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Fall House Cleaning Tips

In the past, once-a-year cleaning tasks were done in the spring. Over the years, I’ve gradually moved many of them to the fall. It just makes more sense.

If you have friends or family over for Thanksgiving or winter holidays, fall is the perfect time to do these things. It will ensure that you have a cleaner house and don’t end up putting things off until the last minute. It makes the holidays a lot less stressful!

This is a great time to organize your home. Once you get the basics out of the way, then concentrate on specific areas.

The Three Big Fall Jobs

Clean The Carpets

According to carpeting industry experts, you should have your carpet professionally cleaned every 6-18 months depending on traffic. If you do it once a year, fall is the perfect time. Your carpet will be beautiful for holiday family gatherings and parties. Most carpet cleaning companies offer a special deal where they will come back and take care of any stain within so many months of cleaning. If you clean in the fall and one of the kids spills cranberry sauce on the carpet at Thanksgiving, you’re covered. You should also let them professionally vacuum your carpet before cleaning. They can remove more dirt than your vacuum.

Clean The Attic

When the weather cools down, it’s the best time to get up there and get rid of your dust and mildew breeding factory! All you have to do is take a vacuum up into the attic, start at the ceilings, and work your way down. If you’ve never been in your attic or just don’t want to try this project yourself (some attics require some dangerous maneuvering), you can hire someone to do it for you. The benefit is that you will increase the air quality in the whole house. You’ll also have a clean place for storage. Be sure to use a dust mask and protective eyewear, especially if you’ve never cleaned your attic. You are going to create a lot of particle clouds floating around up there! Check for wet areas caused by roof leaks.

Clean The Chandeliers And Light Fixtures

The beginning of fall is the best time to clean chandeliers, light globes, and light diffusers. You are probably going to have people over for the holidays, and let’s face it – that’s the only time you notice how dirty your lights are! The easiest way to clean a chandelier is to leave it where it is. Taking apart the chandelier creates a much larger job, and you might not know how to put everything back together again! Get a step stool or a ladder and clean with a damp cloth. Another method is to use two cotton gloves – one sprayed with window cleaner and one dry.

Next you should tackle the light globes on ceiling fans and other fixtures. You should do a room at a time. Detach the globes carefully and let them soak while you are cleaning that room. Rinse and wipe them clean and replace them afterward. It’s not difficult, but most people have a lot of light fixtures. You’ll notice a change in lighting immediately. Don’t forget your porch lights!

Other Fall Cleaning Jobs

Draperies

Check the labels of your draperies. If they are machine washable, wash them on a gentle cycle with Woolite or other gentle detergent and let them hang dry. If they say dry clean only, don’t take chances.

Oven and Range

You probably do this as needed, but this is a good time to do a thorough oven cleaning, especially if you cook and bake a lot during the holidays. Use a spray cleaner and let it sit overnight. Wipe clean in the morning. This is a much safer technique than using a self-cleaning oven. Starting with a clean oven makes it a lot easier to simply wipe the oven clean the day after Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to take off the range and oven dials and let them soak in soapy dishwater.

Refrigerator & Freezer

This is the time to do a thorough job where you take everything out and clean the shelves. It won’t take long enough to worry about food spoiling if you just get in there and do it! Use an antibacterial household cleaner and clean off all the shelves. Take out the drawers and wash them in the kitchen sink. When you’re done, take everything out of the freezer and put it in one side of the sink. Use the same cleaner to wipe down all surfaces. If you have ice cube trays, wash them in the top shelf of the dishwasher or let them soak in the sink.

Polish Silver

Most people only use their good silver around the holidays, so this is the perfect time to polish silver serving pieces and tarnished silver flatware.

Furniture and Rugs

Move heavy furniture and mop or vacuum underneath it. This only has to be done once a year, so don’t break your back doing it more often.

Turn over area rugs and vacuum the backs of them. This will help get out any dirt that is hiding out at the base of the rug fibers. Never beat an area rug to clean it. It will break down the rug backing and fibers.

Gutters

Of course, fall is the time of year that your gutters get filled with leaves. Clean them with a special hose attachment that has a hooked end to get down into the gutters. Better yet, look into attaching “hoods” or “helmets” to your gutters so you won’t have to worry as much about leaves in the future!