For a squeaky clean house

Are parts of your home starting to get a bit over-cluttered? Are your windows coated with fingerprints and grime? Does touching the surfaces of your home cause you to end up with gray and dusty fingers? If you’re experiencing any of those things, it might be time to get everything in order. Messy and cluttered spaces aren’t just eyesores — they can even impact your productivity and creativity. To help you understand how to deep clean a house, we’ve put together this guide. By the time you get to the bottom of it, you’ll know exactly how to start the cleaning process.

Start With a Plan
If you’ve let your home get out of control for a while, reigning everything back in will be tiring. Without a plan, you’re going to get burned out and unmotivated quickly. Remedy that by starting with a game plan. The first thing you need to do is decide on the exact areas you’re going to tackle while cleaning. Depending on how much time you have and the state of your home, you might have to limit yourself to a few rooms. If you have the time to make a weekend out of it, you can try doing the entire house.  Either way, walk around your home to create a list of things you want to get done. If it’s been a while since you cleaned, the list might be extensive.

Don’t Just Clean, Declutter
It doesn’t matter how handy you are with a mop or vacuum—if you can’t see the floor of the room you’re trying to clean, all your efforts will be in vain. After making your deep clean house checklist, your next step should be to declutter.  Take stock of everything in your home, and start mentally separating it into three piles. One pile for the things you’re going to hold onto, one for the things you’re going to throw out, and one for the items you plan on donating. Try to find a balance between sentimentality and ruthlessness. To help you out, try out the Marie Kondo way of thinking. If something doesn’t bring you happiness in the present, get rid of it!

Work Your Way Down
Whether you’re dusting, cleaning, or vacuuming, remember that most homes (and probably your own) don’t just have items on the floor. They have things that go all the way up to the ceiling. Your cleaning methods should reflect this.Start by cleaning harder-to-reach places near your ceiling. This can include anything from ceiling trim to the top parts of bookshelves. Once you get those, work your way down your walls and objects. Make sure not to skip any areas, as doing so can exacerbate future dirt and dust levels.

Clean Your Windows
Even the tidiest people often forget to clean their windows. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on what type of person you are), once you notice dirty windows, you can’t unsee them. To clean them, start by vacuuming the window tracks and sills. These can have buildups of everything from bugs to pet hair. Then, take a glass cleaner and spray the entirety of the window—inside and out, if possible. Wipe it with a paper towel or rag right away to avoid streaks. Finish off by patting yourself on the back and appreciating your hard work.

Dust Surfaces
Dust builds up faster than you realise, so dusting your home’s various surfaces is an essential part of any deep clean. To do so, you’ll need a rag and furnish cleaner.Spray a bit of cleaner on the rag, then wipe it over the different surfaces in your home. Hit obvious areas like bookshelf ledges and tabletops, as well as places you might forget, like furniture legs. If you’re dusting right, the furniture should look clean and shiny once you finish. To get the dust out of fabrics like lampshades, try using a lint roller.

Tackle the Floors
One of the last steps in your home cleaning checklist should be the floors. As you’ve worked your way from the higher levels of your home to the lower ones, they should be the only remaining part of it that’s dirty.Consider the type of flooring you have when trying to figure out how to clean it. You can mop tile, hardwood, and laminate floors, while carpets require you to vacuum them. At this point in the cleaning process, it’s tempting to get lazy. You’re almost done, so make sure to finish out strong. Clean all the areas of your floors—even the parts under furniture.

Consider Turning to the Experts
Unless you’re someone who’s worked as a professional cleaner, there’s a good chance that you aren’t cleaning something as well as you otherwise could be. That’s okay, but it also might make working with professional cleaners worth it. Professional cleaners are not only good at what they do, but they’re also efficient. They can be in and out of your house by the time you fill the first mop bucket.