Spring Clean These 11 Things Using Only Your Vacuum!

 

And just like that, Spring is here! It’s one of our favorite times of year as people are cleaning more. But don’t think that Spring Cleaning has to be difficult, it can be easy and not time-consuming. Promise. 

 

One of the most common things we hear from our customers is a fear of using vacuum attachments. For some reason, people are scared to use them or forget about them altogether!

 

Vacuum attachments were made to ease your cleaning woes, so before you tackle your spring cleaning this year, read over our list of the 10 things you can deep clean this spring, by just using your vacuum and attachments! We’ll even walk you through how to use these attachments!

 

A cleaning rule of thumb is to clean top to bottom, left to right. This is our favorite cleaning tip to share as you ensure all surfaces are clean and you don’t forget a spot. It also pushes all dust onto your flooring as this is the last item to clean and the easiest. So keep this in mind as you keep reading. 

 

1. Ceilings: Yes, you can vacuum ceilings! For large areas or cleaning an entire room of ceilings, grab a wide-mouth attachment as pictured below, or an attachment with soft bristles so you don’t scratch your ceilings or chip your paint. Simply start at the corner farthest away from the door or entry, and work your way to the door or entry making sure you get all spots. If you don’t want to vacuum your entire ceiling and just want to get those pesky cobwebs, grab your crevice tool, and do the same method as before. Do this to every room needed in the house before moving onto your next task. Think, Top to Bottom, Left to Right… Remember, I told you this would come in handy!

2. Crown Molding/ Cabinet Molding: Crown molding can collect lots of dust, cobwebs, and all sorts of debris. Some vacuums come with their own crown molding attachment, but if you don’t have a designated attachment, any attachment with soft bristles will be sufficient. Note: We do not recommend any hard bristle attachment for this as you do not want to scratch your molding or walls. 

3. Tops of Furniture/Cabinets: While you can stand on a ladder or counters and wipe the tops of furniture and cabinets, it’s rather dusty and sometimes dangerous. Opt instead for a swivel vacuum attachment that adjusts to different angles. You will get a better clean with an attachment with soft bristles. And gently run the attachment across the cabinet/furniture working back to front. 

4. Ceiling Fans: We are always taken aback when our customers tell us they don’t clean their ceiling fans with their vacuum. A vacuum has the ability to get in hard to reach areas, the motor vents, and the blades. To clean the motor and vents, opt for an attachment with soft bristles, and if you have an extra-small brush like what comes in a car accessory or electronic cleaning kit, this is a great time to use it. Start at the top of the fan and work your way down. To clean the blades, you can either use the same soft bristle attachment or a swivel/pivoting flat attachment, as pictured below. Start from the back of the blades and work forward. Repeat on all ceiling fans.

5. Walls: Even walls need cleaning love too! Spider webs, dirt, dust, etc. all accumulate over time. You can use a wide mouth attachment as used for cleaning ceilings, or any soft bristled brush. Start at the top, and work left to right, ending at the baseboards/carpet. 

6. Figurines: Some figurines such as delicate items that can’t be wiped, or large vases, etc. are better vacuumed than scrubbed. Opt for a delicate bristle attachment, and be careful as to not knock over your items. Work your way from the back to the front. 

7. Shelving: After dusting your figurines, you may have pushed some dust on the shelving these items were on. Now is a great time to vacuum up all those dust bunnies. As on your figurines, use a delicate, soft, bristle brush and work from the back to the front, and left to right. Repeat on all shelving. 

8. Cabinets: Cabinets with molding, design details, exposed corners, etc., all collect dirt and dust. Opt to use a round, soft bristle attachment, and work your way top to bottom, left to right. Are you getting tired of hearing me say that yet? Haha.

 

9. Window Tracks and Sills: To clean window tracks, we love using a crevice tool, which is generally a long, smaller width tool. Some of these come with bristles on the end, but a bristle-free tool works fine. Gently run the crevice tool along the window track. For window sills, opt for an attachment with soft bristles. 

 

10. Behind and Under Appliances and Furniture: This is another job for a crevice tool. We especially love flexible crevice tools, as they allow you to get around corners, in dryer vents, and under appliances and furniture, and are generally thinner than regular crevice tools. But regular crevice tools work fine, If you are cleaning hard to reach areas, longer crevice tools tend to work better and require less moving of items.

 

11. Baseboards: Ah, we’re almost done! Many vacuums come with a specified baseboard attachment, as these have long bristles, are small and square, perfect for running along the top of the baseboards and not needing to bend over. But if you don’t have one, you can use a crevice tool—but be careful if you’re crevice tool does not have bristles on the end as you don’t want to scratch your baseboards. A great alternative is an attachment with bristles. Work your way all around the house. 

 

The last thing you should do is vacuum your entire home. Take the time to get into corners, and get rid of all the dust you kicked on the floor during your deep clean. We recommend mopping your hard flooring as well. 

 

And just like that, you’re done! It seems like a lot to do, but once you get into the groove of finishing one task entirely, then moving on, it goes quickly and is very efficient. There is a reason professional house cleaners clean this way— it saves time and is extremely efficient. 

 

Happy Spring Cleaning!