Tips for Cleaning Hard-to-Reach Places in Your Home

Tips for Cleaning Hard-to-Reach Places in Your Home

Sure, you keep a tidy home thanks to your daily cleaning routine, but how do you score when it comes to cleaning hard-to-reach places in your house? Do you often forget they exist? Most people do tend to overlook them, so you’re not alone.

But where exactly are these areas and how do you clean them? Take a glance at three of the most commonly overlooked spots in the house. Then get some professional tips on cleaning hard-to-reach places.

How to Clean a Ceiling Fan

If you run your ceiling fan most days, you may never see the dust bunnies that are hanging on for dear life. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not waiting to show themselves when the fan stops.

Figuring out how to clean a ceiling fan can be tricky, as some ceilings are much higher than others. Fortunately, you no longer have to balance precariously on chairs and tables to clean your fan: You can buy a ceiling fan duster that extends to the height you need. As an added bonus, these dusters wrap around the fan blades, meaning you don’t have to worry about them spinning around as you try to clean.

Here’s how to clean a ceiling fan:

1. Wipe each blade clean with your ceiling fan duster.
2. If your fans are low enough, you can also clean the lights using a stepladder and a dry microfiber cloth.
3. Sweep or vacuum the dust from the floor.

The Best Way to Clean Kitchen Cabinets

You may know how to clean the outside of your cabinets, but do you ever clean the tops of them? Most people forget they exist. However, they do need to be wiped down a few times a year.

When you’re thinking about the best way to clean kitchen cabinets — or cleaning hard-to-reach places in general — you want to make sure you budget a couple of hours for the task. It can be time consuming, especially if you’re going to combine it with organizing your cabinets. Once you’ve set aside a chunk of time, you’ll take these steps:

1. Clear any decorative pots, plates or kettles from the top of your kitchen cabinets and set them down on a clean towel on the counter or floor. Just make sure you’re not placing these items on the counters directly below the cabinets you’re dusting.
2. Dust the top of the cabinet with a dry microfiber cloth.
3. With a fresh microfiber cloth, wipe any dust off of your decorative items before returning them to the top of your cabinets.
4. Clean any fallen dust from the floor, cabinet doors or counter tops.

How to Clean Behind the Toilet

One of the most difficult areas to access when cleaning hard-to-reach places is behind the toilet. Since commodes typically back up to a wall, it can be a challenge to maneuver housekeeping tools behind the bowl. Nonetheless, it can get pretty gross back there, so it needs to be cleaned. This does call for some elbow grease and getting down on your hands and knees.

1. Use a handheld broom to sweep up any hair or debris that has fallen behind the toilet.
2. Mist the sides of the bowl with vinegar, and wipe that away with a clean microfiber cloth. Note: If you have stone floors, you need to make sure the vinegar does not come into contact with your floor surface. Your best bet is to spray the cloth — rather than the bowl itself — so that the vinegar never touches your floor.
3. When you mop your floor, dip a dry microfiber cloth into your cleaning solution. Wring the cloth so that it’s not over saturated, and wipe down the places your mop won’t reach. Tip: Do this before you start mopping so you don’t have to kneel on or walk over a wet floor.

Though it’s easy to forget about cleaning hard-to-reach places, you don’t want visitors to think you’re slacking when it comes to your housekeeping routine.