With social distancing and self-isolation still in full swing across many states, there’s no doubt you'll be spending plenty of time at home and what better excuse to deep clean, get organized and declutter your home. With food stores overwhelmed by shoppers, and public places off-limits, here are some simple ways to deep clean your home without stepping outside the front door.
We’ve found all the equipment you can buy online, from the best vacuum cleaners to the best steam mops, as well as some handy tips on how to get your home organized, and some great home cleaning remedies too. But knowing where to start can be a bit overwhelming, especially if your home is currently filled with your family. Make more room for your family and their things with our handy guide to decluttering.
We’ve got ideas on how to declutter kids’ rooms, kitchen cupboards and how to create space where you didn’t think you had any. We’ve also included the optimum amount of time that disinfectants need to be on the surface to start working properly.
The aim with decluttering isn’t just about getting rid of things, it’s also about being able to access the things you use regularly with ease. Simply shoving things in cupboards isn’t a sustainable way of tidying as you’ll quickly find everything is a mess again, especially if things don’t have a proper home.
As well as all that, we’ve got ideas on how to spruce up your garden, as well as few deep cleaning tasks to make your home look spotless. So, whether you’re in lockdown, social distancing or simply need a good old spring clean, check out our top tips for deep cleaning your home.
Deep clean your kitchen
As with all rooms in your home, start by taking a good look at what you already have. You won’t be able to clean unless you’ve created a bit of space, so before you can start cleaning, have a good declutter.
Start with your cupboards. Sort through any food you have and get rid of things that are out of date, or you know you will never use. Start organizing your food cupboards with similar items placed next to each other - all of your tins in one place, packets in another. To make this even easier to maintain, slide baskets into your cupboards to keep food items tidy and allow you to grab a whole basket of items when you’re cooking. Labelling the baskets will help you see what’s inside each of them.
Next up, those important kitchen essentials. Organize kitchen utensils by using a cutlery drawer divider or, simply arrange them in height order so they’re easy to find. For things like chopping boards, stack them on their side rather than laying them flat on top of each other. It means you can pull one out without the whole pile coming out. And for things like pan lids, drill some rails on the insides of your cupboards, you can then rest pans on these to save even more space. Rails are also ideal for under the sink cupboards, so that you can hang cleaning products off them. Creating more space inside cupboards means you can start to put some of the counter top items away, making the surfaces ready to clean.
To make your home as clean as possible, spray surfaces with disinfectant and leave on there for at least four minutes. While you’re waiting, vacuum the floor, wipe down kickboards and cupboard fronts and give the floor a really good blitz. Need a decent mop? Check out our round up of the best steam mops around.
Deep cleaning extras:
Clean your grout: Nothing gives away a kitchen in need of deep clean better than dirty grout. Can’t get to the shops to buy grout cleaner? Not a problem. Mix together equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, grab a toothbrush and get scrubbing!
Clean on top of cupboards: It’s pretty grim but the tops of cupboards get very grubby as cooking fats, dust and airborne dirt often nestles up there. Slightly abrasive cleaners are best for scrubbing up here. Handy hacks for preventing grease build-up on top of cupboards are laying sheets of paper or newspaper up there to collect any future dust.
Disinfect your washing machine: Whilst it’s super important to clean your home, it’s also important to clean the appliances you rely on to clean your clothes. Find out how to disinfect your laundry with our helpful feature.
For more kitchen organization tips, check out That Organized Kitchen on Instagram.
Deep clean your bathroom
Boxes and baskets will be your best friend when it comes to deep cleaning your bathroom. If you have under sink storage, make the most of it to store products that would have been out on surfaces. For things that you need to grab easily, invest in some decorative baskets for things like toilet paper.
Use mason jars to organize cotton wool and swap surface clutter for clear spaces ready to clean.
Now, start with your shower head. Although we rely on the shower to keep us clean, the shower head is often overlooked when it comes to cleaning. Get a plastic bag and fill it with white vinegar. Submerge the shower head in the bag, tie over the top and leave it for a few hours, if not overnight, to soak. This will break down any scum on the shower head.
Clean the grout and tiles with the mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mentioned in our deep cleaning the kitchen section, and then pour baking soda and hot water down the plug hole to cleanse the pipes. Use disinfectant to tackle the plug hole fitting as this is a favourite spot for germs.
As well as your usual toilet cleaning and sink wiping, pay extra attention to door handles, towel hooks and toilet flush handles - these are often forgotten and harbor plenty of germs.
Deep clean your bedrooms
When tackling a bedroom, start off by stripping the bedding off and putting it in the wash. Even things like pillows can be washed in either top load washers or front load washers.
While the bedding is off, vacuum your mattress and flip it over to give the other side a break. If springs are easy to feel, consider a new one altogether with our guide to the best mattress around.
With a damp cloth, dust the room from top down. Starting with light fittings, bed heads and then down to surfaces and baseboards. Vacuum floors and even consider using a carpet cleaner to free the floor of dirt and dust. If you can, take down curtains and put them through the wash too.
Organize closets and get rid of any clothes that you don’t wear anymore. To save even more room, invest in some closet space saver hangers, these allow you to store lots of clothes without using too much room. Find them at amazon.com.
For clothing drawers, take inspiration from Marie Kondo’s handy folding hack. Fold clothes and store them standing up right. This allows you to grab them out much easier and also see which items are which without pulling a whole pile out.
Organizing children’s rooms
It’s no secret, children have and need quite a few things. From toys, games and clothes, here’s how to organize your child’s bedroom.
Go through your child’s toys and get rid of any that have broken parts or pieces missing. Make a pile of toys or games they no longer play with, ready to donate.
Store similar toys like cars or trucks in baskets, create craft storage using mason jars for paintbrushes, pencils and crayons, and decant board games into zipper bags so that you don’t need to store bulky boxes. Get the kids involved and create a washing up station for plastic toys - giving them a good scrub with soapy water.
Once you’ve organized your child’s toys into themes or types of toys, let your child choose a few they’d like to keep out and store the rest away. Create a rotation for your child’s toys as this will create more space and mix it up for your little ones too. If you find you get out toys and they aren’t interested in them, this will help you get rid of more in the future.
Other areas to deep clean and declutter
Tidy paperwork:
Got a mound of paperwork piling up? Get organized and shred or burn what you don’t need. File away bills and paperwork in categories of cars, home and work. While you’re at it, sort through your purse or wallet and chuck out old loyalty cards you’re never going to use along with those sales slips from months ago.
Tidy up the garden
Give your garden some love and invest in a good pressure washer to blast away dirt and mould from slabs and planters.
Get out the lawn mower and tidy up planters by getting rid of any weeds, wash down garden furniture with soapy water and purchase some lovely plants to brighten things up.
