There are cleaning tasks that you do every day and some that you do every week. But some cleaning tasks are better to do during specific seasons. Since the fall season is coming up, you might want to look up the best household chores to prepare for the cold weather. Before the fall season settles in, here are 11 Essential Fall Household Cleaning Tips that you should consider.
1. Vacuum upholstered furniture
With every change of the season, you should vacuum and deep clean any upholstered furniture that you have at home. Basic cleaning of your furniture should be a weekly thing, just as a measure to keep it fresh and cozy but wiping it down or spraying with Febreze isn’t always enough.
If you have a lot of upholstered furniture, you might want to hire a professional to do the cleaning. Vacuuming isn’t necessary every week but doing it seasonally in between the cushions or even washing removable covers can be a way to cut the cost of needing a professional cleaning. Be sure to take extra care when vacuuming delicate upholstery, so you don't end up damaging it.
2. Clean underneath your furniture
It may have been a while since you last cleaned the underneath your furniture. It would be best if you used this opportunity to move your heavy furniture and clean the areas underneath. During the summer moving heavy furniture can seem like an exhausting task but fall offers the perfect time to open your doors and windows and tackle those more labor intensive tasks. The colder season that comes with winter might make you want not to move at all. Thus, the best time to get under your furniture and appliances would be during the fall.
If you have pets or young children you may be surprised at how many items are under your furniture, from crayons to cat toys, it’s likely that you’ll find more than just dustbunnies under there. You may even find an item you thought was lost forever, make sure to check before vacuuming to avoid damaging your equipment.
3. Get your carpets cleaned
The summer season is dusty and sweaty, and your carpets probably know that the best. More so, if you have pets in the house who shed a lot during the summer. Thus, the fall season might be the best time to deep clean the summer away from your carpet.
If you don’t own a deep cleaning vacuum, you can rent one at your local hardware store and even at some large chain grocery stores, but these machines can do damage to your carpets if you’re not careful. If you want the absolute best cleaning possible considering hiring a professional carpet cleaning team, similar to the furniture cleaners, they have tools and training to ensure that your carpets are fresh as spring even in the fall.
4. Winterize Your Beds
Often, you’ll hear this tip regarding landscaping but it’s just as applicable to your home interiors as well. Fall is the perfect time to prepare for the coming winter season. One thing to consider now could be how warm your bed needs to be to help optimize your sleep through the cold winter nights.
Instead of replacing your sheets during the winter season, it's better that you do it during the fall season. You can start washing or preparing your heavier and warmer duvet to ensure it’s clean and smelling fresh before you need it. Some people use heated blankets during the winter and it’s important to check those now as well, as many contain electric heating elements that can be dangerous if not evaluated before use.
5. Purge your closets
Purging your closet is a crucial step that you should consider doing before the start of each season. Taking the time to pack away your lighter clothes in preparation for the colder months will make it easier for you to access the bulkier warmer clothing that you will need as the temperatures start to drop. This is also a great time to look for items that you may want to donate or just get rid of because you aren’t wearing it any longer.
Since you're cleaning out your closets, use this time to wipe down and clean the closet and hardware itself while you’re ridding the space of any unwanted or weather inappropriate clothing. Sweep and mop or vacuum your closet floors to ensure the area is a pleasant experience rather than a dreaded one. Once you finish cleaning your closet, you can easily fit those bulky clothes that are better suited for winter.
6. Give your windows a good cleaning
The fall season is the perfect time to enjoy the cool breeze from inside your home. But forgetting to clean your windows during the spring and summer could allow dust and other debris into your home. Hence why we suggest cleaning those windows as soon as possible this fall.
Aside from avoiding dust from blowing into your home when you open your windows, you will also appreciate bright and clean windows during the winter. Since a warm sunny day is a precious commodity during the winter, you want to be able to have access to natural light as much as you can in the winter. If you have dirty windows, sunlight can have a more challenging time getting into your home, especially when it's snowing, and you can't open the windows. Thus, if you give your windows a good cleaning during the fall season, you won't have to worry about cleaning windows when it's freezing outside.
7. Deep clean your kitchen
With the fall season bringing its beautiful foliage and beloved sweater weather, it also brings the holiday season. Whether it’s something you look forward to all year or something you are dreading, the holidays tend to mean a lot more entertaining.
No matter what holiday you are celebrating, it’s nice to have a clean and organized kitchen to work in especially when you are preparing specialty dishes or cooking for a crowd. Before the holiday season starts, make sure that you deep clean your kitchen to prepare for the days ahead. Pull out the shelves of your refrigerator and clean them with your preferred household disinfectant, clean old spices or canned goods from your pantry and spray down your oven with cleaning and prepare for a bit of a smell while it works its magic.
Having a clean kitchen is also one of the easiest ways to encourage yourself to eat at home, which means you have more control over ingredients and can even destress with a little cooking hobby.
8. Do some chimney sweeping
You're going to be using your chimney a lot more now that the seasons are becoming colder. To prepare to the cool, crisp evenings around a roaring fire, you probably need to clean out the chimney now before you want to use it. There are plenty of online instructions depending on what kind of fireplace your home has that might be useful if you plan on a little DIY project.
However, if you haven’t really planned on being a chimney sweep or you want to ensure that the job is done by people who know what they are doing, hiring a service may be the better option. Finding professionals in your area is just a google search away and making an appointment now will ensure that you aren’t waiting long during their busy season.
9. Tackle your light fixtures
Cold weather means longer, darker nights, which means you're going to rely on your interior lights a lot more often. Start by checking that all bulbs are in working order, change those that need to be changed, and clean the fixtures and any decorative glass while you are doing this step.
Cleaning your light fixtures is also a necessary step to avoid any potential fire hazard and maintain the life and longevity of your home. Fall is the perfect time to handle this little task and tackle your light fixtures before the nights are too dark to work and the weather too cold to care.
10. Check your home for drafts
You're going to rely a lot on your heating system during the winter, meaning you're going to use a lot of energy during the cold weather. To help you save on energy, you might want to check your home for drafts. Usually around windows and doors, some homes can lose a ton of energy just from not having properly sealed interiors.
If there are too many drafts present in your home, it can lead to heat loss, which means that you're using more energy than you should heat your home and that can cost you a ton of money in utilities. An easy way to know if you have a draft is to just stand near the door or window and put your hands near the edge, if you can feel hot or cool air that is different than what the rest of the room feels like you may have a leak causing drafts.
Weather stripping is important for any home and we’ve covered the topic previously on our blog. This easy DIY will ensure that you are not losing any heat or air conditioning and can be a major factor in saving you a bigger repair in the future.
11. Clean your gutters
One of the best parts of autumn is the falling leaves but for those with rain gutters it can be a problem, and you should be aware of your gutters' state. Trapped dirt and debris in your gutters can lead to them breaking, causing a whole host of issues from flooding to roof damage so checking and shoring up your gutters is definitely something you should be doing at least annually. Ensure that you clean them out now and again to get rid of the fallen leaves that accumulated during the fall months to avoid any major issues during the winter when snow and ice accumulate and put a burden on your home.
There are many things to love about Autumn, and as we lean into the winter months it can be easy to hide under a cozy blanket with a warm apple cider and forget everything outside. While we encourage everyone to enjoy the season in whatever way is the best for them, we also want to encourage all homeowners to review these cleaning tasks prior to the hibernation period that comes with Winter.
About the Author: Jacky Xu is the Chief Operating Officer at Maid Sailors Cleaning Service Chicago. Maid Sailors takes pride in providing unparalleled cleaning services at affordable prices and will help transform your house into a home.
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