Now that I am retired and my wife still works, I have taken over control of cleaning our house. With the holidays fast approaching, I want my house to be clean and ready for the guests that will be passing through. I have often thought, “well, if I start too early, I will have to do it again.” Wrong! Cleaning a house is as ongoing as mowing the grass.
I have come up with a “Deuces Wild” strategy. Two months, two weeks, two days, and two hours. Let’s take a look at each one of these.
Two Months; After a long summer, the one area that sticks out is carpets. Cleaning carpets is time consuming and you also have to move furniture to do a good job. It also means cutting down on traffic in those areas until the carpet is clean, fresh, and dry. This is a major undertaking if you have children and or pets.
Another area to address is cleaning upholstery at this time. If you are steaming, this is the time to do it. Some people like to do curtains and drapes at this time, too. I don’t think so. The reason that I wouldn’t is that a lot of pollen and dust will still enter your home during the fall when leaves start falling. Change your filters at this time. That will help keep your rugs clean. Get rid of the cobwebs in the ceiling corners and dust and polish your wood trim.
Two Weeks; During this period, focus on your windows. Many windows get soaped. If you have old pumpkins or decorations outside clean them up. The same is true with leaves that need to be done shrubs that need to be trimmed.
This is the time to shape up the outside for the winter season as well as the holidays. Since you are doing your windows, now is the best time to do your drapes and curtains. If you must move furniture, this is also the time to do that so that the imprints in the carpeting have time to disappear. Once this is done, you can start thinking about house decorations. with two weeks before the holidays will gather only a small amount of dust. Any waxing of wooden floors should now be done as well.
