Fall Cleaning is Awesome!

Today I am gearing up for the annual big fall house cleaning.  Maybe you aren't a neat freak, or maybe you've never attempted Fall Cleaning.  So I thought I would include my list of things to clean for those of you who didn't grow up in an uber clean family.


1. Clean the fridge--throw away the old leftovers, things that have expired. Then I take everything out and wash the shelves with hot soapy water.  If your fridge has a funky smell (and you don't have old leftovers) this will take care of it.  If it smells musty, use some bleach in your water. This year I'm taking on our downstairs fridge as well, which has been neglected for a very long time.  It's rusty and moldy.  Should be fun...


2. Pull out your appliances (fridge, stove) and clean and mop behind them.  Same with furniture-move it away from the wall and vacuum behind it, then dust the woodwork.  If you have allergies, this is a great place for dust to hide so getting rid of it will only help you.


3. If you usually dust around knick-knacks, pull them all off the shelves and dust under them.  Take everything off your kitchen counter and get rid of the crumbs (a bug attraction) and if the tops of your kitchen cupboards are exposed, clean up there too.  Also dust light fixtures, ceiling fans (they get so gross) and if you have mini blinds wipe them down well.  I also walk around with a duster and hunt for spider webs in every corner and nook and cranny.  Fall is when spiders move into your house for the winter so if you can get rid of them now, it will help you later.  


4. Clean closets.  I don't know about you, but I love my house neat and I have an issue with throwing things in a closet to get rid of them temporarily.  So every few months my closets are a total disaster.  Every fall and spring I go through them and throw away things I don't need or use (or donate to charity).  Try on all your winter clothes from last year and if they don't fit or you don't wear them, toss them!  It's a great way to keep from collecting too much junk over the years.  Do linen closets, hall closets, bathroom cabinets, bedroom closets and basement closets.  I don't have a full basement, but I have a closet under the stairs.  If you have one of those or a full basement, take everything out and sweep and mop it out, then get rid of as much as you can and reorganize it in there.  I did this in the spring with my under the stairs closet and I was good and didn't mess it up, so I probably won't do it again this time.


5. Sweep out and organize the garage.  This one is self explanatory. 


6. Wash all the windows and glass on the outside of your house.  You'd be amazed at how dirty these get, especially if you live in the city.  


7. If you have any holes in your lawn, plant some fall grass seed.  I don't have to clean my gutters (I don't have any, weird, they built my house cheap!) but if you do, clean them too.  Also I clean all the tracks in my doors--patio and front doors.  I look for holes around the door seams too, where bugs can get in and I caulk them shut.


8. If you have a wood burning fireplace and want to use it, call a chimney sweep.  Chimney fires are very common.  If you burn damp wood, it smokes a lot and all that creosote builds up in your flue.  If you don't clean it, it will suddenly ignite and burn off--which is not an issue unless your chimney has cracks in it or the insulation has broken off--that's how the fire gets into your house, usually your attic.


9. Check out your furnace before you turn it on--a woman near Three Lakes just lost her home and suffered burns because she turned on her furnace for the first time without checking it.  Take off the panels and clean the dust and lint off the parts inside, check the belt and replace the air filter.  They recommend changing the filter every month during the winter, but if you have a nice furnace or get expensive filters I think once a year is fine.  Unless you have allergies--then you should do it more or get a HEPA air filter.  You can also hire someone to come in and check the furnace.  If you haven't cleaned it and your furnace is more than 5 years old, I would definitely do that.


10. Dirty clothes dryers are a big cause of house fires.  I say this every six months, but CLEAN YOUR DRYER!!!!  Check out your venting system--if your vent is more than 20 ft to the outside of your house (I think the rule is add 5 feet for every bend in the pipe) then you could have serious lint issues in your dryer and hose because you're not getting enough suction and then because it's not venting well it gets too hot and can spontaneously combust.  This happened to a friend of mine and she nearly lost her home in the fire that resulted.  Take the hose off your dryer and take a look at how much lint is building up.  If you don't think lint is that flammable, they use it in homemade bombs as the ignition.


11. When you're cleaning your dyer, clean your washer.  Washers build up E-coli and mold and other nasty stuff.  Fill it up with hot water (no detergent) and add a quart of bleach.  Allow it to run on its longest wash and spin cycle.  Fill it back up with hot water and a quart of distilled white vinegar and run it through the longest wash and spin cycle again.  Now it's clean!  You can also take out your bleach/additive dispenser and soak it in warm vinegar water to clean it.


12. If you have pets and don't wash their bowls a lot, this is a good time to clean out all the slobber and gunk.


13. Fish tank.  Enough said. *blech*


14. Check for cracks in the silicone around sinks and toilets and tubs and fill them.  If you don't scrub the foot of the toilet or behind it much, do that too.


15. If you still feel like cleaning after all this, detail your cars! :)


If you have a husband who is willing to take on half this list, delegate it to him.  But if you're me and you get *paid* to stay home and take care of this, have no fear.  Girls can do house repair stuff and clean appliances too!  If you don't know how to do something, just Google it :)