If you are not redirected automatically click hereWalls & Ceilings > How To: Clean Baseboards It's not a glamorous task, but cleaning the baseboards goes a long way toward making a room look tidy and dust-free. Follow our suggestions for cleaning your baseboards more thoroughly—and less often—than ever before. You can spend hours washing the floor, dusting the furniture, and vacuuming the nooks and crannies in any given room, but so long as its baseboards are dirty, they are going to attract attention and create an overall impression of shabbiness and neglect. It’s by no means difficult to learn how to clean baseboards; this is not one of the great housekeeping challenges that you will face in life. Indeed, the trickiest bit is overcoming inertia. So if you’re actually reading this, the hard part is over! - Vacuum (with brush attachment or duster) - Dish soap, vinegar, or wood cleaner Rather than set out to clean the baseboards in every single room of your house all at once, make an agreement with yourself: Each and every time you break out the sponge and plastic gloves, you will clean the baseboards thoroughly in one room only.

That way, the task of cleaning baseboards never becomes overwhelming. Also, remember that baseboards accumulate the dust and dirt that housework stirs up. Save them for last—don’t waste effort cleaning the same thing twice. Begin the process by removing as much dust and dirt as you can from the area. If your vacuum has a brush attachment, use it to suction along the length of the baseboards, paying special attention to the crevice where the trim meets the floor. In lieu of a vacuum, you can rely on a duster to do a decent job of freeing up debris, which you can then corral and remove with a broom and dustpan. Once you’ve removed all loose dirt and dust, you can begin to address stains and stuck-on grime. (Particularly in the kitchen, baseboards are the notorious hosts of unidentifiable splatters.) Dip a sponge into a mixture of warm water and dish soap (vinegar works well too), then go about scrubbing any marks that you can find. Note that if the baseboards in the room you are cleaning are stained, not painted, it may be preferable to use a cleaning solution formulated specifically for that application.

As you’re already crouched over wiping away the grime, you might as well do as good a job as possible. best vacuum cleaner carpeted stairsHere’s how to clean baseboards in those hard-to-reach-spots, like the crevice between the trim and flooring. best way to clean wide blindsJust grab a cotton swab from the bathroom and dip it in the cleaner, gently wiping away the dirt. best way to deep clean leather car seatsThe swab is small enough to fit into those tight spaces and corners, and absorbent enough for cleaning.what's the best way to clean microsuede couches

Protect the baseboards’ newly acquired cleanliness by rubbing them with a fresh dryer sheet. what is the best way to clean faux blindsNot only will this leave a fresh laundry scent that lasts a few days, but also—and more importantly—the sheet’s antistatic properties actually repel dust. what's the best way to clean microsuede couchesPerhaps it sounds like overkill, but going this one step further can really pay off. Unless you live in a fraternity house, you’re unlikely to find that your baseboards need to be cleaned weekly. In the grand scheme of housekeeping, baseboards are rather low maintenance. If you’re like me, you probably notice baseboards only when they are not clean. So if on each occasion that you clean, you live up to the promise of doing the baseboards in one room only, you may never notice them again!

There’s no way around it: Keeping the house clean demands your time, your energy, and even some of your money. Fortunately, this arsenal of cleaning tips can help you finish the housekeeping more quickly—and with fewer commercially sold products. You may love winter, but wood doesn’t. Keep floors looking good for life furniture needs love too Caring for more than just your floorsAnd since a popular ask has been how I clean it, I decided to go over in detail how to clean and care for wood furniture. As surprising as it sounds, the less you do to your wood furniture, the better it is for it.  In fact the varnished wood furniture in my home gets cleaned once a week using nothing more than a microfibre cloth and H2O.  This removes any dust and the microfiber helps shine up the surface. If your wood is unfinished, just clean it using a dry microfiber cloth, as moisture can parch and/or warp the wood. To determine if it is unfinished, add a drop of water to the surface.

If it beads, it’s got varnish and if it absorbs in and leaves a mark (which will dry up), it’s unfinished. Quick side note, if you want to know how to clean hardwood floors, we’ve got a video for that . According to the website of a popular brand’s manufacturer, store-bought furniture polish is designed to bring out the shine of your wood and polish and protect your furniture. But here’s the kicker: not all wood and wood finishes are created equal and because different specimens and varnishes have different requirements, furniture polish is not an al-in-one solution.  In fact, furniture polish can downright ruin some wood finishes!  Further, and here’s a misconception, it doesn’t even clean anything! It will however dull the finish and leave a build up on your furniture over time. So in my professional opinion, leave store-bought furniture polish out of your cleaning kit. However, you should listen to what the manufacturer says, and if it is recommended to clean or polish the wood with a particular product at a particular frequency, then that’s what you do.

If you find your wood is really dulled out from a build up of furniture polish, you’ll see a haze or streaks you can’t get rid of. You can either apply a vegetable-based enzyme cleaner to sit on the wood for a couple of minutes to remove the build up, then wipe with a cotton cloth and buff dry.  Review the instructions on the bottle for exact dwell times required, and watch how the enzymes break down the build up to reveal the wood’s natural shine.  If you want a quicker and cheaper hack, simply steep two bags of black tea for 10 minutes in boil in water (something unflavoured, unsweetened, etc.).  Let the tea cool, and then immerse a clean cotton cloth into the tea.  Wring out over the wood piece and let sit for just a moment, and then begin to wipe.  The tannins in the tea will break down that dull, waxy finish to reveal the wood’s natural beauty. If you have the need to polish your furniture, and again, speak to the manufacturer or your furniture dealer to get the skinny on whether this is OK or not, just make your own!

In a clean spray bottle, add 1 part white vinegar to 3 parts olive oil and shake well. The oil moisturizes the wood and the vinegar cleans it. Kind of like a 2-in-one shampoo/conditioner deal. Spray the cleaner onto a soft cotton cloth and apply in a buffing motion to the wood furniture. You don’t need to do this all the time, just do it when your wood looks a little lacklustre. Using it too often will create a sticky build-up which attracts dust and dirt. When you’re done, you could (if you were thirsty) use this on salad, too! When you are applying anything with oil, remember to use a cotton cloth as opposed to a microfiber cloth so that the oil can actually wash out of the cloth when laundered. You can use this mixture on antiques, however, do be very careful when dealing with old, antique pieces – or furniture made from exotic woods – they may very well have specific cleaning requirements, so do your research! If you have heat or water marks, firstly, tsk tsk, secondly, you can restore the wood by applying mayonnaise to the area, leaving it overnight and then buffing it into the table in the morning.