MONTHLY CLEANING ROUTINE

Here are eight monthly tasks you must include in your monthly cleaning routine. This is the third part of my series about 35 cleaning tasks you must do around your home throughout the year.

For your free weekly cleaning schedule chart which includes all 35 cleaning tasks made doable on a weekly basis, click here!

For each of the tasks below, you can choose one day a week to do one or two of these tasks. I demonstrate how to schedule these tasks in a video here.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #1

Deep Clean Your Vacuum

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It is truly amazing how quickly the brush roll on your vacuum can get packed full of hair. It’s so easy to forget about too because we don’t normally turn our vacuums over to even have a chance to take notice. And, we don’t normally open up our vacuums to notice how easily the filters can become clogged. Therefore, it’s important to schedule cleaning your vacuum’s brush roll and filters on a regular basis.

On most vacuums these days, directions for disassembling the brush roll and filters are directly on the vacuum. After removing the brush roll, you simply take a pair of scissors and snip the hair out of it. And, after removing the filters, you wash them in hot water with a little bit of dish soap. After they dry completely, you can replace them back into your vacuum.

Meanwhile, while the filters are drying, you can handwash any removable parts that may be filled with dust. Warm water and dish soap are sufficient to get these clean. If any of your vacuum parts are dusty but not removable, you can use car detailing brushes. The various sizes are great for reaching into the more narrow areas of any dust cups and the corners where the filters nest.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #2

Deep Clean Your Refrigerator & Freezer

One important tip that a lot of people don’t realize when cleaning their refrigerator and freezer is that you are not supposed to wash any of the components in hot water. The shelves and drawers of your refrigerator and freezer are tempered to handle cold temperatures. Washing any of the fixtures in hot water could result in cracking the material. And, replacing refrigerator and freezer parts can be very expensive.

So, all you need to do to clean your refrigerator and freezer is remove any removable parts and let them get to room temperature while you clean the inside of the refrigerator and freezer. For particularly grimy messes, I grab a bowl of warm water and dish soap and a sponge to scrub down the insides of the refrigerator and freezer. For any mild messes, I use my homemade all-purpose cleaner (recipe can be downloaded here) and a microfiber cloth (my favorite microfiber cleaning cloths can be found here). After cleaning the inside of the refrigerator and freezer, I wash the removable shelves and drawers with warm water and dish soap.

Before replacing the fixtures back into the refrigerator and freezer, you want to make sure everything is dried off completely so that your refrigerator and freezer don’t become too humid. Again, you can find my favorite microfiber cleaning cloths here. The grey one is super absorbent and I use it all the time for drying off dishes and the kitchen sink and counters.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #3

Deep Clean the Rangehood & Filter

This is another area in our home we can easily forget to clean. And, here is a super easy routine to get it squeaky clean.

1. Find a container large enough to fit your range hood filter(s).
2. Fill a pot with enough water to submerge your filters in your container.
3. Bring the pot of water to a boil.
4. While you wait for the water to boil, grab your degreaser (I have a recipe for you here) and spray down your entire range hood.
5. Grab your filters and place them into your container.
   a) Grab your pot of boiling water and pour it over your filters.
   b) Add about 1/4 cup to 3/4 cups of baking soda depending on the size of your filters.
   c) Add 1 to 2 tsp of dish soap.
   d) Leave the filters to soak for between 2 to 15 minutes.
6. While your filters soak, scrub down your range hood with a scrub sponge.
7. Use wet rags or paper towels to remove the loosened grease and grime until squeaky clean. (Do not use microfiber cleaning cloths to remove grease as the grease will ruin them.)
8. Return to your filters and scrub with a scrub brush, if needed.
9. Rinse well.
10. Shake off the excess water and allow to air dry.
11. Replace the filter.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #4

Deep Clean Tile Grout & Caulking

A simple cleaning solution recipe for cleaning tile grout and caulking involves mixing baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. You simply make a thick paste, brush it on to the areas you want to clean, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Use a cleaning toothbrush (found here in my car detailing kit) and scrub away. Rinse well with a bowl of warm water and the same cleaning toothbrush which has been rinsed clean. Dry everything off. For caulking that is prone to mold and mildew, you can apply melaleuca essential oil which treats and prevents mold and mildew growth.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #5

Deep Clean Baseboards

Depending on the material your baseboards are made of, you will use different types of cleaning sponges to remove scuffs. After vacuuming and dusting, wood baseboards can be cleaned easily with a damp Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge which you can find here. A vinyl material baseboard can be cleaned with a natural non-scratch sponge which you can find here. Dip the sponge in warm, soapy water and gently scrub away.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #6

Launder Pillows & Deep Clean Your Mattresses

The best way to clean pillows is to let them soak in hot water and OxiClean for, at least, an hour. Then, I wash my pillows with my homemade laundry detergent (recipe found here) and do a double rinse cycle. They need to be dried on your dryer’s bulky mode and on an extended time cycle.

To deep clean your mattresses, you can spot clean any stains with a solution of OxiClean and warm water in a bowl and scrub with a cleaning toothbrush. You don’t want to get the mattress too wet. You want to use just enough of the solution to help breakdown the stain and lift it up with your cleaning toothbrush. Press the area clean and dry with a towel. Then, you will dust a very thin layer of baking soda over your mattresses. I like to add lavender essential oil to the baking soda which I place in a fine sieve. Then, I gently tap the sieve over the entire surface of the mattress. I let this sit for several hours and then vacuum it all up. Mattress-cleaning-day is a good day to deep-clean your vacuum so you can remove excess baking soda from the filters.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #7

Launder Toss Pillows & Throw Blankets

For any toss pillows you have that aren’t washable, you can place them in a plastic bag and set them in the freezer overnight. This will kill dust mites and bacteria. Otherwise, for your washable pillow inserts, you can wash them as instructed above for laundering your bed pillows. Since throw blankets are made of various materials, you will follow the care instructions on the tag provided. For mine, I just use my homemade laundry detergent washing with warm water, rinsing with cold, and hang to dry.

Monthly Cleaning Routine Task #8

Dust Window Treatments & Clean Window Sills

Running your vacuum with the brush attachment over your curtains is all it takes to dust them. For blinds, you will turn them upward and wipe upward with a microfiber cloth. Then, turn them downward and wipe downward. If needed, you can clean with an all-purpose cleaning solution and a microfiber cloth.

For the window sills, start by vacuuming up any loose debris. I like to use a car detailing brush while simulataneously vacuuming. Then, depending on how dirty your window sills are, you might need a bowl of warm, soapy water and a sponge or just a glass cleaner and microfiber cloth.

All my homemade cleaning product recipes can be found here and my favorite cleaning tools here.

Remember, you can choose one day a week to do one or two of these eight tasks.

I share all 35 cleaning tasks in a video here.

Be sure to grab your free weekly cleaning schedule chart which includes all 35 cleaning tasks made doable on a weekly basis here!

Happy Cleaning!