You’re probably thinking, “Home cleaning tips? In winter? Isn’t that a spring thing?” Here’s the deal: Why wait for spring when you’ve got a perfectly good winter to utilize? Here are some winter cleaning tips to help you tidy up your NYC apartment in the dark of winter so that you can enjoy the sunshine in spring.
Enjoy Some Sights and Sounds
One of the best home cleaning tips is to add a soundtrack before you begin. Nothing turns a day of deep cleaning into a day of fun like music. Fire up a playlist of your favorite tunes, and washing the dishes will become your new favorite chore. If music isn’t going to do it for you, queue up some shows on Netflix, and immerse yourself in the world of Liz Lemon or Sherlock Holmes as you scrub down that grout.
Clean Your Linens
The holidays are over, and most likely, you’ve been through a few dozen tablecloths, sheets, and other linens thanks to hosting friends and family. Put the whole lot in the wash, giving them the deep cleaning treatment they deserve. If you’ve got heavily soiled linens or ones made out of delicate fabric, toss them in a bag and take them to your local dry cleaner.
Declutter
You may have received a lot of wonderful gifts for the holiday, but even if you didn’t, winter after the holidays is an amazing time to get rid of a lot of the items that are probably cluttering up your home. There’s a cleaning philosophy that says once you bring something into your home, you should take something out. That can really help ensure that your house can continue to breathe and then you’re not, unbeknownst to you, subconsciously auditioning for a future episode of Hoarders.
Deep Clean Your Appliances
If you regularly sanitize your teapot and give your food processors white vinegar baths, good for you. If you don’t even understand what you’ve just read, it’s time to give your small kitchen appliances a deep clean. This includes everything from washing down your blender blades to cleaning the coffee filter to sanitizing the inside of your dishwasher. If you’ve never done this before, prepare yourself to learn about things like water deposits and limescale.
Wash Ceilings and Walls
Even the cleanest, most particular people in the world can forget to wash the ceilings and walls. It’s weird; they’re right there, staring at you, watching from the sides and from above as you go from room to room, but you don’t even see them, so you don’t clean them! This creates the perfect ground zero for cobwebs and dust accumulation. Wash down the walls and ceilings using a simple solution of mild detergent and water, switching to water and vinegar for tougher jobs.
Image Source: Flickr/Shannon McGee
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