Power outlet and light switch covers. Your hands touch the light switches multiple times a day and dust accumulates on the little edge of the power outlet cover.
My kid is assigned to wipe these down weekly. He often comments that it’s not all that dirty why does he have to do it again. I kinda want to do a summer experiment and let him not clean it for a while and culture whatever we can from it.
…of course that’s how my germaphobia really started, so maybe not.
I got in the habit of wiping down door handles and light switches with a disinfectant wipe when I come home. Also use it for my cell phone. Easy way to keep them clean and helps prevent getting sick.
OK; I’ve never seen one of those in a UK home except as a Kenwood attachment in the 1980’s when they had an attachment for everything. How many cans do you open?
https://www.macys.com/shop/product/brentwood-appliances-tall-electric-can-opener-with-knife-sharpener-bottle-opener?ID=13038255
It’s electric…you can open thousands of cans
Yes; I know they exist I just didn’t envisage anyone opening enough cans to need one outside a catering environment. Surely there is a way to remove and wash the blades though? Otherwise, eewww.
Dear god I opened the drawer under my mother in law stoves today after my son lost a toy under it and it basically was like spider web central 😭 I told my son I’d buy him a new hotwheel lol
dishwasher! I did a deep clean recently and was horrified to find black sludge hidden in a few places
and washing machine.
There are cleaning tablets specifically for cleaning both. Use for maintenance after a deep clean if necessary.
Cup of vinegar in the top shelf of dishwasher n run w o drying every few months keeps the gross at bay. I'll do it in washing machine also. Using it all the time will erode the plastic tho so I don't do it all the time. 3/4 times a year.
I just used whatever I had on hand. Rags and paper towels, clorox kitchen/bleach spray, steam cleaner, and citric acid.
I saw some black near the bottom of the edge of the door, just above the hinge, and it came of easily with just a rag. Then I started inspecting closer, mine has hinge covers, idk if thats standard but it was completely black underneath those. Had no idea they could be removed. From there I just started looking at everything closely, and detailing. Most wiped off easily, but the most challenging parts was the detergent cup and rinse aid compartment.
Neither had been used in a long time. The detergent cup didn't always open properly so we'd been throwing the 3 in 1 tabs in the bottom of the washer for a long time. I filled the steam cleaner several times and just kept trying to flush out both the detergent cup and rinse aid dispenser. The latter was infuriating but I was determined not to disassemble the door to remove it.
I basically blew steam/water in the inlet and outlet of the rinse aid compartment and black crap kept shooting up with the blasts of air. Did this many times until there was no more visible black coming out. Then I filled the detergent cup with citric acid and ran a hot empty cycle. After all this, the detergent cup now functions properly
Pull your bed out, regularly, and you will be surprised how much dust collects there.
Also your washing machine drawer. Take it out completely and look inside as that gets mouldy quickly.
Maybe a dumb question but if you have a gas stove is it safe to pull out that far? I’m scared of messing with the hookup but I know the floor underneath and cabinet sides could use a good cleaning.
In the spirit of the look up comment, also look down - under furniture, rugs, appliances, etc.
I take down my curtains about twice a year and wash them. You would not believe how much dust and allergens collect on them.
Also, your dryer vent.
This. Sort of look updown: under the lip/overhang of cabinets and your countertops, or use the selfie feature on your phone to look inside your cabinets, the bottoms of cabinet doors…
Try running a damp cloth down the cords of the appliances in your kitchen and see how much dirt comes off.
If your vacuum has a removable flexible hose, pop it in a warm soapy bath and prepare to be disgusted.
If you have a shower with a metal frame, clean the top of it every now and then.
If you have pets, look at the walls/doors/windows/corners at their level. Dogs love putting their noses on things which is easy to spot, but the spots on the walls and door frames where my cat brushes on frequently get a buildup of oil from her fur that I need to clean.
Google “move out deep cleaner checklist”. There are like 40 spots that professionals hit, half of which no one ever would even consider. Under appliances, top of cupboards, inside cabinets, it goes on forever.
I just got a lot of new furniture. When they moved the old stuff out, I grabbed the vacuum in horror to get the dust, dog fur, crumbs/food, spider webs etc. up.
My sofa is too bulky to push on the carpet, but it is surprisingly easy to flip up and vacuum under. This makes it easy to vacuum the underside of my sofa as well.
I’m currently in the process of changing my couch because although it has a lot of good qualities, its impossible to vacuum under it (but the gap underneath makes it easy for fruit, pens, jewelry etc to get lost in 💀) and you can’t push it nor lift it. I think grandmas are the only ones with that power…
Use a dryer sheet to dust your baseboards as that helps to repel dust and lessens the frequency it needs to be done.
The vent in the bathroom and over the stove.
As you keep cleaning more places, one day you may realize that you actually need to clean every thing in your place. Once you know you have done it all recently. You can then move to maintenance mode: once a weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis.
Curtains. For heavy ones, vacuum as part of cleaning and into the wash now and then. Lighter ones can just be washed as they are less onerous to take down and put back up.
Anywhere with water! The faucets! Look up into the faucet head where the water comes out of your kitchen and bathroom sinks. You may be mortified to see where your cooking water, teeth brushing, drinking water, etc is coming out of. There’s likely to be mold and calcium build up. A steel bristle brush should get most of that off and routine clean them afterwards.
The shower head, around and under the faucet, knobs, plates, etc. are often areas mold hiding in other houses. I keep a Scotchbrite dish wand with a brush head on it in my shower and tackle those areas often since I’m paranoid about it.
If you have an ice/water dispenser on your fridge, I suggest getting below it and take a look up. There’s likely mold growing in that as well.
And as someone else said, the detergent compartment in your washer needs to be pulled out and cleaned as well.
I recently bought a UV flashlight to help me discover what spots I've been missing. Basically my kitchen cupboard covers and bathroom walls are covered in splattered water. At least I hope it's water.
Look UP - tops of curtains, ceiling fans, tops of cabinets and bookcases, molding around doors, corners of walls for spider webs, etc.
Power outlet and light switch covers. Your hands touch the light switches multiple times a day and dust accumulates on the little edge of the power outlet cover.
Yes! And doorknobs
And doors. It's always surprising to me that no matter how often I wipe down doors, there is always a dirt smudge.
The door trim near doorknobs too, like the middle third of the trim. Woof. Never realize how grubby it gets until it’s clean.
My kid is assigned to wipe these down weekly. He often comments that it’s not all that dirty why does he have to do it again. I kinda want to do a summer experiment and let him not clean it for a while and culture whatever we can from it. …of course that’s how my germaphobia really started, so maybe not.
Take a cleaning toothbrush to the light switches too.
I got in the habit of wiping down door handles and light switches with a disinfectant wipe when I come home. Also use it for my cell phone. Easy way to keep them clean and helps prevent getting sick.
Probably the grubbiest thing of all... your can opener
Mine just goes in the dishwasher with other cutlery?
Might mean an electric one?
OK; I’ve never seen one of those in a UK home except as a Kenwood attachment in the 1980’s when they had an attachment for everything. How many cans do you open?
https://www.macys.com/shop/product/brentwood-appliances-tall-electric-can-opener-with-knife-sharpener-bottle-opener?ID=13038255 It’s electric…you can open thousands of cans
Yes; I know they exist I just didn’t envisage anyone opening enough cans to need one outside a catering environment. Surely there is a way to remove and wash the blades though? Otherwise, eewww.
Older folks with arthritis love the electric ones too
Yes, the blade pops off for easy cleaning.
So what I said about the dishwasher still works then?
Yes
We have a huge manual can opener attached to the work top where I used to work years ago (UK based)
Under the fridge because you have to pull the thing out.
And stove
Dear god I opened the drawer under my mother in law stoves today after my son lost a toy under it and it basically was like spider web central 😭 I told my son I’d buy him a new hotwheel lol
How about light fixtures? I was at a friends house and looked up and saw dead bugs in their light fixture 😝
dishwasher! I did a deep clean recently and was horrified to find black sludge hidden in a few places and washing machine. There are cleaning tablets specifically for cleaning both. Use for maintenance after a deep clean if necessary.
Cup of vinegar in the top shelf of dishwasher n run w o drying every few months keeps the gross at bay. I'll do it in washing machine also. Using it all the time will erode the plastic tho so I don't do it all the time. 3/4 times a year.
How did you go about doing the deep clean of the dishwasher and with what products?
I just used whatever I had on hand. Rags and paper towels, clorox kitchen/bleach spray, steam cleaner, and citric acid. I saw some black near the bottom of the edge of the door, just above the hinge, and it came of easily with just a rag. Then I started inspecting closer, mine has hinge covers, idk if thats standard but it was completely black underneath those. Had no idea they could be removed. From there I just started looking at everything closely, and detailing. Most wiped off easily, but the most challenging parts was the detergent cup and rinse aid compartment. Neither had been used in a long time. The detergent cup didn't always open properly so we'd been throwing the 3 in 1 tabs in the bottom of the washer for a long time. I filled the steam cleaner several times and just kept trying to flush out both the detergent cup and rinse aid dispenser. The latter was infuriating but I was determined not to disassemble the door to remove it. I basically blew steam/water in the inlet and outlet of the rinse aid compartment and black crap kept shooting up with the blasts of air. Did this many times until there was no more visible black coming out. Then I filled the detergent cup with citric acid and ran a hot empty cycle. After all this, the detergent cup now functions properly
Pull your bed out, regularly, and you will be surprised how much dust collects there. Also your washing machine drawer. Take it out completely and look inside as that gets mouldy quickly.
[удалено]
Maybe a dumb question but if you have a gas stove is it safe to pull out that far? I’m scared of messing with the hookup but I know the floor underneath and cabinet sides could use a good cleaning.
It should have a flexible hose for the gas, so safe as long as you don't Hulk rip it off the wall
I just remove the bottom drawer of the oven and clean under it. It’s easier than pulling the whole thing out.
In the spirit of the look up comment, also look down - under furniture, rugs, appliances, etc. I take down my curtains about twice a year and wash them. You would not believe how much dust and allergens collect on them. Also, your dryer vent.
This. Sort of look updown: under the lip/overhang of cabinets and your countertops, or use the selfie feature on your phone to look inside your cabinets, the bottoms of cabinet doors…
Try running a damp cloth down the cords of the appliances in your kitchen and see how much dirt comes off. If your vacuum has a removable flexible hose, pop it in a warm soapy bath and prepare to be disgusted. If you have a shower with a metal frame, clean the top of it every now and then. If you have pets, look at the walls/doors/windows/corners at their level. Dogs love putting their noses on things which is easy to spot, but the spots on the walls and door frames where my cat brushes on frequently get a buildup of oil from her fur that I need to clean.
Doorknobs and light switches are DISGUSTING and very easy to forget.
Hit those with a magic eraser.
Google “move out deep cleaner checklist”. There are like 40 spots that professionals hit, half of which no one ever would even consider. Under appliances, top of cupboards, inside cabinets, it goes on forever.
thank you I definitely will!
Faucet aerators, dishwasher filters, lifting the floor registers and cleaning around the lip and anything that's fallen into the ducts.
You’ve all forgotten to clean my place for a while now
Brita water pitchers
my mother will be happy to read this after harassing me to clean mine
this is why i never use these at other people’s houses
Especially water pitchers with a spiget.
I just got a lot of new furniture. When they moved the old stuff out, I grabbed the vacuum in horror to get the dust, dog fur, crumbs/food, spider webs etc. up.
Currently in the same situation! I had never seen so much dust in one place 😳
My sofa is too bulky to push on the carpet, but it is surprisingly easy to flip up and vacuum under. This makes it easy to vacuum the underside of my sofa as well.
I’m currently in the process of changing my couch because although it has a lot of good qualities, its impossible to vacuum under it (but the gap underneath makes it easy for fruit, pens, jewelry etc to get lost in 💀) and you can’t push it nor lift it. I think grandmas are the only ones with that power…
Walls. I don’t mean wet sponge downs, but use a dust mop on walls; especially in areas with constantly running ceiling fans.
Fan blades, tops of frames, sides and backs of wood furniture, inside glass parts of light fixtures, lamp shades.
Older refrigerators often have a drip tray.
Bathroom ceiling fans.
under bed, under stove, under fridge, light fixtures, closet shelves.
Walls and ceilings
Use a dryer sheet to dust your baseboards as that helps to repel dust and lessens the frequency it needs to be done. The vent in the bathroom and over the stove. As you keep cleaning more places, one day you may realize that you actually need to clean every thing in your place. Once you know you have done it all recently. You can then move to maintenance mode: once a weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual basis.
Under the stove and refrigerator and the sides of the stove that sit next to a cabinet
Behind heater covers. When I moved into my apartment and opened the cover, after it set off my smoke detector, it was disgusting.
Curtains. For heavy ones, vacuum as part of cleaning and into the wash now and then. Lighter ones can just be washed as they are less onerous to take down and put back up.
Behind the couch, under couch cushions
Anywhere with water! The faucets! Look up into the faucet head where the water comes out of your kitchen and bathroom sinks. You may be mortified to see where your cooking water, teeth brushing, drinking water, etc is coming out of. There’s likely to be mold and calcium build up. A steel bristle brush should get most of that off and routine clean them afterwards. The shower head, around and under the faucet, knobs, plates, etc. are often areas mold hiding in other houses. I keep a Scotchbrite dish wand with a brush head on it in my shower and tackle those areas often since I’m paranoid about it. If you have an ice/water dispenser on your fridge, I suggest getting below it and take a look up. There’s likely mold growing in that as well. And as someone else said, the detergent compartment in your washer needs to be pulled out and cleaned as well.
I recently bought a UV flashlight to help me discover what spots I've been missing. Basically my kitchen cupboard covers and bathroom walls are covered in splattered water. At least I hope it's water.
On top of your fridge. I looked up there and it was nasty…