After being cooped up inside all winter your home is likely filled with dander, dust, residual cold and flu. As our days are longer and warmer it is time to fling open the windows, deep clean and sanitize your home. Danessa Flores, Manager of Two Maids and a Mop in Chantilly, gave the FOCUS on NoVA Real Estate® team a few tips.
First you will need to start with these seven simple products:
- Microfiber rags – Quickie Microfiber Flexible Static Duster at Home Depot retails for $10.97
- Toothbrush – Wish 10-pack bamboo toothbrushes retail for $4.91
- Lysol® spray – retails at Walmart for $5.48
- White vinegar – Market Pantry white vinegar retails at Target for $2.79
- Glass cleaner – Method Glass Cleaner retails at Target for $3.29
- Dawn® dish soap – 34 oz retails at Walmart for $4.94
- Green alcohol – can be found at Target, RiteAid and other stores for under $2 per bottle
Dust settles! Start at the top of your house and work your way down. Do this floor by floor and in each room. Remember to clean not only your horizontal surfaces but also your vertical surfaces. Two Maids and a Mop define vertical surfaces to include crown trim, door and chair rail trim, baseboards, interior windows, blinds, exterior of cabinets and drawer, light fixtures and the doors themselves. Horizontal surfaces include your ceilings, tabletops, appliances, floors, and include getting underneath objects sitting on your horizontal surfaces.
Ceilings, trim, registers, returns, walls, edges and baseboards. Using a microfiber rag on an extender dust off the cobwebs and dust. Vacuum inside the vents and registers. Next, using a microfiber rag, wipe down these surfaces and vents with Lysol®. For those hard to reach corners and vent slits use the toothbrush. Last, change all of your HVAC filters so you have the freshest air possible.
Windows: The eyes of the house. For months dirt and debris have collected into a thick muck on your window sills. Open your windows! Grab a bucket of warm water, your microfiber rag, your toothbrush and Dawn® dish soap. Danessa says “It’s the Best” as it “demolishes” grease and disinfects as it goes. Now get to work but be gentle. Clean off those window sills until they are spic and span.
Once the sills are clean, use fresh and clean microfiber rags and your glass cleaner. Again, working from the top to the bottom clean your windows. If you have the tilt-in windows, get both the inside and out.
The blinds are next. Danessa trains her staff to meticulously clean blinds by wrapping a microfiber rag around a toothbrush and slat by slat dusting the entire set of blinds. For painted blinds warm soapy (Dawn®) water, the microfiber rag and the toothbrush should do the trick. For vinyl and metal blinds, you can use either soap and water or a water and white vinegar mixture.
Bathrooms: Grout and Caulk. There are no shortcuts when it comes to properly cleaning your bathroom. Armed with Dawn®, your microfiber rag and your toothbrush, get to work cleaning all the surfaces. Once you have scrubbed, rinse and dry them thoroughly. Lastly, in order to prevent mildew, spray the surfaces with “green” isopropyl alcohol. “Green” isopropyl alcohol contains a high level of isopropyl alcohol and is an antiseptic, by spraying it on your grout and caulk you stop mildew in its tracks! Who knew!!
Kitchens: Cut the grease and disinfect. As with the rest of the house, start at the top and work your way down. Lightly on the exterior using a sponge and warm soapy Dawn® water wipe down the cabinets, inside and out. Dry with a microfiber rag. Do the same for all the appliances, inside and out. If you have stainless steel appliances, be sure to use your polish of choice to make things shine.
Deep cleaning and disinfecting your property is the perfect way to welcome Spring time. For more information visit Two Maids and a Mop of Chantilly at https://www.twomaidschantilly.com/.
Written by Tracey Barrett
