Gather supplies
You’ll need garbage bags, a long-handled duster, glass cleaner, furniture polish, microfiber cloths, and a vacuum. You may need other things, like a mop, or leather cleaner, depending on your situation.
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Put on some music
Make separate piles to sell, donate, and give away
Remove curtains and drapes
Remove accent pillows and blankets
Take out all of your afghans, blankets, pillows, and throws, and clean them according to their instructions.
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Remove drawers from all furniture and go through them
Clean the drawers themselves
Start at the top and work your way down
This is good advice for cleaning any room, and we’re ready to start cleaning this one in earnest.
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Dust your ceiling fans, light fixtures, and AC vents
This is why we clean top to bottom. Get all that dust on high. We’ll knock it out for good later.
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Check and replace light bulbs and batteries
Dust corners where the wall meets the ceiling
You might want to use a broom to clear away cobwebs, while you’re at it. But even if there aren’t any, you at least want to clear dust out of the corners.
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Wash upper wall trim
Get a damp cloth and run it along the trim on at the ceiling level. Take care of any smudges, and if any paint needs touching up, now’s a great chance to do that.
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Clean hanging décor
Turn your attention to the art on the wall. Dust off the frames. Clean glass, when applicable. Same goes for mirrors, and anything else you might have hanging.
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Clean the blinds
Turn your attention to the window blinds. Use a dry sponge for fabric blinds, or a damp cloth for wood blinds. If you’re pressed for time, or if your main concern is dust, you might get away with a dusting instead of a full cleaning.
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Clean windowsills and frames
Turn your vacuum to the windowsill, or for extra thoroughness, try a damp cloth. You might also want to get that grunge between the window and the screen. If you’re feeling extra sassy, consider removing and cleaning the screens.
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Clean the windows themselves
Use Windex or a similar window cleaning solution. You can also use dish cleaner, but be sure you make it extremely diluted – we’re talking one teaspoon for two gallons of water. Otherwise, you’ll get soap residue stuck to the windows, and be worse off than when you started.
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Wash the doors
Wash the walls with a wet cloth
Yeah, it’s tedious. You can probably skip this if you really want to, but this is a guide to deep cleaning, after all, so we have to mention it.
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Check the paint
If you do decide to wash the walls, it’s a great opportunity to check your paint for dings, nicks, and smudges, and repair them as you see fit.
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Clean your electronics
Obviously, you don’t want to use ammonia or anything caustic. But you can get away with a lightly damp cloth or a dusting. Use a microfiber cloth for screens, like your television. Be gentle. But be thorough.
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Dust and sort your cables and wires
Cable management is important, and those little suckers behind the TV sure do attract a lot of dust. Unplug, clean up back there, and make judicious use of cable ties.
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Sanitize your remotes
When was the last time you cleaned your remote? Yeah, that's what we thought. Take the batteries out, and clean it with a cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol. Then soak a Q-Tip in alcohol and use it around all of the buttons. If you still have a landline somehow, disinfect that, too.
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Move furniture away from the walls
Clean your bookcases and desks
Vacuum under your cushions
Clean your sofas and chairs
Now take a microfiber cloth to your seating and your soft furniture. Use oil for leather furniture, if appropriate.
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Vacuum behind furniture
Vacuum and/or clean the baseboards
We’re almost done! We started at the top, now we’re here! Use a damp cloth, like before. If you want to check and fix the paint, the baseboards are more likely to have problems than the upper trim is.
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