies makes many of us realize just how little storage space we have around the house. Instead of relying on built-in storage such as closets and cabinets, you might want to consider adding some new storage of your own. Options such as wall mounted wires shelves from places like Quantum Storage can be used practically anywhere in the home and provide quite a bit of additional storage space at a low cost.
4. Clean or Replace Your Cleaning Tools
This might sound odd, but most families are using cleaning tools and utensils that should have been replaced years ago. Just because an old mop seems to be working well does not mean that it is not just pushing around bacteria. Some of the tools that you might want to replace include toilet bowl brushes, brooms, mops, dusters, rags, and sponges.
Taking a few fall cleaning days to winterize your home will not only save you time next spring, but it could also save you and your family extra money during the colder months.
Nice post! I’m now organizing my fall cleaning session and needed some new ideas about from where to start. Thanks for the suggestions. Happy cleaning!
I like how you article talks about replacing your cleaning tools. I find friends of mine struggling with their cleaning but often discover old cleaning tools in their homes. Mops, like you mentioned, need to be cleaned or replaced regularly to avoid spreading of dirt instead of cleaning it.