I actually kind of like spring cleaning, but really, whose house can wait an entire year before thorough once-overs? With five kids and a boyfriend, plus a cat, our house needs it all the time… but there are a lot of things I tend to overlook until they’re so bad it’s horrifying. So now I keep a list, tacked to the fridge, so I don’t forget. Here’s the list I keep of 7 things I forget to clean…
Every morning, my boyfriend makes a small pot of coffee, and nearly every Friday, he forgets to empty the filter when he’s done… so by Monday, it’s a dried-up, nasty mess… and sometimes, if I don’t catch it soon enough, it can even start to sprout mold! Yuck! So now I make it a point to clean the coffee pot myself, taking it apart and scrubbing every piece, every weekend. His quick rinse works for every morning, but once a week, it needs a good going-over.
Photo Credit: laurenlemon
When I think of all of the minor spills that happen in my fridge each week, I shudder. Why, then, is it so hard for me to remember to wash out my fridge? Once every two weeks, I take everything out and wash down all the shelves and wash out drawers. It’s also a good time to throw out left-overs, and salad dressings that may have spoiled in the back of the fridge.
Let’s see. A quick check of my pantry just now led me to discover an open box of rice, three un-opened boxes of spaghetti noodles, and six cans of pinto beans, among other things. Cleaning and straightening your pantry will help you see what you need (no more pinto beans, that’s for sure), and what you have plenty of already.
The grill is my boyfriend’s domain, but every weekend, I take a peek and, if it needs it, give it a good scrub. He says the burned-on food is “seasoning” the grill, and that may be true… but I’m not taking any chances.
Ugh, the microwave and conventional ovens! These are two places one doesn’t normally think to clean, until there’s a spill. But I make an effort to remember to clean them at least once a month, and it’s surprising how badly they need it in between that time.
Do you clean your mattress? We change out bedding every weekend, but we also vacuum our mattress and use a Febreze mattress spray at least twice a month. I’m not sure why I think it needs it, since we don’t have bedbugs, and our cat doesn’t spend time on our bed… but I always feel better when I know it’s been done.
Photo Credit: *midtownsky*
We clean out our closets once every three months, at the beginning and end of a clothing season. We throw away anything too stained or beat up to be considered as even the lowliest work-out clothes, then donate everything that hasn’t been worn since that time last year. You’d be surprised how much room that frees up for things you might actually wear!
So print out this list and get to cleaning, and when you’re done, reward yourself with a trip to your favorite store for some new things to fill up that big empty space in your shoe rack! Which of these things do you also tend to forget? Or is there something else on your list that slips by un-tidied? Please let me know!
Top Photo Credit: moonshine-design