I’ve written before about the importance of daily tidying in order to maintain a clean home (read all about my daily, lifechanging Timer Method here). That daily tidying is designed for general cleanliness and easing up your heavy-duty cleaning needs; get the things off the floors, make the beds, wipe the surfaces, etc.
Specifically, I even mention in that post that daily tidying makes your house look good on the surface; most people won’t notice the deep-down nitty gritty as long as the floor is picked up and the countertops are clear.
However, houses do indeed require deep cleaning. At some point your house needs to actually be clean and not just look clean.
So I’m here today to share another part of my house-cleaning routine: the Semiannual Deep Clean. This Deep Clean is designed to clean the deep down, little details that really make a house shine.
I follow this Deep Clean schedule twice a year, in April and October. My church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, holds a semiannual General Conference on the first weekend of both of those months and so it’s easy to remember: when General Conference rolls around, so does my Deep Cleaning routine.
General Conference only takes two days, but my Deep Clean usually takes a week or two. Most of the following Deep Cleaning chores are pretty small by themselves and don’t take too long, but between my regular daily responsibilities and taking care of my children, I usually only have time to do two or three items per day, stretching out the whole process. But that’s the point of writing it all down on a list: do a few each day, cross them off, and then do some more tomorrow.
You might also see some chores listed here that you think, “Uh, gross, that should be done way more often than twice a year!” such as scrubbing the shower and whatnot.
Yes, some of those types of items do indeed get done more often, but not consistently (at least for me). Keeping up a household is hard work and I’m definitely guilty of letting a few things fall through the cracks, such as regularly scrubbing the shower. I tend to find myself thinking, “Oh darn, I forgot to scrub the shower. I’ll get to it next week instead.” And then the next week I say the same thing, and then the next, and then the next. And suddenly a whole six months has gone by and I know that I have to finally buckle down, quit putting it off, and scrub that stinking shower already! That’s why those types of items are on the following list.
I’ve also organized the following list by room, just to make things easier. Keep that in mind, and if you yourself need a starting point for making your own Deep Cleaning list, then I suggest you do the same; go from room to room and write down everything you see as you go.
Besides just the deep cleaning, notice that I also suggest a declutter of each room. This is not a super heavy, Marie-Kondo style decluttering event. She suggests that you take out everything and make a mega pile to sort through; this is not the time that I’m doing something big like that.
This decluttering, instead, is more of a brief overview and reorganization. As you go through drawers, cupboards, and closets, simply toss out broken things, set aside items to donate, and overall analyze your possessions and your organization systems. If you find that maybe a particular area just isn’t working, this is a good time to switch things up and try a new organizing method. Or if you find a space that really does need a super heavy, Marie-Kondo style clean-out, then put that on your To-Do list and by all means, declutter that space!
For example, when we first moved into our home two years ago I unpacked and organized my kitchen cupboards based on material: I put all the baking pans in one cupboard, the glass in another, and everything else in the farthest corner cupboard. But throughout those first few months I realized that I needed access to that “everything else” cupboard way more often than I thought. So come my Semiannual Deep Cleaning time, I switched up my cupboards and put my “everything else” stuff in the closest, most accessible cupboard and the bakeware in that far space. And I’ve liked it there so much that it’s stayed ever since.
This is also a good time to inventory your home and do all those small repairs you’ve been meaning to get to. Change those dead lightbulbs, tighten those loose screws, straighten those wobbly pictures. Things like that. If you’re already deep cleaning that room, then deep clean that room!
My last note here before I dive right in is this: every house is different, every family is different, and everyone’s cleaning needs are different. If you’re looking for some inspiration for Deep Cleaning your home, this is a great place to start, but tailor the following list to fit your own home and needs.
Got it? Good. Let’s go.
This is my Semiannual Deep Cleaning list:
Kitchen:
Seal all the granite countertops. Granite is very absorbent and so needs to be sealed every six months (another good reason to Deep Clean like this semiannually). Otherwise, water and liquids will seep into the granite (especially if spills and dribbles are left on the granite for too long without wiping them up) and can permanently damage it. You can buy granite sealer in the cleaning aisle of most grocery stores. It’s cheap and easy to use. I always make a point to do this after my kids go to bed so the sealer can set all night long before we touch it again the next morning. It’s a simple and quick little chore, but easy to forget because it’s so irregular. Note: I also clean and seal the bathroom countertops at the same time that I do the kitchen.
Wipe the fronts of all the cabinets, both overhead and lower ones. You’d be shocked at how many fingerprints, food splatters, and water drips end up all over your cabinets.
Wipe the fronts of all the big appliances: refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, and microwave. Again, you’d be shocked at the amounts of fingerprints and drips you find on these.
Clean the inside of the microwave. Pro tip: put some water mixed with lemon juice into a glass measuring cup and microwave it for a few minutes until it boils; the steam will soften any gunk in the microwave so it wipes out super easily.
Clean out and wipe the inside of the refrigerator. Please, please, please clean out old, rotten food WAY more often than twice a year, but specifically at this time I try to take everything out, check for expired foods, and wipe down the shelves.
Clean out and wipe the inside of the freezer. We also have a second freezer in our basement and I try to do the same for both freezers on the same day. It’s also a good way to take inventory of what I already have and what I need to restock.
Clean the oven. I hate this job, I really do. But boy oh boy does it make a big difference.
Clean out the toaster. Hold that thing upside down over your sink and give it a good shake. Then enjoy your disgusted shock as more crumbs than you’ve ever seen cascade out of that sucker. How do so many crumbs fit into a single toaster? It’s an answer that science has yet to discover.
Clean out the pantry. Check for expired food. Reorganize as necessary. Take inventory of things that need to be restocked. Wipe away any crumbs, dribbles, or other dirty spots that are mucking up your shelves.
Clean out the silverware caddy. Take out all the silverware and wash the caddy. That’s another area that always surprises me at how full of crumbs and other dribbles get into it. I guess that’s all part of raising little guys with sticky, crumb-laden hands.
Declutter and organize all the cupboards and drawers.
Bathrooms
Super scrub the shower/bathtub.
Clean hardwater stains with vinegar, namely the showerhead and around the faucets. We get major hard water in our area, and while the water softener makes a world of difference, we still get a gradual buildup of hard water in these two specific places. Pro tip: vinegar is hard water’s worst nightmare! Fill a ziploc bag with it and rubberband it over your showerhead. Leave it there for a good hour or so and then rinse off the vinegar and watch the hard water spots fall right off. For faucets, soak a paper towel with vinegar and wrap it around the offending area. Leave it for about an hour and then wipe the vinegar away. Voila! Hard water gone.
Declutter and organize all the cupboards and drawers.
Clean out the medicine drawers. I keep all our first aid supplies and medicines in plastic drawers in our master bathroom linen closet, which are easy to label and easy to access (but only if you’re tall enough, of course, so we don’t get little hands reaching into our medicines). Toss out expired or unnecessary medications–yes, medicines will expire. Take inventory of items to be restocked. Make sure any and all dangerous medications are up high and none have drifted downwards into the reach of little hands.
Vacuum the dust off the fan vent in the ceiling. Take a look upwards the next time you’re sitting on the can. Do you see that fan up there? And do you see the massive dust bunnies clogging it up? Use your vacuum hose attachment and clean that sucker!
Bedrooms
Rotate seasonal clothes. April and October are the perfect time for rotating your closet. In the spring time this is when I pack away all our snow clothes and get out the shorts and swimsuits. In the fall is for putting away those shorts and pulling out the long-sleeve shirts. This is also a great time to check that my kids have appropriate seasonal clothes in their current size and if not then I can add jackets or swimsuits or whatnot to my shopping list.
Dust the master-bedroom ceiling fan.
Declutter and organize all dresser drawers.
Declutter and organize under the beds.
Declutter and organize closets.
Living Room
Polish the piano. I typically dust my piano regularly, but this is when I whip out the Endust and actually polish that thing. It makes a world of difference and makes my piano look beautifully shiny and new.
Dust the ceiling fan.
Clean the glass on the china hutch. We have a china hutch full of decorations in our living room and I am always shocked at the amount of little fingerprints all over that thing from curious little boys looking in and touching it all over the place.
ENTIRE HOUSE
Wipe all the doorknobs with a sanitizing wipe. Seriously, think of all the germs that build up on doorknobs. Wipe those suckers off once in a while! Walk through the entire house with two or three wipes and do this all in one go.
Wipe all the light switches with a sanitizing wipe. Clean the light switches in the same way and at the same time as you do the doorknobs. Seriously, these are most likely the two most-touched items in every single room, so they are filthy with germs.
Dust and wipe all the baseboards. First I vacuum the baseboards off with the long, narrow hose attachment to get rid of loose dust and bits. But that usually only accents anything left behind as being extra sticky or yucky. Unfortunately there’s no shortcuts to getting this done correctly; just get on your hands and knees with a wet rag and wipe those baseboards. It might be obnoxious, but it makes a HUGE difference in making a house look new and shiny.
Wipe all the windowsills. This is another area where you don’t notice how much dust it collects until you clean it off and realize it actually is supposed to be white. Like the doorknobs, this is easier done in one big swoop around the entire house, going room to room to room.
Clean out the window tracks. This is another grimy job but also makes a world of difference in making your house shine. Whip out your Q-Tips to get into those extra hard-to-reach corners. You’ll love seeing the white again instead of the caked-on dust and dirt.
Spot-clean your walls, doors, and doorframes. Houses are full of people, people have hands, hands get dirty, and those dirty hands touch everything! So get a wet rag and walk through your house closely examining the walls and doors. Chances are you’ll find plenty of gross spots that need cleaning. Pay special to the following areas: near light switches and doorknobs (where little ones were reaching for it but missed and smeared their grossness all over the wall instead), handrails and walls along the stairs where people naturally grab for stability as they go up or down, and the walls near any sinks and hand-towels that likely get splattered when people wash and dry their gross hands. Humans are just gross; accept that and your life will be easier.
Can you think of anything or anywhere I’ve missed? Comment to let me know what I need to add to my list.
In the meantime, happy deep cleaning!
