And our favourite time of the year is here – summer! The best time in which you can relax with your loved ones on a beach, outdoors, or in the comfort of your own home and garden.
It’s the best time to feel rejuvenated after the cold winter months and to do a deep summer clean up! Here’s everything you need to know to make your home sparkle and shine with our top 10 summer cleaning tips and tricks.
Why should you do regular summer cleaning?
Whilst most of us think of summer as the optimal time to take a break and bask in the sunshine, our chores don’t just go on pause. Summertime is the time in which you should aim to spend even more time thinking about cleaning.
Why? Because mould and mildew grow much faster in humid summer weather, especially in areas that are already humid, such as the washing machine. If you have little kids, you know that summer means a lot more family time than during the rest of the year. Being at home more than usual means a lot more work for mums, das, and caretakers! Also, summer is when many extended family members come together for cookouts, birthdays, reunions, and stop-overs after long trips. Because of this, all your guest bedrooms, outdoor spaces, kitchen, and all the other living areas are sparkling way before their arrival!
Moreover, summer brings its kind of a mess as well! Think about what summer downpours bring – mud, wet spots, and many other dirty things into your home. Also, we know that people love going on trips in the hot months, which means that a lot of scramble and chaos gets left behind before the big take-off. In all these cases, it helps to be proactive! By having a good housekeeping and cleaning routine, you’ll be able to do wonders with your home. So let’s dive right into our top 10 summer cleaning tips that we’ve prepared for you!
1. Clean out the fridge
Knowing the right way to clean your fridge is essential, and not only during the summer months!
Make sure to leave plenty of room in your refrigerator for fresh produce and barbecue leftovers whilst working one section at a time. Also, you should try to use cleaning products that have the least chemicals to avoid spreading them onto the food. Wipe down all the fridge surfaces with a damp cloth whilst removing shelves
and drawers. These can be washed in the sink with warm water and dish soap.
2. Prevent mould in the bathroom
One of the most important things to cross off from your summer cleaning checklist is your bathroom developing mould!
To ward off mould and mildew in your bathrooms, always clean your shower whilst showering, using a sponge and a squeegee. Clean your toilet bowl every day, and use a pumice stone to remove any rings and stains accumulated over time. Try to keep your mirror with a microfiber cloth and a homemade vinegar spray to wipe down all the countertops. All your bathroom floors should get wiped with damp towels or a mop, and the bath mats and damp towels should be laid outside in the sun to dry.
3. Prepare your grill
Before cooking a nice barbeque for your and your guests, make sure to turn the grill on to let the grates get hot before transferring any food on it.
A brilliant tip when grilling during summertime is to have a cut lemon on a long-handled fork, so you can dip it in salt and rub it across the grill’s grates. This will help cut down the grease, as the salt acts as an effective scrubbing agent. Once you’re done scrubbing the grill, make sure to wash the grates to remove any pumice dust. Another pro tip is to avoid using metal brushes, as the bristles can easily break off and fall into your food! The last thing you want to do is to find pieces of metal in your carefully cooked steak, right?
4. Gutter cleaning
Before even considering clearing your home gutters, make sure to equip your lawn blower with a gutter-cleaning attachment. This will allow you to blow out debris while your feet will be planted on the ground at all times.
When using a ladder, use a four-prong garden tool in a ploughing motion to push all the leaves out. For increased safety, use latex gloves to keep your hands dry and protected. A fantastic hack is to use a hose with a spray nozzle to flush the remaining dirt from the gutter!
5. Allow plenty of fresh air to flow freely
Good ventilation helps your home eliminate moisture, smoke, cooking odours, and any indoor pollutants.
With moisture being the number one challenge during the hot summer days, controlling how much of it lingers in your home is one of the top summer cleaning hacks ever. Ensure that before temperatures start to rise, you will have a heating-and-cooling expert check and clean your air-conditioning system. Also, keep all your windows open at all times, at least in the bathrooms, as the air from your ventilators will never beat the freshness coming from the outside.
6. Clean the air conditioner
There’s never been a more perfect time to clear your air ventilators than now!
You can simply use your vacuum’s brush attachment to get rid of all the unwanted dust, and for extra grimy vents, you can even unscrew them from the walls and wash them with hot, soapy water. For some extra sparkle, you can wash all the removable filters with hydrogen peroxide and put them to dry before inserting them back into the machine, or you can even replace them with brand new ones.
7. Keep floors clean
When thinking about how to deep clean a room for summer, cleaning floors should be a top priority. But always keep in mind that different floor surfaces will need different cleaning products!
You can mop with a cotton terry cloth or recycled hand towels for all types of floors, which can be thrown in the washing machine and reused. You can make a DIY solution for clean linoleum and vinyl floors by mixing a tablespoon of shampoo with a gallon of water. To get the extra spark, add ½ cup of white vinegar. If you have wood and laminate floors, you can use a spray that contains a bit of white vinegar and a cloth that is just damp enough to start mopping. Place mats at every entrance of your home, and make sure to dust them and give them a really good shake every week, or even better, every couple of days. Also, whenever you have guests coming into your house, kindly ask them to remove their shoes. This will definitely help in keeping your home sparkling clean for longer! If you find it difficult to clean your carpets and entrance mats, we have a great article about removing stains from carpets that you should read.
8. Dust the whole house
Another one of our top summer cleaning tips is dusting! This should be a year-round chore, but it has to be done regularly during the summer.
Most of us will have our air conditioning on at all times, so a lot of dust will get trapped inside the house. You can use a microfiber cloth to wipe down all the surfaces and even dampen them with an all-purpose cleaner. Start from the top with the door frames and ceiling fan blades, and work your way down to tabletops and baseboards for a deep clean.
9. Clean all windows and upholstery
Cleaning your windows is very important in the summer, as a lot of dust and grime build up over time. You can use DIY cleaning solutions, sponges, and squeegees, or you can opt for professional window cleaning services, especially if you have very tall windows that you can’t reach entirely.
Clean all your upholstery and fabrics too, and maybe you’ll even consider replacing them with lighter materials. The furniture around your windows can be easily cleaned with a DIY spray solution to remove all the stains, and accumulated dirt, whilst all your sofas can get quick and easy vacuuming.
10. Clean gardening essentials
Another critical thing to cross off your summer cleaning list is cleaning your garden furniture with a cloth. Most of the time, there’s a lot of rust built up in your utensils, so cleaning them is vital.
Most of your gardening tools get stored, or better said, thrown away in the garage. Ensure that you refresh it by taking all the grilling equipment outside for the summer and by throwing or donating all your unwanted tools, building materials, and anything else that stays between having a cluttered garage and a tidy one. One of the things that get easily overlooked are the garage windows, floors, walls, and even the ceiling. Make sure to wash those thoroughly as well, and to create a little bit more space, why not put up some racks and shelves for better practicality.
Conclusion
And there you have it! Our top tips to have a fresh and clean summer perfume all around your home! Even better? You can easily apply most of these tips to clean your office as well during the hot summer months. Keeping your workplace clean is just as important as keeping your home spotless because, after all, it is the place where you spend most of your time. We have a great blog that explains all the reasons why a clean office is important, so why not check it out! Once you’ve finished cleaning your home for the summer, you will be able to put more focus and time into cleaning your office space. Get to know how much office cleaning services cost and why should you hire a professional cleaning service company like us to put your mind at ease.
At Ace Cleaning, we offer specialised summer cleaning services in Leicester or across the Midlands, so why not contact us for a FREE evaluation, and one of our friendly team members will be happy to assist you as soon as possible.