April 22, 2020
For most of us, the coronavirus has translated to lots of time at home in the last few weeks. And lots of time at home translates to lots of dishes in the sink, lots of toys on the floor and maybe a little extra time on your hands. So, while you may find it near impossible to keep the kids toys picked up or the dishes done during this quarantine, it’s the perfect time to get a few things checked off your Spring Cleaning List. Here are a few things you can do that may have been overlooked for a while:
- Dust your ceiling fans. Pro Tip: Use a pillow case! Slip a pillow case over the blade to wipe the dust off the sides, top and bottom. That way, all the dust stays on the pillow case — instead of going everywhere!
- Clean your washer and dryer. Get rid of mold and mildew odors, as well as a built up of soap and fabric residue in your washer by running the machine empty with hot water and about 2 cups of white vinegar. You should also thoroughly clean the lint trap in your dryer.
- Deep clean the inside of your oven. Generously sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the oven. Using a spray bottle, wet the baking soda with vinegar (you don’t want a puddle of vinegar.) Let the mixture sit for about 4 hours or overnight, then wipe away vinegar and baking soda with a textured sponge.
- Check the batteries in your fire and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Check and if necessary, replace water filters in your fridge, portable water filter or under sink filtration system.
- Give your coffee maker a good cleaning. If you’re like me, your coffee maker has been working over-time since I’ve been working from home, so it could probably use a little TLC.
- Empty your coffee pot. Dump out any leftover coffee from the pot and empty the filter of used grounds.
- Add vinegar and water. Fill the coffee pot with 3 cups white vinegar and 6 cups cold water. Pour the mixture into the coffee maker’s reservoir. Tip: If your coffee maker is small, adjust the white vinegar to water using a 1:2 ratio.
- Turn on the coffee maker to brew a pot. Once the brewing cycle is complete, shut off the machine and allow the vinegar solution to sit for 15 minutes.
- Brew water-only for two cycles. This will get rid of any remaining vinegar taste. Turn off the coffee maker for 15 minutes between each brewing cycle
- Wipe down your refrigerator shelves and drawers and throw away expired foods.
- Empty your pantry of anything expired. Yes, it’s time to throw away the 4 bags of expired chip crumbles. Dust or vacuum the pantry shelves and then organize your unexpired goods back into the pantry.
- Wash your shower curtain liner. If your plastic shower curtain liner is dirty or mildewed wash it in your washing machine, along with two bath towels, on the gentle setting.
- Your dog or cat bed. Vacuum the bed and use a spot cleaner to remove and stubborn stains. If the bed has a removable cover, or is small enough, toss it in the washer. If not, you can wash the bed by hand in the bath tub with mild detergent.