Most people wait until spring to clean, but by this point you have a year’s worth of dirt, grime, and accumulation on your hands. So why not knock out a few of these cleaning tasks during the dormant winter months?
5 Winter Cleaning Tasks
The average homeowner uses winter as a time for bundling up and hibernating, so to speak. But winter shouldn’t be a season for laziness.
If you’re waiting until spring to tackle all of your cleaning and organization tasks, you’ll fall behind.
Instead, you should use this as an opportunity to get ahead of your growing to-do list. In particular, you should consider knocking out the following:
Clean Windows
Cleaning windows is something most homeowners don’t do nearly enough. It’s painstaking and easy to forget about.
But it can also be a very rewarding once finished. With window cleaning, you see immediate results.
Just fill a bucket with warm water and two cups of vinegar. Use a microfiber cloth (or some other type of cloth that doesn’t leave lint behind) and wipe down the glass.
Use a second cloth to dry the windows after cleaning.
Clean Siding
Do you have algae, mildew, and dirt on your home’s siding? This isn’t something you want to ignore until the spring.
“While the growth of algae and mildew doesn’t automatically mean there’s a problem, it can mean that your home is trapping moisture underneath the siding,” explains JD Hostetter, an Indianapolis-based siding repair and installation company. “This is an issue with homes that don’t have a proper weather barrier installed underneath the siding — which is common in older homes as well as homes where the siding was not properly installed.”
While most people want to use a pressure washer to clean their siding, it can actually cause further damage to vinyl or fiber cement siding.
Instead, it’s recommended that you use a simple garden hose to wet the surface.
You can then scrub with a mild detergent mixed with water. Stay away from chlorine-based bleach and other harsh chemicals.
Dust Ceiling Fans
While ceiling fans can be run in the reverse direction during the winter months to push heat down, most homeowners choose not to use their fans when the weather is cold.
This makes it a great time to go ahead and dust off those fan blades.
To prevent dust from flying everywhere and coating the floor or furniture beneath, place a pillowcase over the each blade (one by one). This keeps the dust contained and makes the task a breeze.
Clean Outdoor Grill
If you’re like most people, you don’t do a lot of outdoor grilling during the winter months.
Spring, summer, and fall tend to be much more popular grilling seasons, which is why winter is ideal for cleaning your outdoor grill and getting it ready for the next use.
Spend time cleaning out the inside of the grill, removing the charred mess, and scrubbing down the grates.
For best results, stay away from wire bristle brushes, as they tend to shed on the grates. Unfortunately, when these bristles shed, it’s hard to see them with the naked eye.
This can lead to bristles getting stuck on meat (which is a health hazard when consumed). Stick with silicone and soft hair brushes instead.
Organize Garage/Shed
For the most part, yard work and landscaping takes a backseat to indoor chores during the winter months. This makes the winter the perfect time to clean and organize your garage and/or shed.
For starters, make sure all of your tools and equipment are clean. This includes lawnmowers, shovels, rakes, weed eaters, and anything else that you’ve used during the previous months.
Once cleaned, spend time winterizing your power equipment (if necessary) and get it out of the way.
By creating space for other items, you won’t have to worry about tripping over your tools all winter.
Don’t Fall Behind
You don’t have to deep clean your entire house, but you should make a point of knocking out one or two of these tasks each week during the winter.
By the time winter ends and spring starts to thaw out the cold weather, you’ll be so far ahead that you can enjoy spring cleaning at a leisurely pace.