10 Areas You Could Care Less About Cleaning

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Image courtesy of marin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The other day I was helping an elderly friend clean out their apartment for purposes of moving. I chose to tackle the kitchen. Why? I like to torture myself. It was hard work to be sure. When someone’s health is in a declining state the last thing they are going to be able to do is detail clean their kitchen. Since there were several of us all over the apartment it gave me some good ideas on areas of my own home that probably get neglected in regular every day cleaning but that can really build up to be a rather large chores if not attended to at least once a year.

1) The Door Frame: Have you ever ran your finger across the top of your door frame? It can get quite dusty up there. Put it on your calendar to go over your door frames every few months.

2) Beveled and Decorated Doors: Just like the door frame the doors themselves can become an eyesore. Our front door is painted a very light cream (not my choice). Wipe down the faces (front and back) of your doors every few months. Wipe down the front door monthly.

Grocery Bags with Food

3) Light bulbs: Did you know dusty light bulbs can dim your lights? Yes it’s true. That dusty light bulb you’re using could be blocking a fair amount of light from getting through to you. Clean completely cool light bulbs with a lint free cloth and be very gentle. We don’t want broken light bulbs on our hands.

4) Behind the fridge: Ewwwww! Have you ever pulled out your fridge and looked behind? It can get really icky back there and affect the efficiency of your fridge. Unplug your refrigerator and have hubby or a friend pull it out. Just a little bit so you can get to the condenser coils. Some have the condenser coils on the back and some on the bottom. If they are on the back go ahead and vacuum off the accumulated dust. If they are on the bottom you

5) Oven bottom drawer: Do you keep cookie sheets and broiling pans in that drawer beneath your oven? Do you have a drawer beneath your oven? Spills can get in there too. Pull it out, pull the pans and such out and vacuum then wipe it down.

6) Refrigerator seals: It is amazing how many crumbs and spills can get into the refrigerator door seals! Take a damp cloth and wipe them down next time you clean the fridge or freezer.

7) Dining room table legs: Have you ever looked up close and personal at your dining room table legs? If you have small children eating at your table chances are they’re splattered with a few offerings from past meals. Make it a plan to give them a nice wipe down every so often.

8) Bathroom fan: The bathroom fan can get clogged with lint. Vacuum it up every couple of months for smooth sailing. You don’t want that fan to get clogged and go out on you do you?

9) Toilet  hinges: You may already take care of this but just in case you don’t. The next time you’re getting ready to throw out your old toothbrush and replace it with a new one, stop! Take that old (old, remember) toothbrush and putting it in your bathroom cleaning kit. Use that toothbrush to clean the hinges on your toilet. I won’t describe what gets caught up in there but just take my word for it and clean it out every 3 or 4 months (or more often if needed).

10) Dish washer overflow drain: Instead of trying to tell you how to clean one of these I’ve take the liberty of including this video to show you they whys and hows of cleaning that icky dishwasher overflow drain that sits on the side of your sink.

Ick! All these places (and unfortunately more) can get past you if you don’t keep up with them at least once in a while. Make a plan to attack these areas once a quarter.

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