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House cleaning
Professional house cleaner Laura Clark follows an efficient, step-by-step approach.
Here are tips on how to most efficiently clean each room in a typical house, including kitchens, bathrooms, living areas and bedrooms.
We asked professional house cleaners what homeowners most typically overlook when cleaning their own houses. And here are tips on cleaning ceiling fans, behind appliances the tops of cabinets.
Here's a list of cleaning tools and cleaning products you should have on hand to do a good job on your house. If you want to use only eco-friendly cleaning products, there are many on the market to choose from.
Carpet cleaning
Professional carpet can treat the toughest stains while protecting your floor underneath.
Like upholstered furniture, carpeting can collect dust mites, microscopic mold spores and other pollutants over time. Regular cleaning has benefits even if the carpet does not look dirty.
Professionals use several different methods, some of which you can also do yourself with rented equipment. Steam cleaning and carpet shampooing are the most common methods.
If you hire a professional carpet cleaner, be sure you vacuum before the cleaners arrive and move any breakables. Discuss in advance whether heavy furniture needs to be moved by the cleaners.
Floor cleaning
Household floors go through a lot of wear on a daily basis. If you clean them yourself or hire a professional, make sure each surface is cleaned correctly.
Different types of floor surfaces require different approaches to cleaning. Here are some tips on each.
Natural hardwood floors are easy to clean, but do require special care because the wood can be damaged by too much water or the wrong cleaning material.
For smooth surfaces like linoleum, a professional wax and buffing can really bring out the shine. You can also rent a buffer yourself, but make sure you know how to use it or you may damage your floors.
Upholstery cleaning
Professional cleaners can tackle stains on hard-to-clean upholstered furniture.
Upholstered furniture should be tagged with one of several letter codes (most commonly "W, WS, S or X"). Some of these you can clean yourself using a water-based cleaner, but others would be best left to a professional.
Vacuum thoroughly first and test whatever cleaner you are using on an inconspicuous area like a fabric flap on the back of the piece of furniture. Follow these tips for the most effective results.
Unless it is suede, leather is easy to clean with mild soap and water and generally won't stain.
Drapery and blind cleaning
When cleaning your house, don't forget about the draperies. This can help eliminate dust and prolong the lifw of the fabrics.
Although they just hang there and don't really look dirty, draperies are magnets for dust and other airborne pollutants. If someone in the home has dust allergies, draperies should either be eliminated or at least cleaned regularly.
Although some curtains can be machine washed, pleated draperies should be dry cleaned or thoroughly vacuumed. If you vacuum them yourself, take them down and spread them across the dining room table to work on.
Venetian or slatted blinds can be a good substitute for cloth curtains, but they quickly show the dust. Here are some tips on how to clean different blind types.
Dryer vent cleaning
Dryer vent cleanings can help improve your appliance's efficiency and reduce the risk of fire.
You can see how much lint collects in your dryer's lint trap, so imagine how it can build up in the exhaust vent. If this is never cleaned it can reduce dryer performance and even cause fires.
Know these indicators of a blockage in air flow in your dryer exhaust vents.
Depending on your situation you may be able to do this yourself, but if the vent is difficult to access you can hire a professional once a year to keep the vent clean.
Window cleaning
Window cleaning should be done once or twice a year, but it's a difficult, time-consuming and dangerous job. Some homeowners clean the inside windows themselves and hire a window-washing crew to do the outside.
Here are tips on the kind of rags to use and when a squeegee is more useful than a rag.
If a window scratch is not too deep it can be minimized to make it less noticeable. Here's how.