If you want to be a bit fastidious about your housekeeping there are a few cleaning details that you can add to your monthly cleaning routine to keep everything sparklingly fresh.

Happily these items only need to be completed once a month or less but keeping them clean and taking care of them will help you prolong the life of some of your household goods.

Washable fabric curtains can do with a good washing according to instructions once a month. Trapped odors and dust can then be washed away. If you have blinds or non-washable curtains dust and vacuum them instead. Blinds are washable but with dusting you can wash them less often such as during spring or fall cleaning.

Get those baseboards around your house. If you get down on your hands and knees and take a look that might be inspiration enough to get wiping. If you space it out such as a room a week you can spend very little time wiping them up. If you wait too long you’ll have a serious elbow grease job on your hands (I know from experience).

Wipe down the refrigerator and clean the oven (if you use it a lot like I do). I do these items more like every couple of months. But the fridge can take very little time if done monthly. I clean mine with a very mild dishwashing liquid solution and then dry. It looks so nice when done.

Clean the windows in your rooms. This is for the inside. Windows are so fast why do we dislike this chore so? Since each room is on a rotation the windows each get done once a month.

Damp wipe the furniture. I have this vintage homemaking magazine that talks about washing upholstery with the suds of a solution. You make lots of suds with about a teaspoon of dishsoap in warm water and then use the SUDS ONLY and a damp colorfast sponge to go over your (tested) upholstery. Dry with a dry cloth as you go. I can’t be responsible for any damage but I use this method successfully on my 15 year old Broyhill living room set.

Flip that mattress. They won’t live forever but it will get even wear and be more comfortable in the long run.

This is not an exhaustive list. By looking this over you can probably pinpoint some other cleaning details that you could do (or not) monthly.