You typically hear more about spring cleaning than fall cleaning, but fall is a great time to take inventory of what your home needs and do a deep clean both indoors and out before the colder weather comes back. If you’re wanting to do this but don’t know where to start, here’s a simple list of things you can tackle over the next 6-8 weeks:
– Give your windows a good cleaning using a glass cleaner on the inside and a hose on the outside. While you’re focusing on windows, go ahead and vacuum your blinds with a brush attachment. If you have metal blinds, those can be taken down and rinsed outside with a hose to give them a deep clean.
– Clean off your refrigerator’s condenser coil with the brush attachment on your vacuum and give your other kitchen appliances some love, too: run your dishwasher through a cleaning cycle and run a self-cleaning cycle on your oven as well.
– Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure they’re working properly. Change batteries when you set clocks back in the fall and remember to do it during the spring time change, too.
– If you use your fireplace, have your chimney professionally checked and cleaned to remove any debris that may have fallen in over the off-season.
– Clean your patio furniture and outdoor toys and store them for the winter months. If you have a swing set or playhouse, power wash it and re-stain or seal it now so the harsher winter months don’t wear it down further.
– Garages are notorious for letting in cold air and making rooms above garages especially difficult to heat. Add insulation to your garage doors now so you’ll see your utility bills go down this winter.
– Your furnace should be serviced once a year to make sure everything is functioning correctly – both to make sure it is working as efficiently as possible and also to prevent fires. Go ahead and change out your air filters, too, as a clogged filter will cause your furnace to work harder than it should, shortening its life span.
– Replace the weather stripping around doors and caulk any drafts in doors and windows. Install draft guards under doors so your home stays as warm as possible during the winter months.
– Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans. In the winter months they should move clockwise in order to circulate and push warm air down into the room.
– Clean all of the fallen leaves and branches out of your gutters. If rain can flow freely through, water could potentially freeze, leading to dangerous icicles and damaged gutters. If you’re constantly cleaning out your gutters, consider gutter guards to keep leaves out permanently.
What’s on your fall home checklist this year?