Abode Spring Housecleaning Like a Pro Spring is the season when homeowners’ thoughts turn to deep cleaning their homes. here are some thoughts from a professional about how to do a professional level job. March 2007

by Mitchell Hardin

I’ve spent decades cleaning up after myself and other people — doing this professionally for 24 years. I’m an entrepreneur and have separate business identities for window cleaning, construction cleaning, and computer cleaning. I also invented a window blind cleaning machine called The Blind Maid, that I sell for a tenth of what the big commercial cleaners cost. I’ve written books about cleaning and I run a Weekend Window Cleaning school.

Because of my background, when I go into somebody’s house I sometimes think about what I could do to make the place look cleaner. It seems to me that a number of homeowners could improve the cleanliness of their homes if they just followed a few simple processes and techniques.

Cleaning Glass

Windows and mirrors are the bane of many homeowners when it comes to clean-up. The technique for cleaning glass is actually pretty easy to understand, however.

Here’s the main tip: Avoid Windex. The product leaves a film residue behind. For windows nothing is better than light soap and water. I use Dawn. Joy or Palmolive also work fine.

If you buy a professional window cleaning squeegee, scrubber, and sponge, then in moments you can turn any window or mirror into sparkling clearness. You should generally buy a 14-inch squeegee. For windows with smaller panes, you should also purchase a 6-inch squeegee. Hardware stores and Home Depot have these.

Before cleaning outside windows use a 2-inch paintbrush to clean inside the tracks of both window and door sliders. Then use your vacuum cleaner crevice tool, with its narrow blade-like tube, to thoroughly clean dead insects, dust, etcetera from the tracks. Wet your scrubber down with cold water and apply three dabs of Dawn soap, one on each end of the scrubber and one in the middle. Scrub down the window or mirror with the soapy side of the scrubber. Then run the squeegee from one side to the other in a single light stroke. Continue in parallel rows from top to bottom. When finished, make a single stroke with the squeegee from top to bottom on the side where each of the other strokes stopped.

Use a dry lint free “soft cloth” towel to remove any residual water. You can buy low-lint polishing towels at hardware stores. Note that cloth baby diapers make excellent cloths for that final step — if you can find these any more.

For smaller windowpanes use soap on a sponge instead of the scrubber.

Cleaning Lights

Bathrooms have one common problem-space: Mirrors and the bulbs or light fixtures above the mirrors accumulate a lot of dust. These things should be cleaned quarterly. Besides improving the aesthetics of the area, cleaning dust from lights and mirrors dramatically improves their effectiveness.

Before cleaning the light bulbs themselves clean the chrome or gold fixtures with a damp cloth. Make the cloth really damp and use a little Dawn, but don’t make it too soapy. Wipe with a clean damp cloth afterwards and then polish with a soft cloth. If the fixture has light bulbs, remove each bulb separately and clean with a damp cloth. Then polish it. Be sure the connector is not wet when you screw it back in.

Chandeliers present another, similar, situation. You have to have a stepladder for these, perhaps, or possibly rent a 12- or 14-foot ladder to reach the chandelier.

Treat chandeliers the same as bathroom lights. Unscrew each bulb and put it in a pouch while you are on the ladder. Take the bulbs down, wash and polish as described above.

Before putting the bulbs back, wash the exterior of the chandelier with a damp soapy rag or sponge, and then polish the inside and outside of each glass surface.

Before reinstalling all the bulbs, put in one or two and then turn on the light. You will then be able to clearly see areas you need to touch-up.

Floors

Sheet vinyl floor coverings, which we call linoleum, are a big problem area! People sometimes have a misconception that these shouldn’t be waxed. Wax them!

Before applying wax, get some Spic-and-Span and thoroughly clean the floor with a sponge mop. You might have to scrub the floor a couple times until all the dirt is removed.

Use Future High Gloss Acrylic for your polish. This product is preferable to Mop and Glow. It costs a little more but lasts a lot longer. Parquet and Pergo floors can be damp-mopped with Murphy’s Oil Cleaner. These floor coverings often have a manufacturer’s finish. Standards vary widely from one type of covering to another, so be sure to follow manufacturing instructions or consult with your hardware store specialists or your floor installer if you want to apply a wax finish to one of these. Floor care cleaning and finisher products are available to suit the requirements of whichever type of floor you have.

Other commercially installed VCT (Vinyl Composition Tile) flooring may require renting a buffer or scrubber. You can rent a scrubber at Home Depot. Apply a floor stripper at the specified dilution ratio (usually half a cup to 2.5 gallons of hot water).

Use a black scrubber pad with soapy water. Rinse with clear cold water and a mop and then mop up the residual water. The floor must be perfectly dry. Use a commercial non-buffing high-acrylic floor finisher. Apply with a sponge mop or with a standard clean mop.

Carpets

Be sure to vacuum your carpets thoroughly, using the crevice vacuum tool around the edges, before cleaning them. Clean any spots or stains with a product called Oxyclean. The product comes in a powder form.

I use three tablespoons of Oxyclean for a quart of warm water. Put the solution into a spray bottle and then spray the spot and scrub with a stiff bristle brush, preferably made of plastic.

For gum you can use a product called Compress Air. Spray the gum to freeze it and then hit the gum with a butter knife and crack it into pieces.

Computers

Home computers often become grimy through lack of attention. The keyboards are especially dirty. Computers should be cleaned inside and out at least once a year.

The first step is to turn the computer off. Then turn the keyboard upside down and shake out whatever loose particles may have fallen inside. Use moistened keyboard cleaning swabs, which you can purchase at Office Depot or Staples. These swabs are designed to fit between the keys. Run the swab carefully beside each key being careful not to oversaturate.

For flat screens and standard monitors you can use a package of wet and dry wipes. This is a static-free product and so is safe around electronic devices. Clean the screen first with the wet towel and then wipe off the moisture with the dry towel. If you use your own cleaning materials be sure to use a low-lint non-abrasive towel, especially for flat screens, since they are made of plastic and can be scratched. Don’t oversaturate.

Clean the computer body with a wet/dry vacuum. And then just wipe the outside of the box with a soft towel. This is an area where you can use Windex.

The inside of the computer will literally get filled with dust after several years of neglect with all the attendant issues of heating, shorting-out, etcetera, so open the tower and remove the dust that has accumulated there with a wet/dry vacuum. Specialized computer cleaning vacuums are available at Office Depot (or from me). If you have a computer vacuum, reverse the flow to blow out any remaining dust.

Wood and Blinds

We polish our wooden furniture every week. Doing this not only serves an aesthetic function, but it protects your investment in valuable wooden furniture from dry rot as well as from drying out because of the sun.

Use any furniture polish. (We prefer Pledge.) Apply a little polish to a lint free rag and shine the furniture by using long, smooth, vigorous back and forth strokes.

Mini blinds, Venetian blinds, and wooden blinds can all be cleaned by vacuuming with a wet/dry vac using a brush nozzle attachment. This is good for removing dust.

Then clean the blinds with a solution of two teaspoons of TSP (trisodium phosphate), diluted in 2.5 gallons of hot water. Be sure to wear rubber gloves.

Soak a washrag in the solution, wring it out until only damp, and then clean each blind from side to side with smooth motions. Dry down with a soft towel.

Note that an alternative to cleaning each slat is to shut the blinds tightly and wipe the whole surface down at once with firm and gentle motions.

Now you’re ready for spring. Go have some fun!